6.52 My furballs

Anyone who knows me, knows I love cats. A lot.  In fact, I'd be okay with coming back as a cat in my next life. Ha!  I currently have 2 furballs.  We adopted them this past July when they were about 3 months old.  They came as Simon and Garfunkel.  While pretty cute as a pair, Garfunkel as a name on it's own is kind of a mouthful.  On that first night, he jumped up into bed, snuggled right up into me as close as he could get and presented me with his new name - Spooner. That's him below in the photo. He is so full of personality and is the snuggliest cat I've ever known. Simon kept his name as it seemed to fit him (and the kids wouldn't agree to anything else I suggested).  I'll be sure he makes an appearance in this project too.  The kitties also seem to understand that coming to live with us meant photos would be taken of them...frequently....as in, almost every day.  My munchkins could not possibly love the fur boys any more if they tried.  

So thankful for my kitties!  They bring so much joy and love into our home!

A touch of tap

My little guy just finished up his first professional theater gig in the production of The Who's Tommy at the Paramount Theatre!  Forty shows later and it's over.  It went by so fast, so so fast.  An amazing experience all around.  He was surrounded by some unbelievably talented people, one of whom has mad tapping skills! Laura Savage was the lead in 42nd Street a few years back at this same theater and I remember being blown away by her dancing. Fast forward 2 years, now my son is in a show with her. How cool is that?!  Once they knew they were both tappers, a plan was made to tap together before the end of the run.  So, just in the nick of time, they met up in-between a two show day and tapped for about a half an hour.  I was lucky enough to get permission to hang out with them for a bit and capture some of the moments with my camera!

Thanks for adding yet another super cool experience into this whole Tommy ride!  Here's to hoping you are in another show together in the future.  

Best of luck on your next adventure, Laura, wherever it takes you.

5.52 Straight

When I was little, my hair was straight and blond.  That's clearly not the case anymore. At the age of twelve, I was up in Canada spending a couple of weeks with my grandparents. My grandma took me to get a haircut. I remember telling the stylist I wanted it cut in a bob and then permed.  She got through the haircut part and then refused to perm my hair.  When we asked why, she spun me around in the chair, handed me a mirror and showed me the back of my head which was now full of curls.  What a surprise! We had no idea.

When it comes to hair, so many people want what they don't have.  I'll admit for a long time, I did wish my hair was straight. But, that was because there was one particular style I wanted to try and it would never have worked with my hair type.  Oh well. I got over it, moved on and grew to love my curls.  At this point, thank goodness I have curls as my skills in styling hair are severely lacking.  Most days, it takes me about 3 minutes to get my hair done.

When I was in my early 20's, I ended up finding a hair stylist who showed me how to straighten my hair with just a dryer and a roll brush.  It was awesome! Suddenly, I had the best of both worlds.  And while I don't do it very often anymore, it is fun to straighten my hair every once in awhile just for fun and for a different look.

I also wish my hair was red, but that's a whole different blog post!  :) 

At the Start

It's been a busy January for me with requests for new head shots.  I love that kind of session! I've done them for realtors, dancers, dating sites, business people and most recently, this budding actor! He's headed off to college next year and will be majoring in musical theater! Auditions for various schools are this weekend, so he needed to start with a headshot.  We got together last weekend and had a session.  Though it was cold, we had some gorgeous winter light to work with. He was such a trooper taking his jacket on and off for the photos and braving the less than tropical temperatures.

This last shot is one I didn't show him in his final gallery as it clearly would not be one he would use.  However, I still love it!  An in-between moment of laughter. If I'm having fun, then everyone else should be too!

And that's a wrap!  

Best of luck on Sunday.  

We look forward to seeing you on stage soon!

4.52 My Happy Place (well, one of them)

For those of you just joining in, the photo project I've chosen this year is Project 52....52 weeks of Self Portraits.  Yep, this will make sure I get behind the camera each week.  I'm planning to have my kids in those photos a few times too, with me, of course!

So, this is one of my happy places.  Sitting on our living room couch, computer on my lap, a kitty behind my legs (see that splash of white back there), playing with/editing photos.  While I do have an office in my home, I don't always work there. I love the light and warmth in this room. It also contains a few pieces of furniture I inherited from my grandparents, once they passed away.  See that antique tea cart on the right side of the photo? That was in my grandparents home where I used to go every summer while I was growing up. It makes me feel like I have a little part of them with me all the time and makes my heart happy.

Working on a couch, in jeans, with my fur ball..what else could I ask for?  Here, I was finishing up putting head shots together for a client.  He's in his Senior year of high school, auditioning for colleges for next year, wanting to major in musical theater!  Send some positive vibes his way on Sunday, if you are so inclined.

