Author: Ali Carras

I am a stubmbler…and it is addictive.

My newest addiction: this site, which lead to my addiction to this site, which lead to my addiction to this site, which lead to my addiction to this site. So deadly. I guess I am going to turn whiter than I already am now that I will probably never go outside and see the sun. Gosh.

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The past two weekends were a treat and a half. 1.) no weddings. 2.) great weather and outdoor activities 3.) lots of me time 4.) lots of shopping 5.) lots of food 6.) lots of baby play time and family.

Not too long ago I gave myself a gift to the salon and got my hair chopped. I realize now what sort of “politics” happen in salons. I have to admit that I have not been to a salon in about 2 years. Yes, I have cut my hair several times in those 2 years. Yes, I pratice good hygeine. But, a simple cut on my straight-arse hair isn’t too difficult and yet salons charge $65 or more for something that always comes out the same and takes maybe 25 minutes tops to cut and style. My solution to this wallet drain? Cooper. He does a might fine job of cutting my hair when needed and he is cheap (although when I had him attempt to give me layers it didn’t quite work as planned which wasn’t a problem, it eventually grows back). Anyhow, my stylist for the day did a very good job of pointing out that I hadn’t been to this salon in two years. To which I said, “Yes, that is correct” and thought LEAVE IT AT THAT! I saw that she had my client profile printed which listed all the products I had not purchased and all the cuts and styles I had not gone to her for. So far, I surely was not part of her “elite group,” that was for certain.  She proceeded to wash my hair and rushed through any sort of scalp massage, then cut and barely styled faster than the speed of light. I was suckered into buying an overpriced product, and was whisked out the door. I know a lot of people have their “go-to” stylists and feel an allegience to one person. The upside to this is that they (hopefully) eventually know what you like and what works for your hair/skin/face, but the downside is you feel trapped into going to them forever. Others, like myself, don’t have one consistent person so we become nobodies to stylists and get essentially get the scraps in service. I am not sure which situation is better. All I know is that I cannot blow another $100 in the next couple of months. There are more important needs for that money!

Speaking of spending money, and buying things… in addition to my “transformative salon experience” I also finally found a pair of boots which I have been on the woman hunt for for nearly two years or more years now. I can’t tell you how many boots I have tried on that didn’t work for my little calves. Although I was looking for something a bit more cowboy-ish I am completely in love with my find and can’t wear them enough. My new love:

A series of unfortunate events….  

***Warning***The following photos are so cute they may lead to pregnancy (not for me, for you).

This past weekend was “Girls Gone Wild 2007.” My mom, sister, 18 month old niece, two female golden retrievers and I lived it up in Boulder and yes, we were wild. There was pole dancing, topless cruising, crazy nights in the hot tub, and drinking in the afternoon. Well, sort of… Amelia (18 months) did “ring around the rosie” on a pole in a restaurant, we went for a jaunt in a new convertible with the top down, Amelia took a bath (while eating ice cream), and we shared one passionfruit/mango beer at noon between three lightweight ladies.

Of course, the only record I have of our Girls Gone Wild Adventure involve Amelia…

Thai iced tea with tapioca

What does a girl do when she goes shopping and then gets to the parking lot and decides that she needs to save her money so she goes back into the store to return a few items? She rewards herself with a bubble tea. Not only did I return some unnecessary items, but I sold a great pile of used books to a local bookstore. In a way, I almost came out ahead. While drinking my sweet bubble tea and chewing on the gelatinous tapioca, I realized how cool the oranges and blues were together. I loved the orange of the cup with the orange-ish drink with the orange straw, complemented by the baby blues. So, I said, “Assi, don’t chug it down…take a photo!” And that is what I did. And here is the photo. I LOVE THIS PHOTO! I never imagined that a boba drink could look so dramatic or sharp. Oh, the wonders of photography.

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I will probably talk a little more about this later, but lately at work I have been doing a lot of posting on some social networking and shopping sites. If anyone is a fan of kaboodle or thisnext, or stylehive or flickr or wists.com…look up Design Public and see what I have posted! Comments are always appreciated especially if you see something you really enjoy.

W. Buckland visit

Yes, Wade. You knew it was going to happen. Your photo is on my blog. You may be mad or you may be embarrassed, but I think you will get over it. I am sorry for cropping myself out of the photo…I looked like crap. You, on the other hand, look fantastic and having me in the frame took away from your good looks. Thanks for stopping by for beerz and burritoz. We can’t wait to have you come back!

