Happy Halloween! This is my favorite of holidays, and I am so happy to get to spend part of it at home dressing up my poor, naughty dog.For my internet share of the day, I'm sending you to this amazing illustrated October calendar that my buddy Brent drew up. It's a different horror movie for every day of the month! I think my favorite is Creature From the Black Lagoon. But you know me -- I love simplicity :)Tonight we're going to carve our pumpkins, serve up candy, let the dogs terrify the neighborhood children and watch Homeland. Yes, we began that series last weekend and I am HOOKED. I hope you guys all have a fantastic evening!

What a day! I treated myself to a day off of work since I'm shooting most weekends, and man, did I pack it full! But honestly, most of my day was spent at the salon. Keeping up this red hair takes one or two really long appointments a year, and today was one of them. I was there from 11:30 until 3. That is a lot of time to read fashion magazines, I tell you. Luckily, the amazing Louisa happened to be getting her hair cut right next to me, so that was a bonus!After that, I met up with my fantastic friend Leah, who you see above. Isn't she adorable? We were walking to our cars after lunch and I literally stopped her mid-sentence and made her pose for a photo. Being my friend is frustrating at times, but can you blame me? Those eyes!Anyway, after lunch I met up with another friend to exchange concert tickets and then came home to meet another friend for gossip and dinner. Now, before you get all jealous of my day off and the glamorous life of not working in an office all day, let me finish.So I got home and went to the basement to let Mags out of her crate and was greeted with a floor covered in diarrhea from Merlin. SO. GROSS. I then crossed the room to Mags' crate to get her to carry over the poop and to get her outside, when I noticed her crate was full of vomit. Hoooo boy. Nothing but glamour over here, kids.So yeah, now both dogs are sick. Mags wouldn't even eat her dinner tonight, which was pretty worrisome. And did I mention I'm supposed to leave town on Friday? Stress.For your internet share of the day, I'm sending you to this great post by my buddy Sarah about how to tell who your true friends are. Love it.

Isn't he handsome? He has me a touch worried today.I got home from class and came in the house and he was just laying there napping by the stairs. It's the first time EVER that he has not met me at the door with his tail wagging. And for him to not even get up was even worse.I'm hoping this is a side effect of his new meds, which starting right now we are cutting back on. Man you guys, watching dogs age before your eyes is TOUGH. All I wanted to do today was snuggle in and pet him.For today's internet share, I'm sending to to an artist that carves birds out of FEATHERS to create scenes. I've seen tattoos like this before, but never actual work made of feathers. The guy who does this? Far more patient than I.

Well hello there! Have I got a deal for you! I have partnered up with the wonderful (and patient) doggie daycare, Woof Central, that watches our dear Magda here on a regular basis. Partnered up on what, you ask? We're going to get you all outfitted with some wonderful portraits for your pets for the holidays! Who loves you guys? I do!So here's the deal. I'll be offering quickie $60 holiday studio sessions on Friday, Nov. 15 at Woof Central (near Hwy 62 and Penn). You get three high-resolution photos of your dog to to use on your holiday cards or as gifts. I'll even have props! Antlers! Lights! Santa hats! And hopefully other holiday goodies.A few notes about the sessions:• You need to sign up asap as space is limited. How do you do that? You call or email Woof Central and get on their sign-up sheet. 612.866.9663 or info@woofcentraldogs.com.• I may have mentioned before that Woof Central offers one free trial day of doggie daycare to newcomers. This is the perfect chance to try it out! You need to make a reservation with them and you need to send ahead proof of your dogs vaccinations. But! This way, you can drop your pup off on your way to work, your dog gets to play with others all day long except for the time I take him/her away for a photo, and then you pick your dog up at the end of the day and pay only for the photo session. WHAT. A DEAL. And trust me when I tell you your pup will be happy and exhausted for the whole next day.• But what if you want a photo of you AND your dog TOGETHER? Yes, I'll do that as well! You need to call Woof Central and get on a separate sign up sheet for that, though.• What if you want photos of you and your three dogs and nine children and two grandparents? I will even *try* to accommodate that, but you still only get three images in the end (so everyone better keep those eyes OPEN!). And all photos have to be the same combo of  subjects -- no shots of kids alone, grandparents alone etc etc etc. ALSO! There is a $10 charge for each additional subject after the first three. A subject can be dog or human or alien. Whatever.• What if you want just a photo of  you and your kids and you don't care about the dog? Then you are in the wrong place and you should reach out to me separately for information. This day is for the dogs.• What if you want to come do this shoot for your dog but you are afraid to leave your dog at daycare all day? I will try to accommodate that. Please email me to discuss further.• What if you don't want Christmas props? That's fine! I will have you fill out a form when you drop the hound off telling me such so that you will get regular pet portraits with no hint of holidays.• How soon will I have the images back to you? I am going to try my very hardest to get everyone their electronic files by November 19 so you'll still have time for gifts, cards etc.Any other questions, please holler at me in the comments and I'll try to get you answered. I think this is going to be rad and so much fun! Please bring me your dogs and I will take wonderful care to get you a gorgeous holiday image!And for your internet share of the day, I'm being totally self-promotional and sending you back to Pets of Lyndale so you can remember how much fun I have taking dog portraits and why, exactly, you should get on this.

