Emmy award-winning photographer Robert Trachtenberg presents today's playfully "macho" coffee-table collection of 100 modern (and cheeky) portraits of men including Channing Tatum, Neil Patrick Harris, Stephen Colbert, and more.

James Van der Beek in a state of undress; Mark Wahlberg arm-wrestling his son; Channing Tatum bromancing with friends in the park. These are the portraits of today's tongue-in-cheek masculinity, as conceived by Emmy Award-winning director and photographer Robert Trachtenberg. Red-Blooded American Male presents 100 of his most imaginative, striking, and unconventionally sexy portraits of both celebrities and regular guys going about their thoroughly modern lives. No longer do men have to be serious businessmen or hunky firefighters to be deemed attractive--they can also ride tricycles and get pedicures. Revealing a surprising (and often self-deprecating) side to Mel Brooks, Seth Rogan, Jimmy Fallon, Jerry Seinfeld, Jon Hamm, Conan O'Brien, and more, this gorgeous coffee-table book features an introduction about male images and stereotypes plus pithy captions about each photo's shoot, giving readers a peek behind the curtain of a famed portrait photographer's creative process.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Every so often you come across a book and you just plain fall in love with it. That's exactly what happened the moment I opened up Red-Blooded American Male.  The photographs are amazing and I just love the descriptions that go along with the photos. The part that I like the best? The life that's in each and every photo. It takes an amazing photographer to draw out in these celebrities what Robert Trachtenberg drew out. I could probably go on all dang day about how amazing this book is if a) you love photography b) you love celebrities c) you love both or d) you have a goals of becoming a celebrity stalker. No wait, scratch d. Don't become a stalker. Go buy this book and admire these amazing people and the amazing talent of this amazing photographer from your favorite snuggly spot.




I received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. All thoughts, comments, and opinions are my own.
If you like what you've read here, please share it with others using these buttons:

I know! I know! It's October! None of us want to hear about Holiday Cards, yet! Well, believe it or not, while some of us are cringing at the Santa Claus' in the stores, others are already planning out their holiday cards. They're browsing through all of the options and planning their family photos.

No matter which category you fall in, you cannot deny that Shutterfly has some of the greatest card choices for making personalized holiday cards. Every single year, I go there and I look through them, wishing that this year I had just a little extra money so that I could send out something like this instead of my dollar store selections. Do you guys feel the same way? If so, I have a bit of a treat for you...are you ready? How would you like the opportunity to win $50 off an order from Shutterfly? Now, I warn you that it won't include shipping and cannot be combined with other offers, but still, that's pretty awesome, right? I just love being able to bring things like this to you! Check out the Rafflecopter below and once you're done, why not browse the site a little and maybe even pick up a little something off their Special Offers page?


a Rafflecopter giveaway


This post brought to you by Shutterfly. All content is 100% mine because I wrote it. ) 

If you like what you've read here, please share it with others using these buttons:

Last week was our 2nd annual camping trip. I have to say that it was yet another fantastic time. With my life being so up in the air sometimes, it's just plain wonderful to have something that you just know is going to be amazing. Honestly, I'm already looking forward to next year's trip and that time spent with my family. Those that I consider family are a rather small group but I cannot imagine my life without them and any time that I get to take my boys and share new places with them is the highlight of any period of time.  Here are a few of the pictures that I took while we were gone:








If you like what you've read here, please share it with others using these buttons:

Woo! Four posts already this week. I am loving it! I guess there's a certain bonus to my body deciding it needs to wake up early this week. I'll take advantage of that for as long as it lasts!

Now, remember how I told you that I brought back a *ton* of items that I'll be reviewing over the next few months? Today's picture is to show you approximately just how much that is. I snapped these the other day to give y'all an idea. Ready? Here goes:



Check that out! Now, a couple of those I won't be reviewing. Like, Ursa Minor because that's just the preview book and I've already reviewed the first issue. A few others, my 11 year old Roger will actually be reviewing. The rest? That's all on me! I've already started reading what will be the first review and so far, it's really good. So, sit back, relax and be prepared to see one heck of a lot of reviews coming your way!




If you like what you've read here, please share it with others using these buttons:

It's Wednesday and that means one of my favorite posts of the week! I admit that I'm still not into the habit of taking pictures on a regular basis, but I did happen to snap some this past week.


This is Peter, Megan (his new girlfriend) and Ben at last Friday night's hockey game. Sadly, the Spartans won (they were playing LSSU where I went to school) but a great time was had by all. I have to say that it's nice to do things as a family "group" versus an us and them attitude.



