Meet the other Mr. and Mrs. Plesser. These are Jamie's parents, and they've been married now for fifty years. Yup, five-oh. As a gift, Jamie's brother's family and Jamie and I flew to L.A. to meet up with the Senior Plessers and we're all staying on Manhattan Beach -- which is super nice.We got in around 3 this afternoon and headed straight to In-N-Out for some amazing hamburgers and fries. The rest of the day was spent exploring the neighborhood and surrounding beach. Sadly, it was cloudy and cold when we got in, so no real beach time yet. Hoping tomorrow is nicer as I have my sights on renting a bike and heading down toward Santa Monica. Woot!If you want to see more photos from the day, they're up over here. Also? Yup, that's my new hat again. Everybody loves it!

Today I got a tilt-shift lens! Well, haha, not really mine, per se. Just mine for the next five days until I have to return it. But still! I have faked tilt-shifting with photoshop and my iphone apps etc, etc, but now I get to play with the real deal! Very exciting for us photographer types.Which reminds me... all you non-photographer types might not know what in the world I'm talking about. A tilt-shift lens tilts the plane of focus in the lens so the blurry parts of the photo aren't necessarily due to the normal depths of field. It's complicated. Just know that I love the effect, and I can't wait to travel with this puppy. (Altho she is pretty heavy.) (And yes, my lenses are "shes.")Anyway, I took a lunch break at work today and meandered down to the Guthrie to play with the new lens and test it all out. Hopefully you'll see different uses of it in the next few days... on the BEACH. Yup, heading to California tomorrow. Sunny and 79. Cannot wait.

Look at that! You get me two days in a row! If there is one thing I hate, it's being in front of the camera. Seriously -- I feel like such a dork. But my Mom sent me this awesome hat for my birthday, and I wanted her to see how cute we both look in it (and guess who wants his own now?). Great for summer, eh? Or for a weekend trip to Los Angeles...

Oh, hi there. Yeah, that's me ... I think I was about six in that photo. My mom included this photo in the birthday card with my present today. Clearly, I was just as shy and timid as a child as I am now, ahem.So my grandmother used to always buy me these swimsuits that were all sparkly for Christmas. The trouble was, as I recall, the instructions on this suit said you couldn't get it wet. I remember being baffled as to why anyone would ever own a swimsuit that had to stay dry. And as a six-year-old, I had a pretty valid point. But don't you love this pose? This is what I used to do when my parents would tell me to pose for a photo. What in the world was I thinking? Did I suspect that this is what runway models did? I mean, who in the world does this? Apparently I do. Maybe I had seen Saturday Night Fever?Also, my favorite part of this photo has to be my uncle in the background looking like "Oh my God, what is this child doing? I am so embarrassed." That's my Uncle Randy, who I believe reads this blog. (Hi Randy! Look how young we were!).Oh yeah. About that. I'm now old and was not carded at dinner tonight for my wine. Booo.

Meet Daisy Mae. Her mom must have taken her on the world's longest walk before our shoot today, because this pup was willing to do anything I asked -- treat or no treat. I mean, how many pups will even don a party hat? And then high five? While staying sitting on a *swinging* bench? Seriously, this pooch was pooped.I don't normally pose dogs too much in my photo shoots because, well, I like their own personalities to shine through without a lot of props and such. But this girl is havin' a birthday party in a few weeks, and we needed some shots for the invitations. And? Man, was she willing to pose. What a sweetie.

Today was Rock the Garden over at the Walker, and it rained all day. Honestly? It wasn't that bad. I had bought a hooded rain jacket, and I was comfortable for most of the day. Well... dry anyway. My favorite act was My Morning Jacket, who I'm not even that nuts about normally, but they put on a great show. My least favorite was Neko Case who I normally love and today was boring and crabby and looked like she rolled out of bed to put on a quick show before heading back to the sofa for a 'Hoarders' marathon. I hate to sound so snotty, but when 10,000 people show up to see you play, please brush your hair.This photo is of the drummer from Booker T and the MGs. He loved hamming it up for the camera, and I loved shooting him doing so. What a fun guy.I saw so many friends today (and even met some Twitter friends in real life). Sometimes this city being so small is a really wonderful and fun thing. Then tonight, a few of us headed over to Muddy Waters. They just reopened at Lyndale and Lake, and I suspect this will become a favorite spot. Great drinks, amazing food, and a fantastic patio. Oh! And free wifi and loads of outlets for the laptops. Yeah, this could be love.Also, I shot a gazillion photos today of all the other bands. I'll post those tomorrow, I promise. Right now I have a sleeping dog at my feet and a sleeping husband at my side, and I'm starting to see double due to exhaustion. And maybe the PBR tallboy I had at the bar had something to do with it as well. (One beer + standing in the rain all day at a music festival = seeing double and needing to crash). So check back later for those shots.UPDATE: Photos are up! Go enjoy them over here!

This is Republic! It's a new bar (and restaurant) in town that I've been meaning to try out for a bit. Margaret took me there today for a late birthday lunch. The food was so good! And what a fun bar, eh? I love the woodsy feel.