Lopez-er-ific

Last Sunday- November 30th- I met my friend Jenn Lopez (not as in married to Marc Anthony Jenn Lopez, but still equally cool Jenn Lopez) and her three ADORABLE children: Elijah, Jude and Ava.... We went to a park nearby her house and took some photos for their family Christmas cards. I had SUCH a blast. It was a little challenging getting everyone to look at me... I don't think I actually got everyone to look at me all at the same time, but such is life with a 6, 5 and 1 year old!  They were too cute though so I just don't think it mattered. I shot over 150 pics in an hour and was happy with the way they turned out.  Here are a few of my favorites! Jenn... Thank you so much for the opportunity. I had so much fun and can't wait to see your Christmas cards!!!!

Sweet little Jude with Elijah in the background. They were so cute, and such boys- climbing trees and smiling for the camera. 

Ava! She was precious, and I loved her little dress and shoes.

 

An Ava dress and shoe close-up.

I'm not sure what happened here, but the background light- which was from the trees turned blue and green. I think it looks cool....

Elijah and Jude with their sister. They were so sweet with her- it was really cute.

I just love little Ava's eyes here.. so pretty.

This might have been one of my favorites of the day... they were all so cute with each other.

I love her. She was all smiles and running wild. So much fun to take pictures of!

And one last shot of Elijah.

So there you have it. A Lopez-er-ific afternoon! As always, thanks for looking!

NV

2nd Annual Believe Walk

I have finally... at LONG last finished editing my Believe Walk photos. It only took a month! I have been putting off blogging, like a naughty girl, and despite my resolutions to be a better blogger, because I could not decide which select 5 or 6 images (out of like 2.4 million) I should post. I liked the guy with the turquoise mohawk. I loved the girls with the hot pink knee socks. I thought the bark and believers were four-legged muffins. And the dedications, shirts and signs in memory of people who had lost their battle and in support of those still fighting... each were beautiful and  memorable in their own right. SO.. in the true spirit of Indiana Jane, I decide to take a scary foray into the unchartered technical world (a battle I lost big time already this week when I wiped out my hard drive... thank goodness for multiple back-ups!!) Anyway, that's not for here... the point being that I think I may have figured out how to post ALL of the final pictures from the Walk in a slideshow!!! We'll see how it works. Fingers (and toes) are crossed. Thanks everyone for looking!!! XOXO

Indiana Jane Photography!!

I am officially the worst blogger ever. And I do mean EVER. Some people take a few days break from blogging...maybe even a few weeks. Me: almost a year. Craziness. Where has the time gone?

So after much encouragement from family and friends, I have decided to pursue my dream: Photography. NO, I am not hanging up my objecting shoes and leaving the law. I am just adding a little side venture if you will: photographing kids, dogs, families, friends, weddings, engagements, parties, events and anything else that comes my way.

If your'e interested or need a fun, slightly off-centered photographer to shoot something (not literally of course) give me a shout out: indianajanephoto@yahoo.com and join my group on Facebook: Indiana Jane Photography!

On a personal side-note... I have a lot of photos to post. So check back soon... Maybe even tonight for a preview glimpse of the Stater Brothers' 2nd Annual Believe Walk... and maaaayyyybbe even some Turks & Caicos shots!

As always, thank you all for your support as I start this crazy adventure.

NV

Moscva!

I am so freaking excited that my fingers are tingling. I think this is it folks- the last of the Mohicans. The Moscow Mohicans...or photos rather! So excited. So stoked. I am finally finished editing pictures from my vacation in August. Woo hoo! Just in time to make a little memento Christmas present for someone, but we won't mention any names here. Santa has spies everywhere...

Anyway, I was recently told by someone near and dear that my blog posts are (unsurprisingly) long, a lot like my work product. Its true... I should probably start each blog with "it was a dark and stormy night.." Or make an effort to shorten them up. But its just so fun to write. Today, however, I have quite a few photos. And since they say a photo is worth a 1000 words, I give you roughly 8000 words, plus this intro paragraph. Enjoy!

This is the Annunciation Cathedral at the Kremlin. We were there during the City Birthday- Moscow turned 800 and something years old. And not a drop of botox to speak of.  This festival is a lot like the 4th of July with parades and fireworks and random closed hours and streets. At the Kremlin, the Russian army came out and did a little demonstration. A little scary considering the Georgia conflict and the fact that they goose-walked, but that's not for here... Anyway, I took this picture on top of a HIGH wall dangling off the side with one arm holding on to one small pole... The crowds were just so big and in my way. So inconsiderate. Anyway, I managed to filter out most non-random subjects before I fell off the wall .

This is the presidential palace. He doesn't live here though. Its more like a reception hall. They were hosting diplomats from thither AND yon to discuss the Georgia issues...

