Fix it Friday #53

Ok, so I'm a day late on this one, but I wanted to make sure I got it in here.

This is the original.

This is my fix.

Ok, so I opened in LR3beta2. I auto-toned the image and upped the orange and red saturation. I upped the brightness and played with the dark tones on the Tone Curve to bring out the eyes. I upped the contrast and illuminated the eyes with the adjustment brush.

The End.

I Can't Believe It's Over

To be quite honest, this did not take nearly long enough. It was over before it even began....

Buck got home about 4:30, which was just enough time for me to finally get my outfit on and situated properly. Hair was fixed as well as could be done without a personal stylist...and make up was applied as well as can be expected, considering the face it's going on. Once he changed, we were ready to take off. Oh, the excitement was building for sure at this point.

See, all dressed. This outfit would be super cute if I were skinny. Man I long for the skinny days. So long ago.

So, then we decide to take his van since the A/C is still not working in my vehicle. I used to hate riding in that van...it's one of those white work vans...but I found it much nicer to ride in than mine considering the A/C was working perfectly.

Ok, do we have everything we need?

Cookbook - Check

Refreshment (Caffeine Free Diet Coke-ftw) - Check

And we're off. It only takes about twenty minutes to get to the bookstore, but with the traffic we were bound to be late...Oh my!!!

If you look really hard, you can see the city skyline in the distance. See it? Look closely.

See, the traffic is moving slowly. I love the lines of the overpass on the right. Ok, focus woman, we're on our way to see Ree!

Ok, we finally arrive. Man the parking lot is packed. We had to walk a good three or four minutes across the parking lot. In my excitement, I think I must have been slightly running because I wear a blister on my toe! Silly Stalker, Buck says.

We finally made it. Ok, it's time. It's happening. It's actually happening! I am just hours from meeting Ree. So we trek to the front door and the herd (the only word I can think of right now, not meant to be derogatory) of ladies is astonishing and hilarious at the same time. I believe I said, "Oh, sh!t !" upon realizing I'm not the only 'stalker' here to meet her. We move through the maze and reach the counter and ask for our ticket.

About our ticket....talk about L U C K Y!!! I've never been to a booksigning, so I don't know how these things work. I called the bookstore to find out. The lady at Joseph-Beth Booksellers was so nice, I just couldn't believe it. I mean a true southern lady. You used to expect this sort of treatment years ago, but it surprises me so pleasantly when someone is so kind and helpful. Anyway, she explained how the process worked and that I could come pick up a ticket anytime. Great, but I don't really want to drive 20+ minutes each way just to pick up a ticket....hmmm, then she goes on to explain that if I have a Give Back card, they donate money to a charity, give me a gift certificate for $25. for their bistro and VIP passes to get in the front of the line to meet Ree. Wow, okay, let's do that, but then I still have to get the tickets....She tells me they can put the tickets in an envelope and I can pick them up when I arrive on the day!!!! Hot Dog! So that's what I did.

We get the ticket, VIP Group 1!!! In the background, the announcer explains that VIP Group 1 should line up now...OOoooo, that's us! We move to the stairs and find out it's time...NOW...not a few hours from now, not even an hour to sit and chat with my fellow stalkers, NOW. 

Up the stairs we go, and a very nice group of gals in front of us offer to trade taking photos. YES, now hubby can be in the photos too. We never get to do that, one of us is always behind the camera.

 See the people behind us on the floor of the bookstore?? Haha, they're down there and we're NOT! That was mean, I'm sorry....

Maybe you can see them all now...There are more on the other side of the stairs, see....

So, now just a few feet away. I'm excited! I mean, really, I am...

Ok, I do not know when this started, but this smiling with one side of my mouth facing down is not cool! I know hubby has called me Lucy (as in Lucille Ball) our entire marriage because of my antics and strange faces, but I do NOT like the looks of that. I will have to start practicing a different smile....yes, I AM that strange. For now, we have to focus...Ree is just FEET away...See the sliver of a green sign behind the lady with the HUGE red bag? That is where she's sitting...PW...The Pioneer Woman. (It's funny to think how enamored I am with her...must be the Lucille Ball in both of us)

There she is!!! Ree Drummond. I love her smile. She's so geniune. Don't worry, that's not the last photo I got of her.

Are you beginning to understand why Buck calls me a stalker now? LOL I just wanted to make sure I got a good shot. Now I see I need to work on my editing and composition. That lovely top is black, not brown or green like they seem to be here.

Here is a shot of her and a group of 'stalkers'.

 I'm next in line!!! That's my book on the table!

Here I am laughing at something funny she said. For the life of me, I can't remember now what it was. Why does my brain fog out in moments like this? It would be so nice to remember.

Ugh, why do I look so horrible and she is so dang cute!? Look, she's writing in my book...

I told her what hubby said about being a stalker, and she said, 'No you're not, we're buddies!'

Ha! Buck, take that! I am buddies with Ree. Mthea(that's me sticking out my tongue)

Look, she wished me a happy birthday! WOOT!

