The Final Throwdown.

''Celebrate endings - for they precede new beginnings.'' - Jonathan Lockwood Huie

My friend Katy is moving to Ohio today and while I am definitely going to miss her and our delicious Mexican lunches during the week, I am so excited about the journey that her and her family are about to embark on. To me, there is something so exciting about stepping outside your comfort zone and into the unknown. That sort of life experience is so valuable in gaining strength and achieving personal growth because it’s guaranteed to be difficult and will require your best attitude, a ton of determination, and a whole lot of heart. And in the end, anything that requires your best efforts will usually bring the best rewards, no matter what form they come in.

So, to celebrate the big move and the start of a brand new life, Katy & Mike threw one last throwdown with family and friends at their house this past Saturday night. Now, because the word “throwdown” was actually used in the invitation, Ryan and I took this to mean that best efforts were going to be required for this party and that will help explain why you’ll see me posing with a cab driver at the end of this post. Ahh, that Oslynm. Hell of a guy... : )


Best wishes to the Kapas’ family!

Celebrate

Wine.Cupcakes.My boys.

Another Year Older.

Fyi. F bombs will be dropped in this post.

I’m 33 years old today. I’d say that it doesn’t bother me in the least, but I guess that wouldn’t be completely true. I hate the visible signs of aging, so that part of it sucks, BUT on the other hand, getting older is actually pretty awesome. When I think back to how completely stupid I was in my 20s, I embrace every aging year even more. I mean, I was teetering somewhere along the lines of a moron back then. Stupid decisions, over dramatizing, a bad attitude, and no sense of real value and meaning all summed up my early to mid 20s. Sure, I looked better back then but what the f*ck does that actually matter when you’re dumb as shit and have no real life experience or wisdom, but think you know everything? If you’re not a complete narcissist, then it doesn’t matter. What a mess that was.
I’ll celebrate today because I feel like I’ve traded up. I’ll take some wrinkles if that means that I can move through my life like a f*cking boss. Fine lines are fine by me if that means I can make decisions with wisdom and confidence, knowing that I’m making the right choices with my life and putting my time and efforts on things that actually mean something. My old age allows me quickly identify a messy situation, the wrong crowds, and a long line of bullshit, without actually getting all tangled up in them first. That sure as hell beats a long look in the mirror at my perfectly youthful skin. Ha.
So…...Happy Birthday to me. I may be 33 with signs of aging, but I still stay fly. Plus, I also look a lot less stupid than I did in my 20s. Now who’s taking me out for jack daniels shots???

Time Flies.

It seems like it was just yesterday that we brought our cute little boys home. Now, when I get up and look out my window in the morning, I see two bonafide, straight off the mountain looking billy goats, walking around all gangster as as all hell in my backyard. Get a load of Hank & Jr.'s horns. They are no bullshit.

Air Hank.

More later...

Film.

When I was in my 20s I thought that value could only be found in the most advanced, most expensive,  trendiest, and most pretentious forms. I would only buy my sunglasses in a diamond encrusted Chanel format, my boots were Gucci and Burberry, and cars were only appealing when priced absurdly and drenched with a foreign luxury logo. I was still very much a small town girl in a lot of ways, but I didn’t see the value in that sort of simplicity. I wanted to be the person that had the latest and greatest phone, wore only the most recent fashions, and hit the hottest spots. I just wanted more.

Now I want less. I shop at yard sales for something I can repurpose or refinish. I want my furniture to look a little worn with character. My boots are Capezio and I want them to look like they’ve logged a hundred miles when I buy them. I scour antique shops for vintage jewelry so that I’ll have something different than what everyone else is wearing. Not because I want to stand out, but because I want something that will stand out to me. In fact, my wedding band is from an antique store in Waxhaw. I picked it out after looking endlessly at diamond wraps and bands that had a lot of wow factor in the store, but just seemed kind of boring to me. I love my ring because it’s unique, unassuming, and I feel like it has a story behind it.

My latest attempt to go old school came in the form of an early 2000s model 35mm SLR film camera. It’s a bit of an experiment for me, but there is something about the look of film that appeals to me right now. I am definitely not a pro, I'm an enthusiastic amateur at best. Most pros shoot larger format film anyway, but to me, it looks softer and a little grainier. Right out of the gate the pictures look a little older and seem to have a little history behind them, which is very different from the images produced by my DSLR that are sharp, crystal clear, and full of color. I recently read somewhere that the quality of a camera isn’t all that important to the quality of a photograph. It’s more about what you capture and how you capture it. It’s about knowing what will make a great photograph and whether it will invoke some sort of emotion and tell a story that speaks to someone in some sort of way. A 35 mm SLR camera does not produce the best results for a perfect looking image, but I think that’s kind of my point. I don’t want it to look perfect. For me, it's a break from the same old same old produced by my DSLR and mostly, it’s about getting something that looks different or is unique.

No matter where your tastes lie, I don’t think there is anything wrong with loving the shiny and new or the old and worn. They each have a ton of appeal, they're just different. It's more about knowing what tells your story best and reflects your personality at any given point in time. I personally love them both. Value isn’t one sided to me anymore. It can be found in many different forms and places. It’s all just how you perceive things. And as time changes, so will your perceptions. For right now, I want to try and create something special without having the best equipment possible so that my efforts require a little more work, a little more thought and a little more creativity. I would like to believe that you can go just as far with a little less if you put the emphasis in the right places. At the same time, I would NEVER give up my digital camera. : )

I’ve already done a couple of posts that consist of all film photos, including, He Loves Me and The Mini Donkeys, Revisited. which are probably my favorite film shots so far, but here are a few other randoms.

Lazy.

I’m sitting on the couch, watching tv, and snacking like it’s my job for the second day in a row now. After a couple weeks of gorgeous weather in the 70s and 80s, it did nothing but rain yesterday and it’s all of 45 degrees today. I’ve taken this drastic change in weather as a sign that I should drink wine and not go outside of my house. So far I’ve done laundry, yoga, and continued working on organizing all the photos on my pc. Here are a few that I’ve found so far…


P.S. GO HEELS!!!!