This is the Boriskaya Gate or something very similar and Russian sounding... its the gate through which the President enters the Kremlin. The building on the right is the Armory and its hands down the RADEST, most awesome museum I have ever been in. First, there is an ENTIRE floor dedicated to the dresses and shoes and wedding gowns and crowns and thrones and carriages of all the tsars and tsarinas. They have Catherine the Great's wedding and coronation dresses, Ivan the Terrible's Crown- carriages from the 1500s.... Its amazing. So neat to see. Peter the Great's riding boots, horse decorations- beautiful saddles and jewelry... Wow. So neat. The rest of the museum has incredible gifts from different countries to the Russian tsars from the 1500s on... Some even from Elizabeth the First to Ivan... and an entire collection of Fabrege eggs. There is also a really cool wing that has just diamonds! One was like 70 carats or something crazy- but I didn't get to see those. Closed of course for the holiday. How all of these things survived Stalin and the Revolution I have no idea. But the wealth and ostentation and artistry is truly something to marvel at. I was overwhelmed.

Domes on one of the 3 cathedrals at the Kremlin. If I were a betting woman, I'd say this one is the Archangel Michael??? Just not sure because I am getting old and my memory is not what it used to be, BUT its at the Kremlin..

Didn't get to go inside though. Holiday hours.

More Kremlin domes.

I give you here the New Maiden Nunnery. Long story massively shortened: Ivan who was terrible locked up his sister here. She became a nun. Hence New Maiden Nunnery. YEARS later, Tchaikovsky rolled out and said my my, this is a beautiful lake (in Russian of course) and he wrote the music to Swan Lake here, in honor of this pretty place. I didn't see any swans. Maybe they were keeping holiday hours too??

Lenin's tomb. On Red Square. I love this. Its so very Russian and great. So I really thought it would be cool to see Lenin's tomb. There is something so distinctly disgusting about seeing his dead body but its historic and that part trumps any inherent grossness. Here is the crazy part. There are no hours for this museum. The guidebooks give you hours, but its all sort of a "trick the tourists" scam. This museum opens up when it darn well wants to. There are no set hours. Our guide said you can tell if its open if there is a line outside. What? Seriously?

There was no line to speak of while I was in Moscow and so I gathered Lenin was closed for business. So strange. This was as close as I got to good old Lenin.

The entrance to Red Square- Resurrection Gate.

St Basil's Cathedral. This to me was quintessential Moscow. The bright colors and beautiful architecture. These pictures do it NO justice. It was breathtaking and inspiring. Apparently whichever Tsar had this commissioned (and the following story sounds really Ivan the Terrible-ish but I can't remember for sure) ... removed the eyes of the architect so that he would never build a rival building... It is so pretty. It literally took my breath away when I saw it. 

That's all. I really think I am done posting Russia pics. I have TONS more photos, but these were just some highlights. Thanks for hanging with me through all of these. Now onward towards Christmas!

Have a great evening and thanks for looking.

XOXO

A Smorgasboard of Russian Villages: Goritsi and Uglich

I am almost finished editing my Russian Villages pictures... then all I have left is Moscow. Which is nothing to sneeze at because I have quite a few that I took in that fine city. BUT I'd say its major progress in tackling the Russian project. Where did the expression "nothing to sneeze at" come from?? I am not really sure, but I started thinking about it as I was writing it and I realized what a silly expression it really is. But for some reason, it exists in our panoply of colloquialisms... so there you have it.

Huge digression. But I am back. I give you now a veritable smorgasboard of Russian villages: Goritsi and Uglich. EEEWWWWW-glitch. So fun to say.

In Goritsi, we visited a 16th century monastery. Its still in working order. Well a small part of it is at any rate. We didn't visit those parts. And I didn't see any monks. Which is a shame because I am always on the look-out for a nice monk or priest for Sister C. But we did see an entire museum full of life-size icons. Goritsi, or more particularly, the Kirillo Monastery was apparently THE place where Russian icons were made. They were the icon gurus if you will. And they have a whole museum full of beautiful icons, many of which date from the 1200s. They are amazing and beautiful. And the museum is great because unlike its Hermitage-ian counterpart, this museum was small and intimate. The curator even turned off the lights for me so that I could get a glare-free picture of one of the icons. So accommodating those Russians are.

That's all I can really think of about Goritsi and the Kirillo Monastery. It was really pretty too. Here it is:

A glare free Madonna and child. Circa 13th century.

For those of you who know me, I LOVE lens flare. I love getting glare off my lenses and purposely leave all my lens hoods at home, in a cupboard collecting dust. It excites me like no other to get these kinds of shots. Dorky, I know. But I think its so cool. I like this shot a lot because the sun reflected in a really cool circular pattern. The spires are a little underexposed, but I still liked it. One of my favorite shots of the monastery.

Another shot of the monastery. It was one of the "sunny" days we had. And I thought the clouds were so pretty. 

And now I take you to Uglich. EWWWWWW-glitch. A little town on our sail towards Moscow. I didn't like Uglich. There was a stray dog that was really sad and it totally marred my memory of what was otherwise a really quaint little town. So I am trying to re-focus on the cool history... Here is the Church of the Transfiguration.

I liked the colors. Not sure who thought of it, or how much vodka they had consumed when they did... BUT: the yellow and green works for me. I like the color schema but would never have thrown it out there myself. It was really bright and pretty. I guess one resorts to random color assortments when one has cloudiness 323 days out of the year.
Uglich also has a market. Mostly souvenirs and various chatchkies but it totally reminded me of like the Renaissance Faire or something. There were actual stalls/tents with people selling their wares. Tres interessante.

