• I had the absolute pleasure of photographing Heather and Robby’s small family wedding this weekend.  It was them: simple, beautiful and perfect.

• Well, minus the drizzle, it was perfect. ;)

• After a multiple month hiatus, bunco was reintroduced into my schedule.  I love bunco.  I love winning.  But sadly, I didn’t win.  This time.

• I completed The Hunger Games trilogy.  I liked it, for the most part.  Book three was mildly depressing and did not like the ending.  But I’m really excited for the second movie because the first one was soooo goooood.

• Speaking of movies, the hubs and I took off on Oaks Day to spend some time together before his big trip to China.  We decided seeing The Avengers was a priority.  I think it might be my favorite super hero movie now.

• Because of continually added events that I cannot control, my stress levels has reached an all time high.  And after not being able to figure out how to let it all go, I decided I had to get moving.  I’ve been doing what I call “walknjogs”.

• Walknjog [wawk-en-jog] (v.) – to advance on foot at a moderate pace with intermittent jolts into a steady trot.

• I know, I know.  You’re thinking, “Brooke!  You laugh in the face of those who exercise and act like they like it!”  And you’re right, I do mock the overachievers who run their gluteus maximus off.  But the thing is, it seems to be working.  *weird*

• Except for yesterday.  I called myself an overachiever more than twice on my walknjog.  Felt like I was jogging through mud.  I blame the exercise I got from Heather and Robby’s wedding.

• But I’ve found that a good song helps me out, keeps me going.  So I want to know what your favorite songs that get your running.  I may not “run”, but my walknjogs are helping melt away the stress.  When I don’t feel like I’m crawling through quicksand, that is.

Because sometimes, we just need some doggin lovin’ to make the day a little brighter. :)

I love food.  A lot.  And I love blogs.  I tend to read a lot of food blogs.  A lot may be an understatement.

One of my favorites is How Sweet It Is.  Jessica comes up with the most fabulous recipes and tests so many sweet treats that I tend to drool on my keyboard.  She also takes the most beautiful food photos (causing more drool) and has the wit that everyone can admire.  People, she’s funny.

So while I was catching up on her blog, I came across her Green Chili Chicken Burgers.  I had to have it.  That night.  The thing was I didn’t have ground chicken, chilis or monterey jack cheese.  But this did not stop me from getting creative – her burger inspired me.

Using the things I had in my fridge, I made the tastiest, juiciest burger I’ve made in a long while.  Ground turkey, sautéed red peppers, fresh parsley and a hefty handful of bleu cheese.  I tucked it in a pita pocket with some red onions and baby greens [and possibly more bleu cheese] and proceeded to wolf down two of them.  I wish I was lying.

So while I am no chef, I’m quite proud of my whim.  Discovered through inspiration, but made by my two hands.  Nom.

Now we put our camping chairs in a circle in a suburban driveway, drink bottled beer and have too many homemade delicious snacks to choose from.  The annual Kentucky Derby party has gotten a wonderful makeover as we’ve gotten older, but I think all credit goes to Alan’s wife, Navi.  She’s continued to let us come over and their home reflected her decorative touch to get everyone in the mood for the big horse race.

The pineapple chutney was soooo yummy.

Cheesecake stuffed strawberries.  Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.

Mini tacos, don’t mind if I do.

Somebody went to Muth’s.  Which made somebody else smile.  (That’d be me. I love Muth’s!)

These babies are cookie dough truffles.  The only thing in the entire house that was totally consumed.  So delicious.  I ate way too many. 

Of course after I took these, I set my camera down and started chit-chatting with friends, stuffing my face with salsa and mini tacos and cookie dough truffles, asking Navi every 15 minutes when the beef tenderloin would be done and squishing limes into bottles of Corona.  I took no more pictures that day.  None of all the friends that showed.  None of everyone huddled in their living room cheering on their horse.  None of Jeff and Laura smiling big after winning both the $2 and $5 pot.  None of me feeling miserable after eating too much, making myself step away from my over-piled plate that could have been referred to as a trough.  But even though I’m thankful there’s no photographic proof that I ate like a little piggy, I’m OK with not having more photos.

We had another enjoyable year of spending time with friends, recalling old stories and watching the 138th running for the roses on television.  Who says you have to be at Churchill Downs to enjoy the Kentucky Derby?  I say if you a good crowd, that’s all you need.

But the addition of cookie dough truffles don’t hurt either.

I may not be great at playing the ponies.  I may not put on a big hat and hit the track.  I may not take in all the events and races and concerts.  But it does complete me.

