The Salty Blog

Still Raining

Thursday, July 2, 2009 Posted in family, friends, life

So there are a few things to catch you up on, since the last time I wrote…

No, it has nothing to do with sunshine or anything - don’t be crazy. June has now passed with 30 days of rain, rain, rain. Honestly, even July has sent us packing for the hills of Vermont this 4th of July weekend. I haven’t been on the boat once, but Gary’s been squeezing in some excellent fishing with pals whether rain or shine, daylight or midnight.

Heather was in town from Arizona for the last few weeks, which is always awesome. We managed to hit a couple of our regular spots to catch up and eat ice cream, but the time went fast. Here are her girls playing at Craigville Beach one evening:

The Pashbys came into town one weekend as we also kicked off Emily’s bachelorette weekend in Wellfleet and Provincetown! Drag-queen karaoke is the perfect bachelorette festivity, FYI. Highly recommended. It was great to have a bunch of our friends meet each other that weekend, all cozied around the back deck sharing laughs and that now-so-familiar bottle of Hound Dog iced tea vodka (classy). We also got to meet Otis that weekend, the adopted little boxer brother of Toro Pashby!

In the meantime, a local animal hospital is ordering up about 10 to 12 of my prints in art gallery canvas and they look incredible! Check out the first trial order below, and you’ll see this 30×20″ vision of Brewer above your bed when you visit next. It’s so exciting to see these and to be able to start showing them to clients.

On that note, I dabbled in my first-ever family photo session on the beach for a college friend, and I actually loved it! While I don’t expect to change the business name to ‘Warm’ Nose Photo any time soon, please do spread the word to friends and family that I’m available! Click on the photos to go through to the larger portfolio.

Stay tuned for more photos from last weekend, when Gary, Eric and Jill all ran the Fairfield Half Marathon in Connecticut, and the nieces and nephew had their uncle build them a big sand box in the back yard!

I hope you all have something exciting and dry planned for the holiday weekend ahead!

Tags: beach, cape cod, dog, family, friends, photography

by stacey

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While You Were Out

Tuesday, June 9, 2009 Posted in Uncategorized

So, it was no secret to some of you, but fairly secret to the Internets, that I just spent four cozy days home alone while Gary was off at the Jones Beach and Mansfield Phish shows. He had a rousing great time with his buddies, renting an RV and feasting off of our beloved buffalo wings for approximately 96 hours straight.

But sadly, unless Gary wants to start posting to the blog himself, this post isn’t about hippies and Wal-Mart parking lots.

It was a blissful weekend on Cape Cod! I worked from home and had some great walks with the dogs at nearby conservation areas. I spent a LOT of time on my photography business and was even contacted about two dog sessions and a large border collie event in August! Check out the next stage of the Cold Nose Photo logo:

I went for runs and I rode my bike, but I didn’t do any of the planned yard work because of the insane amounts of mosquitoes in the neighborhood right now! Gah!

The only human contact I had were the lovely ladies encircling Yummy Goods in West Barnstable >HI LADIES!< and an evening out to celebrate Kim’s birthday at Baxter’s on Saturday.

It’s not to say that I don’t love my husband, but it felt really awesome to be so silent and self-scheduled for a few days! I always had things like this to look forward to upon his return:

Sunday night I drove out to Chatham for a photo session with horses! And ducks and chickens and sheep and donkeys… It was so much fun! Here’s one cool shot, but you can check out the rest over at Cold Nose Photo or by clicking through this photo to my Flickr site.

Welcome to the glorious month of June! Happy Birthday to my fellow Geminis!

Tags: cape cod, Cold Nose Photo, friends, horses, photography

by stacey

4 comments

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steph - LOVE your work! And great post!June 9, 2009 - 11:39 am

melissa@yummygoods - hey babe! big love to you, so much fun to have you here. xoxoxoJune 9, 2009 - 11:46 am

Amy - So nice to spend some time at home! I love the new horse photos!June 9, 2009 - 12:06 pm

jess - dude, that photo of Brewer's nether regions is so inappropriate. :)June 9, 2009 - 1:22 pm

Dew Drop

Sunday, June 7, 2009 Posted in Uncategorized

Took the dogs for a long walk at Lowell Holly conservation land in Sandwich, MA today. This has been one of the most serene weekends of my adult life, and I think these photos convey it all.

greenery

Tags: cape cod, Cold Nose Photo, coldnosephoto, conservation, land, photography

by stacey

2 comments

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Carrie Schoenholtz - Very nice Stace. I love path pictures...I realized that this weekend when I was taking a lot of path pictures on our trip...June 7, 2009 - 9:41 pm

While You Were Out | The Salty Blog - [...] was a blissful weekend on Cape Cod! I worked from home and had some great walks with the dogs at nearby conservation areas. I spent a LOT of time on my photography business and [...]June 9, 2009 - 11:27 am

Memorial Day

Monday, May 25, 2009 Posted in friends, life

Gary finished fencing in our back yard this Sunday, which lead to a spontaneous doggy-filled BBQ evening!

