my hat just improved my day

Due to extenuating circumstances, which will not be discussed on this blog, I have been feeling a bit blah today. I told myself that I needed to write a blog post in order to occupy my mind, as opposed to staring mindlessly at Twitter and Facebook. I thought about doing a post on the a-dor-a-ble one year old birthday party that I photographed this past Saturday. But that didn't seem to fit my mood this afternoon {perhaps tomorrow}.

Then, I was thinking how I would rather be in NYC or Las Vegas today. Because OKC just feels uninspiring to me at the moment. So I thought for a minute that I'd blog about that. I started going through my external hard drive to find photos from my trips to NYC and Vegas last year.

And then I saw some photos I took of myself exactly six months ago today, in New York City. It was December 30th, the eve of my thirtieth birthday. I had snapped a few photos of myself in the lobby of the hotel where I was staying. I wanted to document my last few moments in my twenties.

So, I decided to blog about being six months into my thirtieth year, sort of a half-year-review type of post. I dug my always-with-me point and shoot camera out of my purse in order to grab a pic of "Me, Today" to go with the pic of "Me, Six Months Ago"...

I snapped a few pics. They were blah. Much like my mood today. But then, I remembered that I had my cool gold fedora out in my car. So, I dashed through the spray of the sprinklers running outside of my office and grabbed my fave hat ever. Back inside, I plopped it on my messy hair, and tried again with the self portrait. Much better.

And all of that made me realize that I didn't really want to post a deep, reflective post today, reviewing the past six months of my life. Nope. Instead, I just wanted to write and say: when all else fails, when your mood is blah, when the city you live in feels uninspiring, when your life seems ridiculous, when the photos you are trying to take of yourself while sitting at your desk with your point and shoot camera don't look awesome at all - just put on a cool hat and see if it helps! Worked for me! :)


{left~ me six months ago in NYC; right~ me today in OKC}

~abi~

true stories of my life

Here's a little afternoon story for you...

About eight years ago, give or take {I have a terrible memory and not-so-good time frame reference}, I bought a car from my awesome friend Octavia. For five hundred dollars. Amazing! It was a little '95 Nissan Sentra. It was the first stick shift I ever owned. And I have driven that car for the past eight years. No power locks or power windows, leaked oil and power steering fluid -- but it ran and it had a radio and it had cold air conditioning {a must in Oklahoma}.

See, here's the thing: I love cool cars. I really do. In fact, my dream car is a late 60's or early 70's Corvette Sting Ray. But, I refuse to have a car payment, ever. My family has always bought used cars for cash, instead of financing a new car from a car lot. That just goes against the grain for me. Sure, if I had the cash to drop on a nice vehicle, I would do it. But, as I miiiight have mentioned on this blog before, I have not always done the best job managing my money.

So anyway, back to my current car situation. I drove my little maroon-colored-leaking-oil-dented-up Nissan for about eight years. Until a few weeks ago. You see, a few weeks ago, at about 11:30 at night, I was driving on I240, and the engine just died. I mean, it didn't really just die. It rattled and gurgled and basically blew up, I think. There were awful noises and there was smoke. My poor dad, my eternal rescuer-when-my-car-breaks-down, came and confirmed the death of my car.

He told me, and I quote, "Well, you could buy a new engine for it. But I wouldn't waste your money." I looked my dad in the eye. And there I saw the reflection of countless car repairs he had done on my little Nissan over the past eight years.

And then I got a little angry. {"Why does my stupid car have to die?!? Doesn't God know that I don't have the money to buy a new car right now?!? What the heck am I going to do?!? This is so DUMB!!! I hate cars! I hate money! I hate not having money!"} I mean, never mind that this car was a miracle in the first place. Did you read the part about me only paying five hundred dollars for it?!? And then driving it for eight years?!? Yeah, okay. So then I calmed down.

And then I cried. Sitting in my dead car on the side of the highway late at night, I cried. It was, after all, a very sad night.

So, for the past few weeks, I have been driving my parents' car. God bless them. I feel a little spoiled, what with the power locks and power windows and cd player and all. I have also been working a lot. God has blessed me with plenty of photo shoots over the past few weeks, and I am trying really hard not to spend my money recklessly.

