My man got back in town late last night, and this morning he took me out to breakfast at Zumbro. Look at the remains of those cornmeal blueberry pancakes! YUM. Anyway, it was nice to spend the morning together (plus I got to sleep in since the dogs wanted him to feed them), and then tonight we hit up the Local Natives show at First Avenue. I took photos of that, but it will be a few hours until those are ready, so check back for updates.Update: Those Local Natives photos are up over here....

I spent this morning working on some designs for holiday cards... I'm not gonna lie. I didn't get very far. I'm not that inspired for winter right now, especially with the gorgeous autumn weather we've been having. So after a bit, I decided to treat myself and head to the lake. Man, was it beautiful out -- I wish I could live in the constant month of October. How fabulous would that be?

   

Tonight I fixed a bowl of this delicious soup which was one of the many ways I will be attempting to use up this week's crop share. And I better get busy because we get a new box tomorrow. Oy. Anyway, this is a butternut squash soup, and it's damn good. The recipe is over here for all you cooks out there.I wish I had more interesting things to report, but I literally worked for fourteen hours today. So yeah. Nothing too exciting other than man, am I happy to be done editing all those animal photos for Home for Life. Whew! Hopefully tomorrow's work will be a tad more creative. And yeah. I totally know how to party on my vacation. Tell me about it.

Today I was back at Home for Life to take photos of the rest of the animals. This here is Frosty, who was brought to the shelter from Thailand on Friday. He doesn't have use of his back legs, but pulls himself around with his front paws (dragging the hind ones) while wagging his tail and smiling at you -- just wanting a good head rub. He's one of the many such animals that Home for Life shelters. Total sweetie.

Check out that light at the end of the tunnel! I had a senior portrait shoot this afternoon, and the light was hitting the bridge over Hennepin juuuuuust right. I'm on my way out for the evening to catch Sea Wolf at the Turf Club. I likely won't post any photos from that show because I gotta be up early tomorrow to shoot back at the animal shelter.I have this week "off" from my "regular" job, but I gotta say, I am keeping BUSY with all this Shuttersmack work. It's fun to pretend this is my real job. Until my "vacation" is over and it's time to get back to the paper and I'm exhausted, that is.

Mmm... I love women who rock. These are Those Darlins, and holy cow are they fun to watch perform (especially after they ditch the setlist and just start having fun). You might remember them from the other shows I've shot them at. I'm pretty tired, so I'll just post this one tonight, but more will be up later this afternoon (so check back soon, all you lovely cube dwellers). This right here is Nikki and Jessi Darlin. Not pictured is the adorable blonde... but don't worry -- I got plenty of shots of her. Even riding on the shoulders of an audience member while playing. I told you it was a good show.Update: The photos are up over here. Doesn't that look like fun? Next time, come with me.

Isn't this guy adorable? He reminds me of the tramp in Lady and the Tramp. He's one of the many dogs who I snapped a photo of today at Home for Life in Wisconsin. What is Home for Life, you ask? It's a "long-term animal sanctuary." They take care of many animals that are not adoptable due to health reasons, age or handicap. These animals are not up for adoption, but rather they are cared for here for as long as they live.So what was I doing out there? The way they work is that people can "sponsor" an animal with financial donations to help pay for their food and medical treatments. These sponsors get updates through newsletters and photos of their animals (and that's where I came in). I was there today for about 3.5 hours and I shot portraits of about 125 animals (and yes, I am exhausted). I'll return later this week to finish up and shoot maybe 100 more. And no, I wasn't taking photos of all of the animals there -- only the ones that needed fresh portraits. Yeah. So they help a LOT of animals. What a great idea!