Glitter Jesus

There are some things you should know in order to fully comprehend this post:
~I love Jesus.  A lot.
~In my opinion, glitter makes the world a better place.
~Sometimes, I trade photo shoots for various things/services instead of requiring monetary payment.  For example, I've traded my hair girl Jamie for hair services, and my friend Abbi for beautiful handmade books, and the talented Heather for knit goods.  And now, I've traded my artist friend Matt for a Glitter Jesus.



Here's how it went down:
I am supposed to do a photo shoot for Matt, of him and of his family.  Matt makes really cool paintings of Jesus.  And other things, but Jesus is my fave. :)  So, we had discussed a trade - a photo shoot by me in exchange for a painting by Matt.  A couple of weeks ago, during a random conversation at The Girlie Show, I somehow mentioned that perhaps my Jesus painting needed to be glittery.  It probably went something like this, "Glitter makes everything better!"  Matt and his lovely wife Deidra and my friend B might have laughed at me a little.  But it got the creative wheels turning in Matt's mind, and he decided to try it.

Last Sunday at church, he hesitantly presented the painting to me.  His exact words were, "I'm not too sure about it.  If you don't like it, you don't have to take it.  I can do a different one for you.  I'm not sure about the glitter.."



ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?



I adore it!!!

Seriously, I love everything about it, from the subject {duh!} to the colors to the glitter.  Especially the glitter!

And how convenient that the upper corner, covered in purple glitter, just happens to perfectly match my purple velvet couch??  Yep...  Purple.  Velvet.  Couch.  Be jealous.



On a different but related note, being the oh-so-proud-and-thrilled owner of Glitter Jesus does raise a few deep questions in my heart and mind:
~One, how do we think Jesus feels about being portrayed as Glitter Jesus?
~Two, is the world actually a lovelier place because of Glitter Jesus?
~Three, does glitter, in fact, make everything better??

Perhaps the best news involving Glitter Jesus is this:  He is already doing a great job at starting real and significant conversations about Real Jesus.



You see, the other night when my friend B stopped by my house, she of course wanted a photo of herself with Glitter Jesus.  So I snapped one for her on her iPhone.  When she showed it to her boss later, he said he couldn't see Jesus.  B's reply?  "It's because you don't know Him."

So there you go.

Happy Wednesday, my friends!

~abi~

mute monday ~ rainy oklahoma sunset

{I took these two weeks ago today, in north Edmond.}

my token pinterest post

Okay, so I hate to be typical and blog about Pinterest and inspiration from Pinterest and blah blah blah ... Half of you probably just rolled your eyes and tuned out, huh? :)  But seriously.

My friend Amy posted this pic on Facebook yesterday and it made me laugh..

The caption read: "Well, Pinterest, we tried."



Awesome, huh??  How about Pinterest raise the bar for all of us and make us think that we should be capable of creating delightful culinary treats while wearing adorable clothing with perfectly messy fishtailed hair in our amazingly precious abodes.  Ha!

Now, Amy is a great mom {and she is also the Executive Director of The Tapestry Project - check it out!}, so it's no surprise that she would use Pinterest for some fun holiday treat project.  I tend to use Pinterest for more shallow things.  Like socks.  

Awhile back, I pinned these pretty socks and decided that I desperately needed to own some like them, even though I had never seen any similar ones for sale anywhere.  Let's keep in mind that I shop almost exclusively at thrift stores these days.



Well, enter a random trip to the mall with my girl Kylie, who was hunting for a cross-body bag to carry at school.  We stumbled into Claire's or The Icing, can't remember which.  And lo and behold, if I didn't go straight to the back corner to look for cheap clearance stuff stumble across these beauties, marked down to just two dollars!



I scooped them up, with visions of my inspiration socks dancing in my head.



I mean, I know they're not exactly the same or anything, but I'm not a picky girl.  And besides, I prefer loose inspiration, or the suggestion of an idea, rather than exact and literal copies, anyway.



Thank you, Pinterest, for making me need things I never even knew I wanted. ;)

~abi~

it would be a fun job for you, i swear..

I think I would like a personal assistant for Christmas, please and thank you.  

