.all my favorite people.

the mister and i had a wonderful evening in boston last night.  we headed up a bit early for some coffee at deisel (in somerville), then hit up the buffallo exchange (yay new skirt for $6.50!  in my current favorite color: mustard), dinner at a delicious thai food place we happened across, then . . .

a lovely concert from over the rhine.  they've been making music for what . . . 20 years now?  soul music.  full of honesty, love, brokenness and southern hospitality.  the crowd was . . . a bit . . . adult contemporary (esp compared the the bright eyes show we saw two weeks ago), but it went along great with the mellow, jazzy vibe of the night.

favorite song on the record (currently spinning on vinyl in the record player):



this goes out to you . . . you know who you are.

ALL MY FAVORITE PEOPLE
(Linford Detweiler)

All my favorite people are broken
Believe me
My heart should know

Some prayers are better left unspoken

I just wanna hold you

And let the rest go

All my friends are part saint and part sinner
We lean on each other
Try to rise above

We’re not afraid to admit we’re all still beginners
We’re all late bloomers
When it comes to love

All my favorite people are broken
Believe me
My heart should know

Orphaned believers, skeptical dreamers
Step forward
You can stay right here
You don’t have to go

Is each wound you’ve received
Just a burdensome gift?
It gets so hard to lift
Yourself up off the ground

But the poet says, We must praise the
mutilated world
We’re all workin’ the graveyard shift
You might as well sing along

All my favorite people are broken
Believe me
My heart should know

(As for) your tender heart—
This world’s gonna rip it wide open
It ain’t gonna be pretty
But you’re not alone

‘Cause all my favorite people are broken
Believe me
My heart should know

Orphaned believers, skeptical dreamers
You’re welcome
Yeah, you’re safe right here
You don’t have to go

‘Cause all my favorite people are broken
Believe me
I should know

Some prayers are better left unspoken
I just wanna hold you
And let the rest go

.engage-aversary.

7 years ago today my man-friend and i were sitting on a picnic blanket in golden gate park, san francisco . . . he looked at me and said "will you marry me?"

and i said, "yes."

what a ride it's been since then.

.love.

i know it's cheesy and that some people have issues with valentine's day and call it "singles awareness day" . . . but i LOVE love!! and i think valentine's day can be used for loving all people - not just for romance.

so, go buy some chocolates for someone, make them a card, bring them flowers, call and have a singing telegram or a barbershop quartet show up at your best friend's job and sing them a song. take a bubble bath and sip champagne all by yourself.

i promise it wont suck.

but for me?

i'm going out with my man. it's almost our 6 1/2 yr wedding anniversary (if one were to mark dates this way) . . . and for him, i give you a quote from one of my favorite poets:

"when i am with you, we stay up all night,
when you're not here, i can't go to sleep.
praise god for these two insomnias!
and the difference between them.

the minute i heard my first love story
i started looking for you, not knowing how blind that was.
lovers don't finally meet somewhere,
they're in each other all along."

~excerpt from "Music Master" by Jelaluddin Rumi

{:engagement photo 2004.  credit: adam white:}

{:dec 2010. photo credit: chris west:}

.christmastime.

my city of roses. what a beautiful, rainy, sweet, creative, loving city you can be.

this is a mural that is repainted every year. every year, i get my photo taken in front of it.
this is my favorite place on earth. there is nothing like the beauty of the oregon coast.

GLUHWEIN!!! a german christmas market (weihnachtsmarkt) tradition. we found some at new season's . . . think: sweet mulled wine. tastes like christmas.
the oregon countryside in klamath falls. we stayed here for a few days with the man-friend's family. it snowed. we went on family walks. it was peaceful and lovely.
the man-friend's family on our walk.

one of my favorite shots of us at the coast.

majestic mt hood over the city of portland, oregon.

peace was found in the rose-test gardens above the city.
all the happy rice-milk lattes a girl could want!!!!

so, there are just a few shots from our trip. it really was wonderful. now we are back in full-swing of life in providence. waitressing, massaging, babysitting, roller skating, crafting, living, walking the pup, eating, growing, sleeping, etc. i hope to make more time for blogging, but if i have to choose between that and sleep . . . well, you understand.

but my long term goal really is to be more crafty and open my etsy site!!!

you are welcome to ask me about that more and keep me on my toes!

.holiday love.

i am currently curled up in my smartwool socks and my providence roller derby hoodie, listening to my man-friend and his family play card games while i catch up on the internets. it's been a GREAT two weeks. mellow, beautiful, full of love, sun, rain, snow, mountains, beaches, woods, wild animals, tame animals, family, friends, beer, music, food, sugar, coffee, babies, road trips, sleeping bags, full bellies, laughter, sun flares, and love.

we head back to providence tomorrow. i've heard we'll be greeted by snow. our doggie will be waiting. my roller skates will be waiting. i'll have work, friends, home and bills. regular life. the man-friend will have a bit of shoveling to do so we can drive to pick our pup up from the kennel. i guess i should help him :)

while i am ready to get back to day to day living, crafting, skating and money-making . . . it's been so nice to relax, be with family and old friends, to enjoy to beautiful nature, food and drink of the pacific northwest and to never really need to care what time it is.

hope your christmastime was as happy as mine was.

.dimery photography.

{image credit: dimery photography}

remember that photo shoot our friend michelle did for the man-friend and i earlier this year?

well, michelle now has her website up and is doing great with all kinds of photoshoots - families, newborns, engagement, weddings, etc.

i even hear that she's trying her hand at boudoir soon!

check out the website here. (turn down your volume if you are at work - the website plays music). if you click on "lovers" at the bottom it will scroll through and you'll see a few examples fom our shoot!

.tj loves: brides.

it's been a rough few weeks around here . . . i really have felt like a bird perched on a wire. very precariously. first one thing then another . . . somehow our little family is managing to get through it. with lots of support from the people who love us.

it's been tough. i see a light at the end of tunnel though . . . we'll be alright.

---------

so . . . i'll do this post that i've been wanting to do: WEDDINGS!!!

i. love. weddings.
i love brides.
i love LOVE.
i love romance.

i love a good, creative non-traditional wedding.

i love my friends - the ones who are brides. the ones who are grooms. the ones who are photographers.

here are a few of them:
----------
shandrea:

i've known shandrea since college . . . which was . . . quite a while ago. she lives on the west coast, so we haven't seen each other in a long time. but, recently shandrea was a beautiful bride.
here are a couple of shots from her gorgeous wedding:
love the umbrella

did i mention she lives in the beautiful pacific northwest? - full of natural beauty. ugh i love it.

she has a great sense of fun and silliness too!

all photos are taken by the talented kellie parry. follow that link to see her blog about the wedding.

----------
kristin and daryl

k and d are friends of ours here in good old providence. we recently went to their wedding at bittersweet farm over in massachussets. the wedding was full of laughter and love and beauty and had a very classy but rustic feel. here are a few of the pictures that i took that night:
the boys walking from the farmhouse to the gazebo.
miss k being walked down the "aisle" by her father. she was stunning.
moments after becoming "man and wife." the light was perfect!
the wedding party celebrating with the newlyweds.

their wedding was photographed by the talented brad smith who also took their engagement photos.
here are some of his gorgeous shots:
like i said, gorgeous.
you can see me in the last row on the right in the copper colored dress. :)

those boys.

----------

i guess that's enough wedding porn for now :) i am in a wedding this weekend. the lovely miss michelle who did our awesome photo shoot is getting hitched! i'll be counting on the man-friend to take the photos since i'll be in the wedding. we'll see what kind of shots we get :)