dusk

I was determined to take pictures at some point today, but first there was a boring breakfast, then a shower, then a trip to the library (but I drove, so no pics), and then homework and fashion shoot planning and re-planning. And lots of phone conversations and thinking things out with Mom. A boring lunch, and a REALLY delicious bowl of Fresh Apple Crisp with whipped cream -- I will post about this tomorrow!

Well, it wasn't until dusk that I was picture inspired. :) I love this time of year. The mix of dead plants with new plants, the mix of the golden setting sun and the cool colors. 

Quinn made a mustache for my computer. It started with making a mustache for his computer - his mustache is black and curled - I will make sure to take a picture tomorrow. :D He thought mine should be orange. It's appropriate. ^.^

DUDE. I am addicted to these honey roasted peanuts. When we watch at night, I can eat them and eat them. It's kind of a choice: Do I quilt or do I eat peanuts? Because I can't quilt AND eat them, they are so messy. ;)

The trip to the library was to get a copy of Jane Eyre. My last exam in British Lit is to write a three page essay on some question or another about a book. I had a few book options, one of which was Sense and Sensibility, but how can you not choose to prove that Rochester is an example of a Byronic hero?? He's like the PERFECT Byronic hero!

The only copy the library had was this tiny, tiny book with bible paper pages and that cool ink drawing on the front. Kind of cool.

Did you know that Charlotte Brontë wrote under the pen name "Currer Bell?" In fact, all three Brontë sister's used pen names, men's names, so that readers didn't know they were women. Charlotte was Currer Bell, Anne was Acton Bell, and Emily was Ellis Bell. In their time, women writing literature was so scorned that the easiest way to be published was to assume a man's name.

Good night! Going to go make a pumpkin pie. Might post pictures later tonight.

- caroline

P.S. Why is this song coming up on Coldplay radio??? Really love your peaches, wanna shake your treeeee. Ugh. It's only the catchiest line of innuendo. Ugh. Now it's just stuck in my head.

early morning

Today I got up hours and hours before my usual time - like at maybe 7am? -_- We were supposed to go to Tucker Plantation to see the pond before the fashion shoot, but like a dummy, I didn't string together the HUGE thunderstorm the previous evening to what a mud-hole the road to the pond would be. So I tossed and turned from 4am to 5:58am, trying to go to sleep but dreading the alarm clock, alternately starving and having to pee but ignoring it. I seriously don't know how you people do it, the ones that wait for an alarm clock every morning. I would be physically sick every day and eventually keel over and die.

Of course, by 5:58 (that's what my watch said, by the glow of the flood lights Dad left on, shining through my blinds and curtain), I could finally fall back to sleep. Like, really to sleep. I was a groggy mess when the my iPod alarm shrilled its Old Telephone tone at me, but it was so pretty outside... I had to take pictures. Then, I realized - Duh, there would be no pond tour today. Woke myself up enough to play a tiny round of phone tag with April at Tucker Plantation -- then I was too hungry to go back to sleep. Must find Mom and tell her not to wake up. Which is hard to do without waking her up. (I say that as if I didn't know where she was. Correction: I knew where she was.)

So, I ended up waking Mom. Then we were both hungry. Oatmeal, I said, I want oatmeal. Nice executive decision, no diddling over options like eggs or cereal or... what else do people have for breakfast? I go downstairs while Mom takes a shower and see the previous night's coffee cake on the counter - ohhhh, cake. But I should have oatmeal.

I had to go out while the oatmeal was bubbling away. At first, it was gray, and the sun that was filtering through the clouds was white on the grass and porch. But then, all of the sudden, the clouds go away and everything goes gold. There was this beautiful contrast between the dark rainclouds and the yellow sunlight.

Can you see how the tree is covered in moss? It's so pretty.... And, to cap off my story, Mom came downstairs, and I told her that I really ought to have made eggs and had eggs and cake, because you can't eat oatmeal and cake. She thought eggs and cake sounded weird - wasn't sure about that. I think eggs and cake sounds lovely.

Moral of this story? Don't set a flipping alarm without purpose unless prepared to turn that purpose into a blog post with pictures. :D

Epilogue:

I took a nap. My brain was all fuzzy. I would be a useless person in the corporate world, the educational world, and all of the other worlds that require early rising (yes, I acknowledge their existence!). Absolutely useless.

Fin.

nikon

These are all photos taken with Amy's Nikon. Sara is seriously thinking about switching camera companies, and after using Amy's Nikon, I am on board. The pictures are so bloody sharp. It's ridiculous. Now, you probably can't tell from my 700 pixel wide images on here, but it's impressive. And nothing really beats a sharp photo... Well, a full frame 50mm shot is pretty sweet, but when you mix that with utter sharpness, wow. Those are some nice images.

On the right is the quilt that Mom made for Lucy. It is soooo cute. :)

She's so cute and ticklish. :D Her expressions change so fast. She went from smiling up there, to that epic straight face, to laughing again. So silly.

So, those are my favorite from the day of Nikon shooting. I love them all, they are so nice and sharp and clean. Mmmm. :) If only I could afford one myself!

coffee cake

It started thunder-storming here a few hours ago. I used to not like them. When I was a kid, I had this Little Mermaid (I'm pretty sure it was Little Mermaid) wrist watch for a little while. I left it in my friend's sandbox by accident, and it rained that night and killed the watch. After that, I had this sense of having left something perishable in the rain every time it stormed.

