I just barely beat the sun home and caught a handful of shots this afternoon:

So the other day when The Orpheum Theatre asked their Facebook fans to list their favorite Doc Brown quote, my fingers were typing before I even knew what I was doing.

I only realized after I got a message a few hours later from The Orpheum that I had even entered a contest!  Typing “It’s your KIDS, Marty! Something’s gotta be done about your KIDS!” won us two tickets to see Back to the Future on the big screen!  My husband and I were beside ourselves.  Even though we have probably seen that movie thousands of times on the trusty VCR, neither of us had ever seen it in a theater, considering we were only toddlers when it came out.

We made a night of it, I donned my Delorean t-shirt (yes, I have one.  Biggest nerd ever) and it was AWESOME.  Best date EVER.

Pardon the iPhone pics.  In all the excitement we forgot to bring the big camera.  Not sure I could have focused on taking photos anyway!

As you can see, he is very dedicated to the cause:

But actually, I snuck one shot in that I love:

I might have to frame that one.

I still need to go through all of our winter getaway photos, but I am so excited about getting out and shooting this weekend, I doubt I will pay my vacation snaps any attention.  I guess they can wait a little longer, for the sake of quashing cabin fever right?

This is here for no other reason than I came across it while skimming through our vacation photos, and it cracked me up.  During one of our snow days last month, I was using up the last of the exposures on our waterproof disposable camera and got this shot of our fire-breathing lab.  Ha!  So glad it’s not cold enough to see our breath anymore!

Here she is saying, “Just throw it all ready!”

Our neighbor’s dog could hear us through the fence and did not appreciate our backyard ruckus!  So I hopped up on the fence and snagged a shot of Mr. Grumpy himself.  He looks sweet here, but I guarantee you he was pissed!  Good thing I didn’t have to get to close with the new 85mm!

]]> http://www.erintracy.com/blog/2010/02/10/snow-day/feed/ 0 http://www.erintracy.com/blog/2009/12/17/i-swear-im-not-dead-yall/ http://www.erintracy.com/blog/2009/12/17/i-swear-im-not-dead-yall/#comments Thu, 17 Dec 2009 20:19:44 +0000 admin http://66.147.244.207/~erintrac/?p=241 Continue reading →]]> I’ll be the first to admit that I have been the world’s worst blogger over the last six months or so. In my defense, we have had a CRAZY busy last six months! We’ve been to at least 5 weddings (one I shot, 3 that either Josh or I were in!) trekked north, south, east and west, and still found time to live our regular lives (barely!)

Luckily, things seem to be calming down as 2009 comes to an end. I’ve got a nice chunk of leisure time coming up, and I plan on getting this blog all caught up on the poor, neglected events off the past six months.

In the coming weeks, look for posts on:

• Jennifer and Clint’s Arizona engagement shoot! (this one is gonna have to be a three-parter, I think!)
• Non-engagement Arizona photos (Highlight: Josh fights a cactus!)
• Haley and Matthew get hitched!  (I shot this one with the help of my best assistant, Katie!)
• The Katies and I visit Chicago (not pictured: Katie throws cheesecake at a cab driver–accidentally, of course.)
• Scenes from our October Wedding-fest!
• Cathy and Ryan’s awesome Memphis engagement shoot!
• Outtakes from our holiday card session (if I’m feeling brave!)

In the meantime, I’ll leave you with the official Jaffe family holiday card of 2009. We continued our treasured tradition of making Holly wear things of which she does not approve:

2009

2008

2007

Here’s a little-known fact about my family: my stepdad and mom raise chickens so they don’t have to buy eggs.

Actually that isn’t a little-known fact if you know me at all because I think it is so fun and I tell everyone the first chance I get. (Even though I actually do not like birds at all. I appreciate the process from afar.)

Over dinner one night my stepdad dropped the bombshell on me that he buys his chickens from a nearby Amish community. Talk about taking interesting and multiplying it by fascinating! I was hooked, and made him promise to take me along the next time he ventured out there.

We picked a date and I wrote it in big block letters in my planner. I was eagerly awaiting my visit with the Amish. Finally the date arrived! Did you guys know that there is an Amish community in Mississippi? I did not.

It was a little tricky to find (translation: there is no way I would have ever found it, or my way home, were it not for my stepdad.) I clutched my camera (though I was careful not to actually photograph any of the people so as not to offend) as we approached the ten or twelve houses sprawled across a large plot of land.