You can see the picket fence in the background here, but rest assured there is also wire fencing behind it to keep the four-leggeds on the inside.

I love that everyone’s laughing and happy in this photo:

Tracy’s kids are so incredibly used to having dogs around. Charlie decided to spend some quality alone time with Brewer in the grass.

Sister Michelle thoroughly enjoyed playing in our sandbox… She doesn’t need to know it was actually a veggie garden, to be planted today.

It was soooooo wonderful to be able to hang out with friends, stuff ourselves with food and merriment, and know that our “kids” were having fun nearby. No one was home alone in a crate. Every pup was getting their exercise and socialization. All were laying down, exhausted at the end of the evening. We counted 11 dogs in total!

This morning was another momentus occasion! We woke up, opened the door, and joined the dogs in the yard while sipping coffee! I’m still in my pajamas!

Hope you’re having a wonderful Memorial Day weekend where you are!

Tags: bbq, cape cod, dog, memorial day

by stacey

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Edible Gardening

Wednesday, May 13, 2009 Posted in life

There’s a wildly growing trend of people starting their own vegetable gardens right now. After reading Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle I must say that I myself was sold on the adventure!

We started planting from seeds about eight weeks ago, which means it’s time to start moving these little guys out to the great outdoors. So far we have broccoli, asparagus, hot peppers, sweet peppers, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, spinach and various lettuces growing in the house. Still to come will be brussel sprouts, snap peas, cucumbers, soy beans and potentially more!

In order to give our new veggies the best sun in the back yard, Gary and I moved the shed about 30 feet to the back of our yard. Here are the three 4×8′ raised beds that we built this weekend!

While we’re at it… Gary and I were also down in Barrington, RI this weekend to help out with the renovations to the home Gary grew up in before moving to Vermont at age 11. We snatched up (with heavy shoveling) a ton of hostas from the yard and replanted them in ours.

Here’s a look at the stone wall and landscaping Gary has endeavored on to the left of our driveway:

What have you been up to in your own yard? Want to start a veggie garden of your own but have no idea where to start? First, there is an endless amount of information for free on the Internet or for a quick $12 bucks at Amazon. But for a quick fix in Eastern MA try Jennifer at The Edible Yard. Better hurry!

Tags: cape cod, garden, vegetables, veggie

by stacey

1 comment

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Amy - What a great setup! I need to build another raised bed. One square was good last year, but I have so many plants this year they're in containers and it's kind of a mess. That Edible Yard group sounds really interesting... I see they have apprenticeships available... so tempting, so tempting. :)May 23, 2009 - 9:03 am

Make it Happen

Tuesday, May 12, 2009 Posted in life

Business cards arrived this week! I know I’ve made it big when I can’t keep up with ordering just 50 cards each time. I went with 200 this time, and they were printed from Moo.com’s new U.S. headquarters in Providence, MA! You’ll also see postcards in the background that I recently designed and mailed to local businesses.

This month marks the one year anniversary of when I started Cold Nose Photo!!

A year ago I was a few months into having my fancy, schmancy new digital SLR camera, and about a month into living with the most photogenic mutt I’ve ever met. I had never heard of or researched the idea of pet photography. I don’t even know how I stumbled to her site, but the first photographer I encountered was Grace Chon of Shine Pet Photos on the West Coast. Whoa. I stopped in my tracks. Amaaaazing stuff.

Being as impulsive as I am, and being currently involved in Wordpress training at work, I mocked up a quick site, borrowing too much from Grace’s at the time. But that very night I set to truly working on the site, researching this incredible industry and developing my own goals and ‘personality’ over the next 12 months.

I don’t really recommend this approach – I think it’s much more respectable to spend time dreaming and cultivating, and really working toward delivering the very best of yourself once you’re ready. Write some things down, share with your friends and family, check out peers/competitors around you and get excited - and then launch a web and marketing effort. I only began marketing myself in earnest with the start of 2009. I needed that time to really know who I was, what I was willing to give this new dream, and what I hoped it would give me.

Looking back over the year, I’m extremely proud of where I am today. I get regular practice and snuggles from the dogs at the Animal Rescue League of Brewster, MA, and I have prints going up in two of the Cape’s largest animal hospitals this spring. With an average of 40+ hits a day, more people are commenting on my blog, and it’s exciting to receive compliments via Twitter. My new photo project, Dogs of Cape Cod, just launched. I’ve had strangers on the Cape even tell me they’ve heard about me, which is really a funny thing actually. 74 of you gorgeous people have even become fans of the Cold Nose Photo Facebook page!

I won’t be quitting my day job any time soon, but Cold Nose Photo is what I identify myself with when I wake up in the morning (after first rolling over to identify myself as Gary’s wife, Bromley’s trusted guardian and Brewer’s tennis-ball holder). It always makes me smile to think, “hey, I’m a pet photographer.” It’s creative and fulfilling. I work longer and harder than any other job I’ve had working for other people. I’m downright happy, in this and in other aspects of my life, because I’m doing something that I love.