So here's where you guys come in, my lovely readers. In the next week or so, I should have a little cash to get a car. Will you keep your eyes and ears open for me, please? All I really care about is getting a vehicle with decent gas mileage and an air conditioner. Other than that, my preference would be that it is a stick shift. But I'm not picky, honest. I am poor, though. :) So, nothing I would have to take out a loan for - we're talking cheap, people!

Thank you in advance for your help. And for reading about my car situation. Because, really, I'm sure there are better things you could be doing with your time on a Wednesday afternoon.

I love y'all! :)

~abi~

heart melting

I have a dear friend named Whitney Ray. She is pretty amazing. I love her a lot and am so thankful that God placed her in my life!

This past Saturday, Whitney's sister had me do a photo shoot of her adorable son {Whitney's nephew} Ben. Ben is one of the most heart-melting-adorable boys I've ever met! He did really great during our session - for a two year old! :)

So, this is what I'm working on today. Just too cute. I love my job!







Happy Tuesday, friends.

~abi~

sitting, waiting, wishing, whatev

Yesterday, I pretty much decided that I don't even want to entertain the thought of marriage until I am thirty-five. I mean, I enjoy my life how it is now. I love spending time with my family and my friends. I like checking out cute boys. And after thirty whole years {okay, maybe like twenty years} of imagining "what if" when a cute boy's smile catches my eye, I sometimes think it might be difficult for me to not be able to do that. Hmm.

Then there are the fleeting moments when I get frustrated and just want a boy to like me. And I want to like him back. And sometimes, a specific boy might catch my interest, and then my sentiments might echo the lyrics of this song by my man Jack Johnson...



Even if you find this whole post to be annoying or obnoxious, you should watch the video, it's a clever one. And it is Jack Johnson. And if he weren't already married, I'd take back everything I said about not getting married until I'm thirty-five, and I'd marry him tomorrow. :)

{And seriously, this is one of his more popular songs, that pretty much everyone has probably heard; but you all should do yourself a favor and invest in his music. It's perfect for the summertime. And he has a ton of great songs. I should know, I'm pretty sure I have every single one.}

great expectations

My great friends Anna & Cody are expecting their first child soon. I have known Anna and Cody since the very beginning of their relationship and I photographed their engagement, wedding, Anna's bridal portraits, and a one year anniversary session for them. So I was thrilled when Anna told me she wanted me to shoot some maternity portraits of her as a surprise Father's Day present for Cody.

Here are a few of my favorites from our session.


{Cody built this closet for Anna. I love the hipster vibe of this shot. :)}









Anna~
You are so beautiful. Thank you for allowing me to photograph all the special moments in your life. :) It means the world to me! I love you so much!

~abi~

love the shirts

I just finished editing an engagement session for cool couple Anthony and Chasta.

Here's one of my faves...



Obviously, they are a couple after my own heart. :)

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend! I am heading to Tulsa tonight for a birthday bash for my friend Kevin. Should be a great time.

~abi~

this is why i don't paint my nails

Well, that title is misleading, because obviously I did paint my nails. But this is why I dislike going to the trouble of painting my nails.....

First, I have zero patience. I am just not a patient person. So waiting for my each coat of nail polish to dry just about kills me.

Secondly, when I do actually manage to do good job painting my nails and not smudge them before they dry, they still chip right away.



I painted my nails last night, and this happened just after noon today, while browsing clothes at the thrift store during my lunch break. Not while opening a can of pop. Not while washing the dishes. Not while doing anything that might actually cause nail polish to chip.

And okay, so maybe I used a random nail strengthener I had on hand, as opposed to top coat or base coat. Apparently, I am easily seduced into buying lots and lots of little bottles of fun, bright, or sparkly nail polish. Not so seduced by the boring bottles of base coat or top coat. But if it is supposed to strengthen my nails, shouldn't it make my nail polish strong enough to last through a shopping trip? Maybe it's because I've probably had that nail strengthener since high school...

~abi~

they're a cool family

The other session I did in Tacoma was for Chad and Shawnda and their gorgeous girls. They are such a cool family, and I really enjoyed hanging out with them. I also loved shooting around Tacoma. There are some fantastic locations to shoot in the downtown area, and that day there was some very pretty light.