If I had a personal assistant, these are the first tasks I would assign to him/her:

1~ Please go through all my old Facebook photos and delete all the unflattering shots of me.  {Yes, this is very narcissistic.  But maybe people who have personal assistants are narcissists.  Oh, and yes, I know that I am the one who posted all those pix in the first place.  Maybe I thought I looked cute in them when I posted them, but people change over time, right?  And their tastes change, too.  Hi, ex-boyfriends.  Haha, kidding.}

2~ Please go through all my blog posts and add appropriate labels.  {I always forget to do this.  I'm not very good at organizing.}

3~ Please iron my clothes for me when needed.  {Most of my clothing doesn't ever need ironed, at least in my opinion.  But even when it does, I just don't.  Check out my skirt in yesterday's post for a perfect example.  I should be embarrassed.  I'm not, really.}

4~ Please answer my phone for me whenever I don't want to answer it.  Also, please respond to all my photography emails and Facebook messages in a timely manner.  {Unlike my manner, which is untimely.}

5~ Please clean my room.  {That should keep you busy until this time next year.  At that point, we will review your progress and assign new duties.  Thanks.}

~abi~

that's what she wore ~ polka dots, tights and knee socks

My "Hair Girl" Jamie Roark also happens to be one of my close friends.  Last night, after she finished my hair, I was telling her that whenever I have new or freshly done hair, it makes me wanna step up my style game, too.  So maybe that factored into my thoughts as I was choosing an outfit for today. 

But before we get to the clothes, check out the hair! 



Jamie did an ombre effect, from dark brown on top to fiery red on the ends..  I love it!  :)



Having such a fun 'do made me want to wear fun clothes today.



Multicolored polka-dots are always fun!



Sometimes blurry pix are fun, too.. :)



Crazy tights plus over-the-knee socks make me smile! :) 



This sweet Tommy Hilfiger skirt was a thrift store find.  I love the leather buckles.





I think my sister Mandi gave me these cool socks.  She most likely found them at a garage sale or thrift store.





I picked up these Tsubo shoes at Goodwill last week for $4.99.  They were brand new, never worn, with the original price tag on the bottom for $95.  They aren't necessarily my typical style {heels, heels, more heels, or sparkly flats}, but I figured I could make them work for me.  I'm glad I got them.









And there you have it: my new hair and my outfit today. 

I hope you are all having a wonderful Tuesday! :)

~abi~

to bring a smile to your face, i hope

I had a wonderful weekend, filled to the brim with two special weddings {one, my brother's, and the other a dear friend of mine}, a sweet newborn session, and quality time spent with family and friends.  When I got out of bed this morning, my calf muscles hated me a little bit after two plus days of shooting, but my heart was happy. 

When the skies got gray and cloudy and started spitting some rain, my high spirits fell just a bit.  I have a shoot this afternoon that I've already had to reschedule once, and I didn't want to have to change it again.  On top of that, I heard the news on Twitter that we will most likely not have an NBA season at all.  Boo on the lockout, man!  Sad heart.

So to cheer myself up, I decided to look through the images from my newborn session yesterday.  Sure enough, it brought a smile to my face and calmed my heart a little. And since baby toes make everything seem better {to me}, I just had to share this image...



It seemed perfect for what could be a slightly depressing fall Monday.

I mean, look at those toes.  So sweet!  Just precious.

So, everyone take a deep breath.  The skies might be dark for a bit.  The rain might fall.  There might not be an NBA season.  But whatever is bothering you, worrying you, whatever has you shaken today, I promise it will be okay.

God is good, all the time.  Even when we fail, He is good.  Weeping only lasts for the night; joy comes in the morning.  

~abi~

p.s.  The following song is in my itunes playlist which is simply titled "the best".  It played while I was editing the above image, and I just had to include it in this post.  This was the best video I could find of it, and it's not the greatest, so do yourself a favor and go ahead and buy "Lullaby" by Dan Wilson.  Such a sweet song. 

four random things, and one terrible thing

1~ I have lots of interesting and/or good theories on "true love"...just ask me sometime.

2~ I suck at remembering most things.  Unless it comes to winning an argument with a boy I like, and then I remember every single necessary detail.  Especially every word he said/didn't say.

3~ I never, ever "got" the phrase "for the birds" until the night before last, when I saw someone comment on my friend Meg's status on Facebook.  She had used that term in her status update, and someone commented saying, "Isn't that just a nice way of saying it's bullsh!t?"  And a light bulb went off in my mind.  I had never even thought about what that phrase might mean, never even questioned it.  I just assumed it meant that something was silly.  Because, you know, birds are silly..