This windmill is used to draw their water up from the well below:

Each “house” has several buildings associated with it.  The house below had a barn, a greenhouse, a shed used as a shop to sell vegetables, and several other storage buildings for keeping their horse-drawn buggies, woodpile, etc. Oh and we can’t forget the outhouse.  (and we have just landed on the biggest hurdle in my surviving as a member of the Amish community. Well, that and the lack of wifi…)

By the mailboxes were signs indicating which goods that family has to sell. They add or remove signs based on the season and the crops. There was a wide range from vegetables to leather goods to soaps and candles, and so on. I loved the handlettered signs:

All of the families had these gourds hanging near their homes. My stepdad told me they are to attract birds that protect the crops from insects and other threats.

The people were very quiet and friendly, though they seemed shy. Everyone wears handmade clothes, the guys in pants/suspenders and straw hats, the girls in dresses and bonnets. I would have loved to sit and ask them questions about their life for hours, but everyone seemed very busy, doing chores or tending the little sheds that served as shops, even the smaller children, so I did my best to stay out of their way and not distract them. The children seemed to have a hard time keeping their eyes off of us though, I am sure they are curious about the strangers who visit.

This is their schoolhouse:

I noticed the hats hanging out on the porch of this family’s house, and we figured they must be getting ready for the next day’s Sunday service, which takes place in different house each week.

The whole experience was so interesting to me, I can’t wait to go back when they get their corn crop in. On this trip we bought: eggplants, onions, tomatoes, homemade bread, peanut brittle, and a blueberry pie.

But wait, here’s a subject that’s worthy of 140 or more character devotion: my friend Jen. She’s been on my mind lately, maybe because she packed up and moved all the way across the country (not okay!) or possibly because she just got engaged (that part is okay.) Maybe because in the near future I am flying to Arizona to take her engagement photos (totally, super okay.)

Sidebar: Have I mentioned that she now lives a mere 30 minutes away from Tombstone, Arizona? Which is the setting of one of my favorite movies ever? Oh, yes. We will be stopping by old Tombstone during my visit.  There is no getting out of it!

Just be prepared for a lot of photos entitled “I’m Your Huckleberry” upon my return. Or a multitude of other caption possibilities, as my friend Katie handily supplied: “Allow me to present a pair of fellow sophisticates”, “I don’t think I’m gonna let you arrest me today”, “If I thought you weren’t my friend, I just don’t think I could bear it”, “I know! Let’s have a spelling contest”, and of course: “well, BYE.”

What was I talking about? Oh right, Jen! (Sorry, I get sidetracked whenever the occasion to quote movie lines presents itself.) Jen and I have known each other since the 7th grade. Our friendship has lasted through 14-year-old awkwardness, learning to drive, cashiering together at the grocery store, countless groundings, a short stint as roommates, (where we learned that best friends don’t always equal good roommates, sheesh), graduating high school and going our separate ways for college. It even survived the time I thought I nearly killed her.

Before I dive into that story, I first need to introduce you to my high school ride. Prepare to get jealous.   Meet the 1987 Volvo Station Wagon.  (Mine was missing the gas cap door for an extra touch of class.)

That car and I did some serious damage (literally) in the two-ish years I owned it. I backed into a tree, drove it into (and out of) a ditch, nearly took off a high school classmate’s passenger door (though I still blame his passenger for flinging the door open right as I was pulling into the parking spot,) and of course, possibly gave poor Jen a concussion.

And you know what? That car barely had a scratch on it–it was a TANK. I’m telling you this because it is important to understand how heavy, unyielding, and very METAL this car was. You didn’t dent it, it dented YOU.

Now on that fateful day, I picked Jen up on my way to school in the midst of a torrential downpour. I am talking, can’t-see-the-road-even-with-your-wipers-on-full-blast, yards-and-gutters-flooded-within-minutes kind of rain. We pulled into the parking lot and sat, pondering whether we should wait to see if the rain would let up, or make a run for it. (Obviously we weren’t the kind of kids who planned ahead and actually carried an umbrella.) We finally concluded that the rain wasn’t going anywhere and decided to go for broke. Hands on the door handles, we counted down, flung our doors open, and bolted to the back of the car, where our bookbags were waiting in the hatch.

