Thursday, June 30, 2011

Road Trippin'

Today at 4pm I'll be leaving for a 13hr trip to Charleston, South Carolina. My cousin, Mallory, and I are driving there to see my uncle (dad's brother) and aunt and spend a few days with them. I'm ridiculously excited about it! I haven't been on a proper vacation in a couple of years, and I haven't been to Charleston since I was in middle school.

 via



I know we're planning a trip to Magnolia Plantation, the beach, and probably a fireworks show. The rest of the time is for whatever we feel like doing! If anyone knows of some places we MUST go, let me know. Look for lots of pictures from my trip when I get back on Wednesday!

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

this kid has a point and shoot

Guess what, folks?! I finally bought myself a point and shoot camera. I've been wanting one for a while so that I can keep a camera with me when it isn't practical to have my dslr. An example would be when I went on a 27 hour roadtrip to CA a few years back. Who wants to tote a big hunk of a camera around to places like Disneyland and the County Fair? It's just cumbersome, you know?

 my first picture with the new camera + Jewel taking my coffee order at Gusta Java on Saturday

My biggest concern was being able to take quality images on whatever point and shoot I chose. I knew that if I got one that took mediocre pictures, I would never use it and I would have wasted my money. Manual controls was a big part of my decision too because I am used to doing everything manually. Canon (yeah, I'm loyal) only appeared to have 2 cameras that fit my needs. The S95 and the G12.

 squash guy at the Farmer's Market on Saturday. He invited us over to see his garden and cook squash with him...not going to lie, it was creepy.

After combing through reviews and comparisons I decided on the S95. The G12 was $100 more, but it didn't have $100 worth of additional features in my opinion. I love how small the s95 is too. I can't think of anywhere that this camera would not be practical. It's the perfect size for a casual camera, and it performs well enough to be a dslr substitute...basically it's perfect.
 


 cussing pepper guy

 me awkwardly posing in front of the market
shirt: Express; necklace: Earthbound; pants: Target; shoes: Kohl's; bag: thrifted


Once I bought the camera (and borrowed a memory card), I was shooting anything and everything. Sarah and I woke up early Saturday to go to the Farmer's Market, so these are some of the first pictures I took with my camera. I loved it! I think they definitely look comparable to what I would have taken with my dslr AND it was easier to carry around. I got some great squash and herbs at the market. It was great to get outside and walk around on such a nice day. All the storms have made the weather wonderfully mild these last few weeks!


After the farmer's market, I cooked some of the squash I bought and ate on the back porch with a book. I've just started reading Janet Fitch's Paint it Black. It's fantastic so far! I love dark subject matter in books for some reason. I think it's because I don't have a lot of darkness in my own life, so reading about it like a fascination.


I had the pleasure of babysitting my little sister for most of Saturday afternoon. It was a last minute thing, and I had a lot of wedding pictures to edit so we had a movie marathon. This allowed me to edit while she watched the movies, which worked out well. Ok it was good until we watched Earnest Scared Stupid. We had to turn it off because it scared her. I felt bad at first, but then I remembered that I watched Aliens with my granddad as a young child and I turned out ok. A few nightmares aren't going to scar her for life...I hope.



On the way home I played with my camera some more and took some pictures out the window. Yes, folks, I'm one of those people. We have had some absolutely stunning sunsets lately. I don't take pictures of them often since pictures just can't do a sunset justice, but in this case I thought it would be fun. I'm such a sucker for a pretty sky.

If any of you are in the market for a nice camera and don't want to splurge on a dslr, I highly recommend the S95! Honestly, unless you have kids that move really fast and play sports, you don't even need a dslr. So if you're on a budget, save your money and get a high quality point and shoot like the S95 or another brand's equivalent.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

your shoes look like paper bags


I got these funky shoes from Gilt Group not long ago, and while they are a little eclectic, I love them! They are 80%20 hidden wedge heels, and they're actually quite comfortable. The only thing I don't like is that I have to constantly adjust the strap around the top so they stay pretty close to my leg. Other than that, they're great! I got a ton of comments, a few compliments, and several raised eyebrows when I wore these. My coworkers all commented on them...Scott even said it looked like I had paper bags tied around my ankle with a hole for my toes. I have to agree, they do look a bit like paper bags around the top, but I see no problem with that :)  I don't think they are the type of shoe that I'll wear every day, but I'll definitely be busting these out when I'm feeling spunky.

What do you guys think? Would you wear them?

Also, my 300th post is coming up very soon! I want to do something special, so if you have any ideas let me know! Happy Tuesday!

Monday, June 27, 2011

crochet goodness

I just got a ton of boxes from Melissa, so I thought I would post some images from our last session to get me inspired. I will be shooting her new stuff starting tomorrow!









