Posted on December 24, 2008 by rebeccaclaire

Claire’s “Oh Snap! Dip”

OK, so let’s say you are getting ready to go to a party for a friend and you need an appetizer. Usually I would take my fabulous hummus, but let’s say I’m gathering my ingredients and can’t find the garbanzo beans (the key ingredient). That’s when we get creative and make up (on the spot no less) “Claire’s Oh Sh!t Dip” (feel free to rename it to something a bit more family friendly). First go to the pantry and fridge and find items that would go well together, then throw them all into a blender and there you go. We had tofu that Nathan won’t eat and a ridiculous number of jams open in the fridge which is where this recipe began to take shape…

ingredients/supplies:

1 small blender/mixer/food processor type machine

1 package of Tofu (I used extra firm, it blends up smoothly. soft would make a nice creamy spread. If you hate tofu, which really you shouldn’t because it has no flavor of its own and makes a great healthy base, you could substitute cream cheese or sour cream)

1-2 spoonfuls of Feta (ricotta would probably do. Just something to give it a kick)

1-2 spoonfuls of Jam (I used apricot jam because the peach jam lid was too tight. Thanks Nate!)

Enough Cinnamon (there’s no such thing to me, but I think I may have used too much. Maybe)

A dash of Nutmeg (or more if you like it)

A sprinkle of Cumin (again, for that kick)

Another sprinkle of Ground Ginger (did I mention kick?)

Like I said, just throw it all into the blender and mix until smooth. Then put it into something pretty (or a mason jar if you’re transporting it and threw out all of your #5 plastic tupperware) and away you go. I think Ginger Snaps would have been great with it, but sadly, all I had was the flat bread I wanted to use with my hummus. People ate it anyway and told me it was good. Also, be careful where you take it when divulging the ingredients. I’m surrounded by Tofu-haters, so I generally leave that little tidbit out until they have already admitted to loving the dip (HA!).

Here’s a little twist to make a savory dip (that goes great with crackers or bread) rather than a sweet one:

replace Jam, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, & Ginger with Garlic & Basil and save a pretty basil leaf to put on top. Keep the Feta though because “Feta makes everything betta.” 😀 Happy dipping!!

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Posted on December 23, 2008 by rebeccaclaire

Why I love Photoshop

I remember in the early days of digital (and continuing on into the present, but not quite so strongly), people would complain about photoshop and how photographers were using it to enhance their images. I never took it seriously, having gone through plenty of photo-history as a requirement for my major in college. I mean, really, people have been using post techniques to alter their images since the invention of photography. I love to use the Ansel Adams line (since everyone knows who he is and many believe he did everything in camera), “Ansel Adams spent as much time or more in the darkroom as he did behind the lens.”
Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico, 1941

This is Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico, 1941

It’s a pretty famous print, so we studied it. Did you know that it’s not really a moonrise? Nope. Mr. Adams used post techniques to combine images into the one he wanted. Pretty neat, Ansel. Of course. He had to do it in a darkroom surrounded by nasty photo chemicals. Photoshop is a little more health-friendly. Well, it’s not so great on your eyes if you have a CRT monitor, but the newer monitors are supposed to ease that as well. So I suppose we modern digital photographers have it pretty darn easy.

Anyway, all of that lead up was to show off my mad photoshop skillz. 😉 Nate has been WAY too busy to get work done on my HUGE pile of images I’d love to have photoshopped for my portfolio. I know, I know, I can do it myself, but in photo school, I would shoot, process the film, print a proof sheet (where you lay your entire roll of film down on a single sheet of paper and then print it all at once and get lots of teeny tiny images that you can use a loupe to get a better look at but generally give you an idea of what you have.) then take a quick look, perhaps circle my favorites, reload the camera and start again. I only printed full-sized prints when I had to for class. I love the shooting part, not so much on the printing and processing part. But to show you all how good I am at sucking it up and doing my own Photoshop work when I must (or when I really want an image to show off), I am posting a before and after. This is a shot from the Juliette Atelier shoot, and you may have seen the original shot already, but I actually had fun playing with filters and what not, so here we go…Melodie is just too sweet! And pretty! And easy to work with! Before.
jatelier_2120web
After. What do you think? While I love the warmth of the original, I am a huge fan of grain and contrast. I hope Nathan approves (he’s so picky).

