Off You Go to Read "The Book Thief"

My dear obedient sisters and fellow book-lovers:

Go read The Book Thief.

Why?

Because instead of falling asleep like I normally do when reading at night, this book kept me up into the stillest hours of morning. When the kids woke up, I curled myself against the tub for hours while they took an extended bath so I could finish. I wore mixmatched jammies underneath a frumpy robe, glasses, crusty makeup with tears streaming, and I was probably getting doused with bathwater, too. My eyes burned from not wanting to pause even for blinks.

Intense stuff. You know you want some.

It's a WWII novel, and after I finished it, I just stared at the book for awhile in awe. I wanted to immediately start reading it again, and I might have done just that had I not three kids needing a towel! It made my soul ache for the sadness and soar for the goodness that these real and lovable characters went through.

And I was simply stunned by the unique storytelling style of the author. Brilliant, I tell ya!

The narrator is death, and his birds-eye vantage point gives way to so much perspective. As he travels between heaven and earth to gather souls, sometimes a story or person would grab his attention. In this case Death zooms in on a young German girl name Liesel who becomes the foster child to a German couple durning the war.

And because I'm lame and I can't quickly summarize a book, here's the synopsis I found on the back cover:

By her brother's graveside, Liesel Meminger's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Grave Digger's Handbook, left there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordion-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books fom Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found.

But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jew in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up and closed down.

In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author Markus Zusak has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time.

Are you convinced to read it? I promise you, it's worth the tears that will surely come. If you've already read it, who's your favorite character? Husband and I both vote Hans Hubermann (the foster father), hands down. All of that man's goodness reminded me of Dad. :)

XOXO

Marie

PS. Did you notice my ballerina bun, Em? No offense, but I'm never doing that again! It's not the bun; it's my hair! After all those years of straight hair heaven, its growing in kinky curly again--especially on the sides. I've only got two words for that: kink and cringe. Wait, that's three words.

Bye, Bye, Bubblegum

Hey girlies!

Remember how when we first moved in, the girls’ room was green? The wrong green, naturally, because I'm so talented at trial and error. There were fuschias and emeralds and every other rich color in the rainbow. I figured colors I love to wear would transform well into a bedroom scheme, but whenever I walked by, I wanted to close their door. It was too much! So, when Mom came about a year ago, she helped me do my dream makeover! She sewed for like three days straight, and I painted.

I wanted a fresh and delicate European look. There are lots of whites and florals with a touch of ballet slipper pink and coral. It turned out perfectly and it's a breath of fresh air to walk by their room now. I love it!


And then about a month ago, I hung that black and white canvas above Juliette's crib. I didn't like the look of my tan walls against the black and white, though, so I decided that wall needed a pink accent. I loved the idea of her little tutu against a wall of pink. I brought home all sorts of swatches.

But argh! Of course I picked the wrong swatch! I couldn’t get a paint color right the first time if an interior designer came to the store with me! Okay, that’s slightly dishonest and dramatic; I think I got the blue in our living room right,

and I love the color I just painted Liam’s room (Walmart's Barely Jade).

But man. We have a paint store in our garage because I fail all the time. And now to add to our swatches (I have such fun naming them), we have a can of bubble gum pink. Ew. Sticky, Barbie, ewwwww. It’s sitting right next to Kermit the Frog Green, and it's all wrong...

It's not that I don't like Barbie and Kermit; I actually think they're great colors. I'm just finding I like more calm and subtle hues on my walls. Also, the below pictures don't do justice to how obnoxious it looks in life. Picture #7 is the closest. Introducing wrong pink (although again, it doesn't look half-bad in this photo):

After we finished, I stared at the wall good and hard. I tilted my head this way and that. I tried to like it, but if you have to strain your eyes and reach into the recesses of your brain to find the words to talk yourself into thinking it matches, well, it just doesn't. And it ain’t gonna.

And that’s what I told Husband.

