On The Go

We just got back from a week long trip. First to Vegas, then on to Wisconsin for a Campbell family reunion, then back to Vegas, then home. We literally could not travel without Ms. Katie's help all the time. She's an exceptional traveler, and an amazing helper. As Branden and I lugged all our gear through the giant LV airport, we needed her to push Connor in his stroller. We NEEDED her and she came through. And I snapped a secret pic of her feeding her toy dinosaur some pirate's booty on the way down...so awesome:
"A bite for you, a bite for me"

And she helps clean the car:


And when she wasn't pushing Baby Connor, she was holding cousin Gabriel's hand to help keep him in a good mood. What would we do without her?

Fab Lunchbox

Every 6 year old entering the 1st grade should be so lucky. Thanks Vick.

King of Pop

See The Daily Uncool.

Wall of Rock

For YEARS we've been talking about what we would do with our old posters from high school. We've been saving them out of nostalgia not knowing why we weren't just getting rid of them. They've been saved for this purpose:

It was so satisfying to hang these and every time I pull into the garage I get a warm rock 'n roll fuzzy. There are still more to hang...

Love

Last week I came back from L.A. without Bdog. But I found this when I got here:
I only washed it off today, 'cause he's finally coming home! Like I said before, he certainly knows how to use a tube of lipstick.

Spring

Why are people complaining about the weather around here? Yes, it's been raining almost everyday for quite a while, and the temp hasn't topped 80 for a while either. But IT'S WONDERFUL!!! O.K. So, it means more mosquitoes in the future, but we can deal! The windows can be open 24/7. My kids can play outside for more than 15 minutes without sunburn. Everything is really green. I don't have to run the A/C ALL DAY LONG just to get the upstairs below 80 degrees. It's not so hot (as it usually is by now) that I don't want to go outside for any reason. I DO want to go outside. I want to eat, sleep and live outside right now. Who cares if that means I have a farmer tan a little while longer. It's SOOO worth it. And it meant this yesterday:

Why are people complaining?

Weekend Fun

The Stratosphere makes a great background. I am tired.

9 Years

We are celebrating our 9th anniversary this week {or 18th anniversary...however you look at it}. We started the celebration by waking Bdog up while wearing my wedding dress...which I can only zip up 1/3 of the way...but it was funny anyway. We hiked The Y, ate delicious dinner on an actual "date", smelled the beautiful roses that Bdog brought me, opened card(s), and now we're heading to LV, then on to L.A. for Neon Trees shows and a getaway at The Channel Road Inn where we had our honeymoon. And I didn't forget like I did here. Best week ever!!!

The Y hike {Katie RAN to the top}




1991:

Burton-Brimhall

I'm kinda freaking out about my shoot yesterday with Cami and Marc. I don't know if I can handle their hotness.

Photo Class Spring 2009

I've been waiting forever for the students of my last class to send me pics to post. I've only received a few, so here they are. I'm very proud of everyone in the class. Everyone's pictures are looking amazing and better and better all the time!

Erin:

Erin practicing shutter drag:


Camille:




Dave:

Amy:

Heather:

and Evonne {yes, I just helped train my competition on this one!}:




A lot of people have been asking when I'm doing another class. It will be soon. Yes, soon. But sometime when I'm not leaving town every other week so I have to wait a while. Details coming...

New Mex

Here are some highlights from our trip to New Mexico to see Brian & Kelli.
Lovely Santa Fe:

The Loretto Chapel in Santa Fe - 1878:


Torrential rain in Santa Fe:

Miles with his shirt off (always!) -

Baby Connor and Miles posing for me:


Miles' pony tail:

Elin's birthday party:


A lovely hike:

Complete with beetle love:

And Danny love:

Otis in his coonskin cap {telling us amazing stories about his days on the frontier in baby Chinese}:

Arches National Park from afar:

More torrential rain:

And Baby Connor being a total, dreamy angel on the entire 10 hr. ride home:


Another highlight was Kelli's flatbread. But I don't have a picture of it. We had so much fun! Love you guys!

Neon Trees

Info for all you out of town peeps:

Neon Trees

May 27 - The Kinitting Factory - Boise, ID - 7:00 p.m.
June 5 - First Friday at Gypsy Den Stage - Free show! - LV, NV - 8:00 p.m.
June 6 - The Mint - LA, CA - 8:00 p.m.