One of my favorite things to do during a shoot is to get a child in front of a mirror. It is so funny to me to watch them make faces and just, in general, get a kick out of themselves. Tonight I had a shoot where two sisters came with their Halloween costumes, and I loved this image of the eldest in her astronaut outfit. First, because I love any girl that wants to be an astronaut for Halloween (fist bump), but also, because of the face she is making in the reflection. Hilarious.And check out that awesome costume! Boots and everything!For your internet share of the day, I'm sending you to these portraits of Lions of the Serengeti. They are absolutely stunning. I would hope that photographer had a mighty zoom lens on his camera because these images are so dang close.

Today has been what every Saturday should be like. There was some sleeping in, a visit to the farmers' market, a long walk with the dogs, a little reading and we're about to embark on some major television viewing with a warm, homemade dinner by the fire and a big glass of wine. Oh October, I love you so much.The television watching tonight is "mandatory." Because Jamie got this brand-spanking new big, shiny TV for his birthday, it requires a new DVR machine which means once that's installed, we lose all the stuff we've been saving on our old DVR (like great episodes of Buffy! The series finale of Friday Night Lights! A few Scandals! Some Modern Family! Oh yeah, and about 25 episodes of CSI!). So we'll tackle "the important" shows this evening. This is my kind of homework.I also want to update you guys on Merlin. This could get tough, but hang in there with me, ok?So, the vet gave Merlin an full exam. To recap, in the last six months he's had: Something weird where his eyelid stopped working on his blue eye, then fixed itself, lots of digestive issues, some weird licking issues, a few seizures, and weakness and nerve issues in his legs. The vet very kindly informed me that those things together could likely be symptoms of a brain tumor.But! We are not going to go there. First, if it *is* a brain tumor, there is nothing I would do about it at this stage of my guy's life besides make him comfortable. And second, the testing and such that would be needed to determine that would freak my boy out even more than he is already when at the vet, and I'm not gonna do that to him. So we're going to put that information in a box and bury it deep in the back of our minds. Got it? OK. Moving on.What we will focus on instead is how to make him more comfortable and how to get these back legs of his stronger. The vet thinks he has a mix of arthritis and nerve damage. But remember, he also has Cushings which means his liver has it rough. Because of this, medications have to be chosen carefully.So... we decided to start a regimen of a small dose of pain meds and he will begin acupuncture in a few weeks. Go ahead and laugh at me and my choice of holistic medication for my dog, but my vet says she has seen remarkable results, and I want him to be comfortable. So judge away, I'm good with this choice.And maybe you'll get a photo or two. Who knows.He started the pain meds yesterday afternoon, and you guys, he is doing so well. He seems to have so much more energy and light in his eyes and he was great on his walk today and holy moly is it good to see this boy again.OK, now for my internet share of the day. How about a woman that uses an exacto knife to make gorgeous art out of the daily newspaper. I love this so much! 

Look at those cute, ruddy cheeks! I shot this little guy this afternoon before heading out to Surly Darkness fest for photos there. That's a street "festival" where people camp out overnight to wait for the release of a very limited edition local beer tomorrow morning. These guys were SERIOUS. They brought their flatscreen TVs, their fire pits, (um, their BEER, obviously), some brought woodfire stoves, there were meat smokers galore, tents and even heat lamps. My favorite part? Lots of dogs, including a gorgeous Saint Bernard named Rogue.For today's internet share of the day I'm sending you to these FASCINATING graphics on the nation's most popular baby names for both boys and girls from the 1960s until now. It is so interesting to see how they change state by state! And this little guy up above? His name is Liam. One of the most popular right now, apparently!

Isn't he cute? I am so lucky that he chose me. Well... I guess I'm so lucky that he said yes when I manned up and asked him out back in 1994. To give you a sense of how long ago that was a) I was spending the day at an amusement park with a girlfriend in Kansas City wearing cutoff army pants and a Luscious Jackson t-shirt and b) I called him using my MCI calling card from a pay phone to ask him to dinner that night. All you kids probably don't even remember the long-distance-calling-card wars of the 1990s, eh? (TEN CENTS A MINUTE!) Ah, memories.Anyway, it was this day in 1999 that we tied the knot in a tiny chapel in Lawrence, Kansas, and I have never once (even for a second) regretted it. This guy not only makes me laugh hysterically and serves as an excellent partner in crime (cooking and travel, especially), but he also takes amazing care of me (unloads the dishwasher! does my taxes! keeps track of the shuttersmack accounting! makes me tea! smothers my pups with love!). He has won my heart completely and forever. As a kid, I never dreamed that I would find a man to marry, much less one that would keep me smitten after all this time. I'm a very lucky lady.For my internet share of the day, I'm sending you to the most fabulous dog video I've seen in awhile called Shake. Watch it all. My favorite is the collie (obviously).