A Little Bit of Heart Pouring for You Today

Warning: There's a little bit of a high horse in this post. And I am up on it.

A very wonderful friend gave me the photography book Annie Leibovitz: American Music for Christmas and it is probably my most favorite gift I received this year. (I feel like a jerk though because she was like, "Hey here's your incredibly thoughtful Christmas gift - a book of photography by one of your all time favorite artists," and I was all, "Thanks, I bought you a small purse because I know you like small purses.")

So, I love this book. I practically cry over it. I study it. I carry it around the house with me and flip through it when I have spare minutes. It's ridiculous. I'm so in love.

I read a lot of photography blogs and forums. I've bookmarked things that are inspiring, different, simply freaking amazing. Lots of things that make me go, "HOW THE HELL DO THEY DO THAT!!!" Then there are a few forums that discuss some topics relevant to new photographers. A lot of it is informative, but some of it is not. And it's not only not informative, but it's unhelpful to the point of being downright destructive. I think we're all aware that people aren't particularly nice on the internet when they're shrouded behind the veil of anonymous commenting. Under the ruse of "constructive criticism" people can be harsh. Frequently, these forums all start to elicit a specific aesthetic and work not fitting the aesthetic gets commented on rather unfairly. I don't really understand the point of that. Dozens of people who want to stand out yet want their work to look like everyone else's?

While flipping through my book, you know what I noticed? A lot of the photos in the book aren't really "technically perfect" by the standards that some of these forums uphold in their criticisms. The focus isn't always on the eyes, the backgrounds are messy, the faces are underexposed... I mean, dozens and dozens of these photographers in forums are so worried about OMG TECHNICAL JARGON DON'T SHOOT IN AUTO OR YOU WILL DIE that I think they're missing the point. Is your photo engaging? Is it beautiful? Do the people who matter, like it? Okay, then who gives a fuck if it's 100% technically dead on.

Great artists and respected innovators don't draw the attention of the masses by following the rules. They don't accomplish something groundbreaking by fear of doing something wrong. You get what I'm saying?

If a photographer is constantly worried about the opinions of 120 other photographers, how will they ever develop a style and vision that is truly their own? You don't get anywhere in life by wanting to impress people. That's just vanity and vanity is hardly ever motivation enough.

I read an article once about exercise that pertains to this line of thought. A personal trainer said that people always come to him and say that they want the body of a dancer. And he tells them that dancers look like that because they're really dancers. They devote their lives to a craft and their physical condition is a result of that. They didn't wake up one day thinking, "I want a hot body. I should become a dancer." They're just dancers, that's who they are.

I feel that way about what I'm doing. I didn't set out with the thought that I want my photos to look like a professional's photos. I thought, "I want to be a professional photographer." There's a distinction. Maybe I didn't convey it clearly in text but hopefully you understand what I'm saying. Wanting something that someone else has isn't going to get it for you. You have to get past the vanity or the envy or the greed and really find your motivation as to why you want to accomplish something for yourself and no one else. I want to work, I want to grow, I want to make mistakes in this life. I'm willing to put in the work because my soul is telling me there's no other option for me. This is it. I need to have it.

I think Ms. Leibovitz felt that way too. She must have because you can feel it in the photos. (She must have felt like she needed a LOT of things because I think she's bankrupt right now despite earning millions. Ooops.)

Inspiring Wedding

Today is just going to be the day where I link to other peoples' stuff. Am I technically still a "blogger" if I stop writing my own content and just post to everyone else's? I guess we'll find out. It's not my fault that everyone else is so much more effing creative than I am.

Seriously though, click this link:

Idaho Wedding Filled with Style

Easy and Beautiful Home Idea!

I am sooooo doing this to my office and dining room. It reminds me of Eloise...

Easy Pelmet Boxes

...Which in turn reminds me of this: Betsey Johnson to Design Plaza Suite.

Inspirational Images

I keep a little folder on my desktop full of amazing things I find on the internet. Only it's not just one little folder due to my inability to not organize things. There's a photo for food, paper goods, design, home decorating (divided up further by room), style/clothes and photography. See, completely anal.

Here's a couple of my favorite ones from the photography folder. The first one I've already posted, but I thought it deserved to be revisited. These images make my heart drop. They're so incredible.


By Toni Frissell


By Rodney Smith


By Gary Winogrand

Kelly's Bouquet

Check out Kelly's amazing bouquet!



I seriously love her wedding bouquet. It's so fun and whimsical. And the striped ruffle flowers just kill me. They're so adorable.

And the rose boutonnieres? What's cuter than these?

Laundry/Bath Re-no Inspiration

It's been raining non-stop in Omaha for the last week or so. I think in one night alone we got something like four inches. That's fantastic and all, but eventually the ground stops absorbing the rain and it ends up elsewhere. Like in our basements.