Nowadays storms are more fun. They are a reason to turn off my computer and think of other things to do. Tonight, I quilted for a little bit (I know, I should have been doing homework), and then made a coffee cake, which turned out soooo yummy. It's from Mom's old Quick Breads, Soups and Stews book, by Mary Gubser. (Credit where credit is due!)

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

Filling:

½ cup brown sugar, packed

⅓ cup all purpose flour

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

¼ cup cold butter, cut in pieces

1 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped

Cake:

2 cups all purpose flour

1½ teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup butter

2 large eggs

1 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°. Spray with cooking oil or whatever suits your fancy.

For the filling: Combine brown sugar, flour and cinnamon in a food processor. With metal blade, pulse until ingredients are mixed. Add cold butter and process until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. (My mixture did not resemble coarse cornmeal. :P) Transfer to bowl and stir in chopped nuts! Set aside.

For the cake: Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a bowl and set aside. (Hehe, my filling looks like turkey stuffing in black and white)

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine butter and sugar. Beat until "light and fluffy." Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Alternately add dry ingredients and sour cream to the butter mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Scrape down sides and beat until creamy. (This is such a pretty batter.)

Stir in vanilla and mix well.

Pour half the batter into the prepared pan, spreading it evenly. Sprinkle filling over the batter - all the filling!

Pour second half of the batter over the filling, spread it evenly. It can be a little tricky to spread with the filling wanting to stick, but it's not a huge deal if there are some exposed bits. 

Bake for about 40 minutes, check to see if it's done. The book says it may need another ten, depending on ovens. 

Remove cake to wire rack, let cool for 10 minutes, then pop it out of the pan.

This turned out DELICIOUS. Seriously, it was soooo good. Try it.

trapeze + the oscars

Today doesn't come with any pictures, but it was a very fun day. First, Logan, Sara and I met up so that I could give them a run down on the fashion shoot. Then I had a trapeze workshop at Canopy Studio - never done trapeze before, but it was really, really fun.  I think I'll sign up for the beginner's classes in March... It's a strange type of -- what is it, exactly? Dance? Gymnastics? I guess it's closer to gymnastics.

After I got home, Jordan came and took some promo pics of me in her old Homecoming dress. It was admittedly fun to frolic around the yard in a fluffy dress. Jordan took the pictures, not I, but maybe I can find an acceptable shot to share with you. ;-)

Just now, I attempted to work out, but, alas, I'm just too tired. So, it's to bed with me. BUT, not without saying a huge CONGRATULATIONS to:

To Colin and The King's Speech. It was a bloody brilliant movie - one of the best I've ever seen - and I did a little dance for him, though I was rooting for him to do one on stage. And, since it was the only nominated film (besides Inception) that I managed to see, I'm giving my Supporting Actor award to Geoffrey Rush, because he was flipping good too. :)

And what the heck is wrong with James Franco? Maybe it's that he's a normal person, and he looks lame next to the unbelievably charming Anne Hathaway, but why does he look like a complete stoner in everything I've seen him in, including the Awards? I didn't see 127 Hours (and don't want to), and I'm sure he was amazing in it, but what a bore on stage.

Has anyone seen True Grit? Is it really awesome, so awesome that it makes up for what looks like a depressing story?

Okay, I'll stop talking about the Oscars. Good night, everyone.


p.s. Colin makes me want to watch his Pride and Prejudice. Just a heads up, Mom. :D

the grass is getting greener

I finally bought new underwear from Aerie online a few days ago - it took forever to get them! I am kind of psyched about it - what is it about new underwear that makes me so happy? Is it just me? :)

We drove over to Tucker Plantation today. This big farmland/wedding venue is going to be the location of the Red Dress Boutique spring fashion shoot. I've been organizing the shoot for about a month - still had some loose ends to tie up. Unfortunately, our lovely consultant at the plantation was unexpectedly busy today and we didn't get to see the pond, but now that my camera is back, I took lots of pics of everywhere else. These were my favorites.

Can you believe how fast the grass is turning green again? When we talked about this shoot a month ago, we were all worried that the scenes were going to look like winter. But no, Georgia weather is fantastic and the grass is getting greener and the patches of purple flowers are gorgeous. By next Sunday (the fashion shoot), it's going to be perfect.

You may be wondering how we are going to take fashion photography at these locations - there are more places that I'm not posting. It's going to be awesome. I'm so excited.

Basking on the front porch steps has been so nice. My cheeks are all pink from a slight sunburn. It is such a strange feeling, when the sun is hot and the breeze is cold. The sun isn't just warm and the breeze isn't just cool. It really is hot and cold. But it's so refreshing.

Did a bit of spring cleaning this evening, washed my sheets and cleaned up my room, did laundry. A clean, made-up bed is the best. One of my favorite things in the whole world.

We had oatmeal for dinner tonight. Oatmeal and toast. It was super yummy - I love mixing up meals.

Time to study some French. Four exams to go!

Much love,
- caroline

toes

Today was fun.