Author: Ali Carras

At a very young age I lost site of my mom in a local grocery store in Boulder, Colorado. I did, however, have the smarts to go to the customer service counter. The kind woman at the counter asked "What is your name little girl?" My reply: "Assi." The woman gave me a look like, "Are you playing with me you little devil?" but she proceeded to blast on the loudspeaker the "We have a lost Assi at the front of the store." Customers throughout the store gagged and giggled, but my mom knew exactly who the woman was referring to: the mullet haired little girl with a tongue too big for her mouth, wearing a leotard, skirt, tights, and jelly shoes (with florescent green laces in them...even though they didn't need the laces). A shy little character for whom every little detail in life was a huge thing. I am pleased to report that today I am able to fully pronounce Allison (aka Ali), but the Assi pseudonym has always stuck, evolving into Aszi. As for the shy little character for whom every little detail in life was a huge thing? Some things never change. I have closed my comments due to mass amounts of spam that no filter could ever control. Feel free to contact me abeckord [at] gmail.com!

catching up

Holy shazbot I’ve been lacking on the photo front lately. Not because I haven’t wanted to but life and little things are getting in the way. More on that later (winka, winka).

But, to get myself caught up on what we’ve been up to, how’s about two photos from the road on our road trip to Washington in May? The second image is my dream world.

One sad side story: we went to Red Robin on the way home (because we couldn’t find anything better to eat) and I didn’t want anything on the menu so I cried. At Red Robin. I seriously wept tears at Red Robin because I couldn’t find anything to eat. I’m so embarrassed but so it goes and the side salad and mac ‘n cheese blob I ended up eating tasted mighty good. To end this drama saga on a high note, after our meal the solar eclipse was happening so we got to watch it and probably burned our eyeballs.

ctron working = an extra large science fair project

This picture of Ctron at work looks to me like an extra large science fair project. I was a finalist in the science fair once…or I should say my dad did a good job with the saliva swabs we took from our dog’s mouth to grow bacteria cultures and test various antibiotic creams. But, I’m pleased to say that at 31 years old I’ve crafted the perfect science fair project: “how the life of a modern day photographer causes gray hairs and premature aging” (although I’d having to say Cdawg is aging quite nicely). A+

a citrus explosion up in here, plus a recipe for meyer lemon bars

We’ve had a wonderful citrus explosion happening up in here. We bought a flat of oranges that were not going anywhere too fast and I feared having to dump moldy oranges in the compost (oh the waste!) so I bought an old school juicer, the kind that requires muscle and hand strength and I turned our flat of dying oranges and clementines into good fresh pulpy juice!

And before that onslaught of orange-y citrus, a friend of ours gave us a bunch of wonderful meyer lemons from the garden of a friend. So I made some meyer lemon bars that are not “egg-y” tasting, ohhhhhhhh so good! (This image is of the very last one, I had to take a picture to immortalize the last few bites).

The recipe:

Continue reading “a citrus explosion up in here, plus a recipe for meyer lemon bars”

At this time last year…

At the time last year in Boulder, CO it was starting to lightly snow. At the ungodly hour of 10:15am-ish a small group of special people gathered in a field. The girls kicked off their heels in exchange for rubber boots, a banjo man played under a tree and probably froze his fingers off, some kids in shorts stopped by to sing us a tune, my brother the reverend donned his finest white suit and white top hat and the Ctron and I finally married each other…

A nice way to celebrate a good 10 years of “courting”…

We escaped the cold for some great food, the warmth of a fire and just the cozy feeling you get when you are around good people…

Within this first year as a couple we earned about $4 back in taxes (getting married isn’t really much of a tax relief) and we are plotting out what might be next…maybe we’ll move to Kentucky or Minnesota, maybe we’ll become nomads and live in an RV like I’ve always wanted, maybe we’ll start raising fainting goats, maybe we’ll start making hecka good sauerkraut and selling it at farmer’s markets, maybe we’ll just continue to be slaves to computers…I don’t know. But, our lives are certainly going to be changing and it is all really exciting. If anything I’m glad to be embarking on a life long adventure with a Ctron…he is really one swell guy. Feeling very blessed.