Then, it was over! That didn't take enough time. I didn't get to tell her about the goats, or any of the other funny things I had worked out in my head to say to her. Sheesh. What a dork. Well, anyway, we went downstairs to the bistro and enjoyed this lovely appetizer.

Brie with walnut and caramel sauce. 

It was delicious. Unfortunately, their dishwasher and bus boy decided to play hookie, so we didn't eat our meal. They were so packed, we decided to leave. 

And that's it...The End.

Ooo, wait. She was on WFAE 90.7 this morning. Here's the link:  Ree on WFAE

Counting down to meet The Pioneer Woman

OMG, OMG, OMG!!! It's that day!!! I get to meet Ree today! I am soooooo excited. I made sure to get a good night's sleep so I wouldn't be tired on top of the excitedness. That would be such a bad sight....me tired and excited....I'd be liable to climb the walls.


Anyway, li'l daughter and I picked out an outfit yesterday. Down to the wedges...Ree likes wedges, too. Brown and turquoise halter top with gold trim and tan jacket and my favorite dark blue jeans. I still have to decide on earrings, though...hmmm...have to go do that now! BRB


Ok, I'm back. Turquoise earrings..YES


I fixed my hair a little while ago before going to pick up the cookbook Ree will sign tonight. My son and husband gave me money to buy the book for my birthday. Yesterday was my birthday!! I get to meet Ree for my birthday!!! The girl at the bookstore said its been very popular lately...DUH...The best cookbook ever....considering I hate to cook and bought a cookbook at all is astonishing, much less that I actually don't mind cooking when I can look and compare my cooking with her photos. Back to the hair...well, my A/C in the Suburban decided NOT to work. WHAT? Today? Seriously, does this vehicle not understand the importance of staying cool on such an important day? So I had to ride with all the windows down to keep from melting in this 90+ heat. I should go turn the curling iron on....only 3 1/2 hours until THE TIME.

Curling ironS on: Check.


I've been doing INY checks all day. Seriously....I have a phobia like she does, and I don't want to embarrass myself. See when I was young...much too young to be kissing a boy...all of 12...way too young come to think of it, what was I thinking? Anyway, I had a crush and a dying NEED to be kissed by Michael...I don't remember Michael's last name now...he's probably glad. We were standing against the wall of my junior high school and he leaned down and kissed me. Cool, right....NOT...When I opened my eyes, there was a sight no person should ever behold....I nearly threw up right then and there....a nose full of snot. Yellow, green, slimy, nasty, gross snot....and now you understand why I've been doing INY checks all day. I'm still excited.


Maggie, my schnauzer finally gave up on my sharing my Chick-fil-A. DUH, Maggie, I barely share with PNut(my son)....and he walks upright and came from my loins.


I sure hope the A/C is working in hubby's van. I wonder if he'd be mad if I shared his nickname...We shall ever more refer to him as Buck.


Ok, well the clock is ticking and I am not getting anything accomplished sitting here. Will update later. I'm excited. Did I mention that before?

Why is my brain so lopsided?

So, I was telling hubby about PW and being really excited to meet her. He thinks I'm stalking her because I follow her blog and get her Twitter updates on my phone. Whatever....Then he asked me if I blog...Well, yes, I've started I told him. He asked me the name...well, there's the part where lopsided comes in. I couldn't think of a name for my blog. So when I signed up, I gave it the name It's that Time. I meant that in, ' it's that time to start a blog'. Hubby says it sounds like it's that time of the month..........ROFL or embarrassment. You know, he's right. It does sound like that. What am I gonna do? I don't want people to think I'm gonna be a bugger in every post. I would eventually like to have readers.....

Fix it Friday #52

Today's I heart Faces Fix it Friday was fun to play with in Camera Raw and PS. I didn't use LR this time because I wanted to see if my presets loaded into Camera Raw like they were supposed to. 

 This is the before image

This is the after image.

I opened the RAW file in Camera Raw and checked the color temperature. I liked it pretty well, so I just upped the exposure just a tad and applied a Sesame Ellis preset called Daydream. It's my favorite right now. After this I opened in PS4. Then  I cloned out the out of focus street sign, the pink ribbon and the bridge warning thingies. When applying the preset, I noticed the dress became a little too dark, so I dodged and burned just enough to get some light in there and Viola!

I wanted to crop it to make the girl more accessible, but changed my mind since the scene seemed to be calling out to be noticed.

The Death of Confidence

The process of confidence dying isn't over night. It comes because of waves....waves of uncertainty that crashed into me. I remember being 30...that was a long time ago, sort of....and the world was at my feet. Everything seemed to be going right. I had a great husband, great kids, a great job, we finally had our own home, newish cars. It was all going right...and then it happened. I still have the great husband, kids, and home, so I should be grateful for that alone. I mean, I know there are people with none of those things EVER. Knowing that I'm lucky is sort of making it hard for me to try to regain my confidence really. I mean, I feel really guilty when I start to think about it....

Anyway, it hit me. Part of my confidence died a few years ago...here's the long, sorted tale....