If you like what you've read here, please share it with others using these buttons:

I don't think I've done one of these in a while and it's one of the topics I've missed the most. Sadly, I haven't taken any super awesome pictures this past week. That's really something I need to change. I've gotten back into the habit of carrying my camera everywhere, but I haven't stopped to take any photos in a while.

So, while I don't have anything super awesome, I do have a picture. I present to you...Butterflies as colored by me. I posted this on Facebook in an "art exchange" between Kate and myself.






If you like what you've read here, please share it with others using these buttons:

Wordless Wednesday, or in my case (almost) Wordless Wednesday has always been one of my favorite posts each week. It's one that I really want to get back to doing. I haven't been using my camera near enough the last few months. In fact, I somehow even forgot to take it to Thanksgiving. I was so upset! I'd have loved to have gotten some pictures of our family, our table and even some of our Black Friday adventures. Sadly, I didn't though. What I did do was to wander outside tonight to put down some ice melt and decided to share with all of you the wonder that met my eyes...




If you like what you've read here, please share it with others using these buttons:

This is my grandmother. I think this picture is about 3 years old now but it's the most recent one of her that I could find in my files. I need to take a few more. You see, my grandmother has cancer and it's inoperable. Nobody knows how much time we have left with her...so I'll be enjoying every moment that we do have....






If you like what you've read here, please share it with others using these buttons:

He's growing up so fast. Every time I look at him, I see more young man and less little boy. Sometimes I wish he'd just slow down a little bit but all the time, I'm incredibly proud of the young man he's becoming.



If you like what you've read here, please share it with others using these buttons:

It's Tuesday and it's already shaping up to be one of those days. It turns out that Peter is home and so I don't have to go into town today. I feel a bit at a loss. I've gotten pretty used to not spending my day at home. That's ok though. I'm going to take the chance to put together a new bookshelf that I purchased and continue with my goal of organization and simplification for this year. Nothing like an organizational project to put a smile on this girls' face. :) See? There it is...right there...a smile...hehe

So, how did all of you do on last week's project? It was a fairly simple one. You just had to find that junk/miscellaneous stuff drawer that we all tend to have and get it cleaned and sorted. I did mine this morning and ended up tossing out a bunch of stuff and tossing a bunch of other stuff into a freecycle bag. Now I can actually open and close the drawer without anything getting stuck!


Look at all that free space! The only thing missing from it is the other turkey hook (I have no idea where that wandered off to.) and my mandolin (which last time I tried using, I couldn't get it to work. It's probably user error though.). Those will both fit easily in there with plenty of room to spare. I love it!

This week's challenge is going to be just as easy. We're going to go back through the 7 weeks and make sure those areas are still looking nice and spiffy. If you've kept up on them, this challenge shouldn't take you more than 15-20 minutes throughout the course of the week.  Just in case you've forgotten or if you're brand new here, here are the areas we've tackled so far:

Week 1: Kitchen table or other dumping ground
Week 2: Bedside Table
Week 3: Top of the Entertainment Center
Week 4: Laundry Area (not the entire room, just your washer/dryer & any shelves above)
Week 5: Fridge Door (Interior)
Week 6: Fridge Shelves
Week 7: Junk Drawer

Don't forget, I'll be doing these right along with you. I know a couple of mine are going to need a wipe down and pick me up. That's ok. That's part of regular maintenance. Our goal is to declutter and reclaim space, not perfection. Now, let's get to it!



New to Tackle It Tuesday - Clean Life, Clean Home Challenge? Don't worry! Just jump into this week's challenge. Be sure to come back and post your blog links to celebrate your progress and achievement!

If you like what you've read here, please share it with others using these buttons:

Ahh...Wednesday..the middle of the work week for most and the middle of my picking kids up from school week. I love being able to do that now but wow, it has goofed up my schedule and I am still working at putting it back together. It probably doesn't help that I've now become a bit of a workout junkie (trust me, on a small scale) and have gone from working out once or twice a week to up to five times. In fact, once I hit publish on this post, that's right where I'm headed. Insane, isn't it?

Now, one of the bonuses of driving into town every day is that for the past few weeks, every time I've passed this one section of road, there have been anywhere from 6 to 20 deer eating in this field. Sadly, now that the snow has melted, I haven't really seen them. One day, I couldn't resist and I stood by the side of the road taking pictures. They're not the best because you can only get so close to deer before they bolt.  However, I did take this picture and I think it works great for the nature theme over at Sunday Shutterbugs.


Have a great Wednesday all! I'm off to see what EA Sports Active 2 has in store for me today.



If you like what you've read here, please share it with others using these buttons:

It's Tuesday and I'm back! Did y'all miss me? It's been a rough few weeks but I'm back. I'm 100% well but I'm one heck of a lot better. This is going to be a quick post because I need to get out the door to get my kiddos. So, here we go...