Because I don’t go to the festivities or celebrate alone.

I took in the Chow Wagon earlier this week with my longtime friends, Abby and Kelly.  We walked, we talked, we ate, we drank, we visited with friends we bumped into, we sang along to the music and maybe danced, we teased each other…

It was everything I hoped it would be.  Only with steamboats.

Yeah.  I love Derby season, alright.

Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art… It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.

- C. S. Lewis

{ click above to link up }

My blog and site didn’t get too much of a makeover, but enough to make me oh-so-happy about my two homes on the interweb!  I expect there to be some tweaking along the way, but feel free to poke around and see what’s new.  I’m hoping to receive a new headshot to include in my bio, but for the meantime I have a placeholder photo.  I think you’ll like it. :)  And DEFINITELY check out my new Raves on the portfolio site – I absolutely LOVE how they turned out and I CAN’T WAIT to add more! *wink-wink*

Thanks for your encouragement and support through my first year of business.  I am so grateful for the families and couples that I’ve been able to photograph and have loved sharing your stories on my blog.  I look forward to working with awesome people again and again.

Christy worked with local vendors and set up a practice shoot in the warehouse district of Chicago.  I was excited to not only see her vision come to life, but getting to shoot in an urban area tickled me pink!  (I may have blogged about it already.)  Once the bouquet and boutonniere arrived, a handful of ohs and ahs followed and I was fairly certain the practice shoot would be awesome.

It was.  It was awesome.

Irene and Michael, who are friends of Christy and engaged to be married, were the unfortunate souls who had to stand outside in 50° weather with wind whipping around every corner.  Never mind the goosebumps – Irene and Michael were stunning.  Beautiful people with sweet smiles and even sweeter laughs.  Though it was practice shoot, their love was apparent and were adorable together.  Put them in a brilliant wardrobe, hair and makeup and you got some major wowza.

This is Irene and Michale.

Mignonette Bridal - Bride/Groom’s Outfits   |   Larkspur - flowers   |   Makeup by Pamela - makeup   |   Debbie Petrielli - hair

There are several things that I liked about this practice shoot, but these were most valuable to me:

1. Seeing Christy work.  The way she got Irene and Michael into a pose, directed them along the way, said all the right things to get those beautiful expressions.  Homegirl can work some magic.  And I got a front row seat to the show.

2. Understanding the setup of back lighting.  I knew what back lighting was and have occasionally pulled it off, but if I’m being honest here, it’s mostly been luck.  But Christy showed us the light, where it fell, what to watch for and after culling, I totally see it.  I can say that I finally see the light.  (Yes.  Pun intended.)

3. Watching how the other ladies worked.  All photographers stand on things and move constantly to rework a setting, but seeing the other ladies position themselves, recompose and then check their LCD screens made me feel like I’m actually doing something right.

4. Getting frustrated.  I’ll admit that I got frustrated with myself.  Unhappy with my settings and what I was seeing on my LCD screen, getting more flustered – I had to make myself take a deep breath more than once.  We talked about it afterwards and I was reassured – being able to have your fingers respond immediately will come later, with practice.

This was a great opportunity for me.  A great idea to act on.  Not only to be mentored for a day, but to meet and visit with three other fabulous photographers.  And I’m so happy that Irene and Michael modeled – meeting two people that are head over heels for each other just makes my heart beat a little faster.  And I wish them nothing but happiness in their future together.  I’m also grateful for Christy and her willingness to make herself available to us and for her and James to open their home to a handful of strangers.  It doesn’t go unappreciated.

Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation. -Brian Tracy

Her name would be Christy Tyler.

Having never attended a workshop before, I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect.  But at the same time, I did.  If that makes any sense at all.  Which it might not.  Forgive me.

I knew what we were going to be covering.  I knew that we were doing a practice shoot.  I knew that Christy was kind, had a funny bone and is an amazing photographer.  And I knew that the other women attending would be just as lovely.  Those things I expected.

I didn’t expect to feel so rewarded, reassured and leave feeling more confident than when I arrived.

Christy hosted the workshop at her home, so it started as a laid back atmosphere, not a stuffy feeling to be felt.  She showered us with Chicago-style pizza, cinnamon rolls, a constant stream of smiles and little presents.  Her husband told us stories about them.  Christy talked about her business, what she does and why she believes it’s successful.  About marketing, branding and finding your style.  She practices everything she preached – I saw a lot of the things we discussed happen while we were there, and even now since I’ve been home.

