Project 365: Day 224 -- It's the 7th Anniversary of My 35th Birthday...

Getting old sucks. Unless you consider the alternative. But today is my 42nd birthday, or the 7th anniversary of my 35th birthday...I don't like saying I am in my 40's. It just sounds so...middle-aged.

So today, I went shopping. I'm going to Colorado this weekend for a fun weekend with my girlfriends, who are all photographers. So I thought I might buy something new to wear. I went to my favorite store, Coldwater Creek, and tried on a dressing room full of stuff. I narrowed it down to a few basic pieces, and then had to add this fantastic jacket that I just couldn't pass up. With all the discounts and coupons I've received in the mail, I knocked my total down to almost half--happy birthday to me!

Then Kelly took me out to dinner at Mack & Kate's, a great little restaurant right here in Kingston Springs. It's great when we want a nice meal with wine and don't want to drive all the way into Nashville. I had a wonderful salmon dish with gnocchi, crab cake, and a flourless chocolate torte. It was a pretty nice birthday for being in my 40's...

Project 365: Day 220 -- Pot Roast

Kelly cooked tonight...he made a pot roast. I thought it was pretty good, but he was terribly disappointed in it.

Project 365: Day 219 -- Saturday Breakfast at Red Tree

Usually on Saturday mornings, Kelly knows better than to wake me up. But this weekend, we decided to have breakfast together and run a few errands. Originally, we had planned to go car shopping, but did that yesterday instead. (No we did not buy a new car. We looked at several, but decided we just refuse to buy a new car for $30k when we can buy the same car a year old for $15k.)

Anyway, I digress...so obviously, we had to go to Red Tree Coffee before even leaving Kingston Springs, because Kelly stops there every.single.morning for a cappuccino. We ended up having some of Amy's wonderful little bacon & egg muffins, too.

Just outside the coffee house, a local artist decided to turn a tree trunk into his canvas...The utility company had topped the tree to keep it out of the power lines, and left a big, ugly stump. Now it's a piece of art!

Project 365: Day 218 -- Amanda's Maternity

My dear friend and colleague, Amanda, is expecting her first child in a few weeks. Since I have very little maternity work in my portfolio, she graciously allowed me and another friend & colleague, Rebekah, to shoot some maternity images of her in her studio in Spring Hill.

Amanda was game for just about anything, and she's wonderful at posing. She has that beautiful glow of an expectant mother, too. We wanted to do something a little different than the traditional maternity images, and we had a great time working together.

Thanks so much Amanda! I can't wait to meet the little guy when he's born!

Project 365: Day 217 -- Fulfilling An Obligation

Sounds profound and important, right? Sorry to disappoint, but I grabbed a shot in my driveway and one on my errands just to fulfill the obligation I have to shoot and post something every day.

Project 365: Day 217 -- Same Thing, Different Day

Part of the drudgery of being a homemaker is the chores of grocery shopping and errand running...making the shopping list, planning the meals, driving 30 minutes to the store, the 45 minutes it takes to shop, driving 30 minutes home, unloading all the items from the car (which takes another 30 minutes since in my case, it's not just a few steps from the garage to the kitchen counter) and then putting it all away. And of course, before you even go shopping, you need to clean out the refrigerator. No one likes that job--finding those nasty science projects at the back of the shelf is just gross. OK, that rarely happens in my house, but it has happened.

Anyway, it's just drudgery. The same tasks that have to be done repeatedly. I did the shopping and picked up the drycleaning last week, but I have to do it again this week. And next week. And the week after...But it has to be done, and today was the day to do it...

Project 365: Day 216 -- Before All Hell Broke Loose

Tonight I got together with a few other local photographers to do some night shooting downtown. We hope to make this a monthly get-together, with the goal of stretching our skills and creative process.

On this particular night, there were some storms predicted to move into the area. We had hoped to get quite a bit of shooting done first, but it didn't work out that way. We started out across the river from downtown, in the Titan's Stadium parking lot. We walked over the pedestrian bridge and got this barge shot on the way. It wasn't quite dark yet, so we were mostly playing around with testing settings and such.

About the time it was getting really dark, and we were really getting serious about shooting, the storm was getting much closer. We headed back over the bridge, stopping in the middle for a few shots. After about 5 minutes, the wind was wistling under the bridge, and the lightning was shattering the sky. We practically ran back to our cars just in time for the skies to open up and all hell to break loose. Kelly had called me on my cell to tell me NOT to drive home yet--it was just too bad on the west side. So we all headed to Blackstone Brewery to ride out the worst of the storm.
Eventually it subsided enough to head home. Then I got stuck in a major traffic jam on I-40, where there was a 5 car pile up and the emergency crews were cutting someone out of a vehicle. And when I finally got to my neighborhood, I had to take a detour because of downed trees and power lines across the road. I was glad when I finally got home around 11:00 PM.

Project 365: Day 215 -- Butterflies

It's been such a non-descript and uneventful week. I've been pretty bored this week with the images I have taken, but I have still done something every single day.

Project 365: Day 214 -- Seafood Pizza

Kelly made the homemade pizza dough, and I sauteed the shrimp and crab and put the pizza together. It was one of the best pizza's I have ever eaten!


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Project 365: Day 213 -- Ginger Chicken

I made this yummy Ginger Chicken for dinner tonight. It's another Weight Watcher's recipe and it turned out great!