Duo of Magical Tales

We're about to mail out Children's Community Theater's DVD's and photos from last month's production of "Duo of Magical Tales".  This was a retelling of two of my favorite fairytales: Cinderella and Aladdin!  The performance was magical, and I could not believe the tremendous talent of some of the young actors!

Before I transfered to film school, I minored in theater for two years at NIU.  It was wonderful to be back at the O'Connell Theater after so many years!  The smell of sawdust from set construction instantly transported me back 10 years!  I can't wait for CCT's next productions coming soon!

(My daughter Beth celebrates her 4th birthday soon.  One of her presents was enrolling her in a tot acting class at the Bartlett Park District.  She loves playing dress up and pretending she's a princess, so now she can make some friends and act out fairy tales at the same time.  She'll be in heaven!)

Amy & Joe Wedding Completed!

We just mailed Amy and Joe their edited wedding movies.  Their reception was at Janosik, a Polish banquet hall in Hickory Hills, and it was one of the most fun receptions that I've been to in quite a while.  Stolat!

I was so excited when I saw drawings that Amy's preschool students made at the guest sign-in table.  The drawings were of what each child envisioned seeing when thinking about weddings, (cake, dancing, flowers, etc) so we incorporated these drawings into the highlights reel to make their wedding recap a bit extra special!  I love seeking out those little touches that make each video that much more personalized and unique!

L's photos

A friend from high school saw some of my personal photos on Facebook and inquired whether I also did photography as part of my Adore Video business.  Her son L is an adorable bundle of energy!  I had a great time trying to keep up with him, both inside and outside!  Here's a couple of my favorites!

Right now, I am accepting photography requests from real-life acquaintances only.  I'm enjoying my new hobby and my skills are getting stronger in photography, but I still want to keep video the main focus of my professional business.  That said, let me know if you'd like to book a session! :)

Project New Ingredient: Brussels Sprouts

Welcome to the first installment of Project New Ingredient.  Each week I shall try to find an ingredient that our family does not use often, search for a yummy recipe for it, and photography it along the way.  This should stretch my culinary and photographic skills, and hopefully get my kids to try new things!

My first recipe of choice is...drum roll please...

Brussels Sprouts!!!

Yeah, I know what you're thinking, ewww, I thought that as well.  But the girls actually tried it at my mom's house a couple weeks ago and really liked it, so I thought I should give it a shot!

I found the following recipe here

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Balsamic, Parmesan and Pine Nuts

1 lb brussels sprouts, trimmed and quartered

2 T Olive oil

1 T Balsamic vinegar

1 1/2 T Parmesan cheese 

1 T Pine nuts, toasted

Preheat oven to 450.  Trim and quarter sprouts.  Toss in bowl with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Cover roasting pan with foil & spray with non-stick spray.  Arrange sprouts on single layer in roasting pan and roast 20 minutes, turning occasionally, or until sprouts are slightly crisp and golden brown on edges.  

When sprouts are nearly done, toast pine nuts in a dry pan about 2-3 minutes, until barely golden.  Put sprouts into mixing bowl and toss with Parmesan cheese.  Arrange on serving plate and sprinkle with pine nuts.  Serve hot.

Well, mine cooked about 2 minutes too long, I think, so I don't have a pretty "after" picture, but they did taste really good!   I laid them on top of a bed of rice made with chicken broth and served with Teriyaki chicken.  The girls asked for 2nds!!!  (note: Clara has a dairy allergy, so we skipped the Parmesan, but I bet it would have been reeeally good!)

Next week's Project New Ingredient will be: Pomegranate!

1 Year Old Photo Shoot

My friend and her son came over for a playdate last week, and since he was about to turn one, I jumped on the chance to take some pictures of him!

NIU Wedding Expo!

Mike and I were vendors at the NIU wedding expo on Sunday, January 4th.  It seemed to be a pretty  good turnout with probably at least 200 brides in attendance.  We haven't done a wedding expo in about 3 years since word of mouth referrals have been so fantastic!  But with the economy the way it is right now, we're a little worried that brides might cut video from their budget. (Don't do it!!!)  But everyone who visited our booth seemed to enjoy the video on display, and were excited about the Free Montage raffle! 

We even ran into an Adore bride who was also a vendor at the show!

This is Jodi earlier in the year:

And now she also sells jewelry that make beautiful and unique gifts for bridesmaids or for yourself!  See her jewelry at: www.mysilpada.com/jodi.stahl

Gray is the new brown

I had a pretty bad night last night: kids having tantrums and gleefully watching my reactions, hubby late from work, all of us sick with a bronchial cough, awake 21 hours straight.  You know.  The usual.  Not even a Berry Weiss, half a bag of chocolate chips and watching Ace of Cakes (I heart Geof) could pull me out of my funk.

But something this morning gave me pause and put things into perspective.  What was it that happened?  An epiphany?  no.  Life-changing or near-death experience?  Nah. 

It was... (insert dramatic music here)  

My...First...Gray...Hair!!!

Sigh.  It has begun.  But wait!  What if I don't accept said gray hair?  I'm not even 30 until September!!!  I reject you evil melanin-less sign of th

ings to come!!!  

Don't know about melanin?  Learn about the graying process- as explained to kids- here

I was totally fine with turning 30 soon...it's just another day (and like I always say: Birthdays have been downhill for me since I stopped receiving Barbies as presents!) but this bitter pill of mortality is a little harder for me to swallow.

Actually, thinking back, I remember seeing a gray hair on my head 1 year, 11 months and 2 days ago.  (that was strangely specific, wasn't it?)  I remember it so well because it was the day that I gave birth to Clara.  We went to the hospital to get induced and as I was putting on the hospital gown I saw the offending gray hair mocking me in th

e mirror.  I though "Oh boy, this must be a sign that this kid is going to give me trouble!"  Luckily she's proved me wrong, and I quickly forgot about the gray offender as it mysteriously vanished into thin (h)air.  ;)

Fast-forward 701 days and here we are again.  Kids/stress/genes/etc.  Whatever the cause, I'll have to embrace it soon.  Maybe after a couple feeble attempts at tweezing perhaps, but I guess it's all a part of growing up.  I survived the Barbie thing, after all.