Kitchen Done! Well, almost...

About a year ago my dad decided to let Randy and I live in his rental house. We got the keys in late April and this is what the kitchen looked like on that very first day we went to check it out:

Randy and I made a decision to remodel the kitchen less than 5 minutes after seeing it. To say that the former renters left the place in less than ideal conditions would have been an understatement. Nothing in my arsenal of cleaning supplies was going to get that place clean enough for me to store food in it. I still gag a little every time I think about it. Also, I'm pretty sure those were the original cabinets from 1957.

Less than two weeks later Randy began the process of demolishing our kitchen with our friend The Verg.

After I finished designing the kitchen, it took Randy about a week to install all of the cabinets. A few weeks before the counters were install Randy and I threw a party for our friend John. Rather than leave the cabinet tops open, Randy placed some cardboard on them so it would look better for our guests. Yes, the alcohol was flowing and for some reason "someone" decided they wanted to sit on our counter and this is the result:

Well, at least there was no major damage to the cabinets or to our friend, aside from a few broken supports and perhaps a bruised ego. 

The kitchen is pretty much done now, it just needs a few finishing touches and some art on the walls. Here you go folks, our new kitchen! 

And Georgia, please stay off the counters this time. :)

Old News

I have a friend. Let's call him "Ike."

Every now and then he sends me links to things he's just discovered and tells me I should check it out. While it's appreciated, it's almost always things I've already seen either on Twitter or Facebook - last week! Now, that doesn't seem like a long time, but it is just long enough for the things he shares with me to be old news.

Ike refuses to get on Facebook or any social network for that matter. It's fine, social networks aren't for everyone. I get that. It's just a really useful communication tool for me and life is a little easier with it around. At the very least, I don't find things out a week after everyone else does.

I'm Back!

So, I’ve finally made it back to blogging. Oh, how I’ve missed it.

A few things have happened since my last post. I've moved into a new house, my sister got engaged, Randy’s cousin got married, and I took a bath.

Getting a new house is fantastic, but of course it's a lot of work. We replaced all the carpet, painted every wall inside the house, and completely gutted the kitchen. The new cabinets are in, but I still don't have counters. Please never take counters for granted. They are amazing things to have. 

Vacuum oops

I accidentally sucked the drawstring from my PJs into the vacuum earlier today and had to take the roller off to get it out. Man there was a lot of hair. Gross, I know.

Don’t forget to clean your vacuum once in a while.

No more food pictures

It seems like everyone and their mother is taking pictures of the food they eat and posting it. I do that. I even spent a year taking pictures of EVERYTHING I ate, down to a French fry I would snag off of someone’s plate. My friends went from being completely embarrassed by it to automatically handing over their plate of food to be photographed. But now it’s time to stop. It’s become so passé.

One of my friends told me, in order to become a better photographer, I needed to shoot more and shoot a lot. I started taking pictures of food I ate as a way to force myself to always have a camera around and to shoot something - anything. I got into photography in order to document my life, not create art. So now it’s time to pick another subject.

A lot of people have 365 projects in which they will do something each day of the year and share it. I’m not about to do that. Once again, that’s passé. I want to share my life in pictures with my friends and family. I don’t know what I’m going to do yet, but I’ll do something.

So here it is, the last picture of food that I’m going to post… at least for a while.

Almost done

I don’t remember the last time I posted here. It’s this art history class I’m taking that’s been taking up all my time. I’m supposed to be writing a 5-6 page paper on the painting above of King Louis XIV by Hyacinthe Rigaud. But I’m not. Uuhhgg.

I’ll be back soon. My final is on May 19 and then it’s free time galore!

Okay, back to fleur de lis, ermine fur, and Maltese crosses.

Rice porridge for the sick

I walked in the door and saw my poor honey still lying in bed. I’m pretty sure this is the same position he was in when I left the house 6 hours ago. Did he move at all?

He’s been home sick all day. It could be food poisoning or it could be the flu. Either way, his mom said he’s made multiple trips to the bathroom today. I hope it’s not the flu. I can’t afford to catch anything. I have a wedding to shoot in a week!

I was about to crawl into bed with him when he opened his eyes and mumbled, “I’m hungry,” then went right back to sleep. He must be REALLY sick. He never asks me for food when he’s sick. He normally just stumbles into the kitchen and fixes something for himself. I was ecstatic! He never lets me take care of him. I ran in the kitchen to look for something and came up with... nothing.

