The Last 4 Days

Wednesday

On Wednesday I amazed myself by brining my first turkey ever.  It took a week to prepare for.  Gather all the ingredients, make sure I had everything I needed to make it the moistest and most flavorful Thanksgiving turkey in the world.

It was beautiful.  I loved it. 

It was so heavy that Prince Charming had to move it to the fridge for me.  Not that I couldn't have moved it myself...you know...but, his biceps ripple in the most delicious way when he lifts something heavy.

I also made a pumpkin cheesecake.  It looked like this.

It was full of cream cheesey, ginger snappy, pumpkin spicey grooviness.  I wanted to marry it.  I wanted to live happily ever after with it.  I wanted to be photographed naked with it.

The rest of Wednesday kind of flew by as I worked in the kitchen with my MIL prepping all of the food that we would stuff ourselves with on Thursday.

PC helped out by keeping the kids at bay and full of food and pool throws so they wouldn't bug me.  He's good that way.

Thursday

My day began at 5:30, when I woke up and briefly considered getting out of bed to get things started, but then slapped myself upside the head and told myself to knock that shit off and remember all of the crap I'd done the day before so I wouldn't have to get up so early and get so much done.

Oh, right.  And I went back to sleep.

Then I had to drag myself out of bed at 6:15 so I could get everything started.  I mean...there was still a lot to do.  It was Thanksgiving, you know.

I hauled the brining turkey into the house, and made the magic happen on the stove with the onions and celery for the dressing.  The smell of onions and celery sauting in butter and wine at 6:45 in the morning always says Thanksgiving to me.  I don't know why....

And then it was

Dressing

Kids (It's too early for you to be up.  Go back to bed and don't come out until there's an '8' on your clock.)

Turkey

Kids (Is it 8:00 already?  I don't care if it has an '8' in it, 7:08 doesn't count.)

Coffee, coffee, coffee

More turkey

More kids (Fine.  7:58 is close enough.)

Clean up the kitchen

Clean up myself

Guests start arriving

Santa arrived!

Eating

Basting

Drinking

Snacking

Basting

Drinking

Basting

Drinking

Maybe I should switch to water for a while

Pool

After all was said and done, what I learned was that brining a turkey is completely unncessary and a collasel waste of time and ingredients if you know how to cook your turkey correctly. 

I knew I should have listened to Bobby Flay.


Black Friday

Shyaaahhh....as if. 

There is just nothing in the world that I want badly enough to stand in line at midnight to buy. 

Nothing.


Friday

We took a lovely little field trip to a very Radiator Springs kind of town.  They had the best signs ever.

There was this one:

And these:

And this:

Okay, that last one wasn't so much a sign as it was just a bottle label. 

But it still killed me.

BA-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Fine.  Could you pass me that water?

What I'm saying is, it was a very cool place. 

Fun.

Very Cars.

See.

We had lunch at a great Mexican joint. 

I guess what I should say is...

We had margaritas at a great mexican joint, and there was food there, too.

And ducks.

Now, I understand why I was seeing two of them.  It wasn't the margaritas. 

Prince Charming was trying to trick me.


Saturday

Saturday was Portrait Day.

And Deep-Fried Turkey day

I wanted to try the brine, he wanted to try the deep fry.

It looked hot. 

And the turkey looked good, too.

And Ending Four Busy Days With A Beautiful Sunset day.

I'm {hearting} you from the desert!

Double L.

Happy Thanksgiving! {or What I've Been Doing In The Desert}

It's been very busy here in the desert.  We've had a lot going on, actually.  I know that vacation is slowing down, but our trips here always seem to speed things up.