p.s. I’m also really really really thankful to the brave souls Jenna and Matt Walker who captured our muddy mess with frozen feet and didn’t complain one bit. Being on the other end of all of this we feel SO incredibly fortunate to have had them take our photos and immortalize our awkwardness in front of the camera. You guys are rad.

p.s.s. I promise not to write stuff like this every year. Just had to do it this one time. Ok, maybe once more when we celebrate our 50 years together.

i had me hairs cut

I know, no big deal. Girls are supposed to get their hairs cut all the time….like every 6 weeks of so. Well, I work from home so few people see my hairs on a regular basis so I don’t get them cut that often. But lately my hairs have been feeling really dull and dead. And I think I’m losing some hairs. So I made an appointment and after work I got my hairs cut. I have not had a lot of really amazing experiences with hair cutting people, and they usually charge me way too much to cut all twenty five of my hairs but I thought I deserved a little perking up. And this is the result (mind you, this is the day after the appointment, i.e. it has been slept on and such:

And while it isn’t anything revolutionary I think I like it and I had a good experience with the hair cutting dude and I gave him a good tip and my hairs feel alive again. So that is what is happening in my world. Hairs got a little choppin’. That is all.

Pretzel buns make my millenium

Food epiphanies. We’ve all had them. I’ll never forget when Ctron snuck a fried cheese appetizer at a wedding we shot in Italy and while I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off Cdawg was frozen solid, fully engaged in the fried cheese moment he was having with himself. Well, one of my many “food epiphany” moments was with some friends at Suppenkuche’s biergarten. Granted, it was a beautiful sunny weekend in January, and granted we were drinking liters of foamy/bubbly beverages…

But their butter charcuterie pretzel knot. Oh my. It had pickles. It had butter. It had meats. It was salty. It was pretzely. It was amazing. I could have eaten 100 and then had a coronary from all the salt/fat. But I would do it (maybe).

And of course I recently had a craving for one of these knots of pure delight. It was midweek and in the evening and rain was on the horizon so we didn’t go to the wonderful biergarten…we tried to recreate this pure salty pleasure. And while it wasn’t 100% there is sure was good and sure was close.

To make:

If you are crafty, make your own pretzels of pretzel buns. We were not crafty and used the pretzel buns from Trader Joe’s
Lightly pan fry said pretzel bun in some butter.
Layer on some favorite charcuterie meats and pickle slices.
Maybe add a bit more butter if you are feeling sinful.
EATTTT!

Notice my peas. Yes, I lived in the mid west and I like peas. Oh, and that isn’t Fanta. It is tropical carrot juice with a splash of bubbly water but nonetheless the image of Fanta makes me want to dance.

I know you’se people are shy but I REALLY want to hear what food epiphanies you have had in your life. I like food and I like epiphanies and I like stories. Tell me!

something I learned from a friend: how to make whipped coconut body butter

I have to share a new blog a friend started that I just LOVE: Essence of Wellness. Having grown up in Boulder and after living nearly 10 years in the bay area and in Berkeley I **should** be more of a naturalist junkie/modern hippie but I’d say I’m half and half. I try to buy local but don’t always. I try to buy all natural and/or organic everythings but don’t always. I try to eat complex carbs but don’t always. I try to limit my sugar but don’t always. I try to shower but don’t always (ha!). I try to compost but don’t always. etc., etc. But learning how Ashley uses essential oils to create safer cleaning products, or to help ward off colds or to make her own deodorant intrigues me. She has so many good thoughts and approaches to how to make a more natural well balanced life…give it a look-see!