His mom offered to make some lugao, which is pretty much just boiled rice, but he wanted something with more flavor so we settled on “arroz caldo”. It’s just a different version of rice porridge made with chicken and flavored with garlic, ginger, fish sauce, calamansi, then garnished with fried garlic and scallions.

Generations of Americans have spooned chicken soup to their sick kids; Asians feed them congee (rice porridge). Different countries have different version of course, but it all starts with a base of boiled rice. Thais have “kao tom” or “jok”, but personally, I prefer Randy’s mom’s arroz caldo.

The rest of the family was pretty happy too. It’s the perfect food this cold and rainy night.

Strawberry Farms - location scouting

I’m shooting a wedding next Friday. Yes, me. I’m just as shocked as you are! Normally, I avoid shooting weddings like the plague, but Colleen asked me and I couldn’t say no.

I’ve pulled together a team of amazing photographers to help me shoot this wedding. Joining me will be Fizzah Raza, Brent Matsuno, and Sam Bowers. Maybe I can even convince John Halligan to take some pictures. Between all of our different styles and the multiple angles of coverage, I’m sure Paige and Alan will get photos they love!

We went to scout the wedding location today, Strawberry Farms Golf Course in Irvine. Near the entrance to the pro shop we saw a table with wedding albums and couldn’t resist taking a peak at what other photographers had done with the location. It turned into an impromptu critique session. Out of the half dozen albums, we found two that we really liked and two that we really didn’t.

Moving on we, looked at the ceremony and reception site. We lamented on how places weren’t designed to be photogenic. Things and places that look good in real life don’t necessarily lend itself to being perfect backdrops. No matter, we’re pros, we’ll work something out. It started raining while we walked around, and we considered what we would do if it rained on the wedding day. Backup plans for this kind of stuff is a must!

Anyhow, I couldn't resist a little Charlie's Angles action and thank goodness my friends are hams. I’m excited. I can’t wait for this wedding. Rumor has it, the bride’s mother is planning on getting me plastered. ☺

Shore House Gang No More?

For about five years now a certain group of friends and I have been going to Shore House in Long Beach for dinner after the Photo Department closes. It was the only decent place to eat open after 10:00pm. Don’t even go there with Denny’s.

We haven’t been there in about six months because we’ve all either been too busy with our own lives or just too lazy to meet up. We’ve all had some major changes in our lives since then so we decided to meet up. John now has a driver’s license and a car, Chris is having a baby (we didn’t see that one coming), Matt and Kari have decided to split up, Krista got back together with her boyfriend, and I’m getting ready to get rid of my house in Vegas. I guess we aren’t the same people we were six months ago.

When we all arrived at Shore House the place was dark. WTF? We peaked in through the windows. Our usual table was gone, replaced by a row of booths. Were they closed for remodeling? We decided to see if there was a note on the door explaining why it closed. Health code violations. Damn.

What happened to us? Not only have we changed, the place we’ve called our own for years is now gone. When it does reopen it’s not going to be “our” Shore House anymore. We headed over to Harbor house and talked about the changes in our lives and where we are now. We talked about ridiculous things and some sentimental ones. This was us. Even if we weren’t the same person, we were the same group of friends. We still enjoy each other’s company and talk about anything and everything.

I guess this begins a new era in friendship and we’ll have to find a new place to call our own, but I’m looking forward to this. Despite the changes, we are moving forward and that’s a good thing.

Learning New Things

When I first started using foundation I used my fingers to put it on. It took forever, was hard to get even, and it got my hands dirty. Then, I discovered sponges. It went on faster and it was easier to get even coverage.

This morning I tried using a brush for the first time. I could see the brush strokes. I thought, “This isn’t good,” so I kept trying to blend it figuring I could always use the sponge to even it out later. When the foundation started to dry a little, I found I couldn’t really use a brushing motion anymore because it would just tug and streak more. I started using a patting motion. The lines went away immediately. I ended up with this flawless, glowing skin in less than a few minutes. My makeup has never looked this great. I’m in love! I may never use a sponge again!

It’s occurred to me that certain types of foundation and ways of applying it may work really well on me, but it might not work so well with other people. People have different skin types, textures, and degrees of uneven skin tone. One may need more coverage than another. I also tend to use a lot of pressure when applying makeup, I know what I can take. I may have to be gentler with someone else and that would change the technique.

I’m overwhelmed by this makeup thing and I’m grateful for this feeling. Sometimes I forget what it feels like to have to learn something new. It’s one thing trying to remember the anxiety I felt 10 years ago doing something new verses feeling the anxiety today. It helps me empathize with the students I work with more. I have more patience. I’m better with them because I know how they feel.