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My dad stopped through Oakland last Sunday before he had to drive back to SoCal. We had a very special father/daughter moment. We went out for brunch and had pumpkin pancakes and crepes, then headed back to my apartment to do the one thing I had been dying to do: watch the Raider/Bronco game together. I don’t know what my problem is this year, but I have really been into football. While Cooper edits photos of pretty ladies in bridal gowns, I am watching football, burping, eating chips, and drinking beer (not all the time, just on occasion). It was really a treat to get to watch the game with my papa because he is a football genius and knows how tall every player is, how much they weigh, when they were signed to play for each team, what their special skills are…and he calls an event before it happens. At one point during a commercial we were watching two other teams play and he said, “Watch this guy. He will receive the kickoff and run it all the way back.” And he did. It was a beautiful day outside and we could have been out walking or something, but the time spent watching the game with my dad is a moment I will remember forever. Thanks, papa.

Cooper taking a bubble bath

I decided that since Cooper now uses this as his main MySpace image, I am allowed to post my photo. Bubble baths are not a typical occurence in our little apartment. Only when we come home from 12 hours of non-stop and action packed shooting and our muscles ache like none other does Cooper feel the need to take a bath (because standing in the shower requires too much effort). You wouldn’t believe how hard wedding photography can be on your body! At the last wedding I had to sprint to the top of a hill during the ceremony to get a shot of the entire setting with the bride and groom at the alter and then sprint back down before they exchanged vows/rings/kiss, etc. This is exceptionally difficult when the ceremony is 10-15 minutes and I am wearing a dress and sandals and carrying a 15 lb camera. I am not complaining, just explaining. Anyhow, the day ended with a big little boy taking a bubble bath. It was such a funny scene that I had to take some photos. I love the simple color tones in this photo…they really make his face look sharp and crisp. I think it was my favorite photo of the day! (Just kidding, the wedding was very nice).

We have wedding number 5 for this month tomorrow. It has been one heck of a busy month, but soon we will have a minor lull before the 3 Mexico weddings hit us like a brick. Aye carumba!

p.s. Cooper was covered with bubbles so I didn’t see or take any pictures of anything other than his face. 

Well, Cooper and I finally did it. We had a semi-real dinner party.  It was semi-real because we had to eat off our coffee table since we don’t have a real table table, but real because the food that Cooper made (I did the dishes) was amazing, the company was fantastic, and the apartment was relatively clean. The meal was Thai inspired and interactive, beginning with “make your own spring rolls” followed by a pad thai demonstration while masaman curry bubbled in the background and mangoes and sticky rice sweetened with time. We all had to loosen our waistlines after the main course, but it was worth it. 

The monster pile of pad thai and masaman curry

This past weekend Cooper and I shot a wedding for a really creative couple who added a lot of personal touch to their special day in ways I have never seen before.  The highlight: framed centerpieces of the couple with an image of the bride on one side and the groom on the other.  Their body positions were similar on both sides so you could “interact” with the frame and put her head on his body and his feet on her body, etc.  This certainly takes the cake over the traditional flower arrangements!   

The bride creates the most amazingly detailed handcrafted clothes for dolls as seen below.  The dolls themselves have so much character, but the clothes she makes take the hobby/collection to another level altogether. Impressive! 

 

Yeah, so…Labor Day is overrated.  Why not labor your heart out on Labor Day just like you thank your heart out on Thanksgiving?  At least that is what Cooper and I did two weekends ago…we labored.  Boy did it hurt on Monday!  I felt so darn hung over but all I had to drink was water and gatorade.  At least we had one moment of fun on that long weekend…our friend Greg was in the area and we met for lunch.  Lunch turned into talking shop about cameras which turned into Cooper selling his old Canon 10D to our friend with an amazing talent.  I actually think Greg might make for a better assistant than I am for two reasons:

1.) He looks better in a black shirt with a monkey head on it than I do

and

2.) He has a real creative eye.  I love, love, love the way his photos have such a vintage look to them.  He has mastered the art of the polaroid and tilt shift lens.  This guy has come so far with his photography and it has only been less than a year since he started taking photos as a real hobby.  I would highly recommend checking out his flickr site.  He really could take over my job. 

I gave Cooper a piggy bank for his birthday in June and now I am obsessed with piggy banks and want to start a collection.  No, Allison.  Don’t do it.  You don’t have the space and you don’t have enough money to fill them!  Maybe I should just get a real pot bellied pig and call it good.

Cooper and I have started to collect old skool glasses.  I can’t say why at this point in time, please hold on to yourself and wait.