Five for Friday

1. What a tragic week it has been. We start Monday with the horrific Metro collision that killed nine people. Many thanks to all those who checked in to see if Brad and I were okay. We don't take the Red Line, we're Yellow Line-ers, but it's still scary none-the-less. I am glad to see that the train operator is being remembered in a positive light, since it appeared that she did everything in her power to stop the train. I really hope it turns out that she wasn't texting or on her phone, like too many of these sad stories often turn out to be. Riding the Metro is a bit weird these days, although I figure you statistically have a much better chance of something going on in a car, especially the way people drive around here! So I shall continue my Metro commute.

2. They always say that people die in threes, so I guess you got your trifecta with the deaths of Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcette and Michael Jackson this week. I'm a little young to appreciate Ms Fawcette in her hay-day, but I do know that she put on an incredibly brave, and public, battle against cancer. My most fond Michael Jackson memory is probably way back in fifth grade when I was in an exchange program and went to France for three weeks. I clearly remember riding on a charter bus, with a bunch of French students, listening to the same Michael Jackson cassette over and over and over again. These kids barely knew a lick of English, but they certainly knew MJ's lyrics! I hope he is remember in the fond light of his time at the top, since things haven't been going so well for him the last few years.

3. On a happier note, tonight Christina Saull Photography is hosting its very own Meet the Artist Night at Artomatic! I'll be hanging out by my wall from 6-10pm, serving cookies, handing out coupons for free prints (one per hour!) and chatting it up with whoever stops by.

4. On another Artomatic note, I can't believe it's almost over! The show closes July 5th, after a great six week run. I've sold a few pieces, more than I expected to, and I've met some other great artists in the process. The whole thing has been a neat experience, one that I hope to repeat next year!

5. As if life weren't busy enough right now, my in-laws are driving into town as I write this. They're here until Monday and then my Dad arrives on Thursday! Two straight weeks of parents means that Brad and I will be in hibernation the weekend after :)

Have a pleasant weekend everyone!

Artomatic talent

Following Meet the Artist night on June 13th, Brad and I spent some time exploring three floors of Artomatic (to do all nine at once is insanity). For those who can't make it down to the show, I wanted to share some photos of the amazing art we saw!

Don't forget: Artomatic runs through Sunday, July 5!

fire dancers!

done by a 12-year old!

Five for Friday

1. On Monday evening, Brad and I went to see "An Evening with Ellis Marsalis" at the Kennedy Center. For those of you who are not familiar, Ellis Marsalis is a jazz pianist and the father of Wynton Marsalis, the trumpter and founder of the combo that performs on Jazz at Lincoln Center. It was a really neat concert, which featured Ellis, Wynton, his three musically inclined brothers, one of his non-musical brothers (who read a great poem - he's apparently very literary - they call him "The Oracle") and Harry Connick, Jr. The music was great and it finished with a NOLA-style parade through the audience, complete with Harry Connick, Jr. on cow bell and a large twirrling umbrella. I have certainly never been to a Kennedy Center performance that included dancing in the aisles by both the performers and the audience!

2. It has been a crazy long week at work.... but a good week - one that just ended on a great note. But I'm still glad it's Friday!

3. Thanks to everyone who came out at Artomatic's Meet the Artist night last Saturday! I was really nervous going into it, but so many lovely people stopped by and chatted it up. I sold a few pieces and have a few more sales pending. If you weren't able to make it down, I promise no hurt feelings since you'll have another opportunity on June 26th :)

4. I am having the urge to do something fun. Anyone have any suggestions? If it's summer-esque, you get bonus points!

5. Can't think of a number five, so I thought I'd just leave you with a photo - the one that is selling like hotcakes at Artomatic!

Five For Friday

1. Artomatic Meet the Artist night is tomorrow evening! From 7:00 - 9:00pm, artists of all kinds will be hanging out by their displays, ready to talk about their art, their inspirations and their life (myself included!). Oh, and an extra incentive to come: an awesome coworker of mine is baking 90 red velvet cake bites. For those of you unfamiliar, they're basically little balls of cake, frosted and on toothpicks. Mega yum :)

2. I've been going through some old pictures in my Flickr. I've been trying to go through the gazillion pictures I took on our honeymoon, edit them and organize them, since we still don't have an album. I found this one and it makes me miss Italy SO much!

3. Last Saturday, I worked my volunteer shift at Artomatic (all artists are required to work three, five hour shifts). It was pretty fun, I worked in the store. I managed to not break the cash register, which was great. While I was there, my aunt, uncle and cousin stopped by to see my display. They were in Maryland for a wedding and then were driving down to Virginia Beach for another wedding ('tis the season!). It was great to see them for the first time since our wedding, even if we were only able to catch up for a few minutes. A special shout out to my cousin Megan, who I know reads my blog :)

4. I just had a phone conversation with a recruiter for a job one of my best friends is applying for. It was the first time I've actually acted over the phone as a reference for someone. I love this girl, but it was hard! I felt like I was trying to convince the guy that she is awesome - a job interview about someone else. Definitely an interesting experience...

5. It has been a good week at work. But I am so ready for the weekend. What are your summer weekend plans?

Fun shots with MK

Last Tuesday, I met up with my incredibly talented wedding photographer MK to take some fun pictures. Since I'm always behind the camera, I have no good pictures of me, with the exception of tons of pictures of me taking pictures (my hubby's favorite thing) :)

I thought I'd share some of my favorite shots from the session:

Five for Friday

1. It's a rainy day here in Washington, D.C. Actually, it's the second day in a row where it has been rainy, gloomy and chilly. I can't believe I'm wearing a long sleeved light weight sweater in June! The good news is that this weekend is supposed to be gorgeous.

2. Artomatic kicked off last Friday night with huge success. So far, 63 people have entered my fishbowl giveaway for a matted 5x7 print and, judging from how dirty the rug in front of my space is, I have definitely been getting a lot of foot traffic at my site.

Tomorrow is my first volunteer shift at Artomatic (all participating artists are required to participate in three, five hour volunteer shifts). Since I'm a pretty Type A person, I'm excited to get there and meet the public! If you're looking for something to do tomorrow, come on down. I'll be there from noon - 5pm, but Artomatic goes until 1am.

3. My summer vacation has officially been booked, thank goodness! Brad and I will be cruising on the Carnival Pride August 21-29 down to the Caribbean. We went on an Eastern Mediterranean cruise on our honeymoon and loved it, so we're looking forward to trying out a different destination this time. Really, all I wanted was a lounge chair where I could sit and read for a week. Cruises are an absolute steal right now, and we're lucky that the Port of Baltimore is close by, so we don't have to fly.

4. Speaking of flying, isn't the story of Air France flight 447 heartbreaking? As someone who is a nervous flier anyway, I tend to have a morbid fascination with airline disasters. My heart goes out to those who lost loved ones in this somewhat mysterious circumstance. Having been on several transatlantic flights, you go into it with the mindset that once you're cruising a few hours into the flight, it's almost like you're not even on a plane any more. To have the plane go down in such a dramatic fashion (whatever that fashion turns out to be) must have been incredibly frightening.

5. On a happier note, I met up with our wedding photographer, the very talented Mary Kate McKenna to do some fun shot searlier this week. I realized when I launched my web site that I had zero decent pictures of myself, so I thought it was time to rectify that. I received the edited images from her last night, so I'll post a few over the weekend. For now, I leave you with this teaser:

As you can tell, she and I had a lot of fun together. And, yes, that is a Segway tour going on in the background!!!

Happy weekend everyone!