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!

Five for Friday

1. Artomatic opens TODAY. I could not be more excited to participate in such a huge show with so many other talented artists. If you're in the D.C. area, please come down and take in some of the mega talent this show has to offer. If you're not in the D.C. area, it's seriously worth thinking about hopping on a plane for :)

2. See #1. Artomatic is basically consuming my thought process right now!

3. It appears that we have officially skipped over spring here in Washington and moved straight to summer. The weather outside today should only have to be tolerated if you're sitting on a beach. Gross.

4. In looking at my calendar yesterday, I realized that every weekend in June is booked, as is much of July. When did my life get this crazy? (see #1 for the answer!)

5. Does anyone else feel like short weeks at work (like this week when we had Monday off for Memorial Day) go by so much slower than regular weeks? I think it is because you have more to do and fewer days to do it. Or because your mind is still in vacation mode.

Artomatic Opens Tomorrow!

So here's the 411:

Artomatic opens TOMORROW, Friday, May 29th at noon.

55 M Street, SE, Washington, D.C. 20003

Take Metro, you already know it's going to be easier than parking in D.C. Green line to the Navy Yard stop, go out the exit for the Nats ballpark

Hours throughout the whole show are:

Sunday, Wednesday, Thursday: Noon-10 pm

Friday and Saturday: Noon-1 am

Closed Monday and Tuesday

Admission is always FREE.

You can see where I am from the map below. Second floor, east side of the building, between the elevators and stairs, right down from the ladies room, second wall in. Swing by the lounge, grab a drink and enjoy all the talent throughout the building.

I will be there Friday night for the opening and possibly Saturday and Sunday. I hope to see many familiar faces there!

Building an Art Space

Artomatic opens this Friday! I am filled with excitement and a bit nervous too. Brad and I stopped by the space to put a few finishing touches on my wall last night and I am proud to say that it is done!!! It truly was a team effort between the both of us, I could not have gotten it done without him. So a big, big thank you to Brad :) It's amazing to see how it came together....

Five for Friday

1. I was supposed to have today off of work, but now I find myself sitting in the office trying to get out a press statement on a court case. No rest for those who work on the media team I suppose... :)

2. This week has been an amazing week at work. As you know, I work for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society. While every day is rewarding, this week was rewarding times 500 million. On Tuesday, we flew 15 cancer survivors, some still in active treatment, and their caregivers into Washington, D.C. for two days. These are all people who have suffered severe financial hardships due to their cancer diagnosis, including having to file for bankruptcy and having hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical debt. One of the most inspiring stories for me personally was of Taylor, an 11 year old childhood leukemia survivor, who has reached her lifetime maximum on her parents insurance (the maximum amount your insurance will pay out over your entire life). This means she is going to struggle for the rest of her life to find adequate insurance and treat the side affects from her cancer treatments (like the double hip replacement she needs now in order to be able to properly walk again... too bad insurance won't pay for it). Yet, despite these set backs, she has the most amazing spirit and maturity and was an absolute joy to spend the afternoon with. Watch for her story, and the story of other patients, coming up in the next few weeks on the Today Show. Here's a picture of Taylor that a photographer from United Press International got at our press conference Wednesday afternoon... she's greeting Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro and that's her awesome mom Amy in the background taking a picture:

3. I have had the most random Bowling for Soup (yes, it's a band) song stuck in my head all day. I think it must be on my "commuting mix" on my ipod.

4. It's supposed to be beautiful here in D.C. this weekend. I'm looking forward to a long weekend of BBQ's, hanging out with the hubby and sleeping!

5. Artomatic begins one week from today on Friday, May 29th! I have a few more minor details to take care of and my wall will be done. It is going to be awesome!

Per Mark's request....

Florida vacation photos with sassy commentary :) (Captions are below the pictures)

Ahhhh yes, Friday night, post graduation party. This is a pretty cute photo, although my hair is doing something absolutely crazy.... just a massive amount of frizz going on.

Funny story about Friday night: after leaving our adult beverage establishment, a group of us went for a walk on the beach (along with half of the rest of Fort Lauderdale... apparently it's the "thing to do" there). Anyway, Mark had to use the rest room, so he popped into a CVS to ask to go. Those of us standing outside then saw him pull out his wallet, slam a pack of gum down on the counter and saunter off - clearly, they told him rest rooms were for customers only and made him buy something. Fast forward about 30 minutes, when nature came calling for me. I walked into CVS, smiled sweetly and asked the cashier if I could use the rest room. He handed me the key. Moral of the story: it pays to be a woman sometimes!