Totally stoked for a road trip to LV and LA WITH Bdog!

Mmm

I realized I haven't made any posts dedicated to poop or pee in a while. So, I'm overdue. This may be a post for The Uncool, but whatevs...

I witnessed something amazing last night. As I was working in the office at around midnight, Katie came downstairs and just stood on the bottom stair. She was whimpering a little, so I went to see what was wrong. She was just standing there with only a shirt on. No pants, no undies, just her jammie shirt. I asked her what was up and she just stared blankly at me. She was totally asleep. I asked if she needed to go potty, but she didn't respond. She then walked over to the mudroom where all the shoes are kept, and totally started looking around like she was trying to find her shoes. I was totally cracking up and asked her over and over what she was doing but she was SO out of it. I took her back upstairs, got her dressed and back into her bed. Then I saw the bathroom. She had totally gone peeps with the toilet lid closed! There was a giant puddle and waterfall happening on the toilet. There was even a big wad of toilet paper sitting on the lid as she had wiped when she was done and left it there. I'm sure she assumed it had just dropped into the bowl. The bowl that was closed that she had just peed all over. It was awesome. She has no recollection of this happening.

About 7 hours later when Connor woke up. I changed his stinky diaper and it was about 90% kiwi seeds. For some reason that really made me laugh. Then this afternoon, when I could hear him waking up from his nap, I walked down the hall towards his room and could TOTALLY smell his poopy diaper from behind his closed bedroom door. OHHH YUM. And again, it was about 90% kiwi seeds. Somehow not as funny the second time around.

Also, I'm not totally sure if I brushed my teeth this morning. I did this afternoon, but only 'cause they were feeling particularly reasty. And I thought, "Why do my teeth feel so grungy?" So I tried to picture myself brushing them this morning and I can't. Extra YUM!

Fantasy Land

I wish I was at this place doing this:

Well, one can dream.

Eat Your Heart Out, BB!

For some reason, Bdog's absence has been real hard on me this time around. Probably because he's having an extended stay in NYC and I'm jealous. Especially when he calls to say, "Hey! Remember Ben's Pizza? Like, your favorite pizza in the world? Well, I'm there right now!" Any time at all in NYC is wonderful, even when you're working your booty off and missing your family. Am I right, sisters? Can I get an "AMEN!" Yes, I'm missing him and he will likely say that it's because of his new haircut and I "can't keep my hands off him". But really, I just love going to Mother Hips' shows with him. So to make myself feel better, I noted some things that HE is missing out on. Like:

Miss Katie's music program at school - where she wouldn't look at me at ALL or smile:


And they sang this totally funny song called "Tony Chestnut Knows I Love You". Never had heard that one before and I LOVE IT!



Baby Connor's first haircut - which gave him a bit of a froggy face but I'm gonna make out with him regardless:




And quality time and a fantastic dinner with my sister wife and our polygamist husband - to whom Bdog hopes to become wife #3:

Is there a Vannucci in this world that can take a pic without a scary face? Hope not.

AND - Baby Connor & I are going to New Mexico next weekend with Elin & Danny to visit Brian & Kelli. FUN TIMES FOR MOMMY!!!

What is it?

I don't know what this is. Katie got it out of a bubble gum machine last week and every time I look at it, I wish it was earrings...for me.

NYC

Bdog keeps sending me pics from NYC he's taking with his phone. I totally want him to stop. It's just reminding me that he's having a great time without me. And also that I won't be seeing The Mother Hips this Friday and Saturday in the big apple. Yes, one of my favorite bands of all times. Yes, the band Bdog left me to open for while I was in the hospital after giving birth to Baby Connor. Yes, the band who's many, many UT shows I had to forfeit while PG and unable to hang in a smokey venue. Oops. This should have been a post on The UnCool.

Bad-A T-bone

If you haven't read Tyler's most recent blog post, "Fame is Dead", you're missing out on an interesting, insightful read. But it's not for the faint of heart or easily offended, so, I'm not even going to post a link to it. You have to find it on your own if you want to read it. Which won't be hard since it's on his FaceBook page, on his blog, and on the MySpace blog. So there you go. Enjoy.

And I must point out, I didn't even know what a "deep cut" was until Tyler told me what it was a week ago. But apparently, I invented the term. Love it.

