100 Things To Do Before I Go...

While diligently working away on building our new website the other day (i.e. browsing the internet for irreverent humor), I caught up with one of my favorite bloggers, Mighty Girl and found some interesting tools to aid my current search for self-improvement and divine happiness that I thought I would share with the rest of the class.

First up is a bunch of people jumping on hotel beds, which I think is going to be my new hobby. There's also a Flickr group here. I can definitely see flipping through these photos occupying way too much of my time but it just makes me laugh so that's time well wasted. (Hey, I could be inciting terror and ruin by telling small children they were adopted by their parents for the sole purpose of house cleaning and vegetable eating and that really they are from a magical world full of ponies and Red Ryder BB guns. Wasting time kind of pales in comparison, right?)

Next up we have a series of plans that I think everybody should aspire for. The last one is my personal goal.

In no particular order...

• Figuring out what I’d do if I only had five years to live.
• Doing what comes naturally, reflexively, effortlessly
• Figuring out what I’d do if money weren’t an obstacle.
• Figuring out what my regrets would be if I died tomorrow.
• Designing my life to bring me joy.
• Meditating on compassion.
• Relaxing.
• Make enough cupcakes to fill six square feet and then roll around on them naked. (Store-bought will work equally well though you won't get that whole create-to-destroy sense of joy which to me really bumps it up a notch. Its your call).

Finally, I started making a list of 100 Things To Do Before I Go...
something that at first I felt to be way too hippie/self-helpish, like I should maybe explore my inner youth a bit and learn to love the real me before making this attempt. This also comes with a high probability of becoming an overwhelming task of self-reflection. Regardless, I gave it a shot and actually found it to be quite fun and dare I say liberating.

Here's 1-25:

1. Go to New Zealand
2. Go to Angkor, Cambodia to see the overgrown temples
3. Finish tattoo on my arm
4. Live in San Fransisco
5. Have a baby
6. Buy a house with a yard
7. Own a studio with big windows
8. Win an award that requires a speech and expensive dress
9. Publish a photo book
10. Go to a show of a past favorite musician
11. Tattoo someone myself
12. Start (and finish) a book of a drawing a day
13. Be in a gallery show
14. Go to Africa
15. Switch from coffee to tea
16. Run a marathon
17. Direct a music video
18. Have one of our photos displayed in Times Square
19. Open a bakery
20. Whiten my teeth
21. Write a novel
22. Define happiness
23. Make a weeks' worth of my own clothes
24. Finish our wedding book
25. Find the Ultimate Cupcake Recipe!

That does it for now. I definitely recommend that you make a list for yourself. I think it will be interesting to check in over the years and see what gets done and what doesn't. Either way, if nothing else, it's entertaining to figure out the things you really want to do, no matter how absurd they may be. And don't forget to share what you come up with. I promise to only mock you silently.

PS-The website is still unfinished but on the positive side I've found some great cupcake recipes.

The Fire, The Beach and S'Mores Brownies

Continuing on with the week...

Here you can see the Snuggles' Vacation Photos. For those of you who aren't familiar, the Snuggles started when Katie gave me a purple octopus from the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I subsequently named her Snuggle Puss and she has been the subject of many photos in various places and situations. When Katie gave me a pink, travel version for Christmas I couldn't help myself, I named her Snuggle Fetus and she now partakes in my anthropomorphic photography obsessions.

While on our way home from the beach we passed a controlled fire happening. Being easily entertained as we often are we got out of the car and took some photos. Not really much to write about that you can't see in the pics so here you are...
(rollover photos to see thumbnails)






And last but never least...my newest dessert creation, S'mores Brownies!

The Tornado

To catch you up on the goings on around here I am summing it up with some photos. First up is the tornado we had here in Atlanta. I'm just going to start off mentioning that my mom and sister seem to have this thing where whenever they visit we get crappy weather usually just cold, rainy, stay in bed weather. I think it has something to do with coming from Indianapolis and not so much them on a personal level (I can't speak for the entire city, but I love them dearly). So, my sister came down for her spring break and we drive to the beach (in pouring rain the whole way...I don't make this stuff up). When we get back to Atlanta its a weird, gloomy day with some rain off and on. We had a shoot in the morning and then go to the tattoo shop for what would turn into a 7 hour visit. After a week of traveling and getting up early, Katie was tired and decided to go home for a nap. Sure enough, the sun came out, the skies were blue and I think I saw a dove with an olive branch flying around too. Much, much later Katie calls us to say she's on her way. Wait for it, wait for it....the skies grew dark and a lightening storm begins out of the window (which we've had open). 10 minutes later she calls to say that its hailing golf balls and she is sitting under a bridge on the highway because the winds were so strong cars were being blown sideways. Tim gets off the phone, repeats the conversation and we all look out the window to see hail and massive winds. While Soul, the tattoo artist (I didn't make that up either...thats his name) is trying to finish up the power flickers and finally gives. We all move to the stairwell and are watching out the door as winds are horizontally transporting tree branches down the street at impressive speeds. We all here a noise and look up to see a cloud of debris fall down around us because a small part of the roof had blown off. Coughing and straining to see whats going on we look out to see cars attempting to veer off the road so as not to hit each other and then just like that the rain and winds stop. When Katie finally is able to get there Tim drives us home. Trees are all over the place as well as other random debris. Cars are shoved into each other and highway signs, HIGHWAY SIGNS, are crumpled on the roads. One actually hit a guys car...explain that one to the insurance company. Crazy stuff. At home we find out from the news that the lofts we used to live in before this place had partially collapsed which is also right across the street from Lenny's Bar, where one of my most favorite friend, Allyson's boyfriend's band was playing that night. Luckily, they were not hurt, although they literally ran from the tornado. All the car windows in the parking lot busted out and there were some flat tires. You can see her photos here. NPR also interviewed one of the band members as well. He's the first guy interviewed here.

Anyway, so we went passed the loft the next day to assess the damage.Glad we moved doesn't accurately describe it. I added some notes to point out points of interest. (Click on the photos to see them larger).





So, we survived and Katie is now home (have you noticed this nice weather we've been having?). We'll bring her back down when we run out of water again.