Since coconut water and coconut oil has been all the rage I’ve been trying to grasp what the hubbub is all about. I’m a little torn with the trend for two reasons: 1.) Most coconuts are not grown in the US thus leaving a pretty big carbon footprint for something you can drink in 2.5 seconds and 2.) the ADA (American Dietetic Association) doesn’t yet give a big raving thumbs up to coconut oil. But, I’ve heard it really is so good for you. So, what’s a girl to do? Small does are ok, right? Anyhow, while I’ve been trying to include a little more coconut oil in my diet I’ve also taken one of Ashley’s suggestions from her blog and made my own whipped coconut/lavender body butter! Yee haw! It is simple and easy and wonderful. I actually like it more than my semi expensive paraben free lavender shea lotion.

I don’t even need to illustrate this but since I have not taken any photos for fun in a little while I thought I’d show you just how easy it is to make your own lotion.

Just compile all the things you need, a whipper, coconut oil, an essential oil of choice, a spatula:

Add the coconut oil and several drops of the essential oil/s. Whip it. Whip it good. (note, the stage in the photo below is not whipped, you should whip it on high for about 6 minutes).

Put it in a tightly sealed jar and smell good and have enjoy your soft skin!

one other thing

One other thing…while in Palm Springs we made it a habit of welcoming all the folks coming into our double wide modular 55+ home with an “It’s a Small World” serenade. Notice the girl from Holland holding the flowers and the rest of us are from Africa or something with headwraps and fruit baskets on our heads (although I’m holding a Russian nut cracker doll who helped us keep the beat). We are either from Africa or Afghanistan…I’m not really sure…whatever the mind of 6 year old was dreaming up.

I’ve been out of it

I’ve been out of the blogging/e-mail world a bit, sorry about that. I guess I’ve just been enjoying life in the double-wide modular 55+ community in Palm Springs, playing Uno, sitting pool side and taking occasional jaunts to the bocce court or putting green. (Parents are attempting the snow bird life and I guess I am too). The biggest take away from my time in PS is that I’m pretty darn good at being an 80 year old. Pretty darn good indeed. A few highlights:

A trip to The Bruery. Our good college friends started The Bruery and if I have not said it enough before I’ll say it again, I’m the biggest, proudest soccer mom. Pat and Rachel are AMAZING with everything they’ve touched…from the incredible beer, to their tasting room, to their branding, to their staff (lots of good looking folks, ha!), to their incredible/professional warehouse, to their Provisions store, to the decor in all of the above, to their sweet little girl, to their amazing home…these guys are genuinely good, solid, smart, generous folks. I don’t know if we can EVER repay them all that they have done to enrich our lives and I’m not just saying that to be nice.

Then there is breakfast in bed. Or at least pampering two little girls as they watch their toons. Pretty cute. Side note: notice the retired person’s decor. Solid.

And on the last day it is now tradition to jump in the cold pool with our pajamas on. At first the girls thought it would take the flowers off their clothes or ruin their unds but when I showed them that it would all be ok they wanted to jump in all the time with their clothes on…because really…when you swim 8 out of your 24 hour day it takes a lot of effort to put your suit on, take it off, put clothes on, take them off, put your suit in, take it off, put clothes on, etc.

How to Narrow Down Your Photos – A Blurb Guest Post

In case you missed it, a friend who works at Blurb.com asked me to do a guest post on their blog sharing my process for narrowing down 2985928375938 photos to just your favorites. This is not an easy process especially since the nature of the digital world breeds trigger happy fingers. The easiest way to slim down your selection is to be a more thoughtful photographer and waiting for the perfect moment (i.e. pretend like you are shooting film and each click is $3.00!) but since people are not quite there yet I gave my words of wisdom on how to be selective. It isn’t easy, let me tell ya. When I first started and had to narrow down 1,000 photos I was lucky if I’d get it down to 650. Now I can say I have mastered the art of being choosy and can get 1,000 down to under a hundred…but this all depends on the type of shoot/story. A very big thank you to Maggie and Blurb for giving me the opportunity to share my process. If you have more thoughts or a better workflow/tactic I’d LOVE to hear!