Let's see...we've been:

1.  Swimming

2.  Drying towels from swimming so they can be used again for more swimming

3.  Night swimming

4.  Afternoon swimming

5.  Morning swimming

There's been more than just swimming, though.  We've also:

1.  Taken portraits

2.  Talked about where we're going to take more portraits

3.  Planned what we're going to wear when we take more portraits

4.  Gathered a few props and supplies for taking portraits

5.  Decided that, as much as I'd like to show you some of the portraits that we've taken, at the request of the subject, I'm going to wait.  Sorry, Charlie....


Okay, okay....I've been doing a few, like, actual Thanksgiving things, too.  Fine.

1.  I braved both Costco and Safeway with my MIL in search of the perfect Thanksgiving ingredients.

2.  Kroger has the best price on French Fried Onion Strips....just sayin'.

3.  A wonderful store called BevMo! has more flavors of vodka than I've ever seen in my life, absolutely none of which are appropriate for Thanksgiving, except for one, which, when mixed with Peppermint Mocha Kahlua, is just a Christmas party in my mouth....but that's another story.

4.  Baked a pumpkin cheesecake

5.  Gathered and labeled all of the serving dishes

6.  Cut and dried all of the bread cubes for dressing, and pre-cut the onion and celery that I'll be up cooking at 0'Dark 30 Thursday morning...anything I can do now, and all that....

So now, I'm sipping my coffee and preparing for the onslaught today which will include:

1.  Brining a turkey (which I've never done before, but always wanted to try...wish me luck..)

2.  Baking an apple pie...with a store bought crust.  Don't tell Martha.  But, in my defense, I am on vacation.  So...you know...and I did make the pumpkin cheesecake from scratch, and I'm making cranberry sauce from scratch, and the dressing is from scratch.  Just stop looking at me like that.  It's just a crust, for pete's sake!

3.  Making cranberry sauce with my lovely sister-in-law's receipe.  Hers is always the best, though. (Love you, Les!)

4.  Making the Barefoot Contessa's onion dip, which is WAAAYYYY better than that powder crap you mix into sour cream.  (Love you, Contessa!)

5.  Supervising Prince Charming while he makes Artichoke Jalapeno dip so he doesn't make it too spicy, which he will anyway, and then I won't be able to eat it which is fine because I have the Contessa's onion dip.  So there.  (Love you, PC!)

6.  Supervising Prince Charming while he cleans off and sets up the tables on the patio so we can eat our Thanksgiving dinner outside in the desert sun, and so he doesn't put them in the wrong place, which he will anyway and then I'll have to make him get out of the pool and redo it, so it looks better.  It is Thanksgiving, you know.

7.  Fending off Prince Charming because I want to finish this Thanksgiving Love Letter to you, and he just wants to get the list going already.

8.  Telling you how much I love Thanksgiving, even in the desert, even with all the work, even with a store bought crust.  It's still just the best meal of the year.

And last, but not least,

9.  Telling you how much I love you and wish you a wonderful holiday!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Love,

L.

Project 52 ~ Week 46 {Over The Top}

I've been waiting for this one all week.  I knew it was coming. 

Couple more days.  Couple more hours.   

I almost ruined it because I couldn't wait. 

I was over the top of somthing and that had to count, right?

But, then....there is was.

The goddamn Grand Canyon.

I've flown over this thing a hundred times and it just never ceases to blow my doors off when I see those rugged peaks of red rock reaching up from the ground. 

Thelma and Louise are no where in sight...Doesn't mean I won't stop looking for them, though.....

(SOOC, by the way, since I'm on vacation and away from my computer and I'm not supposed to be doing pictures....

....but...you know...whatever...)

Happy Desert!

Love,

LL.

The Great KENT KNIGHTS Image Extravaganza {and Giveaway}! (Winner Announced)

And the winner is.....

#3 Coach De La Cruz:  Being a coach, I would say my Kent Knights of course.

Congratulations to the winner!  Please contact lisa@doublelphoto.net to claim your winnings.

Thank you to everyone who threw their helmet into the ring for this giveaway!

Random number generated at www.mathgoodies.com



_________________________________________________________________________


The season is officially over, and it makes me kind of sad because I love football.