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Posted on December 22, 2008 by rebeccaclaire

Still working… I swear we’re closed for the holidays! ;)

OK, so I told a few folks that we were closing from December 19th-early January, but you know how it is. I can’t take any more Christmas print orders, but I’ve gotten several print orders to fill in January that I could go ahead and work on, but before that, I really should catch up on editing… So that’s what I’m doing on my first day off (ha!). I have been so productive, though. I edited two shoots for EvaMag (look for those in January’s issue) and the images from Above the Rest’sValentines shoot (gotta love the ad world). Now I’m editing the Knoxville Jewish Day School’s performance of The Jungle Book. It is too cute! These guys are just adorable. And the play was very good. I was impressed. They sang and danced and remembered their lines (these kids are all 4th grade or younger).

Well, it looks like Bridge has finished reloading (we had to take a pause to rediscover our ram cache. FUN!), so I should get back to work, but first…

My birthday was awesome! I’ll try to get some shots uploaded asap (they’re all on my phone so it’s tricky. I didn’t take the big camera since I was planning to drink a ridiculously huge margarita). I had nearly 30 people show up at Soccer Taco! I felt so loved. About half of them joined us for bowling (where we all collectively sucked). My mom came up and was my DD. It was good times. 🙂 Nathan’s cousin had her baby yesterday too. It’s weird because she and I already share a birthday, and now her baby shares as well! It’s the Winter Solstice, longest night of the year, really, can you get any better. My college boyfriend is also expecting a baby any minute (or already has one. He hasn’t updated his facebook, and we aren’t really “tight” so I just have to wait with the rest of the world). This is a busy baby season, I guess. I found all kinds of friend with December and early January birthdays this year. I guess those April showers keep everyone inside and looking for something to do. 😉

And back to work!

atr-1208_0128atr-1208_0123

Leigh Hoopes of Brandt photography and Linda (who is a little camera shy) at the Western Ave Strike & Spare.  Check out those swanky new lounge seats.  Yay!

Me, Aly & Elizabeth at the new and improved Western Ave Strike & Spare.

Linda, Sarah Carroll (event planner extraordinaire with Envisions by Sarah), JD (oral surgeon), and Scott (fabulous photo assistant and fellow CHS grad) at Soccer Taco.

Linda (with Elegant Essentials in the Gallery Shopping Center) & Carolyn (Marketing Diva with Keystone Consulting Group), two of my REO sisters.

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Posted on December 20, 2008 by rebeccaclaire

Tomorrow is my birthday!

Yep, I’m a Christmas baby. I came home from the hospital on Christmas Day in a big red Christmas stocking and spent Christmas dinner as the centerpiece (in a laundry basket, I believe). My family can’t help but remind me of this story every year in my birthday card (along with how much they have enjoyed watching me grow into the wonderful woman I am today. And we wonder where my giant ego comes from. 😉 ) But after that, everything went down hill. Every year growing up, we set a place for Jesus at the table at Christmas dinner with my Grandmother. Very nice, yes? Well, I always thought it was a little weird because he never showed up and there we’ve dirtied a whole place setting (I’m sure it went back in the cupboard, but I didn’t think in those terms. I was a very practical child). Also, that was my birthday dinner. So I grew up having a joint birthday celebration with Jesus (the messiah. How do you compete with that?!) and every year we had a cake (I got to blow the candles out as we sang “Happy Birthday, dear Claire & Jesus”).

Now, as a child, I loved chocolate cake (what child doesn’t, except maybe my friend Melissa who is allergic to chocolate. My theory is she was cruel to small woodland creatures in a past life), and that was the kind of cake I requested for my joint birthday dinner with Jesus. Every year we had carrot cake. Why? Well, that was Jesus’s favorite cake, of course. OK, I just assumed that part. No one told me Jesus liked carrot cake. But seriously, after a few years of requesting chocolate and receiving carrot at a joint party, you have to assume that the co-celebrant has requested carrot cake and won (it’s that whole messiah thing again). I hated carrot cake for years! YEARS!! I wouldn’t touch the stuff (I mean, it was cake with a vegetable in it. And usually it had raisins in there somewhere. Blech!) Flash forward to 2006, and I had it as our wedding cake, along with a chocolate grooms cake. Just shows I will eventually forgive a grudge (see, Nate, I’m not totally unreasonable!)

