To my little corner of the internet. I'm a lifestyle photographer and I call Maryland's Eastern Shore my home. It's Chesapeake Bay country out here and it's just lovely. Full of inspiration. I have a husband I call "Clark Kent" because he's my own personal superhero. And... he looks awesome in plaid flannel. Hot dang.
I have two little boogers who keep me on my toes and a yellow four legged child that always keeps me company. I love scrapbooking, curling up to a good movie, and dark chocolate M&M's.
Thanks for stopping by... I "heart" your comments.
I'm in Columbus for a few days. Visiting my girl, Casie. Having some good quality girlfriend time. My little boo-boo's are at my parents while I'm here. It's been great. We have lunched, done some shopping, chatted until we can't even think of anything else to say, watched some late night Netflix, painted our nails and shared new music interests...
One of the things that Casie shared with me I couldn't resist passing along. I know, as usual, I'm probably super late to the party on this one... as these little girls have been all over You Tube, on the Ellen show, and even had a spot on the new TV show Nashville.
Either way - what they can do with their voices and a couple of butter dishes is truly amazing.
I would recommend closing your eyes for a portion of this in order to fully listen to just how beautiful their harmonies and beats are as they sing. Two sisters from Canada... one 13 and one 11.
Google him. Look him up on Facebook people. He's amazing. How would I describe his music? Hmmmm... He's got hints of Maxwell-esque falsetto and James Morrison's achingly beautiful hollow rasp in his vocals... Bob Marley and Jack Johnson's smooth island feel in his guitar rhythms... but add a huge dose of ultra soulful super sultry John Legend in there too somewhere...
And that description, I'm afraid, didn't do him any justice at all.
And... what's more... we "get" eachother. Birds of a feather. Both of us extremely creative human beings. With music and photography and art and rhythm and a little bit of OCD crazy pumping through our veins at all times. When we sit down to chat - we just follow one another. You get the idea.
I met KJ nearly 2 years ago and we instantaneously hit it off. With several mutual friends, we crossed paths again and again.
I had the honor of photographing him awhile back and we were long overdue for another round. Every musician needs new creative photos to pair with their beats.
And this time I wanted to tell a "behind the music" story as authentically as possible. I suggested an early morning session at his place. His writing notebook and pen out... fresh morning sunshine streaming through the windows... a fresh hot cup of coffee and his guitar.
I knew I wanted this to be purely a black and white shoot. Stripped down.
An hour later I knew I had what I came for.
KJ - love ya babe. Thanks for trusting me and my ol' Nikon once again. xo
Pardon my absence folks. Last week was just... oh geez. It was utter banana sandwiches. I was barely getting by so I just sorta checked out and granted myself a "free pass" away from the blog.
Sorry about that... I hate goodbyes. Even the short term ones.
Don't hate me forever.
What the heck DID happen last week? It seems all a blur now.
Let's see... I got back from my sister in law's on Monday. Little bug had a very weird and mysterious and ridiculously high (like 105 sustained) temperature for 48 hours... which turned out to be something called Roseola... Fever followed by a little belly rash by Friday... but not before we were in and out of the Dr's office a few times.
I vacuumed out my "Grocery Getter" for the first time since.... well - I dunno. It was too long ago. Dum-Dum lollipop sticks were stuck in places you can't imagine. And - I can't believe I'm admitting to this - but when I removed the little bug's carseat to vacuum underneath - a fairly decent amount of a mystery liquid came draining out from the hard plastic frame... all over my shoes and the driveway. EWWWW.
What brought on the sudden urgency to clean said vehicle?
Well... I had a photo session on Thursday morning and thank goodness the client was a friend - because when I rolled up and parked my "grocery ghetto minivan" next to her shiny new "not-so-grocery-getter-urban-mommy-SUV" that Adam Sandler song from back in the 90's entitled "Piece of S*@t Car" queued itself up in my brain and begain to play on repeat for the remainder of the day.
HOW's THAT for motivation?
It was such a bloody mess - it took me all evening just to get the inside under control.
Clark - bless him - took care of the exterior over the weekend.
Somehow, I'm convinced, the baby girl's random illness - did a quick change body snatch because on Thursday night in the middle of the night I found myself unable to sleep with a terrible stomach ache. Inevitably, I wound up hugging the toilet many times - while sleeping on the bathroom floor in between.
Nice.
Clark brought me a blanket. He has incredible compassion for the ill. :)
Nah - just kidding honey - you were a good nurse.
The next day - I just can't even talk about here. It's just T.M.I. T.M.I. T.M.I.
It was Saturday before I was even vertical again.
And even now - I really am having a tough time eating without getting a horribly upset stomach aftward.
Last week.
It was not a good one.
But - today's MONDAY (I say aloud with a vigorous CLAP!)
And it's a brand new week y'all.