That’s what I told he who painted all the baseboards white in our house; he who sanded and stained our bed frame and dresser; he who painted the endtable Kermit Green; he who painted our kitchen table and chairs;


the front door; the garage door; and all of the walls and ceilings in our house last year because I was tired of the flat sheen we had going on. I know I'm forgetting other things he's painted for me. Factor in that I never get the color right the first time and you probably have a migraine--like him, because I know he'll help me paint this wall--again. And maybe again? Nooooo, please not again!

“Some people might think it’s cool,” were the exact words he chose to try and cheer me up about Wall Bubblegum.

Do you guys think it's cool?

He didn't let on, but I know he wants to throw my projects out the window. Poor guy. No matter how hard he tries to stay away, that big heart of his picks up a paintbrush every time.

I mean, really. Can you expect him to resist this:





I'm just too much fun!

I do have better luck with picking spray paint colors, however. I spray painted the address numbers on our house the other day. They were once gold and now a lovely shade of silver. You should try it! Easy peasy, and it cost me nothing! (Personal paint store…you remember.) I also took several bottles to nine tires. Oh, and last week I almost sprayed a belt to match my red outfit. I still think I might do that.

Alright, I'm out. I've gotta go to Lowes with Bubblegum and see if they can whip her into Ballet Slipper. Ah, what the heck. Maybe I'll get Kermit a makeover, too, and find something new to paint!

XOXO,

Marie

PS. Check out the delicious knobs I put on my kitchen cabinets. They are the perfect thing to pretty things up until I can take paint brush to ‘em. Teehee.

Phototips: A Crazy Lady's Locations

This post could go in so many different directions...

I could tell you about how my sisters influenced this shoot from head-to-toe without even knowing it. Lissie inspired the RED LIPS. Emma gave me that bag a long time ago and recently convinced me to buy the hat. Lauren bought the same J.Crew shirt I'm wearing from her Goodwill in Dallas. And then after seeing how cute it was on her, I found myself my very own copy at the Port Orchard Goodwill. (Can we all put our hand over our hearts and sigh, "sisters!")

I could tell you about how Husband took these pictures in the parking lot of the Albertson's right by my house! We were in a hurry because it was date night to Costco before closing time (awesome date, right?). The red curb caught his eye, and at the last possible second I said, "Okay, okay! Yeah, that's good, but I hope nobody sees us!" And so he swerved in, and we proceeded to see uno. dos. TWO people we knew.

I waved to the first acquaintance. I mean I had to; there was eye contact. She gave me a half wave plus a puzzled look, and I just hung out, la-di-da--I'm not getting my picture taken-- until she pulled out.

Next up, I saw the bishop's wife from church. It was just after we'd finished up our little shoot, and I was inside Albertsons waiting for Husband to pick up a Redbox movie. As I was scrolling through pictures while my kids made a jungle gym of the motorized handicap carts, I heard,

"Oh, hi, Marie!"

"Hey!" I put my camera down, a bit startled.

She's laughing, like really laughing. "You crack me up! I come here to buy groceries and you come here to take pictures."

"Oh, actually, we already had the photoshoot--heavens no, it wasn't here." I resisted the urge to point outside the automatic doors and say, "it was there."

I also kept the part about how just minutes earlier I was spinning and clicking my heels while people pushing grocery carts did double takes. I'm sure she wondered why I was all dolled up while my kids looked like they stepped straight out of Ragamuffin Orphanage. A few minutes later, the bishop caught up to her and they both left laughing.

So. Now I'm not only the crazy cat lady (okay, so we might feed a stray cat or two),


and the crazy tire lady (we have nine colorfully spray-painted tires hanging out in our backyard),


but now I'm also the crazy mom who dresses up for photoshoots at the local grocery store. I'm not sure how I should be feeling about myself right now.

So, yeah. A good location for a photoshoot could be just about anywhere. My first priority is usually good lighting (which wasn't necessarily the case in the above photos); second, a spot that's colors coordinate with my client's clothes; and third, texture, baby! I love me some nitty gritty backdrops.

And whether I find those things in the corner of an Albertsons parking lot or in a more traditional place, I try to keep an open mind. And PS. I'm notorious for knocking on a stranger's door if they have a cool property.

What are some of your favorite photo locations?

