Tuesday, October 26, 2010

You are not American's Next Top Model

Yesterday I took advantage of the sun to scope out a spot on the side of the house that I've long thought would make a great setting for a family portrait; you know, that thing I'm always trying and failing to get!

On the side of the house there's a stack of logs for our landlord's fireplace. In front of the stack are several large tree stumps, laid out just like seats.

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I thought I'd check out the lighting over there, the angles, how I could possibly set up the camera and how the timer would work.

The first thing I learned was that 10 seconds is definitely too short an amount of time to get from behind the camera over to the logs. The next thing I learned is that being a model must actually be incredibly hard. No more model jokes from me!

Anyone can take a dramatic looking shot of their face with some awkward camera angling, an far off gaze and some some low lighting, but what about the rest of your body?

I had no idea what to do with it.. it's inelegant, ungraceful and imposing. The results of this experiment are laughable, and I'm not sure that I can, even in context of my long-awaited family portrait, show my face again at the wood pile.

Attempt 1: Hunching over like a dude. Where are the feet?

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Attempt 2: This reminds me of an early America's Next Top Model episode. I can hear Tyra Banks asking what's going on with my awkwardly bent arm, and why does it look like my butt is hovering in front of the log instead of on it?

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Attempt 3: If you can't beat your height, use it, right? Still no idea what to do with arms or hands. Looking like I've got a bad taste in my mouth.

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Yep.. some might suggest I need a day job. Maybe I'll try the family portrait this weekend..

Monday, October 25, 2010

Darden Towne Park

An integral part of keeping your dog tired = dog park.

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"Where a dog can be a dog."

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Sunday, October 24, 2010

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Quote from Dinner

As I'm shoveling down the Laurabelle Salad: Spinach, Dates, Apples, Virginia Ham, Baby Swiss Cheese, Candied Pecans,& Maple Vinaigrette.

Note that I am not a salad eater.. at all.

Me: Mmm, this is really good!! (with a surprised tone)
Husband: I think you might hold the assumption that salad is supposed to taste bad.

L'Etoile

Last night we went to a nice restaurant in town called L'Etoile. My cooking class instructor last weekend named it as one of, in her opinion, the best restaurants in Charlottesville with a lot of talent in the kitchen... so we thought, "why not?"

We were put upstairs in a cute little room by ourselves.

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Instead of wine or beer, we decided to enjoy the fall season by ordering the Royal Pippin cider from Albemarle CiderWorks.

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It was a good choice that went well with the pork loin and duck we ordered as entrees.

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This was the last photo I took before they seated another party in our room and I accepted that it's not the best etiquette to take photos of your food in a fancy restaurant. The salad included apples, cheese, spinach leaves, candied pecans and slivers of Virginia ham.

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After dinner we went on a haunted "spirit walk," courtesy of Albemarle Historical Society. The walk started in historic Maplewood Cemetery, where we met several "spirits" or actors portraying historical characters. The tour continued out from the cemetery and to other "spirits" who chat with you in front of a former tavern, former opera house and you get a glimpse of an old trial at the County Courthouse.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Creative & Fun Pumpkin Ideas

I can't adequately express my feelings about fall or pumpkins. My husband can tell you that I never miss a chance to bake with pumpkin, that I look forward to pumpkin all year and I take an inordinate amount of time to scrutinize each and every pumpkin in the patch until I find the right one.

I don't always carve my pumpkins because I actually have a bit of an allergic reaction to squash! But there are lots of great things you can do even if you don't carve... like these!

Go classy
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Go black & white
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Go poetic
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Or white on black
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Go rustic
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Be thorny
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Be funky
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Celebrate fall

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Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Irish Cows

After leaving Carrick-on-Shannon we hit the road for Sligo. We made a number of stops along the way to explore ancient abbeys tucked away just off the road, beautiful lakes and these cows:

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