As If You Saw A Ghost

Friday night was the grand opening party of our friends Mike & Marcie’s new photography studio. The place was packed, the wine was flowing, and the photographs on display were incredible!

The highlight of the evening was the video release. This couple is insanely talented. They put together a short film (about 3 minutes) that tells an enchanted if not eerie love story. The film is set to music, and you just might recognize the actress & actor *wink, wink*.  Also, you may have seen a sneak peek of that day here, maybe 😉 .  

As a gift, they gave us a huge print of this photo in a matted frame that now lives on the ledge behind our sofa.  Thanks guys!  You rock!

This was not our wedding, by the way. You can see our real wedding pictures (shot by the same photographers)  here.   This shoot was done purely for the love of the art and their passion for perfecting their craft.

This husband and wife photography team is always edgy and constantly pushing the envelope.  See for yourself…

The Sterling Opera House in Derby, CT opened April 2, 1889. The video & pictures were shot at on April 2, 2011, its 122nd anniversary. This location is said to be extremely haunted, and even appeared very recently on the SyFy network’s “Ghost Hunters” reality show. A quick video clip of that episode can be seen here if you’d like to hear the history behind this place. I’m glad this aired AFTER we were inside this abandoned building!! YIKES!!

Today is the official public release of the video and photos they shot from that day. 

The Sterling Opera House – A Never-Ending Story from Michael Maler on Vimeo.

 You can see all of them by clicking this link.  I just watched it on full-screen mode and got the chills! Feel free to poke around on their website.  Their work is amazing.  Please leave a comment on their blog to show your support!

Also shooting that day was Jennifer Dougan (you can see her blog here). Here’s a sample of her work…

Enjoy the photos & video!

xo

Mindy

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My Morning’s Little Pleasures

Part of being happy is finding pleasure in the small stuff.  Making your morning habits become a ritual, not a routine.  I try to engage all of my senses.

Here’s a sample of an average weekday morning…

Brush my chompers with cinnamon flavored toothpaste. It’s my favorite.  Not minty, slightly sweet, slightly spicy clean mouth 🙂 

Slather on some Palmer’s Cocoa Butter.  This stuff smells like dessert in the most subtle way possible.  Not greasy at all, but super moisturizing.

I stroll into the kitchen (where our computer & Bose speakers are) and get a peppy Slacker.com station up on my screen & into my ears.  This week has been the Adele or Sarah Bareilles station.

Adele's music is soulful and uplifting (and catchy!)

I put on my makeup.  I don’t just slap the stuff onto my face, but I use soft brushes and feel like I’m painting a picture. (Yes I am an art dork) You can see what’s in my makeup bag here.

I choose clothes to wear depending on what I feel like I need for the day.  I wear comfy shoes if it’s a really busy day, I wear a pinstripe structured jacket if I feel like I need to feel more assertive, or a cheetah print trench if I want to make the best of a rainy day.  Each choice you make can influence the way you experience your day (even the smallest details).

I fill a Magic Bullet cup 1/2 way with ice cubes

Add some skim milk

Throw in a scoop of Gaspari Nutrition Myofusion in milk chocolate protein powder

Let the Bullet do its thing, and I have my morning chocolate milkshake.

This really tastes like a Frosty from Wendy’s.  Not kidding. 

Next, I flip on my Keurig coffeemaker.   I choose which flavor I want to jumpstart the day with.

Desicions. Decisions.

I usually end up choosing my favorite.  German Chocolate Cake flavor.

I’m not ashamed of my chocolate and coconut addiction.   I then add coconut cream coffeemate and a splenda.

Here’s a peek into my lunch bag…

Protein milkshake? check.

Water? check.

Chocolate-ey Zone Perfect Bar? check.

Green Tea? check.

Tupperware container with 0% Greek yogurt & natural peanut butter? check.

Bonus piece of fruit? double-check.

All this stuff goes into making for a happy start.

What is your daily ritual?  How do you make the ordinary extraordinary?

Workout Music Website!!!

The awesome Jamie Eason hitting the gym

Jonathan at GymDJ.com commented on my last post about what’s playing on my ipod. I checked out his site and felt like I’d be doing everyone a favor by spreading the word.

GymDJ.com is my latest and greatest discovery.

Here’s a cut & paste job from his “About page”

GymDJ is a website / blog that features music to workout with. Music will be posted about three times (or more) a week and based on that song’s beats per minute (BPM) I will add the song to its appropriate workout category. The BPM chart I use is listed below:
•Warm up / Cool down : 90 – 100 bpm
•Running : 120 – 160 bpm
•Boxing : 122 – 140 bpm
•Cycling : 130 – 170 bpm
•Lifting : 140 – 170 bpm

There’s even a section where you can preview music before you go and blow your allowance on itunes 😉

Definately check out the archives of previously posted music too.

If you suffer from ipod boredom, trust me, it’s worth the click.

Skipping two to keep going

In order to keep going with the blog challenge because I am stubborn don’t like to give up on things, I am skipping question 9 because it’s pretty much the same as question 2 (which I answered here). I am also skipping question 10 because I don’t smooch & tell.

On to the next one.
<

Question 11: Put your ipod on shuffle and write 10 songs that pop up.

Brace yourself. This is going to be random. I use my ipod for the gym only, so these are my workout tunes.

Okay, here we go.

Song #1…..Flava In Your Ear Remix by Notorious BIG, Craig Mack, LL Cool J, Busta Rhymes(this happens to be my husband's favorite)

Song #2…..Too Late by Evermore. It's one of my all time favorite dance songs (from my good ol "going to the club every weekend" days

Song #3…..I won’t be Ignored by Linkin Park. A great cardio interval song!

Song #4…..Decode by Paramore. I love everything this band puts out.

Song #5……Welcome to Jamrock by Damien Marley. Bass heavy, reggae by one of the best.

Song #6….. Life is Beautiful by Sixx AM. This song gets me pumped.

Song #7 …..I get money by Drake. This song samples the melody from Suzanne Vega’s Tom’s Diner. DaDaDuhDa DaDaDuhDa

Song #8…..World Hold On by Bob Sinclair. Great dance beat, great message. Loves it!

Song #9…..Digital Girl Remix by Jamie Foxx featuring Drake, Kanye West & The-Dream. I love this beat, plus Drake and Kanye can do no wrong (musically of course).

Song #10…..Unstoppable by Drake featuring Lil Wayne and Santogold. Not mainstream music, but this one is a great cardio interval song also.

Ode to my dog

I know this sounds strange if you are not a pet owner, but some days I want to quit my job, do yoga, and hang out with Rocco.

I love walking through the front door to this:

I am completely content with blogging, sipping chocolate glazed donut flavored coffee, with Wee Dog on my lap snoring (he snores out loud, and I love it).

Norah Jones is content with just her pup. She gets me. Listen to the words of this song. Loves it!!

Ummmm, awesome free music? Yes please.

For those of you who have never seen or heard of this website, you are welcome! You can design your own radio station by artist or song.

www.slacker.com