Monday, July 25, 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
Photo Shoot, Insanity, and a Discovery
Yesterday I had a Photo shoot for work. Unfortunately it wasn't as planned as past shoots have been. If I wanted to I could probably write a really good film out of it, that sounds like such an LA thing to say sorry for that. But the truth is I've seen films with less content then my day yesterday. I
only want to share one part of the day with you though.
We hired the models somewhat last minute. But I managed to get two models in time for our two day shoot, one model per day. Model One, I'm going to call her Anna for the purposes of this story. Anna was our Model for yesterday. Anna sensed our time crunch and took advantage. She emailed me the night before the shoot demanding more money. It wasn't a question it was more of a Statement. "You will pay me this much money because you can."
"SAY WHAT?!!! Oh no she didn't!!!"
(As you may remember from my last photo shoot post I had a model no show on me. And so I already had all kinds of hatred towards models and now I'm convinced they're evil.)
I almost had a heart attack. I didn't get her request till 10:44 pm and so getting the new dollar amount approved was going to be tricky if not impossible. I tried our director, but no luck. At 5 am the following morning, the morning of the shoot Our director text me! I was not awake but due to my panic the night before I Slept with my hand on the phone under my pillow, clenching it like a child with their woobie. Safe to say I jumped right out of sleep. Luckily he approved the new price. So we were still on. I get to work as usual, check emails, and give our model a little courtesy call letting her know the price is fine and we'll see her at 9 am. She didn't answer but I left a message and didn't panic at the time. 8:55 comes around and I decided to call her, straight to voicemail. I called again at 9:10 Straight to Voicemail. Finally I call at 9:25 straight to voicemail. I send her a text with calm but stern verbiage, all the awhile plotting how to hunt her down and make her suffer. Finally she calls me back and informs me that her car broke down. This seems to be a favorite story of models, if there are models reading this the jig is up the truth is out and you have to come up with a better story!!!!!!
"Where are you at?"
"Near Dodger Stadium"
"OK hold on we have a passenger Van, we'll pick you up"
That's right we had to pick her up and we still had to get her ready even after that. Again we needed this shoot to happen. After piling everyone in the company van it becomes clear someone will have to take their own car. I won the drawing. We head off in search of our wayward model and when we get to the post my iPhone says she is located I become a little concerned. Yes she was around Dodger stadium, but she failed to mention it was Frog Town. A not so pretty part of LA, also she failed to mention I would be looking for a warehouse. YES I said a warehouse. See for yourself.
Here's the view of the set up to the right of the gate opening I came through:
So the first thing that came to mind was, "This Bi*#$, Partied hard last night at this club and now has us picking her up from the club she passed out in." But no it wasn't a club however it was a Art Gallery/Print Studio/Sculpture studio/Tattoo shop/Artist shelter. It was like walking into another world once I went inside. And the second she gave me the full run down on the joint I instantly fell in love. The Owner Damien, who doesn't live there, has rented out the space and at an EXTREMELY reasonable rate to different artists as a place to create. An artist himself he knows how to speak the language and has been through the struggles that come with following your dreams. It was because of this that he Created The Nomad Gallery. After just minutes I knew we had to shoot there and I started wondering if they had a room for me. It was just that cool. But don't take my Word for it, See for your self.
This a hidden gem, but one that shouldn't be so hidden. The owner humbly told me he doesn't have a head for marketing. And So I say to you readers in the LA area check this place out, send them some love and support. We need more places like this in LA. Forget the Hipster joints owned by millionaires who have bought their cool. Help the true Artists thrive!
only want to share one part of the day with you though.
We hired the models somewhat last minute. But I managed to get two models in time for our two day shoot, one model per day. Model One, I'm going to call her Anna for the purposes of this story. Anna was our Model for yesterday. Anna sensed our time crunch and took advantage. She emailed me the night before the shoot demanding more money. It wasn't a question it was more of a Statement. "You will pay me this much money because you can."
"SAY WHAT?!!! Oh no she didn't!!!"
(As you may remember from my last photo shoot post I had a model no show on me. And so I already had all kinds of hatred towards models and now I'm convinced they're evil.)