Mark and I "reflecting" at the beach. It really looks like we were having a much more deep, meaningful conversation than we were.

Growing up in Tampa, I have always been a sassy Gulf Coast girl. But you know what? The beach in Fort Lauderdale was gorgeous. The sand was soft, the waves were nice (HUGE the day we were there), it wasn't too crowded or touristy. Mark, you have made me an east coast girl - and yes, that's your heel in the lower right hand side :)

"Postcard" shot

Mark beaching and Men's Health-ing

view from lunch

Please excuse the minor male nudity, but there was no way I could leave the picture out. Only my good friend Mark gets ready to go out by brushing his teeth... with Dolce and Gabana sunglasses on :)

Fun night out in South Beach. We later found out that this bar has two locations: one in South Beach, one in DC at 14th and P - small world! That's Gail (Roy's friend who was in town from Gainesville), me and my sunburned right shoulder, Mark and Roy (Mark's friend from the gym)

P.S. my hair is not that big, although it was frizzy from the humidity... it's a shadow from the flash people!

1. I am excited to have this picture. This is the first decent picture (minus the one from my wedding) I have of Mark and I since the summer after our senior year of high school... and, yes, I realize that was nine years ago. Perhaps I can replace the one on my dresser from the last day of tenth grade with this one. Or not :) This picture makes me smile, it was such a great time!

2. Yes Dad, on my right leg is the corner of the Kenneth Cole purse you gave me for my birthday like 50 million years ago - it's my favorite going out bag!

3. A note about my shirt: I bought that shirt while killing time in Express, a store I never shop in, while Brad renewed his driver's license in the Springfield Mall DMV last December. I bought it, knowing it was going to be my "going out in South Beach" shirt, whenever it was that Mark and I were finally able to get a trip together. The Express bag hang off my closet door for months and last Saturday night, it finally made its appearance. And it was great :)

Best of Fort Lauderdale and Miami, Christina style

My favorite new places, based on my recent visit...

Best Gelato: The Gelato Station - freakin' AWESOME gelato, right around the corner from Mark's pad, right across the street from the chinese laundromat where they do Mark's laundry for $.99 per pound. I had super good chocolate peanut butter gelato, that rivaled the mocha flavor I had in Florence.

Best subs: Publix (duh!) - Is there even a competition?

Best dive-y beach bar with a view: Fat Tuesday - I am usually super anti-chain establishment when I'm on vacation. But the great open balcony at Fat Tuesday won my heart. It was so great to sit on a stool, sip a drink, chat and look out over the beach.

Best dive-y breakfast: The Floridian - Great, historic breakfast place we went to in a neat section of Fort Lauderdale. I had a great omelet, although the pancakes the size of your head I saw coming out of the kitchen looked pretty tempting as well!

Best lunch on the beach: Margarita Cantina (yes Mark, that is the real name) - Great atmosphere! We sat on the shaded patio next to a steel drum player, had some amazing crab and artichoke dip and a great blackened mahi sandwich.

Best beach to hang out on day and night: Fort Lauderdale beach - As I said in my last post, this beach really convinced me that nice beaches could be found on the east coast of Florida, something I seriously doubted the entire time I lived there. Great sand, not too touristy, good crowd. Can't complain!

Best brunch with a hilarious menu: Rosie's - We went to Rosie's for brunch on Sunday and had a fabulous time. Their bloody mary's were spicy and perfect. My frittata (a brunch staple for me) was really good as well. However, we have to go back because the french toast looked amazing!

Best South Beach pedestrian mall: Lincoln Road - We hung out on Lincoln Road Saturday night. Despite the fact that we didn't sit down to dinner until 11:15pm (!), the place was packed! Stores that were open had shoppers coming in and out, restaurants had waiting lists and there were lots of people out walking around, even with their kids and dogs. I would like to go back during the day, as it seemed like a great place to shop and hang out.

Best non-sushi food at a sushi restaurant: chicken teriyaki at Sushi Siam - sushi makes me go *ack* so I was relieved to get a plate heaped full of teriyaki chicken and a nice serving of vegetables and rice. If I went back, I'd probably try the thai as well.

Best pedis (aka "I just got married last week, so I guess he's my, eww, husband? Oh, and I'm a runner"): Venetian Nails - Despite the drama queen sitting next to me, Mark and I both got lovely pedicures at this place. They did a great job with my polish and didn't cut my toe nails too short, both important criteria to me for a good pedi. The customer next to me was just too much, but she made for some fun banter back and forth between Mark and me. And the prices couldn't be beat - $25 for a pedi? HELLO!