I encourage you, my friends and family, to think about the kinds of things that make you most happy. You don’t have to give up your full-time salary in order to follow your dream. Start small, be inspired. Maybe you’re already doing it - painting, writing, throwing pottery, sewing, gardening, fishing, singing in the shower… How can you start to share your talents with others in your community?

Tags: cape cod, cat, dog, dream job, photography

by stacey

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Driving at Dawn

Tuesday, May 5, 2009 Posted in friends

We headed north to Vermont this past weekend, both to visit our friends Rich & Sarah in Waitsfield and so the boys could attend their franternity’s annual Pig Dinner event. Mike & Peg came from Connecticut to join us as well.

The girls - myself, Sarah and Hannah - went off for about an 18- mile bike ride through the hills of Waitsfield and Warren. Sarah’s doing amazing, after having knee surgery just a couple of months ago! When we passed a tractor bringing hay down the road, I thought “this is a Vermont bike ride.” Little did I know, just a few miles down the road, we would be pedaling for our lives away from a galloping bull in rut!

(okay, maybe not for our lives, per se, but he really was chasing us down and breaking what was left of the fence!)

We had a great time walking around Church Street in Burlington on Sunday, meeting up with Dave & Leslie. The weather was warm enough for margaritas outside at Halverson’s, but one of those days when you put your coat back on and take it off again a million times. Either way, the afternoon set the mood for us to - yet again - bail on leaving town that night. We left at 4am Monday instead, and I was at the office by 7:30am. Well worth it!

Rich & Sarah smirking on Church Street:

Among us all weekend were four dogs, one cat, one adorable 8-week old puppy, and this little guy, Theo:

Tags: burlington, friends, vermont, waitsfield

by stacey

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Spring is Springing

Tuesday, April 28, 2009 Posted in Uncategorized

Good morning, friends! Apologies for my absence lately, but the whole 90-degrees-in-April thing has kept me kinda daydreaming…

I went for a long, leisurely drive home along 6A on Friday afternoon after visiting the Animal Rescue League of Brewster. I stopped to look at flowers, antiques and even a couple of the libraries now that I’m officially a card-carrying member again (shout out to Earth Day!)

Check out the pretty flowers I found!

And the old wooden boxes!

On Sunday afternoon, we spontaneously hopped in Kevin & Danielle’s boat and drifted over to the Vineyard for some apps and cocktails. Sounds luxurious, doesn’t it? I was so excited for the amount of DOGS that seemed to conglomerate around the one waterfront bar that was open! I was snapping away with the camera - a perfect time to launch my new website!

Are you ready?? Click the screenshot for more, and please join the fun! Weeeeeeeee!

Tags: cape cod, Cold Nose Photo, dog, dogs of cape cod, flowers, photography, route 6a, spring

by stacey

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What Would You Do?

Friday, April 17, 2009 Posted in life

In these “tough economic times”, I’m fortunate to have a great job at a great marketing agency. But we’re managing struggles as well, and that includes the requirement that we each take one unpaid day off each month - called furlough.

So you can take that approximately 5% decrease in your annual salary, and you can sulk about not being able to eat out at restaurants as often as you did before. Or you can look at the fact that you just gained EIGHT hours to yourself every month (or 11 if you commute like I do!). A whole day to get out in the great outdoors, to donate your time to a favorite cause, to learn a new skill you’ve been thinking about, or to simply do nothing and relax!

What did I decide to use that time for? Well, you know my pet photography is a huge source of enjoyment and fulfillment for me, and you *know* how I feel about shelter dogs. I’ve done one-off shelter photography for a while now, but most places prefer you come in on a slower weekday to spend time with the dogs. So that’s what I’m doing! I’ve decided to split my furlough day in half and spend four hours every-other Friday with the animals at the Animal Rescue League of Brewster.

You can see photos of my first trip here and here. These photos will be used to boost the dog’s profiles and visibility, and of course I’ll be sharing them over at my photography blog and through an upcoming web project launching soon. Maybe you’ll consider bringing one of this little furballs home with YOU someday!

Tags: adoption, dog, furlough, photography, rescue, shelter

by stacey

3 comments

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Judy McCleery - I am fortunate to get paid to do PR for my Town's animal shelter-if only they would take my advice--(but that's another post)so I don't have to choose at this point. It's hard to say which is more important-socializing the dogs or promoting them for adoption. At least when you are photographing them, you are spending time with them too. Your photos are just beautiful. I know I've said it before, but that alone should go a long way in getting the dogs into their forever homes.April 17, 2009 - 2:55 pm

Carrie Schoenholtz - I've had my own self-imposed furlough since returning to work and having 8-10 "extra" hours per week with my munchkin is worth every penny I "lose". Enjoy every minute Stace.April 19, 2009 - 1:07 am

carol rice - what a great outlook and a wonderful way to spend your friday afternoons. your pictures are so beautiful, i feel sure you will do wonders for those dogsMay 4, 2009 - 7:40 pm