I almost had a heart attack. I didn't get her request till 10:44 pm and so getting the new dollar amount approved was going to be tricky if not impossible. I tried our director, but no luck. At 5 am the following morning, the morning of the shoot Our director text me! I was not awake but due to my panic the night before I Slept with my hand on the phone under my pillow, clenching it like a child with their woobie. Safe to say I jumped right out of sleep. Luckily he approved the new price. So we were still on. I get to work as usual, check emails, and give our model a little courtesy call letting her know the price is fine and we'll see her at 9 am. She didn't answer but I left a message and didn't panic at the time. 8:55 comes around and I decided to call her, straight to voicemail. I called again at 9:10 Straight to Voicemail. Finally I call at 9:25 straight to voicemail. I send her a text with calm but stern verbiage, all the awhile plotting how to hunt her down and make her suffer. Finally she calls me back and informs me that her car broke down. This seems to be a favorite story of models, if there are models reading this the jig is up the truth is out and you have to come up with a better story!!!!!!
"Where are you at?"
"Near Dodger Stadium"
"OK hold on we have a passenger Van, we'll pick you up"
That's right we had to pick her up and we still had to get her ready even after that. Again we needed this shoot to happen. After piling everyone in the company van it becomes clear someone will have to take their own car. I won the drawing. We head off in search of our wayward model and when we get to the post my iPhone says she is located I become a little concerned. Yes she was around Dodger stadium, but she failed to mention it was Frog Town. A not so pretty part of LA, also she failed to mention I would be looking for a warehouse. YES I said a warehouse. See for yourself.
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| They Love Lucha Libre Wrestling, major theme in the gallery. They even host Lucha Libre Wrestling. |
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| This is Coco one of the many four legged tenants of Nomad. Oh yeah and my new best friend, See how she poses for me? |
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| One of Two wrestling Rings they have, This one is used for band performances. |
Terrarium
I was inspired last week by a craft post, From Fresh Home Ideas. After reading this post i just had to have a terrarium of my Own. My plan was to put it in my office to help as a de-stresser. I stewed on it all Friday and Saturday Morning, and then on our thrifting trip I came across a Better Home and Gardens book on Terrariums. I took it as a sign and Decided I had to make one. Sunday was my big day and initially I thought I would get mini plants like Ivy and Violets, My man gave me a sideways glance when I told him. "Why?", you ask. Well here's the truth I have a black thumb. I have always wanted to be a gardener but I never fully study what I'm trying to grow and it always dies. My father never has to study he plants things and they grow, in fact they usually over grow. My Grandmother and Grandfather have always had lush gardens. My Mother had an office plant grow so large and lush she had to remove it from her office for fear of it taking over the space. Why couldn't I get that Gene?!!
I ignored my gentleman's nay saying and went to Home depot determined to make this terrarium. After thirty minutes of starring at plants I finally asked for some help. This time I was prepared though, I had actually read the full blog post and the terrarium book I had picked up. I knew the supplies I needed and the plants I wanted, problem was I wasn't finding any of it. The kind Garden center employee informed me that they didn't have the majority of the items I wanted and most of the potting materials I had requested only came in Jumbo Size. UGH!!! I had to change my game plan. It almost killed me at the time but the sad truth was I had to go with cacti. They had the materials and a large variety of mini Cacti. Why would this kill me, well as I mentioned earlier my Gent didn't have faith in me and had actually recommended Cactus rather than Ivy and Violets. Either way I made the best of what I had and was still determined to make the best Terrarium ever. And Boy did I ever succeed. Sorry to those out there who have terrariums and think theirs is the best but your wrong, mine is!
I ignored my gentleman's nay saying and went to Home depot determined to make this terrarium. After thirty minutes of starring at plants I finally asked for some help. This time I was prepared though, I had actually read the full blog post and the terrarium book I had picked up. I knew the supplies I needed and the plants I wanted, problem was I wasn't finding any of it. The kind Garden center employee informed me that they didn't have the majority of the items I wanted and most of the potting materials I had requested only came in Jumbo Size. UGH!!! I had to change my game plan. It almost killed me at the time but the sad truth was I had to go with cacti. They had the materials and a large variety of mini Cacti. Why would this kill me, well as I mentioned earlier my Gent didn't have faith in me and had actually recommended Cactus rather than Ivy and Violets. Either way I made the best of what I had and was still determined to make the best Terrarium ever. And Boy did I ever succeed. Sorry to those out there who have terrariums and think theirs is the best but your wrong, mine is!
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Farmer's Markets and Thrift Stores
I know it's been a very long time since I've written a post. Well I'm about to flood you!!!!
This weekend was a bit of a jam packed weekend filled with local activities. LA was a bit of a ghost town, Carmageddon (one of the busiest freeways in LA was shut down over the weekend and the city went into panic, it was dubbed Carmageddon.) had everyone scared and staying home. Not me, I never use that freeway. And the one thing My Father made sure I learned was the streets of LA and how to get around without using the freeways. Friday after work I started with the Local Farmer's Market. It's been a while since I've actually been able to get to the local Farmer's Market. It's a small Market with only a few vendor's but it's our and we love it.