Here is a typical booth at the Uglich market:

The entrance to the park in which the Uglich market was held. I have no idea what the sign says, but the bit on the left says park.

This is a picture of the Church of St. Demetrius on Spilled Blood. St. Demetrius was the little son of Ivan the Terrible. Legend has it that Boris Gudonov came to Uglich and killed Dmitry in his effort to usurp the crown. The Russians say that the only living eyewitness to this horrible crime is the bell that hung in the church belfry. Today its in the middle of the church, near a fresco depicting Boris and Dmitry meeting in the Uglich town square. Little Dmitry is buried in one of the churches in the Kremlin....
A close-up of the domes of St. Demetrius on Spilled Blood.

If you read all of that, I am amazed and grateful. Thank you. 

And thanks for looking.

XOXO

Annie-Moe, Thanksgiving Madness Continued

My Thanksgiving posts would be completely lacking without a little shout-out to Anna Michelle. Or as she is better known: Annie Moe. AM is the daughter of my cousin Denise and her awesome husband Tony, and the sister of Grace- one of the sweetest little girls I have ever met.

Annie Moe is hilarious and I love her.

1. She has the BEST little girl giggle I have EVER heard.

2. She talks a mile a minute. And unless you are a kindred spirit fast talker, you catch about every 7th word.

3. She has big brown eyes too.

4. She rocks big bows that make me wish big bows were acceptable for big girls too.

5. When asked this weekend if she wanted her apple juice "on the rocks," she replied: "no straight up please."

6. She calls me Auntie Snickie.

7. She and Gracie sing "Snickalicious" to me to the tune of Fergalicious. Hilarious.

8. She runs around the house like a mad woman taking a thousand pictures on her mom's digital camera. And they come out pretty decent too. Impressive for a 5 year old Annie Leibowitz!

9. She loves Corby.

10. A girl after my own heart- she brought a special pj outfit to wear to do a photo-shoot with Corby. When she was a tiny wee baby of 3 years old, we got a picture of her asleep with Corby on the couch. Well....when she came back to California for Thanksgiving this year, she wanted another photo with Corby on the couch. So she brought her special pjs, climbed on the couch, and I took a bunch of pictures of the 2 of them. Precious. Here are a few of my faves:

Could they be any cuter??? Annie-Moe you are adorable and I want to steal you away. I think your Mommy and Daddy and Gracie would miss you though, so please come back and visit Auntie Snickie soon.

XOXO

Thanksgiving Madness Chez Varner

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope everyone had a great Turkey (or Turkey-free) day! We had a nice time at the Varner household... I think I am still full from all the deliciousness that was dropped on us. SO good. WOW.

And of course... what is a proper family meeting without a photo-shooting extravaganza?? My cousin Denise and her husband Tony were here visiting from Pennsylvania. Go PENN STATE! They brought their adorable little girls, Gracie and Annie with them, who were so much fun. They had an awesome time playing with Peyton and Devin and Markie... and I had a great time taking pictures of them all!! Such a blast. I think I took over 100 pics on Thanksgiving! Hilarious.

So here are a few of my faves....

Beware- the following photo may look a little like corruption of America's youth. And it is, sort of. Here are the young Varner children learning to gamble :) They are playing Left-Right-Center with pennies... and enjoying themselves immensely. So funny. The green tablecloth even gives the Varner living room a veritable casino feel...

Corby begging for some of Tracy's cheesecake, which is so delicious. Smart dog. Gramlyn also brought some of Mommy Helen pies... WOW. For any of you who don't know Mommy Helen, you are missing out!! She is a baker extraordinaire.... Shaquille O'Neill even eats her pies! And Gramlyn brought a roseberry pie and a sweet potato pie, both of which were amazing to eat (although soooo not amazing for the diet!)

Peyton and Devin and Gracie jumping on my bed. So cute. They were so much fun to take pictures of! And the girls all looked so cute in their respective matching dresses!

The dessert table. Trouble!

Grandma and Mom cooking the turkey and the gravy and other meat-related things of which I know nothing about...

A shot of Peyton and Devin. They look so cute and were so good for me- I got some great pictures of them on Thursday. The best one, however, is being kept in reserve because Kristin is using it for their family Christmas card!!! So exciting! And I didn't want to post it here or on Facebook until after their cards go out... But here are a couple others of my favorites:

Peytie and Devie...

Devin and Peyton and Annie and Gracie. 4 of the cutest munchkins I know! I love you girls! Thank you for being so fun and letting me take pictures of all of you.

The 4 Varner DiCola girls on our balcony... I am not sure who's idea it was to sit them all upon the railing (it was mine actually, truth be told) but they were seated over the smallest drop area and we had no wo-man overboard, so it was all good... Devin was a little freaked out by it but she did it anyway. Brave girl! 

So that's Thanksgiving photos from the Varner household. We have a lot to be thankful for...health and happiness and all being together. 2008 was a good one.

As always, thanks for looking.

XOXO