We spent some time with the technical, going into detail about the different qualities of light and how to use it.  She covered flash work and covered everything that deals with off-camera flash.  (That part… yeah… I know for a fact I looked like a space cadet after that segment.  I’m sorry, Christy, it scares me.)  But she made her self available, shared “trade secrets” that so many photographers don’t want to tell.  And it was wonderful.

We did get busy that afternoon with a practice shoot.  I’ll have to leave that post for another day.  (I may or may not have culled my images yet.)  But for now, I have a few shots of the morning.  I’m kicking myself for not taking more photos while all of us ladies were together, and especially of not having any photos of Ester, Jenn or Zipporah, but this is what I do have.  Just a glimpse of what I saw that morning.

More on this later – promise!

Bring on the bands, bring out the corn dogs and ribbon fries and the beer gardens  – open that Chow Wagon up for business!

My beautiful friends Kelly and Abby. We usually chow together.  This was the 2010 chow and balloon glow.

The Kentucky Derby Festival does such a great job every year getting the city of Louisville excited for the greatest two minutes in sports.  From fireworks to live music to bed races to balloon glows, we’ve got it all.  It’s fantastically fun.

This past weekend was Thunder Over Louisville.  The jets were flying over downtown all throughout the week.  And every time I heard them rumble, telling me they were about to fly by, I got butterflies.  I was out of town for the big event but that’s okay because Thunder is not my cup of tea – too many sunburned (aka unhappy) people in a limited squared foot area.  I’ve been twice, I won’t be thrice.  But I do look forward to what follows: the Chow Wagon.

Rows and rows of fair food vendors: fried everythings, gyros, Mike Lennings fish and onion rings.  A nook filled with folks slinging brews and, the past couple years, tents filled with bourbon.  Stages house local bands, playing covers and crooning out their own songs.  I love the atmosphere, the sounds, the smells, these people I like.  Laid back, there to embrace a relaxing, good time, to visit with friends and family and maybe do a little clogging.

It’s open on April 26th through Derby – come find me if you’re on the Waterfront!

• I am so one of those people that talks about the weather.  And Louisville has been looking beautiful for several days.  A few were frosty, some were borderline hot, but I love it.  The best part has been the courtyard behind the office – it’s  become especially inviting over the past couple weeks.

• I attended my first couples baby shower.  It was no baby shower.  It was an excuse to socialize, eat, drink and shove cake pops in my mouth.  Of course there were presents.  But I’ve decided that this is the best way to do these things now.

• I had the pleasure of visiting Grand Rapids again last week.  Though I wish I could see more of the city and explore their arts community, I will not be doing so if it only snows when I visit.

• Snow.  In April.  Who lives there on their own free will?!

• Fun fact: Since January, I’ve been on 16 airplanes.  This is a lot for a girl who usually only takes one trip a year.

• There have been four trips.  One for pleasure.  Flying to a boat definitely beats out flying to business meetings.

• Another fun fact: I don’t really like flying.  But it beats driving.  By a lot.

• And I happily accept adult beverage vouchers.

• Last fun fact: I am flying again this weekend.  To Chicago.  And I am SOOOOO pumped!

• I treated myself to a little makeup pick-me-up.  I usually don’t splurge on makeup but after reading and hearing about Benefit a handful of times in less than a week, I decided to go for it.  My “pretty committee” kit  and boi-ing concealer came in the mail and I’m smitten with it all.  The eyebright pencil is my fave and I love wearing new blush.

• As you can see, it doesn’t take much to make me feel like a new gal.  And I’ll admit since my new cosmetic play-things have come in the mail, I’ve been more thoughtful about my wardrobe.  No boring cardigans last week.  I even wore my skinny jeans again.  How ’bout them apples?

• But this week is a new week so  I wore a cardigan yesterday.  They’re just so versatile.

• The Final Four.  I was SO EXCITED that Louisville was playing Kentucky and I’m completely sincere when I say that.  A heated rivalry was faced in the Final Four.  My beautiful home state had TWO universities come down to the wire.  I would have loved to been in NOLA.

• I am sad that my Cardinals didn’t win but honestly, it was a good time with friends.  And I commend the players on being so civil with one another.  They added no fuel to the fire.  The fire that UK fans put to several couches and cars across Lexington.  Classy.

• Honestly, I’m pleased with the outcome.  It was Kentucky’s to lose this year.  And if ever a UK team deserved the national title, it’s this one.

• In other news, Starburst Jelly Beans are my BFFs.  And the devil.  At the same time.

