Aperture 1.4 {focused blur}

Goodbye Louisville...

This is one of the reasons I'll be so sad to leave here.  Aside from the fact that the city of Louisville is beautiful, the people are so open and kind,Grants school and teachers have been awesome, and Mark has been so happy with the theatre here. I will MISS our apartment.  This is a picture of our house.  I don't feel bad posting where we live now that we don't live there anymore.

It was such an amazing experience living in this house and sort of a dream come true for me as I have always wanted to live in an old home.  This one was built around 1893.  On a beautiful tree lined street another thing that I loved about it.  Walking into this house each day made me happy. I loved living in it and getting to be a part of it's history and I'll miss that. I'll miss walking in the shade of those trees and eating on the back porch at night and going to the huge park down the street designed by the same designer of New York's Central Park.  But now on to new and open territory.

You'll be happy to know that things went very well in New York for Mark. He as officially signed with a theater agent.  And will be signing soon with a commercial agency. He had a GREAT audition for a Broadway show which was looking to recast in a few months so he was excited about that. And he had his first real offer for a job with a great regional theater for next season. But it would require leaving us in the city for a few months so I'm not so sure about that one. We'll see.  Basically that is what I'm saying in my mind about everything, We'll see.  Which is  all I can say right now.  I don't talk a lot about my faith on this blog but the truth is I know that God has a plan for everyone.  I know that he knows me and what is best for me to learn and to grow and so I just have to trust in that.   And for as much complaining and talk of my fear of the future.  I do believe in that. 

So, good bye for a while.  I'll try to post again when I stop on our way to Utah in Missouri to visit Elsie!  Thank you to everyone who has been reading this blog and thinking good thoughts for us!  If you can spare a few more this summer please do!

Candice

 

At this very moment...

My life could be changed forever.  I mean really you could say that about any moment I suppose but today for this hour and at 7:00pm.  Our little families life could change completely.  Mark is at his showcase in New York right now.  On stage, right now.

  See, at the end of the year all the apprentices perform in New York for all the casting agent's, directors, agents, and writers.  Basically anyone that the theater can get to come, in the hopes that you leave with a good agent and a job.  Luckily Mark has already had an offer from a good agent in New York through his work in the Humana play write festival but we do have hopes that he will make some good connections and possibly some jobs from this performance.  There are people there from places like ABC, and HBO, and theaters off Broadway, and so one can't help but get excited!

  It's so strange to be sitting here hundreds of miles away and know that something  happening in a different place and completely out of my control could change my life.  And yet there is no one I trust more to have that control than Mark.  He has worked so hard for this over the last eight years and everything leads up to this moment.  I have no doubts that he will do well, so really it's all a matter of connecting to the audience and if someone has a need for a body/voice/personality type that matches his.  I'm just so proud of him right now.  Going for his dream and finally standing there on a stage on theater row in New York.  Hopefully soon he'll be standing there on a stage in New York making money. lol.

  Anyway, in honor of this big day I wanted to share the Actors Theater Apprentice showcase invitation.  Which I photographed and designed.  Well, except for the type which was passed onto the graphic designer at the theater because type layout isn't my specialty but he did a great job with it.  Our whole goal was to make sure our invites where better than NYU/YALE/UCSD.  They all have a big showcase together and as they are the top schools they get the best attendance and they are ATL's biggest competition. I think we did it!  Instead of the traditional post card we made a tri fold invitation.  We took the photographs in the theater.  With Irving Penns "Top Twelve Models" photograph as inspiration with the old ladders in the background.  Here is the layout:( okay all I could find was the first draft where I did the text but in real life it's a different font and the layout is a lot better and it doesn't say, Logo, where the logo really went it says Actors theater now, but you get the idea.)

Out side-

Inside.

Think of Mark and wish him and us luck this week!

    

The best day ever!

