How cute are these two? Tonight was Jamie's mother's wedding anniversary, so we took her to dinner at Cafe Ena (YUM) before stopping by to visit our amazing and wonderful friends Carl and Stacy (who are set to be parents in just a few days!).I would write more, but it's snowing out and I really just want to watch bad TV with the family. So I'll send you on to my internet share of the day which is a program in Detroit where they are giving away houses to writers. RAD, right?Oh! And Merry Christmas!
Ah yes, Mags here has had another epic week.First, she developed a cold. Yes, a cold. I have had many dogs in my life, but never any with a random cold. This was not your traditional "Kennel Cough" but rather, another strain of cough. She was hacking up loogies all over the house.(Is that how you spell loogies? I really have no idea. Wait. I just checked twitter and apparently I'm right. See? All you people who think Twitter is only good for seeing what people had for breakfast are wrong. It is totally good for spell checking vulgar terms with your buddies at 8 pm on a holiday week.)Anyway! Yes, back to the dog coughing up mucus all over my house. So that was going on and she was a bit under the weather. And then? Then she ate a big bunch of poop in the backyard. BECAUSE THAT ALWAYS CLEARS A COLD RIGHT UP. No? No.You know what it does make you do? Vomit continuously for about 2 hours straight.But after a day of that, she's back to her normal antics. Most recently, she's decided the water feeding the Christmas tree is way better than the fresh water in her bowl. You know, because after this weekend, why NOT try a bunch of new foods and drinks?Ok, for your internet share of the day, I'm sending you to 
Today was my final shoot of 2013, and I could not have been happier with it! It was an adorable couple who was in town from Boston, and I photographed their engagement session (the wedding is this summer). I was thrilled to have a fresh snowfall and a couple that was just as excited about the weather as I was!You guys, this has been such a remarkable year full of amazingly fun and educational experiences. Wrapping it up with fresh snow and a happy couple could not have been better.The rest of the day was spent holiday shopping and making meatballs with my mother-in-law and then lounging around in front of the fire and watching The Sound of Music. Pretty dang awesome.For your internet share, I'm sending you to
How adorable are these two? Eh? So that blanket they are laying on? They LOVE it. We got it in the mail last night, but it said it was to Jamie Plesser, from Jamie Plesser. And we certainly didn't order it. Puzzling... Then we noticed a gift tag that said, "We wish you a happy holiday." Hmmm.... "we".... Still? We had no idea who it came from.Today we figured it out, and it was from Jamie's brother! One side is soft fleece and the other is leather (or something like suede). We left it on the couch and went upstairs to clean today (because Jamie's mom arrived tonight) and when we came back downstairs, this is what we found.For my internet share of the day, I'm going to send you to these 
Wow, thank goodness we made it to the weekend, eh? I worked all morning before heading out to an afternoon meeting and then cutting the day short for some last-minute holiday shopping and my ortho-bionomy appointment. My what, you ask? Oh, let me tell you.A while back, I started having a lot of neck and back pain. Probably because I lug a ton of gear around with me all day every day so I can take pretty pictures at a moment's notice.Well, that and I'm getting old.Anyway! I have always been nervous about Chiropractic visits because I hate the idea of sharp tugging and popping and I'm very afraid of further damaging my neck. So I started this last spring instead, and I looooove it. My fabulous therapist, Therese*, works on me for between 1-2 hours and she gets everything right. I asked her today if she considers my treatments to be ortho-bionomy and she said it's that mixed in with kinesiology and sacral and cranial work. And sometimes she does energy work as well. So over all? It's just about 2 hours of me being gently pulled and twisted and pushed on massaged and leaving in a happy place (and fully aligned). It is pretty fabulous (even the hair pulling is awesome!). And my neck is so much better.Today I shot this image of Therese's hands (where the magic comes from) and the bird feeder right outside her window. The way her table is positioned, I look out this window a lot during my sessions, and I blame this on my current fascination with birds. Also? That bird there is a nuthatch. They are super skittish and while they visit my feeder at home often, I have yet to snap a photo of one.Ok, and while we're talking about physical well being, I should update you all on my daily yoga pledge from earlier this month. It's been about 2 weeks, and I'm happy to report that I have managed a yoga practice every day. And man do I feel good. I will admit that there have been a few practices that have lasted only 15 minutes, but there are also days where it's more than an hour. For me, it's all about the discipline to take the time for myself each day and to work on my strength and flexibility.For your internet share of the day, I'm letting you in on 