Trader Joe's Oil

Even though it's getting warmer now, my hands are still super cracked and dry from snowy winter (and from cleaning the bathrooms so often from our house being full of guests all the time). This vitamin E oil is the only thing that helps them heal. I'm a little bit addicted to it. It's better than lotion.

Utah

These are just a few reasons why I love living in Utah.

The following pics are all within a couple blocks of our house:





The next are within a few miles:









And the rest within a couple hours:








We love it here.

Neon Block Party

If you want to have fun tonight, come to the Block Party outside of Sammy's on 100 W just north of Center St. in Provo. It's free, the food is yum, they're giving away drinks, and the Tree's play at 8:30.

Rosebud Salve

This is currently my favorite thing in the world. I used it at my sister Liz's house over spring break and got a little obsessed with it, so she bought me my own. It totally smells like something from our childhood, but we can't put a finger on it. It smells exactly like something our grandmother had. Maybe it was even this same balm, since it's been around since 1908. It's super yummy and I can't stop using and smelling it.

Baby Connor

Somebody turned 2 yesterday...

Poll...

The men in my life have switched hairstyles. Bdog has finally cut his hair. About 5 INCHES actually. And it's awesome. I love it. And he likes to keep telling people that I can't keep my hands off him now. Which is true. It looks like this:

On the other hand, Baby Connor's hair has had a recent growth spurt and is crazy long. I know he has a total baby mullet but we just can't bring ourselves to cut off his curls! We keep getting comments about it and people think he's a girl, so I want to know what the World Wide Web thinks. Should we cut his wispy, silky curls? Or continue to let his freak flag fly? It looks like this:

Hottest Couple EVER!

I'm sorry, but they are. Julie and her sisters have been my top models since I started the BYU photo program in '98. She's been my guinea pig for every assignment, experiment and test I've ever had. Even when she was just a little teeny girl! Now I get to shoot Julie for her, and not just for me! Plus, I get to shoot her along side her smokin' hot fiance, John. I'm loving them. They make my pics look a lot better than they really are.

Rock 'n Roll

In case you didn't already know...

Neon Trees
Friday April 24
Velour - 135 N. University Ave. - Provo
with Seve vs. Evan
The Outline
Electron Deception
Show starts at 8:00

Stoked

Whoa. For the first time in AS LONG AS I CAN REMEMBER, I have NO pending print orders, albums or deadlines. I almost can't believe it. This means I can enjoy SoCal, snuggie with the hubby, hit the beach with Brian & Kelli, dye eggs, hopefully meet up with Casey & Kerri, crash and hang with Liz & Mitch, attend birthday lunch in Pasadena, cruise 3rd Street and go to Bay Cities Bakery IN PEACE. Life is good.

And The Winner Is...

Paul Cannon...Paul Cannon...Paul Cannon!! Paul, does Sarah want a bag? And if so, what color does she like? Congrats. Send your address and thanks for being today's Daily Cool!

Who Are You Giveaway

Please note: To sign up for the drawing, you have to become an actual "follower" of the blog. You can do this by clicking the word "Follow" under Cool Peeps in the column on the right. ----->

We've been checking out our hit counter recently, and we average about 75 hits a day. We've realized that we only know who about 25 of you are. So, we're having another fun giveaway. Sign up to "follow" this blog between now and next Monday (April 6th) and we'll put you in a drawing for a Dawn Durell Bag (we'll include you homies that are already following of course). And if you're a guy, and don't want a bag for your hot sweetie, we'll have to make you an awesome mix CD or get you into a Neon Trees show or something like that. So sign up! And let the coolness start.

Photo Class Spring 2009

It's phun photo class time again. I still have 2 spots left in my Wed. night class and 5 spots left in my Tues. afternoon class. It is a 4 week course (once a week) and the cost is $50. Here is the schedule if you're interested:

Wednesday Evening class:
April 1 - 7:30 - 9:00 p.m.
April 8 - 7:30 - 9:00 p.m.
April 15 - NO CLASS/SPRING BREAK
April 22 - 7:30 - 9:00 p.m.
April 29 - 7:30 - 9:00 p.m.

Tuesday Afternoon class:
March 31 - 12:30 - 2:00 p.m.
April 7 - 12:30 - 2:00 p.m.
April 14 - NO CLASS/SPRING BREAK
April 21 - 12:30 - 2:00 p.m.
April 28 - 12:30 - 2:00 p.m.