XOXO,

Marie

PhotoTips: Posing

Hey girlies!

I thought I'd kick this blog off with some posing tips. The only problem is that when I went out on this mini shoot the other night, I didn't have the forethought that this is what I'd be posting about, so I'm essentially doing the same pose in every picture. Ha!

SO, here are the only tips I have for you that include pictures of me (ya ready for some brilliance?):

1. Make sure you touch your chin or someplace nearby, like your jaw line...in every. single.photo. :)

2. Shake it up, and touch your chin with the scotchbroom-- while crisscrossing your arms. Tricky!

3. If you can't touch your chin, don't walk off, just reach for your hair.

4. Take a little break, and then get super fancy and try to touch your chin with two hands. Give me a little shoulder while you're at it. Ow-ow!

Yeah, kinda lame, I know. But I'm not normally in front of the camera, and husband normally isn't behind the camera, so we were both a little bit out of our element, hence the lack of variety here.

Anyway, doesn't the scotchbroom photograph beautifully? Crazy that this obnoxious weed that grows ferociously up here in WA could be a photographer's dream. I swear, I bought the yellow shirt and shoes just so I could have my picture taken in front of it. Normally I hate yellow! I'm not sure it was really worth the $40 I spent at Target, especially when Husband shook his head at "the doilies" on it.

Oh, and get this. When I praised Husband for keeping most of the pictures in focus, he said,

"It's kinda like a video game. I'd just make the red dot point at your head and then fire."

Made me laugh!

Back to business, though. Here are my top ten posing tips:

1. My very first tip would be to not pose people to a T. Instead, fill your mind with pictures you like--whether it be in magazines or a photographer's website that you admire. Look at them, and look at them some more. Then, when you're out on a shoot and someone naturally does something you like, you'll notice, and you'll start to learn how to get people to do "poses" without ever necessarily telling them where every limb should go. I'm actually not huge on posing, but I know how to get people to move into positions that are flattering and natural.

2. Have people look different directions. Again, I kind of do this every few seconds, and I usually use my arm to point to the direction I want them to look, especially if it's up in the sky. If you give a person something to do, even if it's just changing the direction they're looking, it makes them less nervous.

3. Variety is key. Have people stand up, sit on the ground, sit on a chair or step, lay on their backs, lay on tummies, squat...mix it up! Props, like bikes, suitcases and blankets can help here, too.

4. When posing a family, make sure they are comfortable. If they're not, you're probably going to have an uncomfortable looking picture. I usually tell a family to get cozy, and then I adjust them from there. I rarely tell people who to sit next to or how to sit. I also like families to look connected, so I usually tell them to make sure they are touching the people around them. Whether they've got their arm around someone, or they're holding hands, have everyone be touching somehow.

5. Have your subject keep moving. It helps bring life to a photo. I usually tell them to sway, spin, dance around---whatever they need to do to move. And then I have them sneak me a peek every few seconds.

6. Angles are so important. Legs crisscrossed, spread out, staggered. A shift of the hips. The last thing you want are a bunch of sticks in a picture.

7. Go with the flow. If I had a formula and did the same poses every time I photographed people, my pictures would start to look identical. And while I want my style to shine through, I think a large part of my style is recognizing another person's great idea or natural way of moving. I take lots of breaks and make people feel like they're not getting photographed at all. I often get my best pictures that way.

8. Do something with your hands: put them in pockets, play with hair, cross arms, hands on hips, holding hands behind back, holding one elbow behind back. Do anything but let your arms dangle to and fro.

9. Okay, so I'm sure there are lots of photographers out there who are naturally hilarious. I'm not one of them. So, here's my little secret. Tell them to laugh and you'll get a nice fake laugh out of them, and they'll feel so embarrassed and awkward about it that you'll get a genuine laugh right afterward. Works like a charm.

10. Don't amputate your subject. Make sure you're not cutting off their hands in camera or posing them so they look like amputees. I also don't want my portraits to look like mug shots, so if I'm getting a closeup of a face, I like to somehow get their hands up by their head. That's why I was so good at the "touch your chin" pose up top. Right?

XOXO,

Marie