I opened the hatch and we reached in to grab our bags. Backpack over my shoulder, I slammed the hatch down, ready to take off running toward the school. But for some reason, the door didn’t latch. Once again, I slammed the hatch down, and as I was doing so, I saw Jen out of the corner of my eye, sprawled on the ground in the middle of a giant puddle.

I bent down to to see what happened, and she said, “I don’t know! I was grabbing my backpack and then I blacked out and next thing I knew I was in a puddle on the ground!”

Now, our details are a little bit fuzzy here, but after many MANY discussions of this fateful event, (yeah, this is a topic we like to revisit from time to time) we have come to the conclusion that Jen must have been a little bit slower getting her bag out of the car, and in my haste, I…slammed the hatch down on her head. ON HER HEAD. I know. I KNOW.

I guess that explains why the door didn’t latch. Poor Jen had to go the rest of the day completely soaked from head to toe (though by the time it was all said and done, I too, was completely drenched–but I’m not the one who got my head smashed in a Volvo, so no complaints here,) and with a massive headache (probably a concussion–we were dumb kids and didn’t even get her checked out.)

And you know what? Despite my nearly killing her with my tank of a car, Jen still wants me to be in her wedding. And that’s good, because you know, Jen, if I thought you weren’t my friend, I just don’t think I could bear it.

I knew this photo got a lot of hits, but I never dreamed that when I clicked through to the Google image search results for “ugly bridesmaid dress” that I would see myself on the very front page, right next to a pregnant prom goer (clearly on the cutting edge of maternity fashion.)  Yet there I sat, in full peach-polka-dot-ruffled glory holding a beer and smelling like moth balls.  Classy.

Once I got over the initial shock of sharing web-space with the infamous baby bump prom dress, I spent some time examining a few of my ugly dress comrades.  Let’s take a closer look, shall we?  First up, a poor soul I affectionately refer to as Accordion Lady.

Accordion Lady is a good friend, y’all.  She is wearing this horrible dress with more grace than I could muster, and manages to do it with a smile on her face.  That bride is not deserving of such a friend.  You know how you can tell that this is the bride being a jerk who wants her friend to look stupid, and not just unfortunately bad taste?  Look at her dress, veil, hair, flowers.  All pretty much your usual wedding stuff, right?  A little boring, but nothing too bizarre or tacky.  Certainly nothing even close to the realm of Accordion Dress.  I think what we have here is a classic case of “You better not look prettier than me on my wedding day!”

Surprisingly, most of the ladies in these unfortunate dresses seem to have taken the Grin and Bear It route.  I mean, just look at Flag Girl here:

Sure, she’s smiling through the pain, but I think somewhere Betsy Ross is weeping.

Now, this.  This was my favorite of the whole collection:
Not because of the horrific ruffles or the ridiculous hat or even the scary Dick Tracy “the Blank” face.  No, the reason I love this one is because of the matter-of-fact caption:  “That is ugly.”  I love whoever captioned this photo.  No sugar-coating in these parts.

And I’m sure we all would like a closer view of our Prom-going friend, right?  Right?  Though she should probably be disqualified from the “ugly bridesmaid dress” page, as it technically isn’t wedding party attire.  Or is it?  Perhaps it served as both?

If you’re looking for more awesome ugliness, check out uglydress.com. You won’t be able to look away.

(Thanks to Sundry for the questionnaire!)

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?

I hit a deer!  With MY CAR.  Let’s make that a once-in-a-lifetime event, shall we?

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I actually kept a resolution!  Amazing.  I resolved to quit my grilled-cheese unhealthy breakfasts, and I totally broke myself of that.  My other resolution, which was to drink more water and less Coke Zero?  Totally a FAIL.  We’ll try that one again for 2009.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Hoping I don’t offend anyone by forgetting an important birth, but…I don’t think so?

4. Did anyone close to you die?

Thankfully, no

5. What countries did you visit?

Stayed stateside this year, no globetrotting for me :(

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?

Stronger willpower!

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

Hm, we didn’t really have any major, life-changing events this year, so no dates are really jumping out at me.  I did spend Halloween driving home from South Carolina, completely tense because someone told me to watch out as we went under overpasses for punks who might be out throwing pumpkins over the side.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

I got a new job!  That was exciting.