  At least according to my son.   And I'd have to say I agree.  It's been pretty difficult around here as of late. You know, with the moving, and the showcase and the uncertain future. But today was a little piece of heaven.  It all began last night..actually let's go back...it all began Thursday night, wait...really it started several months ago when I discovered my favorite singer ever.  I've talked about her here before, her name is Ingrid Michaelson.  Remember that?  How I talk about her music all the time.  Well Thursday night as I was watching Grey's. who wasn't?  I noticed that the last song of the show was Ingrid's.  But I didn't have it which is why on Friday I went looking for it because I thought that I had them all.  It wasn't on Itunes but it was on Ingrid's myspace. You have to go there and listen to it!  So pretty.  Back to the point on her myspace she lists concerts.  She is from New York so I figured I'd look at the list because maybe I could see a show of her's in the fall and what did I see?

 

   That Saturday, today now, she was singing at a little independent music shop in LOUISVILLE!  It's called ear-x-tacy. Nice, huh?  Anyway she played at 2:00 and I knew that I had to go!  I brought Mark and the boys too, because they all have her music memorized  since I play it over and over.  Anyway, we went.  It was amazing.  There were only like 20-30 people there so I stood close and got some great pictures.  Meanwhile Mark took the boys and sat on the stairs to listen.  It was so great. I have to say I'm not a big celebrity person but I was so cheesy excited to meet her.  I know I was a total dork. I didn't think I would be like that but I totally was a spaz.  At one point she asked everyone to sing with her to one of the songs and no one knew it because it wasn't one of the ones on Grey's.  It's called the hat.  I love the hat.  So I knew the words.  And I kind of timidly mouthed them so at least she knew that someone there knew them.  ( that's always a public speaking fear of mine, you want the audience to jump into things with you and when they don't...not good) So at the end of the song she stops and says., "You, with the camera, what's your name?"  I say, me?  Candice.  And then she tell's the audience that even though I had a gigantic camera in hand and I had an excuse not to clap along I did anyway and that was what a good audience member was and then she thanked me!  Ha.  I'm a total geek but who cares Ingrid Michaelson said my name on stage.  And then she sang a few more songs and then she stops again and points to Mark and Anyway, to recap, Ingrid Michaelson is so nice and an amazing singer, I am apparently a total geek when I go to concerts of my favorite singer, my boys are cute, Ingrid said so when we took a picture with them, and one more time, I was a total fan/geek.  What can I say?

  Afterwards we went home and the boys and I spent the afternoon outside playing.  When who stopped by but the ice cream man.  I let both the boys pick out their own icecream and we sat in the spring sun on the porch laughing.  That's when Grant said it was his best day ever.  He even wanted to call Grandma and tell her about it.  The funny thing is when Ingrid told him he was cute he backed behind me but on the phone he was all about telling Grandma that she said he was cute! lol.

Then to top it all off I got a package from a store called Red Shoes and look how cute it was wrapped!  I really needed this day, it was so nice to have a little magic and happiness as a break to prepare me for the next two weeks!

Break

So, as it turns out.  This working while moving thing, isn't going so well.  For those of you who don't know, Mark graduates this month with his masters degree in acting.  I'm so happy for him and for us because after 8 years( well it will be eight in June) of marriage this will be the first time neither of us are students.  I wish I could say that this meant stability and health insurance but alas in the life of a photographer and an actor this seems never to be the case. It occurs to me at this point in life that I have could have chosen a better path back in the day.  One that didn't include careers where you don't know if you'll get enough money to pay rent one month and then the next you make more than you ever thought you would.  I'm not good with change. I try to be but really there is a large part of me that likes routine. And routine seems to elude me at every turn between the unstable career paths, the moving, the not knowing what life will be like in a months time.  All that good stuff. But at least for the summer things will calm down.