Back to my birthday… The nice thing about a birthday so near Christmas is that I had school on my birthday (except I think we had one 2 hour day one year). Nathan’s little sister started school on her birthday several times, but she’s not so into birthdays. Of course, she never had to compete with the messiah. She also got braces for her birthday one year. I swear, those Presnalls really don’t know how to work a birthday! Back on topic… While I never had school on my birthday, I also never had a school party with cupcakes and all of that. Nope. Not even on the 2 hour day. I would just leave school one age and come back a year older. I also had to compete with a major holiday when people leave town to be with family. I moved my birthday several years so that people could attend the party. It was tragic! I’m very vocal about my birthday now (so people won’t forget and have plenty of time to plan ahead for their family trips to start on the 22nd).

Then there is the issue of gifts. Now, people thought I was greedy because my mom insisted that I receive 2 gifts (even if one was out of the gumball machine) and that one was wrapped in birthday paper. No one seemed to care that everyone else received 2 gifts, just not at the same time. And since my birthday competes with a major gift-giving holiday, people are on a tighter budget where gifts are concerned. Of course, I have plenty of stuff now and don’t need 2 gifts, but as a kid with a brother who has a May birthday, you really start to feel it when he gets all the GI Joe’s he could possibly desire (twice a year) and you get a couple of She-Ra action figures in December. And boy, if something comes out mid-year or if there was something on my list I didn’t get, I had to wait ALL YEAR to try again. Adam got round two in 5 months. That was what really, really blew, the waiting…

So, anyone wonder why I’m so into my birthday? It’s the one day of the year when it’s all about me! ME ME ME!! Well, really it’s because I’ve spent my life defending my birthday from encroaching holidays and family gatherings. So I plan my own party and try to give enough advance notice and then invite everyone I know to go drink margaritas and bowling (and don’t hold it against anyone if family, holiday, or other obligations keep them from the festivities.  I just promise to drink a margarita for them and then make them all share that margarita–seriously folks, I’m not a total lush). It’s fun!

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Posted on December 16, 2008 by rebeccaclaire

I’m back!!

Whew!  This is a nutty time of year!  I have a couple of album orders that need to get to the binder, but they won’t be done before Christmas, so I’m not losing my mind over that.  I get to deliver an album this week (yay!), and I’ve just sent in my “ABSOLUTE FINAL I CANNOT DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT IF YOU MISSED THE DEADLINE BECAUSE THE LAB IS CLOSING” Christmas print order.  I have 2 orders in hand to deliver/mail as well.  I’m slowly regaining my sanity.  Plus, India came home Friday, spent the weekend eating and drinking like a normal kitty and had to go get blood work done to test for permanent kidney damage.  Well, he came back totally normal!  His system is flushed!  The vet was very impressed.  Of course, he spent all of the Christmas money, but I’m glad to have a kitty and everyone will just have to understand.  🙂  One bummer is my big fancy monitor won’t turn on.  Luckily, it’s still under the Apple Care warranty, so off to the mall I go (I’m terrified).

So, because I’m not a nut job, I thought I’d post some of my photos from the Square Room.  There are so many other things to post too, but this is what I want to post today.  I think the pictures turned out amazing.  Don’t tell Nathan that I’m posting them before he gets his hands on them.  He wants to photoshop everything, but when he’s triple booked (to pay for the cat among other things, but also because his clients rarely meet their own deadlines.  We really should learn.), I just can’t wait (can we say Juliette Atelier photos?)