We will cover-
Week 1:
Film speed
Camera controls
Fstops & shutter speed

Week 2:
Fstops & shutter speed
White balance
Shutter & aperture priority
Output size

Week 3:
Metering
Lighting techniques
Using your built-in flash
Composition

Week 4:
Specific questions & how to's
Work critique

Neon Trees

I forgot to post some of my favorite pics from the NT show in ID. I guess I was too frazzled by our run-in with the law.

Jackie Cakes

I had so much fun shooting Jackie's bridals on Saturday. And she's so hot, I just don't know what to do.

Sourdough

I'm so loving Camille right now 'cause she gave me some of her sourdough starter. I'm now the proud owner of a MOTHER SPONGE. I've been feeding it, caressing it, and talking sweetly to it and it produces BABY SPONGES for me to cook. We can have hot sourdough bread as often as we want, and it's actually sour!! It's the perfect texture and I'm addicted to it. And the fact that it has no oil, eggs and only takes 4 cups of flour is blowing my mind. Thanks, Camille!!

Elle & Emme

Here is another awesome creative endeavor by some of my lovely lady friends. Lisa V., Candace S., and Meredith L. are the creators of Elle & Emme Fragrance for children. They are absolutely delicious! I especially love the boys' fragrance. I use on Baby Connor all the time (and on myself too). It smells like sagebrush and bristlecone pine wet after desert rain, being dried in the summer Nevada sun when you're hiking on Mt. Charleston. It's seriously one of my most favorite smells in the world. And every time I put it on Connor, I can't keep my mouth off him!

The places to buy are limited, so you should email them on their contact page and tell them to get some to where you live.

Pink Fig Patterns

I can't believe I've never posted about Chelsea! She is the creator of Vintage Chic Boutique and Pink Fig Patterns. Her work is AMAZING and she's also part of my second family so my love for her and her creativity runs extra deep :)

You can buy her patterns and clothes at her etsy shops (you can link to those from the links above) and also at many quilt shops around the US and Canada - they are listed on the Pink Fig Patterns site. Just look at her stuff:


Also, some of the fabric that Chelsea uses is designed by Aunt Lila Tueller. More amazing talent from the second fam. You can find Lila's fabrics all over the place but a list of where to buy is also on her site. Lila is the creator of two of my favorite things in the whole wide world:
The Funked Out Peasant Blouse:

And The Snazzy Bag:

Breakin' The Law

Oh Internet, have I got a story that needs to be told.

Friday night, I had the pleasure of accompanying Bdog, Tyler, Chris and Andrew to the Neon Trees show in Rexburg, ID. Show was great, lots of new fans, good pictures...all that. After the show, we packed up and stopped for gas before getting on the freeway. As we pulled out of the gas station, we made a turn toward the freeway (going quite slowly, I might add). A police car had followed us out of the gas station, then pulled us over right after the turn. He said we were speeding...which was totally impossible. Anyway, he asked where we were going, what were we doing in Rexburg, why we're trying to drive in the middle of the night, what kind of music they play and a slew of other invasive and unnecessary questions. All the while, Andrew is hiding under a blanket, under my legs, as he's nervous that we're violating the seat belt law and may get in trouble. Yes, this is the extent of our law breaking...the seat belt law.

So, the cop asked to see all of our ID's then took them back to his car for a while. When he returned, he asked Chris to step out of the van for a few questions. He left Chris outside, then asked Tyler to step out of the van for a few questions. He then came back and opened the back door to talk to Bdog and me. He was shining his light all around the inside, looking for something to bust us on, and never realized there was a human body under my feet. He asked if Branden and I were married. We said yes, and that we were in a hurry to get home to our kids that were at the neighbors. He said "I understand. I just need to know there's nothing illegal in here that I should be worried about." We told him there wasn't so much as a cup of coffee in the car and that we were super squeaky clean. I wonder if he really thought we were hiding anything, or if he believed us...as Tyler had confessed when handing over his ID, "I look Iranian in my photo, but I'm not."

He let us all back in, then explained that on average he arrests a band every weekend for drugs or drunk driving. Chris assured him that we were all "returned missionaries" and there was none of that going on. In the end, he wasn't too big of a jerk. But wait...