  Mark is moving to New York this summer and staying with a friend while looking for work and a family friendly apartment in the city.  Which, not surprisingly, is very difficult on a tight budget.  So we decided that while he is there I will take the boys home to Utah so that we can visit my parents and the boys can spend time with them, water parks, camping, and Disney Land are all planned and a summer filled with magical Grandma and Papa memories are in store.  I'm glad that we can give them a summer like this before we going into the world of city living.  I can't even say how grateful I am to my parents for letting us invade for the summer and really for being the best Grandparents in the world.  My boys love them and I do to! 

Then in September we will regroup and meet up again to start a new life in New York.  Wish us luck!

  So back to the beginning of this post.  You'll have to forgive me if I don't post a lot in the next two weeks.  I've been taking on a pretty heavy work load to cover the cost of moving and I have to pack and move everything in the next few weeks, most of which Mark will be in New York for a few auditions and his showcase.  ( I WILL post more on that later)  He has been anxious to help me pack but because we will be moving to a much smaller space I want to clean out and then pack and we all know that you have to clean out things yourself or things you wan,t disappear and things you don't want, end up on the fire place mantle for all to see later on. lol. So the packing won't begin for a few more days while I finish up a few projects.

  Anyway forgive me for my future absence.  But be excited because as soon as we get to Utah I plan to post a ton and I really want to do the whole one photo a day thing with some fun challenges and other creative goodness.  Every time I'm with my Mom and Dad I am creatively inspired they are both amazing and my Mom and I are a great creative team.  I think it will be good! 

Finally

Remember my C.D. give away.  Well, Kim has been very kind to wait this long.  But I'm here to finally say that it's in the mail today! Paolo your's is on it's way too!  I got a little obsessive about it being this great c.d. that it kind of turned from a spring fling mix to an early summer mix.  What can you do?  Anyway, here it is.  I've listened to it several times mixing it all around so that it flows in that perfect listening grove.  I think it's a great summer driving c.d.  Hope you like it!  And for everyone else here are the songs in the order they are on the c.d.

The Birds and the Bees-Patrick and Eugene

Take me the way I am- Ingrid Michaelson ( one of my favorite singers lately)

Grace Kelly- Mika

Littlest Things- Lily Allen

How can it be-

The way you make me feel- Michael Jackson ( Yep, a little old school Michael always put's a smile on my face)

Stitched Up- Herbie Hancock Featuring John Myer ( I love this song and I'm trying to forgive John Mayer for dating Jessica...seriously lost respect.  Never the less it's a great song)

Here in your Arms- Hello Goodbye

Mint Car- The Cure ( I actually really do not like the cure but this song just get's to me for some reason)

The sweet escape- Gwen Stefani

Sister Kate- The Ditty Bops ( It's a little silly but it makes me happy)

Hey there Delilah- The Plain White T's ( Totally stole this from Elsie, Love you Els!)

Don't wait to Long- Madeline Peyroux ( I LOVE, LOVE her voice, this is the perfect evening driving song. It's the one I have on repeat right now)

Dancing With Myself- Novelle Vague ( I think that the music guy at Grey's have the same ears.  I've had this album for about 6 months but this song has just stuck with me the last few weeks and then it was on Grey's last Thursday.  I hate the original 80's version but I love this one!)

So I couldn't find a video of Don't wait to long, but I did find this one instead. I don't like it half as much but you can hear the tone to her voice.  It's so pretty.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfJrwLJJp3A

I still don't know how to post it here.  Sorry.  But let me know what you think!

Pasta.

   I'm back.  Utah was great.  A little chilly but good.  I always love getting to spend time with all the CK employees at the office.  I had a great time making the video's for future online articles.  If you haven't been to CK's site the changes are so great. Leslie and her team are doing an amazing job at revamping it. I will have an online column up every other week so if you are looking to learn more about your camera and photography it will be a good resource.  At least I think it will be!

