Happy 25th Anniversary, Mike & Julie!

Our good friends, Mike & Julie, celebrated their wedding anniversary with a party at Pardini's Restaurant today. We had such a fun time with everyone. 25 years of marriage is a milestone and we were happy to celebrate with them. We pray God blesses them with 50 more years together. Now THAT will be a fun celebration in 25 years!

They have a wonderful family and are blessed with two beautiful daughters. We all shot a cardful of pictures in the banquet room, but I dragged them into the lobby to shoot these.

Mike & Julie

Sisters Alyssa & Stefani

Three Packages

I've been waiting for some packages. UPS tracking said they were coming tomorrow, but they came a day early. Yay! Three packages next to the wall, but I saw them on the porch as I came up the driveway.

Package #1 (a book). I don't have Lightroom 2 yet, but I'm preparing for it.

Package #2 -- a black leather camera bag. I've been bag shopping for a few months. Kirk has always carried the camera bag for me when we're together. When he sees THIS one, I just might be on my own. Sheri Update: This is a Jill-e bag, medium black leather. For info, click here. Picked it up at one of my two fav online photog stores, Adorama.com (because B&H Photo doesn't carry it).

My biggest concern is the 70-200mm. In this bag, she stands nice and tall. The cover zips right over it. When mounted to the camera, it lays along the bottom of this bag.

Package #3 -- Photographers' Workshop Binder arrived! The online workshop starts on March 30 and runs 9 weeks. Sounds like fun and I'm geared up to learn something new! You can find out more about the workshop by clicking here.

The binder was tied with a pretty turquoise floral fabric, a pen, a business card, and this hand-signed note from the instructor, Karen Russell.

The front of the binder

The back of the binder.
Amen to that!

UPDATE: I returned the Jill-e camera bag. When the bag was loaded with heavy lenses, the leather would pull at the straps (which didn't seem to securely hold the bag). Maybe I had a faulty one. I don't know. While I do know other people love this camera bag, it's not for me.

Paper Girls' Lunch

Kristi: What IS that?

Me: Japanese oil-blotting paper

We (Kristi, Christy & me) finally made our much-delayed lunch date at P.F. Changs on Friday, 3.6.09 I sat down and blotted my forehead at the table because it was such a warm day! I know, poor table etiquette, but I HAD to get the shine off.

Kristi holding up the paper packet

I love these oil-blotting sheets! I don't know what the outside of this packet says, but this little packet holds 300 thinner-than-paper translucent sheets in a top-bound, notepad-style, tear-off pad. They are double-sided and powder-free so it doesn't interfere with or remove makeup . You press it against your forehead, cheeks or wherever you have facial-shine ... and whammo, presto! Matte skin! No shine! No oil!

A pad of oil-blotting sheets

I prefer the Japanese sheets (aka film or papers) and I have lots of different brands/colors/sizes. I don't know what ANY of them say, I just know what they look like. They work. They're my favorites. I also have the refillable Bobbi Brown version (Macy's or Nordstroms) with a leather case and a mirror which costs 10x more (so--not my favorite).

Forget manners! All 3 of us blotting our greasy faces!

The sheets absorb oil or moisture then gets translucent/clear when its done the job.

Kristi & Christy getting oil-free.

Saw Kristi's blog and lifted the next two pictures for comparison.
Kristi on top left picture ... daughter Samantha on bottom left.

Christy is on top right ... daughter Jessica is on the bottom left.

The mothers on top, the daughters on bottom! Cool.

Also, those cheerleaders are 1st Place National Champions!

Samantha & Jessica at Cheer Competition in Disneyland

Here they are again.
Christy & Jessica on the left (above & below)
Kristi & Samantha on the right (above & below)

We had a such a fun lunch. We chatted a mile-a-minute and didn't finish. Cameras. Blotting papers. Cheer. Daughters. School. It was a three-hour lunch! Kirk thought something happened to me because I never heard my cellphone ring.

We're planning another lunch ... this time to my favorite Mediterranean place downtown. Sheri, wish you were with us. Remember when we used to have lunch and go to the Clinique counter? I got to hang with your little Sissy. And, exactly HOW many Franklin Covey binders did you find when you moved?