Our retaining wall started losing mud last weekend. Well, the end of the retaining wall slopes towards the house - more specifically the basement door - so the mud followed. Unfortunately, the door doesn't have a threshold under it (no particular reason why) and all the mud ended up in our basement. This weekend my dad is coming over and we're installing a threshold, adjusting the door so it doesn't stick anymore, and replacing the lock and deadbolt.

This has me all amped up to start doing work on the house. You know, all the stuff we said we were going to fix when we moved in and then never started on. I'm assuming everyone has one of these lists... I hope. Make me feel better and say that you do.

One of the big things we want to correct is the fact that the house only has one bathroom. All the plumbing is in the laundry room for the second bathroom, but there aren't any fixtures. Actually that's not true. There's a toilet in the laundry room which I have used exactly once since living in the house. It's the most horrifying looking toilet in the world. It's clean, I know because I've cleaned it... but it doesn't look clean. It's dingy and green and freaky.

At first we wanted to put up a wall to separate the bathroom from the laundry room, but I think that's going to make the bathroom too small. It might also block access to the heater and water-heater. Instead now I think we're going to go with something like this:



This is pretty much the layout of our room. We have white machines and large white storage cabinets in the laundry room so this is almost exactly what I want our room to look like. I found some affordable and stylish fixtures at (where else) IKEA that would work great since there isn't a ton of space between the washing machine and the wall.



They also have some cool red room dividers that I'd like to get to hide the heater units from view.

Assuming that the plumbing in the room is good and doesn't need major work, I'm thinking that we might be able to fix up the whole room for less than $700. Not too bad! My only concern is that it won't be considered an actual bath when we eventually sell the house. We're counting on this to help add some value since we currently only have one bathroom. I read that adding a second bath to a one bath home can add as much as 20% to the value of the house. I don't expect that much, but I'd like to see something for our efforts. Does anyone know about the technicalities of what is considered a bathroom?

Yes.

Revival Home and Garden

Yes, please. Yes to all of it. Thousands and thousands of dollars worth of yeses.

Whuuuuuuut?

Remember how I said I thought the living room needed more texture and maybe some more color? (You're probably thinking more color isn't the answer.) Well, I found what I was looking for...

I just mentally spent about $500 at French Bull. Where was this when I was registering for wedding gifts last year?

Among my favorites:

Delight Full / Queen Duvet Set
Mosaic Platter
Multidot Fellini Bowl
Robot Square Plate Set
Pink Paisley Runner



If I had my way, our house would be so triptastic by the time we moved out that the whole place would have to be power sprayed with white. I really admire people who can decorate their houses in whites and neutrals and make it look warm and inviting, but unfortunately I am not one of those people. I'm addicted to color. Ugly, nasty, burn your eyeballs, make you dizzy color.

Speaking of, the office has been put back together and I'm excited to take pictures of it.

Awesome Color Combination

I'm kind of in love with this color combination. I saw it on a Design*Sponge before and after post. She used it in a nursery, but I'm thinking it would look awesome in my office... I started redoing it but then sort of trailed off. The grey I painted it turned out pretty awful. Working at my desk is like sitting inside a galvanized bucket. It's about as inspirational as that too.

Looks like someone might be taking a trip to Lowes this weekend...

I think it would really look good in there since I already have an orange sitting chair and I can make cushions out of this fabric that was left over from my failed attempt at recovering chairs. We also bought a really cool navy blue "Summer of Love" print in San Francisco that hasn't found a home yet.

I'm practically half way there! Really, all there is to buy is paint. And paint is generally the cheapest part of any room makeover. Does anyone want to help me paint white and sea-foam over industrial gray this weekend? Doesn't that sound like a total blast?

Blogstar: Nie Nie

For my first Blogstar post I'm going to give you the most incredible blog ever to read. (No offense to the next person I feature on here.) You may or may not have heard about this woman and her story. I can guarantee you will be hooked on it though if you stop by and read her blog.

Nie Nie Dialogues

Stephanie Aurora Clark Nielson returns from a almost fatal plane crash. Happy to be blogging again from Utah and recovering too. Four happy children and one sweet husband make her life as good as it gets.

Last year this incredible woman and her husband, along with a pilot who died, were in a small plane crash. After months in a burn unit recovering, she's back at home with her hubs and kids and blogging again. There's really not much for me to say about this blog. It speaks for itself. You don't know how many times I've started to cry reading her blog. January 16th is when she started blogging again after the accident. You can scroll down to there and read backwards to catch up with her. Her sister, Courtney, kept a record of their time spent in the hospital and kept the world updated on their improvement.

Amazing Home

Do you think this lady will let me move into her home?

Beth Jansen's Photogenic Home on apartmenttherapy.com

I want to buy that house from her and everything in it. It's such an inspirational home.

Who wants to come over and help scrape the popcorn ceiling so I can paint it yellow? Does anyone want to sew me an awesome, bright quilt like hers? How about wallpapering? Does anyone like wallpapering?

Call me.

Oh geez... she's a photographer too. Give me a break. This is just too much. Cat, don't go look at her site. You'll want to fire me...