When I was a kid and went trick or treating, it was all about the Nerds.
The pink and purple mixed pack to be precise.
But when I was rating the neighborhood houses on their level of cool, a Gold Standard rating was always given out if that family gave out Nerds.
Now that I am older and wiser and my tastes have refined, I realize that the pumpkin shaped Reese's is really where it's at.
It's chocolate. It's peanut butter.
And I don't know....there's just something about it being molded into the shape of something that I swear just makes it better!
So tell me! What's your gold standard favorite Halloween candy? Let us know in the comment box below and ONE lucky winner is going to get a personalized Halloween care kit from yours truly full of all my favorite goodies! And....GO!!
I make to-do lists for my to-do lists. Sort of a master catalog of all the things I need to get done. I'm pretty much one step shy of implementing my own primitive form of a dewey decimal point system at this point.
But on the plus side, at least I would get to buy that vintage card catalogue I've been eyeing. And wear librarian glasses. And a bun. It would be epic.
And as you can imagine, being a to-do list junkie, I've tried pretty much every form of task management systems out there from good ole' pen & paper to the more tech savvy things like Vitalist. And what I've found is that, for me, pen & paper just work best.
What can I say, I just love that feeling of scratching something off the list into oblivion. Where it will never dare show its face again.
If you've been reading this blog for a while, you know I prefer a combination of a master to-do list and smaller Win the Day lists. Well after listening to Miss Katelyn James at the Pursuit 31 Conference, she showed me a way to bring both of those worlds together in a seamless to-do domination strategy called "The Big List" (more on that to come!). And this of course also led me to spend way too much contributing to the Martha Stewart empire. :) I've only been using this system for a week, and so far it's rocking my WORLD.
And that got me thinking.
I wonder how all of you like to go about managing all the stuff you have to get done. Are you pen to paper people? Do you download all the latest apps? Do you prefer to cross things off or put a check mark beside them? Is there a specific color pen that you have to write in? :)
Leave us a note in the comment box below with your preferred method of to-doing & any of your best tips that you've learned along the way. And we're going to pick one lucky winner to receive a $50 gift card to Adorama. Because I'm pretty sure buying something from there is on the top of ALL of our to-do lists! :) And....GO!!!
And a HUGE congrats to the winner of Julia's Pottery Barn giveaway....Miss Sarajane Case!!! Your e-gift card is on the way!
A few days ago, I was walking the dogs, and noticed Halloween decorations popping up along the way. Graveyards grew in lawns, pumpkins sat on doorsteps, and ghouls appeared between the red and orange leaves. I have to tell you, there are mixed feelings about this in my house.
I like to decorate with sparkly skeletons, wide eyed grinning pumpkins and polka dot bats (yes, polka dot, I made them myself!). Whereas my husband Mike, given his way, would decorate our house with zombies, vampires, and other decorations so macabre that Stephen King would be proud.
The debate continues year after year... and I have to admit. I usually win. Simply because he knows that if he makes the house scary enough... I won't even get out of the car and walk to the front door. I would need an escort 24/7. Because I am a big 'ole scaredy cat.
So my friends, it's time for another edition of This or That! Weigh in... do you like your halloween fun and cute or bloodcurdling and scary? One lucky commenter will win a $25 gift certificate to Pottery Barn! So you can get your decorating on! :)
**And a HUGE congrats to the winner of the new TV This or That, Miss Jenny McQueen, an itunes e-card is on its way to you!
Going back as far as RAW v. jpeg, Apple v. PC, Jen v. Brad....there's always been Nikon. V. Canon.
And boy oh boy do we get passionate about it.
As for us and our household, it will always be Nikon. Or as we always like to say I got a Niiiiiikon camera, love to take a photograph. (And, for the record and because I know you're really dying to know :), we are also RAW, Apple, and Jen all the way....well with the exception of Wanderlust. Seriously babe, you gotta READ the scripts before you agree to take them).
We love Nikon for the super sharp glass, the focal points that go all the way out toward the edge so we never have to do the head bob of the focus & recompose :), the low light capability, and the fact that everything always just works. Yea there was that problem with the hot shoe on the D700 that made all the flashes fire off repeatedly....but we just liked to think of it as our portable rave machine. ooonce ooonce ooonce ooonce oonce-oonce-oonce It was epic.
But mostly we just love Nikon because it was the first camera Justin ever picked up in high school. The camera he was holding when he fell in love with the magic of photography. And the camera that he taught both myself and now Julia on. It's just a part of who we are.
And let me tell you, if "I {heart} Nikon" shirts existed....I'd have one in every color.
BUT, we recognize that people can feel just as strongly about Canon. And we're always the first to say that it's not the tool you work with, but what you do with it that really matters. So we thought we'd dedicated this This or That to the age old debate, and give you all a chance to sound off once and for all on whether it's Nikon or Canon for you. AND to make it just a little more interesting, we're going to be pick one lucky commenter to win a set of the brand new Pocketwizard Plus III that we are also loving these days. And no worries....they work on either Nikon or Canon. And.....GO!!
She told me about her idea months before leading up to the wedding. And I thought it was....brilliant.
As the day got closer, I couldn't wait to see how it would all play out.
To see whether the guests would actually go along with it. To see if the phones and cameras would really get put away. To see if they would all be shooing us the evil eye the whole time because they thought it was our idea & we made them do it. :) I was intrigued to say the least.
To say that wedding guests have been getting more ummmm.....ambitious ....might just be the understatement of my year. We had two weddings this past weekend, and I got elbowed in the head by guests with cameras at BOTH of them. Once in the eye, and once in the ear. :) One guest went ahead and rested his camera right on my shoulder. And I get it, I really do. Photography is a beautiful thing. And it's so, so easy to fall in love with it and not want to put your camera down. But when people start throwing elbows- literally- it might be time to reign it back in, no?
Our bride Spring is a wedding photographer herself. And she knew she wanted something more for her wedding. So she decided on what we're calling "The Unplugged Wedding Manifesto." And then she did something even bigger....she actually sent it out to her guests. First in the invitation and then again with this sign at the wedding. It says:
An Unplugged Wedding:
We want you to be able to really enjoy our wedding day, feeling truly present and in the moment with us. We've hired amazing wedding photographers and videographers who will be capturing the way the wedding LOOKS and we're inviting you to sit back, relax, and just enjoy the way the wedding FEELS. We respectfully ask that everyone leave all cameras and cell phones turned off. Of course we will be happy to share our wedding photos and video with you.
Now of course as a photographer, when I heard about the idea of an unplugged wedding I was celebrating the idea of not getting elbowed in the head for just one wedding. :) I was celebrating aisle shots without twenty guests jumping into the middle of them. And I was celebrating the idea of family shots not taking twice as long because there are four cameras and no one is sure where to look.
But what actually happened was SO much more.
When Spring & Silas were having their first dance, I was shoot-shoot-shooting away when I realized that something was....different. At first I couldn't put my finger on it. Spring & Silas looked beautiful & their first dance was going along so sweetly as most first dances do. But somehow, this one was more. I couldn't get rid of this nagging feeling trying to figure out what it was, and that's when I looked up and noticed that guest after guest had tears just streaming down their faces. They weren't focusing their iPhones or trying to figure out the settings on their DSLRs....they were just watching two people in love. And that emotion pouring out in love and hope for them was nothing short of electric. They were actually there and present for this moment when two people were starting a life together.
And that was the difference. That being unplugged actually made them more connected.
There are so many great ideas out there for weddings that spread like wildfire. Wouldn't it be amazing if this one caught on like that too?
I don't know about you guys, but the Unplugged Wedding gets my vote for the must have trend this year.
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