 4~ Last night, a homeless man on a bike might have run into my car at a stoplight.  Or I might have sort of ran into him, I don't know.  I had just started to roll forward when the light turned green, and suddenly, there was this guy and this bike bouncing off the side of my car!  Go ahead, judge me.  I mean, it's terrible!!!  Who does that?!?  But to be honest, he did hit the side of my car, so I think he ran into me.  I was so stunned and horrified, that I wasn't sure what had just happened.  But he was still standing, his bike was up and he walked it in a circle to be sure it still functioned properly, and then he rode away.  Seriously.  I asked him if he was okay and if his bike was okay, and tried to make sure everything was fine.  I sat at the stoplight for at least three full minutes after that, in complete shock.  And I almost threw up.  But I guess he was okay.  Will you all say a little prayer for that guy and his bike right now, please?  And for me.  My heart rate still hasn't returned to normal. 

5~ Yesterday, I made some oatmeal for lunch.  And I added an apple that I chopped up myself.  Sounds sweet and domestic, huh?  Until I tell you that it was instant oatmeal.  And I used the office Keurig for the hot water.  Oh, and I chopped up the apple using an old, dull butter knife, because that's the only knife to be found in my office.  Which is probably a good thing on some days -- like days when I'm contemplating my theories on true love.  Or days when I am thinking about how I sort of ran into a homeless guy on a bike!!!!!  

I'm an awful, terrible person.

~abi~

photo session ~ abe & candie engagement

My older brother Abe is getting married this Friday, on 11/11/11!  He is marrying a lovely lady named Candie.  Awhile back, I shot their engagement session in Bricktown.  Here are some of my favorites from their session, and as always, there are more on Facebook.

Going to the movies is Abe & Candie's very favorite thing to do together, so we started off in front of their preferred theater...











Dear Abe & Candie~
I wish, hope and pray all the happiness in the world for you!  Love you so much!  Thank you for choosing to have me do your photos!

~abi~

portrait studio bliss ~ a guest post by my friend b

Last month, I gave you all a guest post written by my friend Brandie, aka B, and the response was so positive,  that I decided to let her take over my blog.  Just kidding.  But I did decide that I will randomly share stories written by B.  Maybe like once a month, you guys will get a fun little treat and get to read a post by her instead of me.  

Today's post is another very true story.  It's about B's very sweet, very cute mother, and... Well, I'll let B tell it...

{But first, I do need to note one thing, for those of you who might decide to stop reading here and just look at the pictures: I DID NOT TAKE THESE PHOTOS.  Well, other than the last one, of B.  But that was a tribute pose, for her mom.  Just wanted to clarify. ;)}


Eight Bucks For The Three Poses
{by B}

It’s happened more often than I would like to admit.  Each time it happens a little piece of my spirit is broken and I’m overtaken with “The Fear”.  The fear that the “one day you’ll be like your mother” part of me won’t be her creativity, her dedication to those she loves or her free spirited approach to life but instead it will be this…her love of posed portraits taken at dimly lit portrait studios.

My mom.  I love my mom but sometimes she does things that I just don’t understand.  She chooses the path that makes the least amount of sense just to say that she did.  She’s a rebel and  a crazy person all trapped in one petite, lovely lady.  She prefers studio portraits over outdoor photography no matter how beautiful the photography is.  It just isn’t the same to her.  JC Penney’s, Sears, Wal-Mart it’s all good to her.  And it’s not just her…her mom does it too, and the cousin that my grandma raised.  They all do it!  On more than one occasion I have been given, as a Christmas gift, a 5x7 framed portrait of just my cousin or just my mom.  Obviously, it’s in my blood and it scares me.

I met my mom for her birthday dinner at one of my favorite sushi places in OKC, Nhinja.  She looked cute, cuter than she normally does, and I should have known right then that something was awry.  During dinner I noticed that instead of eating she was rifling through her purse in search of something.  She removed a few things as the search intensified and then…sweet victory, she found it.  She pulled a folded piece of paper from her purse and clutched it tightly in her hand as she began sharing the events of her day. 

At this point I was only half paying attention because the mystery of the paper in her hand stole my focus.  What could it be?  Where was this story going that it ended with this folded and worn piece of paper…I was nervous. 

She took the day off to treat herself.  I think she got a pedicure or someone gave her a gift certificate for a pedicure…something to do with a pedicure.  At some point she went to the Mazda dealership to have the oil changed or something done to her car and had a stranger take a fun pic of her standing in front of a cherry red convertible.  Her plan was to post the pic to Facebook with a caption that read “this is what I want for my birthday” or something like that.  