But, you know what I love more?

Not having to sit out in the flippin' freezing cold, eating dinner out of a bag, watching practice while my toes, fingers, ears, nose and various other parts of my body slowly turn to ice.

Nope.  Won't miss that.  Not one stinkin' bit.

In fact, knowing that I won't be doing that anymore actually makes me pretty darn happy.  And you know what I do when I get happy?  I start giving stuff away.....

The Great KENT KNIGHTS Image Extravaganza

Here's the deal:

All of the 89ers

All of the Midgets

All of the Bantams 

(okay, the one Bantam, but it would ruin the word flow if I said it that way....)

Released on the website
for viewing and purchase

until

9:00 a.m. on Thursday, November 17th

After that, they're going back in the vault

And because I'm so happy to not be freezing,

And because, as Barry Manilow says, Christmas is just around the corner,

And because I love ya' for all of your kind words and support this past season

There's one more thing....

The Giveaway

The print or CD package of your choice

OR

An 8.5" x 8.5" 12 page, custom soft cover album filled with 

up to 20 of your favorite images of the 2011 season

It looks a little something like this

Yep.  Either one.  Yours.  For free.

I love you that way....

To Enter

The enter the giveaway, just answer the following question in the comments section of this post:

What is your favorite football team?

Are you a Steelers fan?  Do you bleed purple and gold?  Is Roll Tide, not just an expression, but a way of life?  Just shout out your favorite team and you're automatically entered to win.  Just like that....

The Rules

One entry per person

Entries accepted until midnight on Monday, November 14th

Winners will be announced Tuesday morning.

There is just one, teeny, tiny, itty-bitty, little catch.....

All orders, including the giveaway, will be shipped between 

December 7th and 9th

That's it.  See, teeny.  Not a big deal, right?

Okay, then.  Good luck, my friends!

I look forward to hearing from you!!

To view all galleries and images, click here

Project 52 ~ Week 45...My Life In {Book Titles}

Once again, I look at this theme and think it's so random and ridiculous that I don't feel at all random or ridiculous by responding with

"Are you being cereal?"

So often during these past 45 weeks, I've recreated something that I've already done just for the sake of this project.

Or tried to create something stupid for the sake of this project.

Or manipulated something that I love so that it fit in for the sake of this project.

Or pulled something out of my ass for the sake of this project.

Because what I really want to create is not workable for this project. 

And this week is no exception.

I've photographed books before.  I love reading them, but not necessarily photographing them.  It just doesn't inspire me.  I suppose I could have taken a more creative approach.  Staged a live image of a book title.

Taken a picture at Twilight.  Or of the Breaking Dawn. 

I could have stuck a fake bird into the decorative cage I keep on a shelf in my living room and told you that I know why it sings.

I could have even taken one of the million little sticky notes that my daughter has written messages on and stuck around our house, added it to one of the million empty wine bottles that I have laying around my kitchen and what would it have made?  Come on, you know....

Message in a Bottle.

Get it?  James Patterson?  Kevin Costner?  Sappy love story that takes about a minute and half to read but that I sobbed my eyes out watching because I think Kevin Costner is super sexy awesome?

The problem is, I don't have time for that.  I don't have the inspiration for that.

So, I was rolling this whole Book Title thing around in my head, and as I was climbing into bed the other night, I saw it.  The book sitting on the shelf above my head.

I Don't Know How She Does It and I thought, "You got that one right, sister."


And next to that?  Sleepless in America and I thought, "Totally."


And next to that?  The Help and I thought, "Yeah.  I definitely need some of that."


And next to that?  Lipstick Jungle and I thought, "Lions, tigers and bears are nothing.  Try the PTA."


And next to that?  Raising Your Spirited Child and I thought, "For the rest of my life....."

And as I read them over, I realized that my entire life was spelled out on that shelf in those titles.  Each one pointing to a different aspect of my daily existence that I'm trying to reconcile.

