ice cubes that rock.

it’s a beautiful weekend here in raleigh, and i have a recommendation. this weekend when you’re out on your deck with your mixed drink, get yourself some of these:

rock2-copy*insert guitar solo here*

that’s right, kids! guitar ice cube stirrers. oh yeah! we had these on vacation – this is geoff’s, posing in front of his rum and coke. they come in electric and acoustic, so you really can’t go wrong. and it’s totally fun to play mini solos on mini ice guitars after you’ve had a few. by now you probably think i have some sort of stock in Fred, the company that makes these, but i don’t. i just think guitar ice cube stirrers are awesome.

however, i have been a long time buyer of all things Fred. i bought my sister a toothpick holder voodoo doll once and my mother a toast stamp that stamps the virgin mary onto your breakfast toast. they also make “gin and titonics” – little titanic ship ice cubes complete with icebergs. i’m eyeing those up for our next trip to the beach.  visit www.worldwidefred.com to see all their other stuff.

i added lots of pictures to my portfolio today. ones i hadn’t edited and ones i edited years ago but got lost in the flickr-to-actual-website shuffle. meanwhile, geoff’s been doing awesome work with the website. we now have seperate questionnaries for clients getting portraits vs. wedding clients. it’s an easy way to create a database for CSP to keep track of all the dates, times, names, and places. we also added a tips section to help those clients who want to know what to wear, what happens to our session if the kids get cranky, etc.

the cool part is that all of this client communication is in a hidden part of the website accessable by username and password so that clients have their own little private part of the site. it’s also cool because it doesn’t clutter up the main page.

the rest of this weekend i am working on tips for brides to get the best wedding pictures out of their day, a location document that lists various location suggestions, a super detailed wedding questionnaire (seperate from the general one), and checking to see that my contracts are current.

phew! probably gonna need some of those guitar ice cubes later in my drink of choice.

going out shooting now at durant nature park. afterwards, getting a new garbage can. :) tip of the day: when buying a garbage can, make sure you buy the actual stainless steel type and now the “stainless steel finish” type.

remember, it’s the weekend!

relax-copy

-carolyn

“the lighthouse has many steps.”

so during the extreme heat at the beach we went shopping. what else do you do? during one of my shopping excursions i came across a photograph of the lighthouse stairs that i loved (the lighthouse has an awesome checkered floor). inspired, i convinced laura and geoff that visiting and climbing the lighthouse would be a good thing. stupidly, we went around 2pm. not only is this prime tourist time, it is also prime southern heat index time. shortly before we climbed, we found out interesting facts, i.e…

CLUES THAT SHOULD MAKE YOU TURN AROUND AND NOT CLIMB THE CAPE HATTERAS LIGHTHOUSE:

1. the heat index was 99 degrees. they shut down the lighthouse when it reaches 103.

2. someone passed out yesterday climbing the lighthouse.

3. it is a 12 story climb, the tallest lighthouse in the united states.

4. there is a handrail on only one side of the stairs, and there is two-way traffic on the stairs.

5. and finally, this view from the ground:

cape-hatteras-copy1“wait wait, whose idea was this?”

long story short, it is a long and treacherous climb my friends. it is best to sprint up the stairs when possible in order to avoid focusing on the feeling that you’re going to collapse and die at any moment. also – no one knows who to yield to, so it’s just a giant mess of people coming and going, stopping and moving, and children screaming and crying. have fun!

it was hot. so, so hot. and of course i made everyone wait while i took pictures of the stairs. posted one on my “cityscapes” section of my main website. it’s not exactly a cityscape, but it fits best there. another:

lighthouse-copy

finally, we reached the top. it was totally worth it. not necessarily for the view, but for the outside breeze after walking up 12 flights of stairs in 99 degree heat and humidity. the view was cool, but it was incredibly hazy because hey, we’re in north carolina at the beach in july.

beach-325-copy

but there are no mosquitos at the top of the lighthouse! so if you’re in desperate need of a sanctuary on the outer banks where there are no mosquitos, climb the lighthouse.

the lighthouse grounds:

beach-322-copy“honey, i think our grass is dead.”

i have some sweet night shots of the lighthouse that i have yet to edit. i’m a little bummed that they moved the lighthouse some time ago. the old spot that it was in was prime for photo opportunities. this one is good if you can get it from a certain angle at the beach. i wanted to do that at night, but i was litterally fearing for my life due to the overwhelming mosquito population. i’ll be back soon, so hopefully it won’t be as bad the next time i go.

i’m excited to take more pictures, edit these ones, etc. one thing at a time. like i said yesterday, we’re ironing out some kinks in our ordering/booking system and trying to create an easier way to keep in contact with everyone, send out contracts, fill out questionnaires about sessions, etc. thank you thank you thank you GEOFF! as usual. :)

tomorrow is friday! i won’t be updating (friday is my blog-free day). have a good last day at work and i’ll see you saturday.

-carolyn

it’s not easy being green.

so when we were at the beach we spotted these crazy lizards on our deck. they were green but had stretchy red skin under their mouths that would puff out every time they breathed. sweet!:

beach-061-copy“hey ladies.”

anyway – they’re called carolina anoles and they are awesome. they can change colors kind of like a chameleon, but they can’t change their color to match whatever they’re on. they pretty much alternate between bright green and brown. sometimes they have awesome stripes and blue eyes:

beach-063-copy

beach-072-copy“no one knows what it’s like.”

they hopped around our decks all week and jumped into trees when they saw us coming. pretty cool little dudes. just part of our wildlife adventures. geoff and laura saw several bald eagles while i was driving. despite my swerving and my shouts of, “WHERE? WHERE?” i saw nothing.

and of course, despite my promises of updating every day, i forgot to update yesterday. but it was friday, ok? that should be a given. we went out to dinner with geoff’s cousin and his wife and then saw the hangover. it’s an amazing movie.

– carolynbeach-274-copy