Without further ado, Clare & The Reasons, My Brightest Diamond, and the Square Room at 4 Market Square:

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Posted on December 11, 2008 by rebeccaclaire

When to post

I keep meaning to sit down and blog about stuff.  There is so much going on right now!  India is doing much better and will come home tomorrow.  I delivered a TON of print orders today as well as shot the Knoxville Jewish Day School performance of The Jungle Book which was incredibly cute and very well done.  Now I’m trying to prepare for tomorrow with two shoots, one for Above the Rest event design and the other at Club LeConte.  Add on to that the need to prep some orders to mail, clean and prep for India to come home, and finish the hat I started knitting (which may have to wait until Christmas week when I’m not so crazy).  I also extended my print deadline until the 15th, but I really have to cut it off there!  It’s not me, it’s my lab.  They have to have time to print and ship and then they’re closing for the holidays.  It’s just a mad house here.  I’d love to post pictures of my fingerless gloves (which are awesome if I do say so myself, and I do).  There are too many fires to put out and not enough hoses (or something.  I’m too crazy to make a good… analogy?  Is that the word I’m looking for?  I don’t know)  I’ve subsisted today on a banana and 5 Krispy Kreme glazed donuts (for a total of about 1050 calories), which is enough to live on I suppose, but all I really wanted was some sushi, and the world just didn’t cooperate.  OK, I’m noticing a real lack of spelling and coherency coming on.  Time to forage for some grubbage, test my printer for tomorrow and go to bed!  It’s an early morning!

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Posted on December 8, 2008 by rebeccaclaire

Sick Kitty Update

So India had a 3 o’clock vet appointment, but when I saw him laying face down in the litter box, I just couldn’t wait any longer.  I got there at 2 (only an hour early) and the vets were all out to lunch, but I told the receptionist that he hadn’t eaten or had any water all day and seemed just so weak, and I thought perhaps they could help rehydrate him and have some food he might eat.  She took him back and said they’d call, and I went to the bank.  I was on my way to pick up Nate for lunch (yeah, lunch at 2) about 15 minutes later when the vet called and was pretty short and to the point.  India was an emergency case.  He was blocked and needed emergency surgery.  His bladder was the size of a softball (which is bigger than his head, thus explaining why he looked so much fatter than normal), and he had crystals in his urethra.  They were putting in a catheter, and I could come by later to discuss treatment and payment, but right now they had to get him saved.  I said I could be there in a few minutes, but they told me I would just have to wait in the waiting room while he was in surgery, so come back in a couple of hours.  So Nate and I had a delightful lunch at the Holy Land Market while we worried about our kitty.  Quick plug for the Holy Land Market, they rock.  Find them on Sutherland and eat their delicious food.  So I dropped Nate back off at work and headed straight to the vet.  When I got there, they called me into a little sitting room to go over what they had done and what they thought would still need to be done.  Total bill was a bit over $500 (including 3 days at the vet’s office for IV, stabilization, and observation).  POOR KITTY!!  Here was my facebook status after I left the vet (because my friend all need to know how my kitty is doing):

His urethra was blocked with some crystalization. He’s still recovering from emergency surgery, and we aren’t out of the woods yet. It was a close one, and I’m glad I listened to my instincts to take him to the vet early (about an hour before his appointment). He was in the process of kidney failure and his tempurature did not even read on the thermometer. His potassium was at a level that is nearly heart failure time. His bladder was the size of a softball. They are keeping him for a couple of days, but we still need him to wake up from the anesthesia a bit more and start to warm himself rather than relying on the heating pad. Poor kitty.

They let me come back and see him.  He was still laying there with an IV that they were running through warm water to try and raise his body temperature.  His catheter was bloody too.  He may have kidney stones of the type that don’t dissolve.  He will have to eat the urinary tract food forever, and we may have to switch him to wet food so he gets enough liquid.  Poor kitty!!  They said it was really good I brought him in when I did because we really almost lost him.  I have to admit, I cried.  I love this damn cat, despite the fact that he beats up on the dog and whines when he doesn’t get his way.  He’s still my baby.  Plus, he may have just been suffering from a long-term urinary tract infection which will make anyone bitchy.

