updated danielle life

This week has been a real roller-coaster, which I can actually tell you WHY on Tuesday, so for now, here is what's going on...Have we found Marvin a new home? No. He failed his doggie/home interview Thursday. The Doberman of the house decided she did NOT want Marvin as a new playmate and communicated this fact by ONLY showing her teeth which made Marvin squeal like a girl and jump on the hood of their (nicely waxed new) car. WHICH IS NUTS, since he is such bully at home - Mr. I will viciously bark at you and try to attack you if walk past my house - let a girl beat him up. Dan congratulated Marvin for a job well done - as if Marvin is smart enough to fake fear in order to continue living with us... perhaps he is? nahhhh. So, Marvin has 6 weeks to find a new home. I would love for him to happily be settled by the time baby W arrives.

Photography Business: I'm happily cutting back to no more than 2 photo shoots per week and because of the heat, I definitely prefer indoors jobs. I'm also designing 2 NEW photo albums for recent clients. I heart them. I have a handful of sessions available in NC in July - as I will be there the entire month.

NEW and On Sale: I am happy to announce I have many new photograph prints on Etsy.com like the images above and below)- and I have a 22% off sale (type in NEWBABY at checkout: www.etsy.com/shop/dreadsky/). I would LOVE to sell several over the next month to help with the diaper fund. Cloth diapers and their inserts are expensive. Especially cute orange and blue ones.

I'm so in love with Baby W. He is moving ALOT. And I although I still have up to 40 contractions per day, my doctor says that this is my NORMAL, and that she thinks the baby will arrive around August 1. (when it is NICE and HOT). I've been busy washing and sorting baby clothes. Baby W has three drawers full of newborn, 0-3 month clothing and hats, shoes, and receiving blankets. We have 2 more baby showers, and I am SUPER excited about them. Books. We have been given so many lovely books, I am looking for some nameplates for the inside covers - maybe these:

These beauties can be personalized with your child's name and purchased here:

www.etsy.com/listing/75726007/vintage-owl-and-pussycat-personalized

So, we continue painting and preparing for the baby. Oh, and Dan is busy doing grant proposals and tree science. More info on Tuesday/Wednesday, I promise.

Marvin the terrible/great

Marvin must know I am pregnant. He has NOT left my side - especially since Dan has been in Panama. He loves to sleep in the bed with me, which has great since he's a 35 pound heater. He spoons my low back and it feels REALLY good. Is that gross? Is it possible Marvin knows that I need him, 1. because I miss Dan and 2. because he is an economical heat source?

On the other hand: He hates me leaving him at home alone and is acting out, like a dang toddler. Today, I came home from a 3 hour photo gig, to find Marvin had strewn a package of chili powder all over the kitchen floor. The white kitchen floor. Yesterday, he illustrated his lack of appreciation of being left alone, by decorating the dining, living and bathroom with an entire box of black garbage bags. He didn't chew or tear any of them, but still... Pain. In. the. Ass.

I'm thinking he was proud of himself, because I found him, waiting for me, on my freshly made bed. Wallowed in the pillows. Without a care in the world. I could have sworn I shut the bedroom door. Thank goodness Dan is home in three days. Somebody needs to go for a long long run.

marvin is famous, again

today, Marvin was featured on one of my MOST favorite interior design blogs, Desire to Inspire. I love it so much, and so I am tickled pink to see his beautiful photos on this awesome website!

http://www.desiretoinspire.net/blog/2010/10/11/mondays-pets-on-furniture.html

yay!!!!

next chapter, Athens, Ohio

Right now I am sitting in a well worn burgundy wingback chair, in the library (using their wifi) and looking out over a lovely stream and park. Ohio is VERY different than Oregon and North Carolina. Athens is a super small college town with one grocery store, a crapload of students, beautiful trees and no trace of a mall. The smallness of it means I am once again experiencing culture shock. Searching for locally supported restaurants, we found a bakery with possibly the best peach scone I have ever tasted. We celebrated my birthday last night at Casa Nueva which serves Dan's favorte food: burritos. I ate their vegetarian enchalada, made with beets and tofu. Sounds gross, I know. But it was delicious. I drank a blueberry martini that was so strong and delicious, it made me forget that I am officially one year closer to 40.We are settling in to our super weird/old rental house. The house is one street off the main drag and we are surrounded by pavement and students. Other people park in front of our house (which freaks Dan out). A few things make the house weird. First, there is an upstairs (with a pea green sink, tub and toilet), but to get to it, you have to walk through the master bedroom. The master bathroom 'features' pink tile and is completely carpeted. I do love the kitchen with its awesomely retro countertops. It is so awful that I actually love it. Here is a close up of the oven clock. I love that funky "time signal" typeface. Orange and brown are just the best color combination.
Professionally, Athens might be a challenge, although, I booked a photo session my first day in town - which made me feel 'normal'. I have plenty of work to do, including a wedding with more than 1500 photos to edit, two Oregon sessions, plus the session from yesterday. To get my name out, next week, I plan on contacting all the ob/gyns, schools, moms groups and anyone else who might want or need me. I am sure they all want to know, Danielle Anthony lives in Athens Ohio now and is totally willing to be the most awesome photographer ever. Yeah. There, I said it.

