Magda here would like to wish you all a wonderful Fourth of July week! We are having some work done on the sidewalks/foundation outside of our house to make sure all this rain continues to flow away from the newly remodeled basement, and this poor girl thinks all that noise sounds like someone is trying to tear down her castle. She is very worried about it (resulting in lots of angry barking).In other news, my parents are coming to visit this week, which will be super exciting for both us and the dogs. My folks (ie, my dad) don't visit us very often, but this is what happens when you refuse to send them photos of yourself all big and knocked up and they want to see how you're doing. I predict lots of popsicles, dog walks and gin rummy once they arrive.For those of you wondering how Merlin is doing, he has recovered quite well from the cabin trip up north after a good, long acupuncture session. He's happy, eating a ton and barking at the neighbors again. He still struggles a bit to get up the stairs, but overall he's pretty great.For your internet share of the day, have you seen how these two pro soccer players take on FIFTY FIVE kids and still score a goal? Amazing.

Oh, I am the laziest of bloggers!So the one thing about summer is that it's hot and I don't like to heat up the kitchen (no central air conditioning here at Shuttersmack HQ). The other thing is that summer makes me lazy 1) because of the heat and 2) because I am SWAMPED with work and don't have time for intensive meals. So there are many, many days where my snacks (ok, and sometimes my dinners) consist of frozen grapes.I really hesitated to count this as a blog post, but I keep meeting people who have never had this snack! You guys! It's like the best and healthiest popsicle ever! So I am including the "recipe" below.Ingredients:• Grapes• FreezerStep one: Wash grapesStep two: Put in freezerStep three: Wait roughly 2.5 hours and enjoy!Also! I will give you the tip that smaller grapes taste sweeter, both in general and for this recipe. So aim for the small, round, red grapes for best results.Oh, and one cup of grapes is 62 calories. Knock yourselves out!For your internet share of the day, check out the new foods that are gonna be at the fair this year! I'm interested in the pierogies (duh) as well as the waffle ice cream sandwiches (yum!) and the lobster roll. But I'm not too sure about that jello salad ice cream or the Walleye mac'n'cheese...

Today I had a wedding with these two lovebirds. They are an *amazing* couple who I really became smitten with after their engagement session last winter, but today's ceremony was so heartfelt and wonderful that even I was tearing up a bit. Mazel Tov to these two! 

               

So after a good night of deep sleep (10 hours! Woot!), I woke up and headed down to Lake Harriet to see President Obama speak. I think it's pretty rad that the leader of the free world visited my neighborhood, I'm not gonna lie. Plus, I got to talk to some neighbors -- mostly about the book I'm reading, not so much about politics (which is fine by me).He mostly spoke about his typical talking points: Raising the minimum wage, equal pay for women, healthcare for all etc etc. It wasn't as moving as that time I saw him speak back in 2008 (almost six years ago!), but I still enjoyed the morning and was super happy I went.For your internet share of the day, how about a look at Marilyn Monroe's workout routine and her diet? Pretty interesting interview!

Today I had an all-day shoot, and man I am WIPED OUT. It's a good thing I have a lighter day tomorrow so I can rest up for a big wedding I'm shooting on Saturday! Anyway! Today's project had me traveling with a team all around the metro taking photos of ... a 3M product. We'll just leave it at that. It's a great group that I'm lucky enough to work with, and it was a fun project.And at our last location, they had this full-size figure of Boba Fett in one of the first conference rooms when I walked in! Pretty rad. Even if he does have a squirrel on his back.For your internet share of the day, I have two magnificent stories to share with you. The first is a first-person account of how my buddy Andrea GOT INVITED TO PRINCE'S HOUSE to hear his new music. And yes he was there. And yes, he might have asked her to dance. *faintzThe second story is about a bear cub that fell through a skylight into a family's living room and then ate all of their cupcakes! Wow! I am so sad this bear was destroyed. He was so courageous! 

I know this photo isn't great compositionally, but I had to show you all these dogs! Today I was down at Lake Harriet, waiting in a 2-hour line to pick up a ticket to see this guy on Friday, and I spied this dog walker along with another one (with just as many dogs)! Can you even imagine walking this many dogs at one time? On one leash? I wanted to just follow him around with a video camera! The logistics of the bathroom breaks alone is mind boggling! Anyway, this stunned me. What a job!For your internet share of the day, how about this cool video on how a skateboard is made? I had no idea what all went into it, and I found it to be super interesting. Enjoy!

Today I was downtown for an agency shoot, and I quickly snapped this photo on my way outta there and back to the freeway. These are all the cranes that are up building the new Vikings stadium! You guys, it is so weird to see all that empty land around the Star Tribune where buildings used to be. Lots of open sky -- which was pretty nice on a cloudy day like today.For your internet share of the day, check out this rad remake of what a Star Wars movie trailer might look like today. I loved this!