I'm ready.
Are you?
One little bright spot last week I thought I might share with you....
Have I ever told you guys about our Australian neighbors? Yep - family of 4 just like us... moved into the house across the street for a year and a half. Husband is here on a long term work project. Anyway - our families have really bonded... kids are close.... we are close... have dinner together at least once a week normally... you get the idea.
Well - one night last week we were hanging out and chatting and listening to music and I happened to tell them about this great new song I'd heard...
WE ARE YOUNG.... by FUN featuring Janelle Monae.
Weird video... Bodies flying in slow motion? Hey... not trying to put a cap on artistic expression... Not at all... It's just a little weird for me.
Just sayin'.
Anyway... Sometimes I check in on the iTunes store to see what the most popular/downloaded songs are just to discover new stuff... and that song was one of my recent finds.
Apparently it's not so recent to the general public... If you watch GLEE you probably saw the song there...
Mr. Aussie said he liked it and it for some reason it reminded him of this singer, native of his homeland.
GOYTE - "Somebody That I Used To Know"
Has that same kinda FUNK as the old Aussie fave "Land Down Under" by Men At Work, right?
Wait... story gets better...
apparently a band called WALK OFF THE EARTH - covered it and made it even more popular than the original...
just watch it - it's AMAZING!!!!
Soooo much cooler to watch it rather than just listen... I know I wouldn't have appreciated it as audio only.
The blonde chick looks like Scarlette Johannsen and the guy on the far right with the beard was my FAVE. I have no idea why.
Rhianna - in Armani. WOW. Perfection. It's all I can say. Loved the Tina Turner hair with this look. Really - how can you pull off a backless and nearly frontless dress and still look classic? Well, classic/gangsta? I guess you'd have to be Rhianna to do that. And her skin - LORD have mercy. Caribbean queen.
Paris Hilton in Basil Soda. I don't ever like the "model face" that she makes on the carpet - it's too Zoolander - but this dress - WOW - intricate - but super interesting - not overdone in my opinion. I was looking super closely at it as she was being interviewed by Guiliana and I just kept thinking how marvelous it was.
Corrinne Bailey Ray - in Christian Siriano. I think she is flirty and fun. Adorable hair too.
Kate Beckinsale - always always always a goddess. No idea who she is wearing but she looks fantastic.
Adele - gorgeous dress for her shape. Super elegant. Classic hair and makeup. Although in this particular shot - the red lip makes her look extremely pale. She didn't seem so pale on TV.
Julianne Hough - Kaufmann Franco - amazing!
Alicia Keys - she is just flawless in my opinion. Her skin. Her hair. Her voice. This dress was simple - but the statement necklace and killer shoes just promoted the whole look to a best dressed status for me.
Jessie J in James MacDonald - this one grew on me the more I kept seeing it. Once she was in the Glam Cam 360 I was sold. At first it looked like a riveted WW1 airplane but then it looked more like a disco ball - and once I saw the shape on her I was won over.
Worst Dressed
Katy Perry - Her boobs looked HUGE and awful in the grandma cut Elie Saab gown. She needed a little more - ahem - support for the girls. And the matchy matchy hair... Eww. It was like rocker meets grandmas doily. That - and she looked like she had a horrible orange spray tan.
Fergie in Jean Paul Gaultier. First, Lady Gaga did the red lace thing already... and girl, you are looking too severe with that hair and botoxed forehead. Cut it out. You are too pretty for that.
Robyn - platform Timberland Boots a men's Hanes undershort and a satin skirt with an identity crisis... I'm long! NO I'm short! And what is that THING on her ear??? Oh man. I can't even comment.
Taraji P. Henson - if this dress came in a smaller size I could see it on Toddlers & Tiaras. Tack-E!
Nikki Menaj - the little red riding hood thing with the pope - I know it was meant to shock so you can't really say it was a worst dressed because she wasn't trying to look hot. She was this year's "Egg." Her makeup looked gorgeous though!
One that WAS a total miss for me was Carrie Underwood - she was actually trying to look good and just looked BLAH. She looked much better in her performance dress and hair (a black number).
Best Performances
The Civil Wars - LOVE them. Glad they won Best Country Duo. :)
Adele - Felt like her pressure to perform was at a palpable level. The throat surgery that she recently recovered from had everyone wondering if she was going to be the same. It's a big stage - the Grammys - and she knocked it out of the park. Go girl. Glad you won the whole she-bang. Your voice is such a unique and wonderful gift. What a triumph.
And - as a sidenote - her makeup for her performance looked flawless (liked the nude lip better than the red she wore on the carpet) - hope Tanya Burr does a tutorial on it soon!
Bruno Mars - he's so fun and cute. I just wanna put him in my pocket.
Finally....
Jennifer Hudson singing "I Will Always Love You" as a tribute to Whitney Houston. Goosebumps!