Best store for fabulous pink paisley bathing suits: Express at the Aventura Mall - I had to throw this in there because even the sales associates were shocked that anyone bought the swim trunks Mark did. But he will be pulling them off fabulously on his cruise!

Buenvenidos a Miami

I'm getting back into the swing of things after spending an absolutely fantastic long weekend hanging out with one of my oldest friends in Miami. Mark and I have known each other since the seventh grade, which means we have to remain friends forever just because of all the incriminating/embarrassing stories we have on each other! We beached, brunched, shopped, napped and socialized. We stayed out late and slept in later. This is the first time we've had any quality hanging out time together in about five years and it was so long overdue. It made me realize that you can't put a price on a friendship like ours and made me so thankful to have people like him in my life.

I snapped the shot below with my point and shoot Friday night in the parking lot of Starbucks.


More pictures to come soon!

I am very proud to announce...

The official launch of Christina Saull Photography!!!

It is a proud, overwhelming, honored feeling to launch a web site that bears my name and my work.

So....

check out my web site: http://www.christinasaullphotography.com/. And bookmark it - I promise to update regularly!

bookmark my blog as well: http://christinasaullphotography.blogspot.com/

become a "fan" on Facebook

if you're in D.C., come check me out at Artomatic (I know you're sick of hearing about it, but it's going to be great!)

Many thanks to all the people who have been incredibly supportive as I have launched this venture, especially Brad, who has been wonderful as always.

Building an art space...

Well, the assembly/pretty-ing up of my wall for Artomatic is going well. A huge, mega shout out to Brad for his incredible help. We basically worked from 7-9pm Thursday night (after a full day of work), 6-9:30pm Friday night (after a full day of work), noon-4pm on Saturday and 1-3:30 Sunday. It is incredibly hot and stuffy in the building (no real a/c working yet), with little air movement, not great lighting (especially considering the gloomy weather we've been having), a lack of cold water and a lot of up and down from a ladder. I'm not complaining, just painting a complete picture.

Anyway, Thursday night we spackled. Friday night we primed. Saturday we painted. Sunday we hung lighting and screwed in baseboards. And you know what? It looks AWESOME. After a mini break, we head back in ten days to hang my actual work.

It's coming together. It really is. And I'm both excited and nervous as all get out.

spackling - complete!

priming up a storm

painting done!B hanging lighting

wall - DONE! ready for some art

Five for Friday

1. Things are going swimmingly with the ol' Artomatic set up. We spackled last night. Tonight we tackle primer. Tomorrow paint. Sunday lighting. Then mini-vacation to Miami to see Mark. Wohoo!

2. More to come, but for now....

3. It is finally sunny out here in D.C., after like a week straight of rain. I don't know how the people in Seattle do it. They have my admiration.

4. I was up on the Hill for a meeting this morning. It is still weird to roam the halls and not work there any more. I also found that it's weird to actually have to pay attention to what is "visitor access" and what isn't. Turns out that staff badge gets you some pretty nice elevators, hallways and short cuts.

5. Brad started working on a project with FEMA this week. He is so happy. I am happy for him. I also think he's the only person in America who WANTS to work for FEMA.

the Tabard Inn Hotel and Restaurant

On our previously mentioned "stay-cation," we stayed at a funky inn in DuPont Circle called the Tabard Inn Hotel. It's also a kick butt restaurant, which we had a fantastic dinner at Friday evening (unfortunately don't have pictures of that, it was a wee bit too dark). Quirky is an understatement in describing this place! Check it out:

a gorgeous church!

Two weekends ago, Brad and I had a "stay-cation" for his birthday. It actually didn't even feel like a "stay-cation," since we pretty much only go into D.C. for work, hardly ever on the weekends (I just can't stand the tourists!) We stayed at a B&B in in the DuPont Circle area. On Sunday, we attended Mass at the cathedral, St. Matthew's. I absolutely adore taking pictures of beautiful churches, so I snuck a few of this gorgeous one.

The plaque where JFK's body rested during his funeral Mass at St. Matthew's. It reads: "Here rested the remains of President Kennedy at the Requiem Mass, November 25, 1963, before their removal to Arlington where they lie in expectation of a heavenly resurrection." Pretty interesting to see. Also, St. Matthew's is where John-John did his famous salute.