 

Then she proudly hands me the paper and says “then I went to Wal-mart to kill some time and decided to have birthday pictures made”.

NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!  What?  Why? So many thoughts were racing through my head.  I have two best friends who are PROFESSIONAL photographers, why would she do this?  I’m sure the look on my face said it all. 

“I still want Abi to take some pictures of me but this was just for fun, it was only like $8 bucks for the three poses.  These are ones I chose.”

She hands me the “proof paper” and I am amazed at what I see, maybe a little horrified that a photographer would position an adult woman, not a high school senior, into those poses.  There’s no reason for her to cup her face between her hands with her elbows supporting her torso.  I didn’t really have anything to say so I think I just politely nodded my head up and down and forced a smile for her.  I couldn’t understand, I needed to tell someone and dinner was far from over.  If I texted Abi from the table my mom would want to know who I was texting and what I was saying.  I just ate.

A seemingly innocent trip to Wal-mart to pick up a few things can, on any given Sunday, turn into an impromptu photo session at the portrait studio. 

The days passed and it got worse.  Thanks to technology and photo editing programs, mom stylized the portraits and posted them on Facebook.  Every few days one of those little beauties would pop up on my timeline and I was met face to face with what could become my fate.  My mom, as a pencil sketch.  My mom, in a vignette.  

On a recent trip to Iowa I gave in to my fate, a little.  I posed for a picture on the staircase of a grain silo as a salute to my mom.  Although, it doesn’t really count…it’s not in a portrait studio.

Awesome.  Thanks for contributing, B.  This was a perfect cheery post for a gloomy Monday. :)


~abi~

kiss 'n' makeup ~ little pots of gold, er, eyeliner

This summer, in addition to earning lots of cash back rewards with my CVS Extra Care card, I also made some fun/invaluable discoveries.  For one, I found my intoxicating summer scent {mentioned in this post} at CVS.  And two, I discovered these little magical pots of eyeliner by Physicians Formula. 



To me, these might as well be little pots of gold: I value them that much!  See, I've always, always loved makeup.  I enjoy playing around with it and trying new colors and looks.  And I've always said that mascara is the single most essential makeup product to me.  Without it, I feel positively naked.  But this summer, I became an absolute eyeliner addict.  And not just any eyeliner, but thick, bold, somewhat obvious eyeliner.  And it's all thanks to these little pots of eyeliner. 



They come in sets of three colors for just eleven bucks.  I got the one that has one purple, one black, and one brown.  They also come with a little applicator brush.  {And they last forever!  I've worn one of these colors daily since purchasing this set at the beginning of this summer, and the little pots are still at least half full.  Also, this eyeliner stays put once applied!  It made it through our brutal summer days of 100+ degree heat, without streaking, smudging, or smearing.  Can you tell I l-o-v-e it??}



Let me tell you, I thought eyeliner was fun before; but now, I think it is necessary!  Along with bright blush and painted nails, strong eyeliner has become part of my beauty routine.  Eek.  Look what getting older is doing to me!  I'm telling you, I am so gonna be one of those little old ladies with purple hair, blue eyeshadow, coral cheeks, and hot pink lips.  And I will be fab-u-lous! :)

~abi~

sometimes i am in front of the camera

Even before I turned thirty, I knew I wanted to have a shoot done of myself, documenting me as a thirty year old.  It took me about ten months to get it done, but I finally had my amazing friend and photographer of choice, Kelly Beane, take some photos of me. 

Here are a few faves, and there are more on my Facebook page.











Kelly~
Thank you for showcasing my sexier side. ;)  I love, love, love how all the photos turned out....THANK YOU!  You're the best!

~abi~

that's what she wore ~ plaid and sparkles

My outfit today...


{vest ~ thrifted; brown long sleeved shirt ~ i've owned forever and don't remember where I got it :)}




{These sweet earrings were hand carved by Michael Hintze.  His jewelry and other woodwork is awesome!  Contact him at 405.487.7109.}




{I scored this sparkly skirt at Marshall's for ten bucks!}




{watch ~ Ross; nail color ~ Envy by Ulta, a gift from my friend B}


{tights ~ Betsey Johnson, scored for cheeeeap at Ross}


{ankle boots ~ also from Ross, my favorite store other than thrift stores! :)}

Happy freaking Wednesday. ;)

~abi~