Man you guys, today was rough. I don't have many hard days now that I have the best boss in the entire world (ahem), but today was an exception. While I did have an awesome shoot downtown at an agency that leant me the view above all day long, I also had some family drama, a very sick vizsla, some student drama, some bad luck and really, the hardest part was that one year ago today 
Man, the holidays are HERE. Today I got a huge shipment of all the photo gifts I had made for Christmas (well, I'm still missing one that's due in tomorrow) including all of my holiday cards (personal and business) and my new mailing labels. Huzzah! And now the holiday card envelope-stuffing party can commence! It will be taking place in front of the Buffy reruns I have tivo'd and accompanied by a big glass of wine. Wish me luck!And on that note, yesterday I offered up some gift ideas for people who have too much stuff. The theme was 
I don't know about you guys, but I have reached my limit on "stuff." Each year my family asks me what I want for Christmas, and I keep saying I really don't want a thing. But I know my family, and if I keep saying that, I'll get a box full of gifts that they think I want. So I dutifully fill out an amazon wish list and send it out (and let's be honest, it's all cool stuff! I'm just not sure how much I need any of it).This year, I've been toying with the idea of what I really, really want for Christmas. And the answer is time. I want so much more time. Time to sleep and time to cook and time to relax and time to read... I could go on. So I thought I'd come up with a holiday wish list that tackled that issue, and at the same time I can give you guys some gift ideas for your friends and family that a) you can order up to the last minute and b) don't have to be wrapped (who loves you?? I DO!).1. House cleaning. A four hour house cleaning by a professional can do wonders. I recently had this gifted to me, and it was glorious to see my stainless steel sink and appliances look brand new again, not to mention having the blinds dusted or all of the faucets in the house not just cleaned, but polished. Sure we can all keep up (or try to) with the vacuuming and the dishes, but it’s these nitty gritty details that the professionals excel at. (This usually runs about $35/hour)2. Snow removal. Many services operate on a monthly coverage – it’s like insurance: If it snows, you are covered and if it doesn’t, you lose the money. But living here in the Great White Tundra, we are almost guaranteed some snowfall December through March. Now, choosing the month to cover for your gift can be tricky… some say January (colder) while I, myself might go for March (because I cannot stomach another shovel by then). But contacting a snow removal service and paying for one month of coverage for someone you care about will win their heart many mornings in our darker months. (Pricing depends on where you live and how long your driveway/sidewalks are.)3. Errand running. How many weekends are being lost to trips for groceries, pharmacies, Target runs and car maintenance? Errand services will do all of this for you, and some will even take and pick up your kids/dogs from classes/practices/appointments/daycare. In the winter with snowy traffic, this could be a true time-saver (just make sure you really trust the person before sending them out to pick up dear Johnny, eh?). (Averages $30/hour)4. Dog poop pickup. Yup, you read that right. Picking up dog crap in the summer is bad enough, but standing in the freezing cold trying to dig it out of the ice brings on a whole new level of humility. Hiring a service to do this dirty work is a true gift, and they provide a great gift certificate with a baggie of tootsie rolls. You cannot make this stuff up. ($15.50/week for two dogs)5. Baby sitting. Giving parents a night out for some adult time is nothing new, but still greatly appreciated. You can either volunteer to watch the kid(s) yourself, or stealthily find out the contact info of their favorite sitter and work to hire him/her for them. The cost, obviously, depends on the sitter.Oh! And that photo up there? That's my tree this year! When we went to the lot to pick it up the guy asked if we wanted Douglass Fir or Frasier Fir and I said I wanted whatever was skinnier. He said, "Oh, you want a wild one then." Why, yes. Yes, I do like my life nice and wild.And speaking of wild! For your internet share of the day, I'm going to show you a photo of a Zonkey. A what?