  Okay, so enough of the recap, here is what I really wanted to post about.  Over the last few months as I have begun to work more Mark and I have noticed that our eating habits have gotten worse and worse.  You know how a quick trip for happy meals become easier than fixing a well balanced meal?  The problem with that is, that I really, really want to bless my children's life with not just good eating habits but with truly healthy well balanced eating habits. I don't want them growing up on french fries and gold fish crackers, I want them to grow up on apples and fresh vegetables.  They have not yet shown any signs of the afore mentioned unhealthy eating but my waste line sure has and I knew if we didn't do something soon eventually they would be the ones punished for my bad choices.

  So, to solve my problem I started a diet.  But I'm trying not to think of it that way. I'm trying to think of it as a lifestyle change and aside from traveling we are doing really well. We have always eaten brown rice, whole grain bread, and whole wheat pasta so the whole white flower thing isn't the big problem for us.  For Mark it is cheese and for me it is sugar. I was seriously addicted to sugar.  I had to have something every night.  So I became determined to break that habit.  I'm doing much better but man do I love chocolate so it's an ongoing battle.  For the boys it was snack foods.  And I am trying to have better choices in the house for them to eat. Like I said things are going fairly well.  Don't get me wrong, we are far from perfect but we are trying and I think that, that is the most important part. Plus I also want to add that I don't think it's wrong to occasionally want to eat fast food or have a dessert it just can't be common.

  Anyway, that leads me to my point.  I wanted to post a recipe that I make a lot that has been great at getting the boys to eat vegetables.  I was first introduced to it while I was on study abroad in England. I had a roommate named Florence Justice.  ( How great a name is that?!!)  I have modified it to make it my own since then but it always seems to be a big hit and it is much healthier than meat balls or cheese sauce.

 

  I call it zucchini tomato pasta.  Really creative name huh?  Here are the healthy tricks.  I use cooking spray in the pan with a little balsamic vinegar instead of lot's of oil. I always make more veggies than pasta so it is veggies with pasta instead of pasta with veggies.  I use whole wheat or whole grain pasta.  ( trust me, no one can tell the difference once it has sauce on it)

First, saute one red onion in a pan with the cooking spray and a dash of balsamic vinegar. 

Then add a few cloves of diced garlic.

Next add in two or three sliced zucchini depending on how many people you are feeding. I like to slice them thin and then pile them all at one in the pan with the onion/garlic mixture.  That way they steam instead of fry.  I do sometimes add a little bit of olive oil if they start to stick. 

Then add some Italian seasoning. Crushed black pepper.  And some grated parmesan cheese. ( hard cheeses have less fat than soft and don't take as much to flavor things) Just a sprinkle.

I like the pasta just like this with fresh tomato's on top but Mark likes it to have more sauce to it so you can do it either way.  If I am making it for Mark I add in a half of a can of tomato sauce and some of the pasta water. ( because it has starch in it from the pasta so it thickens it up) 

Cook some angel hair whole wheat pasta and add it to the zucchini. That way every noodle is coated with sauce.

Last I plate it and add fresh grape tomatoes on top.  Lot's of tomatoes!  I love them.

Anyway, that's it. I usually serve it with a spinach salad.  Today I added some sourdough bread.  (that's not the best I know but I love it.)

  I hope you like it! I know I'm always looking for great dinner ideas, so maybe this will help someone out there.  It's really very simple and really good!

 

Crazy Day!

Okay, so I am in-between flights out to Utah for some meetings but I wanted to post this link.

http://www.creatingkeepsakes.com/scrapbookfun/category.ihtml?idx=303

Ck asked me write an little something and post a challenge for their theme this month ( on inner beauty) leading up to National Scrapbooking Day.  I wrote it on one of those "hard" Mom day's. I think we've all been there.  So if you occasionally need a pick me up too.  Go there!  I'm so excited about it.  It was a really fun challenge.

  That's all for now.  Flight's to catch and all that fun stuff!  I find that I am seriously missing personal space on this trip.  Wow some of those airplane seats are tiny!