[ 5GG: The Blog Update ]

Head over to 5GG: The Blog to check out images from my first ever professional photoshoot of my very own!

[ flickr ]

I just (finally) put images on my Flickr account. They're all fun images, from my fun new cameras, and also two long-lost rolls of black & white film from when I studied in Italy a year and a half ago. Checccccck it out.

[ again, with the sucking ]

I am a bad bad blogger as of late. I had better get my ass in gear, because NaBloPoMo is almost upon us. A whole month of posting every single day. I think I'll say my lack of posts recently is because I am saving up my posting-goodness for November. Which is a complete and utter lie.

Annnyway. Sister came this weekend! It was a good, good time. We did a little exploring, and a little hanging out. We ventured to the Scottsdale Fashion Square, and let me tell you... that place made me feel underdressed. We went because it has a GAP, unlike the mall near me, and I needed new dress pants for weddings. But this mall also has: Betsy Johnson, Louis Vuitton, GUCCI, etc. I have never ever seen stores like that in person before. I think I saw a Louis Vuitton in Paris, but c'mon... that's Paris. You expect things like that in Paris. I was not expecting it in Scottsdale! But now I know.

We ate lunch at the food court, and got Paradise Bakery. And I know that's not exciting, but I had to share this little tidbit: on my VEGETARIAN sandwich, which was called the Paradise Vegetarian.... there was a strip of bacon. Gross, man. I think someone else in the food court had ordered a BLT, and was stuck with an LT. Because I had the B. Nasty.

Saturday, we went to a farmer's market... well, what was advertised as a farmer's market. Right now, they don't have any produce. Well, they had a few stumpy, not-really-green cucumbers. But other than that, no produce. Right now, it's a pumpkin patch and corn maze. The woman said to me, "You should call us in November. That's when we get most of the produce." I wanted to say back, "Well, you might consider including that information on your website, as the reason I came here was for the produce!!"

I was ticked, but Jesse rescued my mood by getting me a pumpkin and some gourds and indian corn to decorate the apartment with. So now we have fall-ish decorations. Yay!

We were going to go the State Fair in the afternoon, but we got a late start, and by the time we had gone to the 'farm' and back, run a few quick errands, and gotten lunch at a really great sushi place around the corner, it was already 4:00pm and Sarah was exhausted... she was not enjoying the time difference too much! So we ended up renting a couple xbox games, and watching Animal House... until we all passed out at around 9:00pm. Crazy partiers, we are!

Overall, good weekend. It was good to see the Sister, and it was fun to do some exploring. And I officially have an ampersand "collection." Of one. Because Sarah bought me a really cool one from Anthropologie. When I decide precisely where to put it, I'll take some shots and post 'em.

Hopefully, my next post will be sooner than next Monday!

[ morning hijinks ]

Jesse, trying to figure out if he has everything with him:

"I have my phone, my wallet. I have my iPod, and my iphones... headpod... iphone... highphone. I have my iPod and my HEADphones."


I'm off in just about an hour to shoot my first client!!

[ a blog bitch ]

I must quickly complain about some blogs - layout wise only. I won't name any names. But, several of the blogs I check have approximately 30 entries on the page. And on top of that, the images are huge. On top of that there are probably 15 images per entry. It takes sooooo freaking long to load.

Makes me angry.

[ all alone ]

Well, I'm officially living alone until Sunday night. Jesse flew off to the East Coast earlier today to celebrate homecoming at UD with pretty much every friend we have. I, however, am still at home, because I'm working a wedding tomorrow. Although, even if I wasn't working tomorrow, I still couldn't go because it would've been too expensive.

I've got lots of editing to keep me busy, and some cleaning too. Maybe I'll get to my Chrismukkah cards. And the other things I've been meaning to do.

But I'm bummed.

[ what a weekend ]

Holy moly. It's the beginning of the week, and I'm already exhausted. I had a hell of a weekend. Three weddings in three days, and some frantic editing to get caught up on some stuff for Brenda.