Although moving is exciting, living in 3 states in 2 years is a whole lot of change. I had grown used to North Carolina, since I have lived there since 1993. My house was only 5 minutes from the biggest mall and Target, 4 grocery stores, and there were plenty of options for anything I wanted to buy. Corvallis, Oregon was a huge shift. I grew to love it. The community supports local farmers and makers. The farmers market and taking care of the planet are incredibly important. People recycle everything. I miss Oregon already (especially our favorite tiny bar, Downward Dog, which had the most yummy blackberry martini ever).

I am ready to put down some roots and stay put for a while. Marvin certainly does not enjoy traveling - look at him here trying to climb into the nook under the window.
I will write more asap. I promise.

a little about (me &) Dan

Dan and I have been vegetarian for the past two months. I have been mostly Vegan. Which means for 95% of the time, I eat vegetables, fruit, beans, nuts and DO NOT eat meat, dairy or egg products. I believe that I need to do this to not feel like a slug (and I think most animals are cute). I FEEL better when I do not eat crap. Dan feels hungry. So, we are compromising and I am cooking up seriously delicious stuff - Like the basil pesto pizza above (i made the pesto by myself!). Super yum. And this eggplant caponata below.I have also been tinkering with the mandolin for several months. Just a little at a time. Dan backs me up on guitar when I play the two songs I can get through without cursing: America the Beautiful and Amazing Grace. (it is just wrong to cuss while playing church songs)I tried to play the fiddle for a couple of months, but they are FREAKIN expensive. The little student rental I used was pitiful. I want a real fiddle. Till then, I will happily learn a new mandolin song a month and one day I will be able to strum along with Dan, without swearing.

Dan brings me flowers. ALOT.

Dan sits with Marvin. ALOT.
Dan wants me to run with him. But I am not a runner (yet) so I go and walk instead. He bought me some shoes. it is really nice to have a pair that are NOT six years old. These are the best shoes ever! They are bouncy and lite and COOL.

I am really enjoying how my life is shifting. Playing music. Cooking. Watching less TV. getting outside. working reasonable hours. It is good. and I love me some Dan. Can you tell?

TWO guilty dogs

Since Dan's lab Samson has come to live with us, I have been battling with two misbehaving dogs. I just walked into the bedroom to find Marvin drinking my caramel truffle coffee on the nightstand - gross. Yesterday, Dan was welcomed home with a destroyed kitchen: apparently, Marvin jumped into the sink and shared those goodies with Samson. Also, a whole wheat bread carcass was on the floor, so an ENTIRE loaf of bread was consumed (we assume Samson actually ate the bread, but Marvin pushed it down to the floor for him).

Marvin has taken to peeing one inch away from Dan's guitar cases EVERY time we leave him. BUT if we (remember to) shut the bedroom door, (so he can't see the instruments), no peeing occurs. Instead, he poops adjacent to our music collection.

Samson's only really annoying trait is that he will plow your ass over if you stand between him and food, so after faceplanting once, I learned to just move aside. Currently, I am searching online for protective Whippet football gear for Marvin, as he continues to get bruised by a big brown linebacker K9. OK, one more annoying truth. Samson has humped holes into Marvin's beautiful argyle sweater. Proof of the bad doing. I seriously need Ceasar Milan.

Marvin's new fancy sweater

Marvin has a fancy new sweater. Evidently, 68 degrees makes him shiver, and I just can't watch that all winter long... How handsome!

Marvin is a winner

Exciting!!! I just received a call from Animal Crackers pet supply store, here in Corvallis, announcing that Marvin has won the 'cutest pet of the month' contest!!! Yep, he is Mr. July. This photo is now prominently displayed in the store. I am so proud...

Danielle Anthony becomes Oregon sheepherder

I started looking for a part-time job (while I get my photography business up and running), and these are my options? Sheepherder and Orchard Worker... yuck.Oregon is scenic and lush and where I live is particularly beautiful. My landlord is a master gardener and has an amazing yard with all kinds of plants, flowers & birds, its a little bit like mountain-top paradise. Even critters like her yard. A family of racoons took up house in the tree outside my kitchen window. The four babies are soooooo cute. They climb up and down several times a day, and make a weird distressful-type noise.

my dog has fleas (& seven other non-photography facts)

After being on Frontline for 4 years, Marvin has fleas. I noticed the nasty critters while snuggling him on Friday night. Super YUCK.I think it is time to paint the blue master bedroom. It was blue when I moved in - 6 months later, I definitely hate it. I'm leaning towards either a greyish purple or a greyish pinky color. Something really girly sounds perfect.

I have now cooked TWO successful batches of delicious homemade vegetable (vegan) soup. It has stewed tomatoes, green beans, red cabbage, red onions, carrots, zucchini, 2 garlic cloves and veggie broth. It scalded my tongue tonight.

The magazine is done. We should have the proofs back this week (they call them flats because the pages come printed 16 at a time in signatures all on one page). I will take a photo. This is the prettiest issue yet. If I do say so myself.

I have NO plans to go to the fair this year. BOOOOOOO. I wish I did.

I did not buy a single Christmas ornament this weekend - although I am totally excited about decorating my tree(s). I think there were just too many choices for me.

I mispell "their" almost everytime I type it. Clearly an exception to the "i before e except after c" rule my grandmother taught me.