Happy Fourth!

 

What's the best kind of ship?

A friendship.

(Yes, I actually made him bring a toy ship when he came to visit me. Yes, I know what you're thinking. :D)

Today would have been our four-year anniversary. It's a different kind of celebration now, a happy realization that we're still close and supportive of each other without the toxic dependency. Even with these damn photos, Edgar was ever vigilant, trying to teach me for the 143th time how lighting works and how to balance out shadows. These very important concepts don't seem to stay in my brain for too long. High ISO + a slow shutter speed = temperamental Julie.

These were taken in a very, very dark room with light green walls, a small floor lamp and two 60-watt bulbs in those Home Depot clamp contraptions. See the first picture with the gray walls? Yeah, the room looks nothing like that. =D In the second picture, his side wasn't as lit as my side, which resulted in the green/yellow wall effect. I'm a sucker for gradiance, so hooray to this happy mistake. It still amazes me how pictures taken in the same setting can come out so different-looking.

The originals. Check out those puke green walls. 

P.S. While I was writing this, I found out that Heavy D died today. :( 

Happy 4th of ...

Day 337

I hope yours was filled with friends, food and fireworks.

Happy Tuesday

Day 29o

^ lol

I'm learning how to use the black and white layer in PS. Hurrah for the target adjustment tool!

Weekend o' Ladies

I spent the past weekend with my favorite ladies: wedding dress shopping with Natalie and lunching at the Gypsy Den with Lauren, Suz, Lindsay and Madeleine.

I think that's the perfect weekend leading up to Valentine's Day :)

Oh! I almost forgot to mention that they got a new chef at the Gypsy Den -- the one at the Lab -- and so the pasta noodles on my favorite Mediterranean Pasta Salad are now bow ties! What a pleasant surprise.

Stank + Skank

My friend Natalie, whom I've known for about a decade, texted me last week saying she was engaged. It's the first time I'll be a bridesmaid, and the first time a close friend is going to tie the knot. It's such a weird feeling that people I love feel ready to be a grown up -- she already bought a house -- while my desire to stay forever young grows each day.

I met her at the local junior college during my short-lived goal to be the student body Athletics Senator (don't ask). She was already on the governing board. We both got close on the student newspaper, the Mountaineer, where we all spent 13 hours a day in the newsroom because journalism was our life -- and we were young with nothing better to do and had no bills to worry about.

The weird thing is, she lived just a few blocks from Edgar's place, but I never visited because I thought I had all the time in the world. This is quickly becoming my fatal flaw, by the way. Now, she's bought a house in Lake Forest and is getting married, ah! I was looking for pics of us to post but I couldn't find too many. Time to change that before another milestone happens.