LOVE IT: Boston Flash Mob Wedding

This totally combines ALL of my favorite things: singing, public displays of affection, element of surprise, wedding loveliness, theatrical display of awesomeness, and LOVE... rock on John & Caroline. You are officially the most awesome couple to ever get married at the Prudential Center!! And the officiant's speech?! I'm seriously in tears right now....

... if you plan to do this for your wedding... please call me so I can get some amazing photos of it!!

Memories of Misty

Misty died on Wednesday, at the wise old age of 15. She was an apricot colored teacup poodle who was originally the constant companion and source of joy for my great aunt, Dorcas (definitely not a name you hear anymore!) When Dorcas passed, my mom took over care of Misty, but quickly realized that Misty needed more attention than she could give on a regular basis. When I moved to Terre Haute, I was working entirely from home and in a town fairly isolated from everyone I knew, so I decided to care for Misty and thought it would be a great way to get me out of the loft at least once a day. She definitely made walks in downtown Terre Haute a little more exciting as people giggled in delight when they saw her prancing down the street.

Misty brought a lot of wonderful and unexpected things into my life. Because she's the kind of dog that people can't pass by without commenting on, she became an easy way to meet new people, which really helped me get to know my neighbors and neighborhood better. Of course the poop scoop clean-up was never a glamorous job, but it just comes with the territory. When we moved to Lowell, we moved into one of the only places that allowed renters to have dogs. We met a TON of dog owners, but unfortunately we also found out that Misty isn't so great with other dogs and because she had no idea how tiny she was, this resulted in more damage to her than anything else. Misty loved people- especially old ones, hated dogs & children, and could care less about cats. She also loved to model and helped me test different lighting styles- but also knew when it was time to quit.


If you've ever read Marley & Me- you know what dog ownership can be like at all extremes. Misty wasn't a big dog, which meant I was often able to take her places I might not have been otherwise, but it also meant that she compensated for her petite size by producing a fierce bark. Somewhere along the line we noticed that she started to lose her hearing. She would bark when nothing was there, and then she wouldn't hear us when we called for her. Other challenging memories include the time she ate some leaves off a friend's porch and couldn't walk straight for more than three steps, the time a friend's dog took a chunk out of her side, the time a lady threatened to call the police because I left her in the car with the window down for 2 minutes, the hair cuts which were never pleasant for her or the groomers, the dingleberries, the potty pads she needed as she got older and couldn't be bothered to wait and go outside, her terrifying fear of being kept in a room without human contact, her need to have something substantially soft and adequate to lay on, and her desire to held by anyone just to get warmer.


I never would have chosen a small dog myself- I'm more of a big dog person- particularly of the lab variety (minus the shedding). I love the dogs which are always friendly and happy to see you, even if you accidentally left them out in the freezing cold overnight (sorry Bailey!) Misty is not that kind of dog. Instead, she would express her anger or distaste very clearly if you did something she didn't agree with. She was pretty judgemental for a dog- much like her original owner once was. However, she also taught us a lot of things about ourselves and helped us become better people in the process. She was a constant reminder of how to live a better life by making sure that we consistently woke up at a reasonable time, traveled a little less and got home in time for dinner, made sure we got outside to enjoy nature at least twice a day, had stronger friendships, were kind and inviting to strangers, got our hair cut at least as often as she did, communicated more in our marriage about responsibilities and expectations, and that we should never be ashamed to dance around in circles when we're really excited about something...


Thank you Misty for coming into our lives and helping us learn how to live more fully and joyfully. ;-)

Planning for 2011 - The Time is Now

I consider myself to be a pretty fearless person.

After all, I don't mind: going swimming on a beach where sharks have struck before, jumping off a cliff while showing my chunky body in a swimsuit on youtube, scaling a rock climbing wall even if I don't have the right shoes on, letting people see my house when it's not the cleanest it could be, going out in public when I look less than stellar, sharing my ideas even if they get criticized, trying a food I can't pronounce and have never seen before, dancing while I'm waiting in line, bursting into song when a good tune pops into my head, or being the first to offer a hug to a complete stranger. Yeah, I think that makes me pretty fearless...

Except that there are still some areas in my life where I'm holding on to a bit of fear.