We then got on the freeway, and not 15 minutes later, we got pulled over AGAIN! This guy wanted to know where we were going? Why were we in Idaho? What kind of music they play? Why are Chris' eyes so red? What beverages do we have inside? Why are we driving in the middle of the night? How did they book a show in Idaho? Where do they usually stay when touring? All the while shining the light around inside the van looking for something to bust us on. It was a little nuts. Again, he wanted to see ID's and took them back to the car. Andrew was once again, hiding under my legs and really nervous. He must have thought that if he got caught with no seat belt that we'd have to leave him in the bitter Idaho wind on the side of the freeway. While the cop was running our info, I said, "Andrew, can you breathe?" All he could say was "I don't know!" I totally got the prayer giggles and could not stop laughing at this totally ridiculous situation. If the cop only knew we had babies at home we wanted to get to, and a ward activity at our house that night, he'd know why we were in such a hurry to get home. I felt like we should have given him our temple recommends along with our ID's. That might have got him off our backs a little faster.

He brought back the ID's and again asked why Chris' eyes were so red. He had to explain that they had a show 2 nights before in Hollywood, and had driven all the way to SLC right after that show, then to Idaho the next day, and were currently trying to drive back to SLC, so he was a little tired. The cop said, "Hollywood, California?" As if it were a far away country. Right then it felt like a far away country.

He finally let us go and told us to slow down. It was pretty funny that we were the target of blatant profiling. We were just happy to be a van full of molly mormons so that we truly had nothing to hide. I'm feeling like I might just be a little old for this rock 'n roll biz.

Neon Trees

TONIGHT - Club Moscow w/The Brobecks- 1652 N. Cherokee - Hollywood, CA

Fri. March 6 - Westwood Theatre w/Von Bondies - 2 E. Main St.- Rexburg, ID

Fri. March 13 - Velour w/Shark Speed - 135 N. University Ave - Provo, UT

Room For Two

A writer friend from my mission, Abel Keogh, was kind enough to send me a copy of his book, Room For Two. This is Abel's own true story about his wife's suicide when she was 7 months pregnant, and their preemie baby girl that died 9 days later. Most of the book takes place in the year following this tragedy as he picked up the pieces and found happiness again {which was miraculous to say the least}. As most people know, this is a subject that is extremely near and dear to me. I read this in less than 24 hrs. Besides the great writing and imagery, I just got a little addicted to seeing the ride through to the end. It was very close to home for me. I recommend it to everyone.

And The Winner Is...

Here are the five names that Katie drew....

Congrats! And sorry if you didn't win. We'll just have to do this again sometime. Winners, email me your address so I can ship them out. Hope you like!

EC Photography Giveaway

Well, by winning a couple other people's giveaways, I agreed to do this. Here's the scoop. Out of all the comments left on this post, we will draw 5 names to win an 11X14 print of this:

These are actual silver gelatin prints on fiber based archival paper printed from FILM!! Remember film? So, if you want one, leave a comment and maybe you'll get one. You have until Saturday (the 28th). Oh, and by winning, you agree to have a little giveaway of your own. Good luck!

Fancy Yum

Hot neighbor Michelle is so cool, I've had to mention her two posts IN A ROW! Look what she brought over fresh from her kitchen this weekend. She even color coordinated them to match Bdog's bass. They make me want to shout oh my freakin' heck!

Being Green

For two months I've been forgetting to post this. Here is what we made for a few neighbor gifts at Christmas. The treats were packaged in these baby formula/hot chocolate tins I'd been saving. We covered them with paper as inspired by hot neighbor, Michelle, as seen here.
And these slightly famous buddies were inside: the glorified peanut butter cup...

Hotel Art

We got to stay at The Hard Rock Hotel last week after Bdog's show. Instead of poorly painted landscapes and sailboats, they has these on the walls:


It seriously made me so happy and at home. These were perfect posters for us.

More Neon Trees

I'm sorry if you missed the best show in the world. Neon Trees are now the recipients of the City Weekly Band of the Year award. That means the glory of the title, a little cash, and about 1,000 new fans. And I hear you can see this show on Comcast On Demand. {Wishing we had TV right now.}

Neon News

Go pick up a copy of this week's Salt Lake City Weekly 'cause Neon Trees are on the cover. They're pictured along with The Furs (who will also be playing this Fri. with Ben Kweller) and it looks like this:

You can read the news here.
There is also a very nice article about them in BYU's Daily Universe and you can read it here.