So I left the vet, hoping that India would wake up.  I still have lots of work to do today that didn’t get done because of obvious other activities, so I sat down to do that and talked to my mom and dad.  I changed my Christmas & birthday list from “knee high socks” to “money for vet bills” (seriously, I didn’t have anything else on the list.  I’m really doing pretty good in terms of stuff), and waited to hear from the vet.  I also talked to my neighbor who fell and broke her knee cap last week.  It’s been a dangerous month, I guess.

Just a little while ago, the vet called (Callahan Drive Animal Hospital, if you were wondering.  They’re really quite terrific) to say that India was awake and flicking his tail and looking around.  YAY!!!  He’s going to be ok.  Of course, looking back to earlier today, he was definitely trying to pull an Elvis (the whole dying on the crapper thing).  I am SO relieved.  I don’t know what I would have done if I’d gotten him to the vet too late.  They were really great though.  I knew they would do what they needed to to save him.  This is really the best vet ever.  So, if you need a vet, go to Callahan Drive Animal Hospital.  Tell them Rupert, India, and Alfred’s mom sent you.

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Posted on December 8, 2008 by rebeccaclaire

Beth & Paul

Our friends Beth & Paul got married on Bald Head Island a year ago.  Now, for those who don’t know, this is the island where they filmed Weekend at Bernie’s. They don’t allow cars on the island.  You park on the mainland and take a ferry over.  We stayed in cute little houses and enjoyed the freezing cold beach weather, which warmed up nicely the day of the wedding.  Their ceremony was overlooking the ocean and the reception was at The Shoals Club which was beautiful!  The food was amazing, and their band was absolutely fantastic.  We had a great time!!  So Happy First Anniversary, Beth & Paul!

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Posted on December 8, 2008 by rebeccaclaire

Sick Kitty

India with his heating pad and water bowl. He had a small bowl of food too, but I suspect someone else ate it for him.

India with his heating pad and water bowl. He had a small bowl of food too, but I suspect someone else ate it for him.

My kitty is sick.  He’s been laying around moaning since yesterday.  India is our fat kitty, and he looks extra fat, but he hasn’t put on any weight since his last weigh-in.  He also hasn’t eaten since yesterday.  Now he’s sitting in the litter box (which may be an improvement from laying next to the water fountain resting his head on the side of the bowl).  My poor poor kitty.  We have a vet appointment this afternoon.  They said just watch him for 24-48 hours, but it’s been definitely over 24, and Nate’s family lost a cat in less time when he was little.  My poor kitty.  He also smells stinky.  Not sure what that’s about.  I know he got into the garage which is full of sawdust, bits of plastic piping and a few metal shavings that didn’t get cleaned up from Nathan’s harness building project.  Now, Rupert and Alfred have been in the garage and neither of them are sick, but India just can’t resist eating things that are bad for him.  This is always the problem.  India eats something that disagrees with him, I can’t tell which cat is sick, I have to take both cats to the vet.  Luckily, I know it’s just India this time.  Rupert is fine (other than the fact that he can’t use the litter box while India is laying in it).  Oh, part of the reason I think India ate sawdust is the puddle of sawdusty puke I found downstairs yesterday.  Pretty good hint, eh?

 

Well, I should go check on the cat.  I hope he’s feeling better, and I can cancel the vet appointment, and we can romp and play, and India can eat his breakfast.

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Posted on December 7, 2008 by rebeccaclaire

Square Room

Yesterday Nathan, Adam & I attended the first show at the Square Room, the music venue at 4 Market Square, attached to Cafe 4. We got a little snacky in the form of Low Country Shrimp & Andouille Sausage over grits. YUM!! Oh man was it fantastic. Then we tasted some of the pastries. Gookies (both chocolate chip and peanut butter) YUM! Muffins, YUM! Croissants, YUM! and LEMON BARS QUADRUPLE YUM-A-RIFIC!! Can you tell which was my favorite? Then it was time to work. We shot the first two acts ever (me on stills, Nate & Adam on video). They were great! Clare and the Reasons opened for My Brightest Diamond. Both shows were brilliant. And the space… It was warm and intimate and absolutely perfect. I’ll post some photos ASAP, but I promised the Square Room first dibs. I can’t wait to shoot more of their shows. It was a fantastic night. 🙂

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