Friday, we shot at the Japanese Friendship Garden in downtown Phoenix. Holy beautiful. The landscape was amazing. The wedding was very small & intimate, maybe 50 or 60 people. The reception was at the Boojum Tree - funky and fun, but oh-so-very humid in the building. We were sweating like crazy in there!

Saturday, we shot at a small church in Scottsdale. Again, a pretty small wedding. The reception was at the couple's house, and it was absolutely beautiful! Twinkle lights wrapped around trees and bushes. Little paper bags with heart stencils lit from the inside with candles lining the pool. Crisp white linens on the tables. It was really spectacular looking.

Sunday, we shot at the Sanctuary on Camelback. Now that is a place where you can relax. Absolutely beautiful, overlooking Camelback Mountain. I definitely didn't want to leave.

Shooting wise, I had an okay day Friday, a total off day on Saturday, and I think a really good day on Sunday.

In semi-related news, I have an official client! Christine in November. I'm so excited! And I have a meeting with Cynthia, a potential client on Tuesday. Woooooooooohoo!

[ ladies who launch ]

Finally... I've got some time to write about the Ladies Who Launch meeting I went to Tuesday night. I've been really busy with work the past couple days, and just too tired to do much blogging. However, I'm energized right now, ready to blog for a while, and then jump into work.

So. Ladies Who Launch. The meeting was Tuesday night, at this really cute boutique called Get Dressed! in Scottsdale. The deal with Ladies Who Launch is that it's a group for female entrepreneurs. Women who are starting a new business, or think they want to, but aren't sure where to start, where to go next; or women who have a small business and are looking to expand, but again, aren't sure how to do that. It's a support group, an ocean of ideas. I know that when describing it, it sounds cheesy, but words can't express the experience I had on Tuesday.

So you can sign up for a four-week "Incubator," which is four two-hour sessions. After that, you can become a member.

Anyway, Tuesday was the last day of the September Incubator. On the last day of the session, they invite new people to come. I found it through MeetUp, but a lot of people were friends of women who were in the Incubator, or had found it through the newspaper. First, the women who were graduating the program went around, and said what their business was, where it was when they started and where it is now. They also talked about the impact of the program on their lives in general. Everyone had such positive and uplifting comments. One women said she honestly felt like she could launch ANY business tomorrow, and be totally and completely successful, simply because of the program.

After a quick break for some snacks and chatting, the new people talked about why they were there and what they wanted to do. That was also incredibly inspiring. I know that I'm not alone in wanting to start a business and not knowing where to start, but sometimes it feels like I am alone in that, especially being in a place where I still don't really know anyone outside of work. Hearing all these women saying that they are in the same boat was so reassuring and so helpful. A lot of the women were creatives: photography, jewelry design, interior design and organizing, fashion. But also, a lot weren't: legal, a website to find "lost girlfriends," consulting, a business for dog sitters.

Remember how I said I needed someone or something to light a fire under my ass... well, consider it lit!

Literally, the second I got home from the meeting, I went online and signed up for the January Incubator. I'm a little bummed that it's not for three months, but hopefully, I'll be farther along with FiveGoodGoats in those three months!

I definitely think I met some potential friends. A few women have already emailed me saying we should get together & talk business and life. Another woman was also a photographer, and we're definitely going to try to get together soon

And, I already have two potential clients! I just need to work out my pricing, and I'll actually kinda be in business!!!!

So, moral of the post: if you're a woman, looking to start a business, check out Ladies who Launch & see if they have a group in your area!

[ today i'm loving... ]

- Audrey Tautou in A la folie... pas du tout (American title: He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not)
- The typographic element in Maroon 5's video for Wake Up Call
- Gary Oldman, in everything
- Portabella Parmesan (dinner last night, so very tasty)
- That Bruce Springsteen and The Eagles are coming out with new albums
- Finally discovering that typing Alt/Option+G will give me this: ©
- A Fine Frenzy's album One Cell in the Sea