It's time to take the plunge!
(video taken by Leigh Miller, at the Rockhouse in Jamaica)


Money. That lovely bartering system made of paper, metal, and plastic that we've devised as a society to help us trade goods and services. As I mentioned in my 2010 year end review, money no longer controls me... but that was only half true. While I no longer have an emotional attachment to money, it can still hold me back from doing something really risky. Those student loans will never go away on their own- nope, not even declaring bankruptcy will take care of those bad boys (and I'm not advocating that bankruptcy should ever be an option.) While I managed to pay off my car loan in 2010, I did not manage to make significant progress on my other debt. Debt that has been lingering since those lovely college days of overspending with the promise of making it all back when I got a "real job" and the early days of starting my business when buying that expensive lens today was OK because it was going to be paid off with the next job.

Problem was, I was making the money I needed, but I wasn't paying things off.

I can't even really tell you why I was only paying minimums on my credit cards when I was able to afford more, other than I always wanted to have the most fun I could at any given point in time. I didn't want to subscribe to the idea that life should be enjoyed after I was wildly successful- it should be enjoyed right now in whatever way possible. I wasn't thinking about the longer term things in life like buying a house or preparing for a comfy retirement- I was fully invested in living right NOW to the fullest enjoyment and indulgence without a care for what tomorrow brings. After all, the world could end tomorrow- why stress about it today?

Who wants to pinch pennies when you can attend a rock concert in Norway?!

Here's a little something from Sondre Lerche, who I was able to see play live in... you guessed it... Norway. ;-)

It wasn't until I dreamed a crazy big dream that my priorities started to change.

Suddenly life wasn't about me being able to indulge every moment in whatever I wanted. My hedonistic ways shifted to a philanthropic vision of helping others find the happiness and joy that I've been able to find. No, not through racking up credit cards and only paying minimums, but from feeling an internal sense of success and confidence in the things that make each person unique. So far, I've been fairly successful with this "mission" by utilizing several outlets:
• photolovecat.com - to help photographers be more successful as small business owners
• lowellhandmade.com - to help support artists and creatives in my local community
• business coaching and mentoring other artists and small business owners to develop sustainable profitability and make smarter business decisions
• teaching and mentoring students in low-income areas to find confidence in their unique gifts and talents through the creative arts
By many standards, I've already achieved a certain amount of success toward my goal... but I'm not satisfied.

I know I'm capable of doing more and helping more people.

One of my great big crazy dreams is to create a creative arts community center in my lovely town of Lowell, MA. A place where people from all walks of life and backgrounds can come together to take a class in the arts and develop their personal creativity to become a more confident and empowered person. We have a lot of the ingredients needed to make it happen already- but right now people are buckling down just trying to keep the awesome culture our city already has going strong through rough financial times. While I know there are other people who share my mission and are on board with it, I also know

I am the only one who has the drive, desire, and total vision to actually pull everything together to make it happen.

The only thing holding ME back is that I don't have the finances to make it happen because of all that fun I've been having when I haven't been blogging. In order to get the finances to make it happen- like a bank loan or venture capital investments, I need to show that I actually am very capable of being responsible with money. Which starts with paying off my debt. How much? Five figures worth of debt. *gulp* Yep, just thinking about the amount makes me want to throw up a little. You know what's even crazier? I want to pay it off in ONE year.

I'm just a little bit terrified that I'll fail.

After entering the numbers in the CNN Debt Reduction Planner Calculator, I received a strategic plan for paying off the debt in the amount of time I specified: one year. Oh boy. This is not for the weak, that's for sure. It's also not for people who love their luxuries, as I have over the last few years. It's for the disciplined, the frugal, and the people who love to just collect money and watch the numbers stack up in their accounts.

It's for the Warren Buffets of the world.

To this date, I have not been one of these people. However, I know ordinary people who have done it, and I know that I have their support. I know what adjustments they made and how it forced them to be creative with what they already had. If Warren Buffet could live out of his car when he wanted to save money by not paying rent, than I can make more lattes at home and eat out less. But I'm not going to give up my 69¢ wash & fold laundry dude- because he actually saves me money! Just knowing that this will stretch my creativity and force me out of my comfort zone makes me more excited to do it. I no longer see it as a restraint on my fun, but rather an an adventure in doing even more with even less.

Bring. It. On.

I am publicly declaring that this journey starts now and I will be documenting my successes and challenges along the way. If you would like to join me on this journey- please comment and declare your intentions as well- or just let me know that I have your encouragement. Together we can make this happen. Together we will challenge ourselves to have more financial freedom by doing more with less. Let's do this. Let's light some fireworks:


One more thing before I go- I have a second crazy big goal for this year as well: To help 20 small businesses earn 20% more revenue in 2011. I'll share more about that later, but I wanted to make sure you knew that it was coming. ;-)