When I came home yesterday, almost everything that was on the counter was instead on the kitchen floor.  Oven mitts, mail, a stack of left over napkins and my little beloved 50mm f/1.8 lens.  How the lens got down there, I’m not sure.  Did she full-on counter surf?  That’s yet to be determined.  But my nifty fifty was in fact on the tile and the filter was smashed.  The cap is also busted but it’s just a cap – I’ll get by.

I swept up the debris, gave her dirty glances, sent cell phone pics to the hubs and then slapped it on the camera.  The lens is still fully functioning – auto-focus and all.  The filter ring is another story as man power will be necessary to make it budge.  But honestly, the outcome isn’t as bad as it could have been.

That being said, I now know to not leave any of the camera equipment within the doggin’s reach, protected in a camera bag or not. Because if this had happened to a different lens, I might have cried.  Maybe.  Just a little.  And then I would have wised up and called the insurance man.

Of course, none of this makes me less mad.  And I did in fact ignore that cute little face all evening.  So hard to punish the smart dog.

• Instagram.  How badly I’ve been wanting to Instagram.  But have an iPhone I don’t.  Luckily, there is RetroCam for Droids that makes the same quirky photos and you can even choose different cameras.  I’ve embraced my lack of Instagram.

• I have to admit have a fun little camera app on the phone makes taking pictures with it way more fun.  Whereas before it wasn’t.

• That cone is from the Comfy Cow, a local ice cream parlor that is way too close to my house (YES!) and has the best creamy ice cream (YES! YES!).

• That ice cream is called The Policeman’s Special.  Coffee ice cream sprinkled with chunks of Nord’s donuts.  It debuted on March 15th.  I had a cone on March 16th.  And all was right with the world.

• I wish I had a cone of ice cream this very minute.  It would definitely make me happier considering I’m going to have a crappy week ahead of me.  But this plain old cup of coffee will just have to do the trick for now.

• My fab co-workers and I have been taking in the new local eats all around the new office.  Sitting further east on Main Street, we have easier access to all the lovely Market Street eateries in NuLu.  I tried Ghyslain last week and OMG!  Ham and Gruyère panini with berries – my mouth is watering just thinking about. And yesterday we hit up Taco Punk.  I’d heard mix reviews but the taste that came from that meat was insane.  Will be going back again for the salsa verde alone.

• Yes.  I know.  I love to eat.  And I love to talk about eating.  What can I say, I’m a girl who knows what’s important to her.  Food.

Me and Little Skipper treated ourselves to a show this week.  And what a treat it was!

We decided months ago when they first announced that Mary Poppins was stopping at The Kentucky Center that we would go together.  I’ve only seen a handful of Broadway shows but have enjoyed all of them.  And I had no idea what to expect with Mary Poppins.  How would the story change?  Would the costumes be the same?  Would they have my favorite songs?  And what about the set?!

The stage setting is reason enough to go.  It was amazing how they transformed a blank stage, how pieces of furniture moved in and out of the scene, how things would fold and unfold in front of your eyes.  Alongside the music, it was magical.  Jolly Holiday blew my socks off as the stage when from mellow to hello-color!  But my favorite was Step In Time.  The dance number had me wanting to climb over people and get on stage with them.  Never mind the fact that I can’t tap dance.  I love that Bert.

If you’re going this weekend, you’re in for a great performance!  And if you are still on the fence about it – jump on over and hop into Whitney Hall.  You won’t regret it!

So if you haven’t heard, my office moved.  Of the daytime-job variety.  We packed our space into boxes and with loaded tape guns, moved a whopping five blocks east.  The new office is different.  Very nice, but still very different.  Parking is better.  (Free parking makes it ten times better.)  Since the building is shared with residents, there is a courtyard we’ve already eaten lunch in.  There’s windows everywhere!  And it’s gated which makes a bit safer considering there’s usually a parade of… some “strangers” that roam this side of Main Street.

But with this new office comes a new work space.  In the form of a room instead of a pod.  And I have myself a new roomie.  Lauren.  (This is her.  And her sweet husband, Ben.)  Lauren is hilarious, will do almost anything for a laugh, can sing along to every song (including the misheard lyrics to Pearl Jam’s Yellow Ledbetter – it’s ROFL worthy) and is all-around awesome.  She’s made work shinier and brighter for this gal.

So while we’re still getting somewhat settled and still trying to not offend each other on a regular basis, our shared space is coming together quite nicely.  We have this Rainbow Brite meets odd memorabilia meets doggin-love motif going on.  And I quite like it.  And I quite like my new roomie.  I see only good things in our future.