I feel so truly fortunate that this is the life I'm leading.  I'm one very lucky girl.

Until next week (or really later this week, since I'm posting this one late)....

Thanks for stopping by!

3.52 Me and Coffee

So, I don't consider myself a coffee drinker. Which is silly because many of you know that I spend a lot of time in coffee shops.  In my defense, I don't like to drink coffee that actually tastes like coffee. I often say I drink "foofy" coffee. By that I mean lattes. With flavoring.  So that I can't actually taste the coffee.  What can I say, it works for me.

Last year, I met a friend at, of course, a coffee shop. She asked me if go for the coffee or the atmosphere. She hit the nail on the head. I go for the atmosphere.  Since I work from home, by myself, I sometimes like to go out and about just to be around people, even if I don't talk to anyone. But, let's be honest, chances are I'll have a conversation with at least one person, even if it's a quick one.  It makes me feel like I'm a part of what's happening in the world around me.

I've had a bit of time to kill during my son's rehearsals for The Who's Tommy at the Paramount Theatre, which started it's run last Wednesday.  I found myself at a nearby coffee cafe, called Two Brothers, when I had about a 2 hour wait for my kiddo to be done. For Christmas, I got this ridiculously cool coffee mug and try and to bring it along with me whenever I remember.  I love drinking out of a coffee lens mug.

So, here I am, in (one version) of a nutshell.  A latte, inside a lens coffee mug at a coffee shop, computer in hand, editing photos. My happy place!

It's Showtime!

Today's the day!!!  At 1:30 this afternoon, the first preview of Tommy begins.  It's been a long process and an incredibly short one, all at the same time.  My son's audition for The Who's Tommy at the Paramount Theater first took place back at the very end of the July.  As we were leaving, I has a quick thought that perhaps I should document that day, that it might be the start of something very special.  As most people know, in the world of theater, anything can happen. There was certainly no guarantee he was going to be cast, but I took the photo anyway, just in case.

Two days later, we got the email that they wanted to see him at callbacks.  We'd been watching my email obsessively, as we knew we'd hear either way about whether or not they wanted to see him again.  I was sitting at a stoplight when I saw the email pop up on my phone that we'd been waiting for.  I quickly turned off the main road and parked my car on a side street so my little guy and I could read the message together.  It said, "The Tommy auditions were a huge success and everyone on the Paramount team would like to thank you for being here!  We were so happy to see Peyton!  We would like to call back Peyton for the role of Little Tommy."   There was a bit more after that but that was all we needed to see. We jumped up and down and hugged and shared our excitement.  And, I made have shed a few tears.  :)

From there, we had more waiting.  The callback date was finally sent a few weeks later and on his first day of school, off he went to be seen again.  He felt it went really well, but again, no guarantees. You never know what the directors are looking for.  We were told it would be awhile before we  heard, as the director had a few other kids to see who hadn't been able to make it that day.

And then, on September 19th, we got the call we'd been waiting for! The Paramount wanted to cast Peyton as the 4 year old Tommy!  He was in school when this news was delivered so I headed over in the afternoon to let him know in person.  Holy cow! His first professional theater gig!!  We stopped in front of the theater later that day to take a quick photo. I mean, how could we not?!

Shortly thereafter, we received paperwork and music and his contract.  But, nothing would be begin again until December 22nd.  And then, it all sped up to mock 240 speed.  Three weeks of rehearsals to put the whole thing together.  David Schlumpf, who plays Captain Walker - Tommy's Dad, was the very first face Peyton and I saw as we entered the rehearsal space that first day.  He had the friendliest smile, reached out and shook both our hands and made us feel comfortable immediately.  That's how it's been the whole time with everyone we've met.  These two have since become buddies. I love it!

And now it's TODAY!  The first preview.  I'm so excited I can hardly stand it. And I'm so very, very proud of my little guy. What an incredible experience this has been for him so far.  From the director, Jim Corti, to the entire team at the Paramount, all of Peyton's co-actors, the stage crew and the other families, everyone has been amazing.  We are so very, very lucky to have this incredible theater pretty much in our backyard.  Peyton has made some great new friends in the process.  I have too! (the moms rock!) 

So here we go!  Off to see Tommy! For anyone who would like to see the show, it runs from today, January 14th through February 15th. There are 8 shows a week happening Wednesdays through Sundays. Matinees also take place on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets can be purchased at www.paramountaurora.com or by calling 603.896.6666.  Hope to see you there!