One of my old High school classmates was actually selling his food there! My Man's Cousin is a staple at these markets singing Elvis on a portable Speaker System. And half the Fruit and Vegetable vendors are Filipino and sell Filipino Produce. There is a vast array of things I don't recognize. You will always see a melange of people at our little Market. It's such a diverse community. It's where contradictions meet. The rebel will share kettle corn with the straight edge. It's just great and I forgot how fun it can be. I also forgot how quickly your money can go when you're there. I had to make my visit short and sweet because I was quickly tapped out, My daughter got all kinds of goodies though.
Saturday I managed to talk my Gent into going to the thrift store with me. In fact I was shock to hear he was excited about it. It's normally not his speed but I was thrilled to have the company. We went to the St. Vincent de Paul in LA. Once again I had forgotten how fun thrifting can be. I have to admit it's been a VERY long time since I had been. My Mother used to take my sisters and I all the time. Back then I always came home with the silliest things, I didn't know how to edit back then. OK so I still need to work on the editing now, but I'm better. I came out with all kinds of goodies including an not so old or used copy of Sense and Sensibility, one of my favorite Jane Austen Novels. It was a great weekend and I think we need to have Carmageddon more often!!!
This weekend was a bit of a jam packed weekend filled with local activities. LA was a bit of a ghost town, Carmageddon (one of the busiest freeways in LA was shut down over the weekend and the city went into panic, it was dubbed Carmageddon.) had everyone scared and staying home. Not me, I never use that freeway. And the one thing My Father made sure I learned was the streets of LA and how to get around without using the freeways. Friday after work I started with the Local Farmer's Market. It's been a while since I've actually been able to get to the local Farmer's Market. It's a small Market with only a few vendor's but it's our and we love it.
One of my old High school classmates was actually selling his food there! My Man's Cousin is a staple at these markets singing Elvis on a portable Speaker System. And half the Fruit and Vegetable vendors are Filipino and sell Filipino Produce. There is a vast array of things I don't recognize. You will always see a melange of people at our little Market. It's such a diverse community. It's where contradictions meet. The rebel will share kettle corn with the straight edge. It's just great and I forgot how fun it can be. I also forgot how quickly your money can go when you're there. I had to make my visit short and sweet because I was quickly tapped out, My daughter got all kinds of goodies though.
Saturday I managed to talk my Gent into going to the thrift store with me. In fact I was shock to hear he was excited about it. It's normally not his speed but I was thrilled to have the company. We went to the St. Vincent de Paul in LA. Once again I had forgotten how fun thrifting can be. I have to admit it's been a VERY long time since I had been. My Mother used to take my sisters and I all the time. Back then I always came home with the silliest things, I didn't know how to edit back then. OK so I still need to work on the editing now, but I'm better. I came out with all kinds of goodies including an not so old or used copy of Sense and Sensibility, one of my favorite Jane Austen Novels. It was a great weekend and I think we need to have Carmageddon more often!!!
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| My little One eyeing some jewelry. |
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| Gorgeous Chillies. |
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| New vendor. |
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| Still don't know what it is |
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| The Strange Veggies, Look like Chillies but aren't! |
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| His Favorite part I think. |
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| My find. |
Monday, July 18, 2011
Friday, July 15, 2011
Happy Friday!!
"Stay Calm and Eat a Cupcake!!!!"
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Summer Days and Nights
Summer Days and Nights by Accidental_Fashionista featuring high heel pumps
So I thought I'd take time to show you some fun Picks I have for the Summer. Even better is most of these goods are really reasonable!!The earrings are a "If I were rich I would buy" type of thing but a girl can dream!! Enjoy!
So I thought I'd take time to show you some fun Picks I have for the Summer. Even better is most of these goods are really reasonable!!The earrings are a "If I were rich I would buy" type of thing but a girl can dream!! Enjoy!
God Save my Shoes!!!
So it would seem that Shoe Addiction has taken over the world. Or at least the female part of the world, which we all know is more than half! I can't wait to see this film something tells me it's right up my alley!
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
INSPIRATIONS
Just Enjoy!
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| For the nerd in you! Found Here |
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| got this through an iPhone Wallpaper app. Not sure the source but I love it! |
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| From Notebook of Love probably my new favorite site. |
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| So Sad I won't get to see this in person! |
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