Honorable Mentions
LOVED
Kelly Rowland's Hair - loved the natural fro' she was rockin. She's just a total cutie.
Taylor Swift was seriously 10 feet tall standing next to Ryan Seacrest on the carpet. Made me giggle. Thought her dress was beautiful - not a best dress - but certainly beautiful. She is so statuesque and graceful and well spoken. Love her. Glad she continues to be a big winner and a great positive influence on young people everywhere.
Ok seriously though - I really felt like this year's show was such a snooze fest.....
BOOOOR-IIIING on the whole - with a few bright spots.
Tony Bennet, Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Glenn Campbell - a bunch of performances that were just painful... I hit mute.
I remember a few years ago there was a rockin show - Mary J Blige, Rhianna, Bieber. Eh well. Can't win em all I guess.
Took myself a little three day weekend. My buddy T was in town and I needed to show him some Eastern Shore love. Beach, crabs, beer (just what I needed after my week of RAW... more on that later...) Yesterday I spent in the car traveling up to my hometown in western PA where I'll be all week.
How was your weekend?
Anyway - It's AUGUST! Can you believe it? Was it not, like, Memorial Day 5 minutes ago? Seriously.
Now it seems summer is approaching it's twilight... I thought I'd better get on sharing some things I'm loving right now...
ENJOY!
1. Polka Dotted Toes...
2. Bruno Mars latest album :: Doo Wops and Hooligans
3. One Kings Lane :: this place is like a high-end HomeGoods sale delivered to your inbox every day. It's free and they have great daily deals on lots of home decor items. If you sign up (and I hope you do!) do me a favor and enter my email address (katiepegher (at) gmail (dot) com) as the person who referred you! xo
4. Rue La La :: This is basically the same thing as OKL - but it's for fashion. Mammas been getting into some trouble pulling the proverbial trigger over here... The sales are just too good. Again - should you decide to sign up - please tell em I sent ya. :)
5. EOS lip balm spheres. A Wal-Mart check out line find. 95% organic and I'm totally hooked. :)
I'm chipping away a little at a time on my list. Picked up a few new CD's late last week that I'm digging.
The Band Perry
Kimberly's voice reminds me of Alison Krauss.
The Script
Band from Dublin. Interesting sound... part Coldplay, part Maroon 5, part Justin Timberlake. They actually have a newer album than this one... but the song I wanted, "The Man Who Can't Be Moved" was on this one. Some guy on Idol sang it for his audition which perked my interest.
Florence And The Machine
Discovered Florence on the Eclipse Soundtrack and got this album in order to get to know her a bit more. She has such a unique sound. And is getting loads of attention from industry moguls and critics.
The Civil Wars
This was the single of the week last week on iTunes - Barton Hollow... me likey.
Looked for their whole album at Target where I purchased the others - no go.
I'm so old school when it comes to needing to buy the CD in this age of downloading. I like to see the album artwork (the photographer in me) and I like to keep the physical discs in my car.
1 - Athleta fingerless gloves. They are amazing. I was recently gifted these by my sister from another mother.... LOVE. As she put it in her card to me... they are great "picture taking gloves!!!"
2 - "Someday" by Alison McGhee. Can't read this to Macho without crying.
3 - Hershey's Kisses - seasonal mix. No description necessary.
4 - Striped Grossgrain Ribbon from The Ribbon Factory in 100 yd. spools. This is my third Christmas with this ribbon.
5 - Kraft wrapping paper... for all my Christmas gifts... goes wonderfully with my striped ribbons. And - you can get it anywhere!!!
6 - "Merry Merry Merry" - the font style PMN Caecilia. Love this font. Did our whole Christmas card in it.
7 - The latest LP from Kings of Leon - "Come Around Sundown." I particularly like the songs : The End and The Face.
8 - Matisyahu - the one and only Jewish reggae singer I know of. Download this song - "One Day" - you won't regret it. He's dope.
9 - Camelbak "Better Bottle" - any nursing mom will tell you, WATER! WATER! WATER! "Where the hell is my water??? I'm DYING of thirst!" - picked up this awesome water bottle at Target. LOVE.
10 - Eclipse DVD. Yes, I've watched it in increments. Then straight through once. Once over a two night stretch with Clark... and once with the R-Pat and K-Stew commentary. Can't get enough.
11 - Fujifilm Instax Mini - a brand new "polaroid" camera that takes photos that are the size of a credit card. So fun.
12 - Minted.com - I'm so inspired by the graphic designs on their line of stationary products.
Also - as long as we're on the subject...
I'm really thinking of taking Ali Edward's new class over at Big Picture Classes.com - "One Little Word"
Are any of you taking it or thinking about it? Do you know what your word is?
Here are a few words I'm thinking about... Focus, Joy, Perspective...