It was the night before Easter in 2004 when the phone rang. My mom (that is really an aunt that raised me) called to tell me some bad news. My biological father passed away. Well that is bad news, but that wasn't the end of it. She also said that he had two boys that were young and they were in foster care. You could have blown me down with a feather. I really didn't know about the boys and man, they were young, 7 and 9.

See, I hadn't spoken to my father in ....hmmm....since 1994. He was some more piece of work. I had to cut myself off from him to save my sanity. I mean, what child should have to threaten their father with 'punishment' to make them act like decent human beings??? Seriously. So when I married my husband and moved, I just didn't give him my information. Later I regretted it, and even more so when I found out how despicable the living conditions were where he lived with my two half brothers. (More on that later maybe)

Anyway, to make a long story short, I went to their town and sought custody of J and J. God was truly looking out for them, though. They had wonderful foster parents and the city did everything they could to help us all out during this time.

The boys needed somebody. I fought for them and brought them home. Boy, was I in for a surprise....Life was NOT happily ever after. It was a long and hard two and a half years of trying to 'fix' them...btw, you can't fix anybody. Boy did we all learn that the hard way. So after that time, we gave custody to their biological mom. I miss them, I really do, but I think we are all better off now.

So that's part one of the death of my confidence.

Epiphanies

I was just sitting here thinking about something someone said to me the other day about getting my confidence up. I've pondered it for a long while, wondering why I can't seem to get my confidence up. I used to be very confident in myself....and then it died. The epiphany was that it finished dying when I lost my job this past December. Then I got to thinking about what my friend said...about getting it back. That's like saying "Don't worry." My brain can not turn off and on feelings. Can anybody REALLY do that? Please tell me how.


So, ponder that and let me know what you think. I will post more on the subject of confidence later.

Holy cow, holy cow, holy cow!

I can NOT believe The Pioneer Woman is coming to my area next week, The day after my birthday, in fact. I have been reading her blog off and on for over two years. She is THE funniest, smartest lady. She cracks me up constantly. Ok, so I will calm down now. I will have to be sure to not gush all over her when I see her. Is it possible? I doubt it...but I will have to try.

Now I definitely have to go get my hair cut. I can't be seen in public, meeting a celebrity with this mop. Trying to let your hair grow out is the pits!! Especially, when you start out with an odd style to start letting it grow. I bet my stylist will have to cut at least two inches off of the front to get it to match the back. So I guess I'm getting a bob.

Do you read the Pioneer Woman's blog? What's your favorite part?

What about hairstyles? Just what do you do when your hair is NASTY?

Fix it Friday

Here is my entry to fix it friday by I Heart Faces
The first image is after.
The second image is before. I don't understand how blogs work, yet.

To explain my process:
Opened in Lightroom 3 beta
Used LR preset Punch
Added a Sesame Ellis preset called -park bench
Then using the brush masks
I used clarity at 70% over the face and jacket
Then used an preset by WOW (don't remember where that was found but it is a free preset) called Background darken to further put emphasis on the little girl and adjusted the temperature and tint to make everything pop.

The end.

I'm doing what I shouldn't, but it's so much fun!

That title means I'm mixing my business with pleasure and I'm sure that's not a good thing. However, I love photography. It is my passion outside of my family. I love to capture moments and details that show life, love and all that is wonderful. That may sound naive, but what do we have in this world if we only focus on the negative?

I am not a writer. I usually have no clue what to write. This is just a blog to get me started in this new world of blogging. I hope to one day be better at this. So that when I actually have readers, they will actually read. lol For now I will just muddle through.

I found a storyboard template the other day and couldn't wait to try it on my latest clients. It was so much fun to play with, and the family loves it too. I am including it here for you to see.

Adventures in the Backyard

Today started with poor hubby waking up to his phone alarm alerting him to a forensic call. Poor fella. At least he made me coffee before he left. So after a few cups of java, I was soaring through my morning work. Okay, so that is boring even me, so here's the point of the post....After lunch I went looking for a lily I found and photographed once a few years ago. I did not find it, but I did find quite a few other unique things to photograph. I even identified a new tree in the backyard. Well, it's not new, but I just noticed it. It's an Empress Tree. Beautiful blossoms and weird looking seedpods. So there are more images, but I'm sure I'll post them soon.

Don't know if this will stick

....but I'm going to give it a go. A friend suggested treating it like a diary. I don't know about that. If people knew my thoughts, they would definitely send me to the psychiatric ward.

Today I slept 'til 1pm.When I got up, I went and ran some errands and took some photos. Before going back home, I stopped by my sis'-in-laws and discussed my nieces upcoming prom photos. I was very excited about it.

Then I talked to my daughter via facebook and my night has turned to poo. I guess that's to be expected. When a child goes against everything you taught her and throws it in your face....

so, I thought I might upload some photos I took, but I'm too lazy to get the card out of the camera. Maybe tomorrow. For now, I'm going to finish my water and smoke a couple of cigarettes before finally passing out. Seems I can't sleep anymore without waiting until I'm exhausted or I just toss and turn....So until later.....