The irony is that I'm not actually reading any of those books.  I've only read one of them.  Well, one and half, really.  The photography one I keep going back to in reference.

And it kind of depressed me.  My book stack keeps growing and the time I dedicate to it keeps shrinking.  But, then, someone else who's in this project group with me said that the titles aren't being read because they're being lived.

That kind of made me feel better about things.

And about myself.

And this project.

Project 52 ~ Week 44 {Muted Tones} OR The Last Time I'll Use A Football Pic For This Project, I Promise

Sometimes football is about action. 

Gut pounding, kick you in the crotch, step on your neck action. 

And sometimes, football is about emotion.

Gut pounding, kick you in the crotch, step on your neck emotion. 

This moment of loss wasn't about the action.

And because it's the last time I'll use a football pic for this project,

and because I haven't posted anything in over two weeks,

and becaue I love ya',

here's a few more muted tones football pics that are blowin' my skirt up...

And that's about all I have to say about football for this year.....

Oh!  And one more thing~

I was so inunndated with football last week, that I didn't get a chance to edit or post my picture from Week 43 {Shadows}...so here it is:

Of course, because it's late the Project 52 people won't take it now.  They like it, but they won't take it.

Whatever. 

This is why I'm glad I'm not in school anymore.  Miss a deadline, who cares?  I still have the shot.  It's still in my collection.  Who cares about a bunch of international photographic judges anyway?....Yeah.  Not me, that's for sure.  Totally.....But, come on!!  I missed it by two days!!  Just two, measly little days.  Put it in the pool already!

Please?....

Well, to hell with them....

And I'm done.

Love,

L.

My Crammed Life

Okay....so here's the thing.  I've been phenomenally busy over the last month.

It's been:

Football practice.

Football games.

Football pictures.

Helping out at school.

Birthday parties.

Halloween prep.

Halloween.

Halloween clean up.

Family portraits.

Senior portraits.

And the general living of life as a stay home mom who's trying to get 'er done and be down a few pounds before we head out for Thanksgiving, so I can relax and eat and not edit pictures....oh, and drink wine...and lay by the pool.

Even as I'm writing this, I'm toggling back and forth between this screen and my editing screen so I can keep up with the portraits I'm doing.

Seriously.  It's been crazy busy.  Everyday on our calendar had something written on it that we were supposed to do.

Seriously.  Do you see this?  I'm not making it up.  Every.  Day.....except for that fourth Saturday down, which we spent at the beach.  And that last blank Sunday I had a portrait session, I just didn't write it down.

And don't think for a minute that I haven't heard about the fact this is little writing exercise of mine has gone unattended.

"Ummmm....you blog has been a little lacking lately.  I mean, 4 entries for October?"

I know.  I'm not breaking any personal records here.  And I've hardly taken any pictures over the last month just for the fun of it.  I tried to do Halloween costume pictures, but the SWAT Team guy, wasn't into it. 

So, I tried to do ghost pictures, and they were okay.

But the SWAT Team guy was upset that he didn't get to be the ghost...and it was cold...and posing for pictures isn't nearly as fun as playing video games, unless posing for pictures means he can bag out on his reading time....which it never does.

So, anyway, I'm a little tired of racing around and I'm definitely ready for a break.  Except that I've got a month's worth of stuff to do in two and half weeks.  The positive is that football is about over.  I've loved it, but holy cannoli!  It's a lot of freakin' work!  Mostly because Prince Charming insisted that we all attend practice every night.

"We're a family.  We go together.  That's what families do."

Evidently, families also try to pound themselves into the ground by planning too much...did you see the calendar?

I've got tulip bulb planting left on my list for today, so I better get to it.

I saw a sign the other day while I was driving.  It was on the reader board of a church by my house and it said

Cramming a life does not make it richer.

Boy, they got that one right, sister.....