9. What was your biggest failure?

There were a lot of jobs that I tried to get before the perfect one came along.  Those rejections stung.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

I got hit with two rounds of Barfapalooza over the summer.  Pretty much the worst thing ever.  Queasy just thinking about it.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

We finally caved and got a flat screen.  We love it.  Runner Up:  though I didn’t technically buy it (it was a gift), my GPS is one of my single favorite possessions.  I don’t know how I survived without one!

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

Holly!  She is such a good dog.  Better behaved than some people, for sure :)

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

Seems like there is a new headline every week, but how about the Wal-Mart shoppers who were heartless enough to complain about the store closing after they STAMPEDED a man to death on Black Friday?

14. Where did most of your money go?

Bills, where else?

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Vacation, new job, weddings

16. What song will always remind you of 2008?

Probably that Kid Rock song?

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder?

happier, for sure

b) thinner or fatter?

um, about the same.

c) richer or poorer?

again, about the same.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

traveling

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

stressing!

20. How did you spend Christmas?

Hopping around from one family gathering to the next.

21. Did you fall in love in 2008?

I stayed in love, does that count?  I fell in love with Asiago cheese bagels :)

22. What was your favorite TV program?

probably Lost, though I have lots of favorite shows

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

I don’t hate anyone, such a harsh word!  (can’t say I wasn’t tested this year though, lol.)

24. What was the best book you read?

Hmm.  I read a lot of good books.  My most recent favorite was The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins.  I also loved A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini.  (Much better than the Kite Runner.)  I re-read an old favorite, The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger and it was even better the second time.  Guilty pleasure reading included the Twilight novels (though Breaking Dawn was a lot to take, and the movie was a total stinker,) and the Harry Potter series (much thanks to Katie, who finally broke me down and got me to give them a chance.)

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?

I didn’t discover anything, though I enjoyed a lot of different songs :)  The music snobs will not appreciate my totally pop tastes, but here are some of my favorites from 2008:

Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It), Beyoncé
I’m Yours, Jason Mraz
Fall For You, Secondhand Serenade
Anthem of the Used, Vayden
Love Is Noise, The Verve
I’m Not Over, Carolina Liar
Beating Heart Baby, Head Automatica
The Pretender, Foo Fighters (definitely the best concert I’ve been to)
Stop!, Against Me
Bleeding Love, Leona Lewis

(I’m surprised to admit I totally got in touch with my country side this year!)

Don’t, Billy Currington
Chicken Fried, Zac Brown Band
Just Got Started Lovin’ You, James Otto

26. What did you want and get?

a vacation, (which I was not expecting, thanks to my mom and stepdad.)

27. What did you want and not get?

A new camera, though Josh gave me the go-ahead to upgrade in 2009, so my patience is paying off!

28. What was your favorite film of this year?

Ooh, tough.  Though it certainly isn’t for everyone, I got a huge kick out of Pineapple Express.  Burn After Reading and The Dark Knight were great, too.  (Though Christian Bale’s ridiculously gruff voice made it harder to watch.  Tone it down for the next one, guy.)

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

We had dinner with some friends and then we tried to go to a bar, but they carded me, and I had forgotten my wallet!  I told them it was my 26th birthday, but they still wouldn’t let me in.  I guess it is a good thing that I still get carded, but it was kind of inconvenient!

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Unlimited funds, ha!  Honestly, I’m pretty satisfied.  Things took a turn for the better during the last quarter of the year and have just kept improving ever since.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?

Comfortable!  (Well as comfortable as you can be while dressed in Business Casual-wear.)

32. What kept you sane?

Josh!  And my friends/family.  I have such a supportive group of people around me.  And of course Holly!  Even after a crappy day, coming home to a dog who is super happy to see you makes it all better.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

Can’t really think of any…

34. What political issue stirred you the most?

I get pretty pissed about some of the local politics–but, I have a rule about discussing politics:  I don’t.  It’s totally a personal and private thing, so just let it be.  No one has to agree with my politics, and I’ll never force my opinions on others.

35. Who did you miss?

I miss my friends who live far away!  Seeing them over the holidays made me realize just how much!

36. Who was the best new person you met?

I met a lot of new people this year, I can’t just pick one!

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.

I learned that I need to trust that things will all work out, in their own time.  It’s not worth stressing over!  (easier said than done.)

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

It’ll work itself out fine
All we need is just a little patience