Melissa has been a busy little crocheter this summer! It's been great getting to use my studio lights. It makes me feel like I'm getting my money's worth. If you'd like to check out her shops, they are here and here. I've also spruced up my listing on Etsy for my photography service, so check that out too :)

This weekend was a busy one. I've been editing pictures like a mad woman and STILL have a ton more to do. It's my own fault for editing the hard way, so I guess I can't complain. I did get to watch my sister most of the day on Saturday, so that was fun. We watched some movies and talked about lots of things. She's growing up WAY too fast.

This week will be a short one. Thursday, after work, Mallory (cousin) and I are heading to Charleston to see our aunt and uncle! I haven't seen them in a few years so I'm very excited. Plus it will be for 4th of July so I'm sure we'll get to see some great fireworks at the beach. I'll make sure and post pictures!

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Atlanta in the Rain

About a week ago, Rhett and I set off for Atlanta to see a Braves game. I bought him really good tickets for his college graduation present. The "really good tickets" part turned out to be a terrible idea, but we'll get to that later.


The drive there seemed REALLY long for some reason. Of course we got some road trip eats, including Rhett's favorite: Tijuana Mama pickled sausage. Gross, right? I did eat a couple of bites...it's not too bad, I guess. We finally got to Atlanta and got to enjoy plenty of their notorious traffic. Luckily we planned on getting to the ballpark crazy early, so it wasn't a big deal.



Welcome to Turner Field! This place is awesome...definitely the best ballpark I've ever been to. We got there so early so we could make sure we got our Jason Heyward bobbleheads! It was beautiful out when we got there, so we just enjoyed lots of time together in our awesome seats.

This is what happens when I try to take pictures of us with my 50mm lens.




This is where things took a turn for the worst. As you can see...a storm rolled in. A little bit before the game was supposed to start, they tarped the field. Once it started drizzling, Rhett and I took shelter at a picnic table in the stadium. We saw there until it started raining/hailing sideways on us, then we had to move again. How wonderful that I splurged on the tickets, right?!


After playing with the hail and waiting around for a while, we finally had to break down and buy a couple of slices of pizza. It was outlandishly expensive, but we were starving.  Miserable rain and hunger would make for a doubly grumpy Kristi. Anyway, the game finally started at about 8:30. Honestly, it was a pretty crappy game. The Braves were not playing well, so I was a little disappointed.




I think it was after the top of the 4th that they had to delay the game again. At that point we decided we should should leave. We'd already been there since 5 anyway, so we were tired. The bad part about that was that we had to walk back to the car in the rain. What an adventure that was! I was wearing a tank top and shorts because of course I just knew it would be unbearably hot. On the contrary, after it rained it dropped like 20 degrees.We jogged as far as we could so I could warm up, and that made the rain a little more bearable. 

Despite that terrible game and all the rain, we actually had a great time together. That's the kind of thing that really reassures me that Rhett and I are right for each other. I love that we can have fun together no matter what.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Jon and Kari




These are some pictures from a wedding I did 2 weeks ago. It was a really short wedding, but I enjoyed it. Jon and Kari were adorable together, and I'm sure they'll have a wonderful life together!







The bride and all the bridesmaids had braids somewhere in their hair style for the day. I thought it was so cute! The peacock feathers were a cute touch too. Congratulations Jon and Kari!

Monday, June 20, 2011

family zoo outing

 Earlier this summer, I went to the zoo with Rhett's family. It was a great day out! I always enjoy little outings here and there, especially when they involve getting out of town. Rhett is the complete opposite...I think he'd be just tickled to never leave town. I predict lots of solo trips in my future! Anyway, I always enjoy hanging out with his family. I guess I'm pretty lucky that my future inlaws are so much fun to be around. (Before you ask, no ring yet, but after 5 years it's pretty obvious we'll be married someday)

passing time in the car making Kenli (Rhett's niece) laugh

 entrance to the Memphis Zoo





 when we walked through the open air bird exhibit, Kenli got pooped on. this was both gross and a little hilarious. don't worry, she was sufficiently sanitized afterward.



 the fish looked like it was smiling at Kenli

 that's Rhett holding Kenli on the left. he doesn't make the blog much since he hates having his picture taken

I hope you enjoyed the pictures! The Memphis Zoo is definitely one of the best places to go for a day trip in this area, and as of now it's the best zoo I've been to. It's pretty big and they have made a lot of great improvements on the exhibits in the past 5 years or so. They even do weddings there if that tells you anything about how pretty it is!

This past weekend went by extremely fast. I had a wedding Saturday and also saw Midnight in Paris, which was great. Sunday was full of family and food...lots and lots of food. I hope you all had a wonderful Father's Day weekend. Also, I'd like to say Happy Birthday to my sweet mom! She's spending her birthday at the beach, that lucky little booger.