Shawnda, Chad, and girls~
Thanks for having me do your photos, and for being willing to walk all over downtown Tacoma with me. You guys are all so photogenic, it made my job super easy. :)

~abi~

nick and julia plus one

While in Washington, I also did a couple of family portrait sessions. The first one was for a couple I've known for a long while, Nick and Julia. I actually shot their awesome wedding out in Washington, back in 2007! Now they have a beautiful, smart baby girl, Scarlett.







Look at this girl -- so cute!









Nick & Julia~
Thank you for having me do your family portraits while I was out in Washington! It was great getting to spend some time with you, and I really enjoyed seeing you guys as parents. It's obvious already that you are doing a wonderful job raising sweet Scarlett! Now that you will be living in the MidWest, I hope we will get to do family pictures on a regular basis. :)

~abi~

food, fun, and fashion in seattle

Last month, I had the distinct pleasure of visiting my sis in law and dear friend, Ashley, out in Tacoma, WA. We had a wonderful few days together enjoying some delish culinary delights, losing track of time in an amazing little clothing shop, and otherwise just having an absolute blast. But photos always tell the story better, so here you go.....

The flight into Sea-Tac is simply breathtaking, especially to this Mid-Western born and bred girl. :)



Immediately after my arrival in Washington, Ashley and I headed over to Alki Beach in West Seattle. It was a lovely, sunny day, especially for Seattle. I was enamored with the picturesque area!





I could easily imagine living in a charming abode like this one! :)



Ashley and I walked and talked and sat and talked some more, all while enjoying the views on every side. I mean, this view...seriously??





Ashley's latest tattoo.



After walking all the way down the beach and back, we stumbled-on-purpose into the fabulous store Pepper, having spotted it earlier from the car. I snapped this shot while we were driving by, when this cool girl caught my eye. When we went into the store later, we found out that this cool girl was actually the artist and shop owner Pepper herself. Ashley and I went mad for her creatively reworked fashions! Such fun clothes!



After an hour or so spent trying on and buying clothes from Pepper, we walked down the street a little to get some yummy pho for lunch.



That evening, Ashley and her roommate Lindsay and friend Rachel and I, all got dressed up and headed back into Seattle from Tacoma.



Rachel, you are so fetching in your fascinator! :)



First, we enjoyed a sublime meal at Etta's, where I savored the delicious albacore tuna with braised olives, fennel, and roasted grapes. Yummmm.....



After dinner, we headed over to Le Can Can to take in a divine show by the super-talented performers! I loved the mood, lighting, and all-around atmosphere of Le Can Can!

Rachel and I -- doing our best "sophisticated ladies" pose... :)



Ashley and Lindsay -- happy, smiley, pretty girls... :)



I have no words to describe the allure and talent of this woman! Wow.



That's my hand, looking fabulous all dressed up with sparkly nail strips and a giant ring.



The second day of my visit was all about Ashley's roller derby bout that evening!!! Yes, she is a badass roller derby chick! I LOVED getting to watch her skate!





I had to represent for my girl! I even rocked a {temporary} tattoo of an anchor on my chest, in support of the Dock Yard Derby Dames.



The next morning, we headed back into Seattle yet again, for a delectable biscuit brunch at a sweet little spot named Nook.





And later, in the afternoon, I ended up at the best little ice cream place ever! I told y'all this trip was all about some great food! But seriously, if you are ever in Seattle, do yourself a favor and try some savory ice cream from Molly Moon's! You won't regret it, and you will thank me. :)





After sampling several of their unique flavors, I ended up going with the to-die-for-delish salted caramel. Mmmmm!



Oh, and did I mention that I was wearing one of Pepper's pieces that day? This top totally made me feel like I was a cool girl while walking the streets of Seattle.



That evening, back in Tacoma, we enjoyed even more good food while celebrating Ashley and Lindsay's May birthdays.





The birthday babes... :)



Ashely~
Thank you so much for such a wonderful time. You are so very special to me! I loved meeting your friends, eating delicious food with you, watching your roller derby bout, and shopping at Pepper's with you -- but most of all, I loved just hanging out and talking and being with you!

Love,
~abi~

ps Who feels inspired to go home and cook something amazing, after all that food talk?? I do!