Does anyone remember that we were working on cleaning out the fridge? Well, here's mine (after I filled it up with deliciousness last night):


It's not perfect but it sure is one heck of a lot better! How did you guys do on that? If you got it done, make sure you leave me a link to check out so I can give you some comment love! Plus, cleaning is more fun when you do it with friends.

Now, for this week, I'm keeping it simple. I want you to do one drawer. For me, it's going to be this kitchen drawer here:

It's not really a junk drawer. It's all kitchen items. I just don't remember what the heck is in there anymore. That means it's time for a clean out and most likely a serious purge. If I don't remember having it in there, chances are I haven't used it in the 2 years or so since I put it in there!

That's it for me for today. It's another crazy busy day and I need to scoot! Let me know how y'all do! You know I care!



New to Tackle It Tuesday - Clean Life, Clean Home Challenge? Don't worry! Just jump into this week's challenge. Be sure to come back and post your blog links to celebrate your progress and achievement!

If you like what you've read here, please share it with others using these buttons:

Ahh, Wednesday...The middle of the week...and as usual, a day that I feel a bit meh about. I'm so much more of a Monday or Friday kinda gal. Wednesday's rarely bring anything special or exciting. Of course, now that I've said that, we all know that from now on Wednesdays will start being frantic or something along those lines.

Oh wait, Wednesdays always bring this post so how can I complain? This is actually one of my favorite posts of the week and every since the girls announced that the February theme was Red, I've been seeing red everywhere! In fact, I actually stopped on the side of the road, yesterday, to take this picture:


Have a great Wednesday, everyone! Find something that makes you smile!


If you like what you've read here, please share it with others using these buttons:

Oh my gosh, I am tired today! I don't know if it's because I had at least one weird, disturbing dream last night that broke up my sleep or if it's because I was so dang active yesterday! For those who don't know, I'm on a weight loss journey (blogged at Welcoming Weight Loss) and I worked out for the first time yesterday.  All I know is that man, I am tired today! I have a dozen things open that I should be working on but as soon as I get them open, I forget what I'm doing with them! Sheesh!

I did, however, remember to get my last Shapes picture taken for the Sunday Shutterbugs challenge. Believe it or not, I actually opened up the top of my bedroom window yesterday and snapped this picture. If I can remember long enough, I'm going to do the same thing today to get an after the "blizzard" shot. Blizzard is in quotes because we got a lame 14" of snow, not the 2 feet they claimed we were going to get. Granted, it blew everywhere (including in my back door) but they were all dramatic about the amounts and I totally feel let down.


Oh, one last request before I hit post and try to remember the next thing on my list....I love comments. Oh my gosh, how I love comments but please tell me how you found the blog if you're a new reader. I had a lovely lady leave me a comment on a past post and she said she was from abc (random letters inserted here) and I felt horrible because I can't figure out where she found me or what group she's from!

Thanks all!


If you like what you've read here, please share it with others using these buttons:

Another Wednesday and I've survived it. That sounds awfully dramatic, doesn't it? I had a bit of a tough day but survived is an awfully strong word. I guess it's true though, huh? I mean if I hadn't survived, it means I died or something and that certainly didn't happen.

So, what's wrong? Nothing really. Money is always a struggle and today is no different. We had a bill that came up that was unexpected and of course, comes at a bad time. Then again, when is a good time for an unexpected bill? We'll manage somehow. We always do. Someone always seems to be looking out for us.

Now, who is ready for this week's photo? The theme over at Sunday Shutterbugs is still Shapes. I think we have one more week left. I actually took this picture about 30 minutes ago and while I had a hard time getting a really good picture, I really like the concept I was going for.







If you like what you've read here, please share it with others using these buttons:

Last week, I was early. This week, I'm late. I do have a good reason though. Yesterday, I had to go to the dentist to have my permanent crown put on and my jaw was not as appreciative to have it done as my mind was. I do have pictures though. I do. I do.

I did it, folks. I applied to graduate school. I actually mailed out the paperwork about 10 days ago, which means I only have about 20 more days to go until I find out if they accepted me or not. Surprisingly, I'm not at all stressed out about what might happen. I know that before I posted about how afraid I was. In fact, I want to thank those of you who left me encouraging comments. It helped a lot. At this point, while I'd be thrilled if they said yes, I'm ok if they say no. It just means that something better is out there for me and maybe I'm not meant to do this right now. I guess we'll know in 20 days or so, huh? Until then, here are my photos for Shapes for this week.



The deadline was January 15th and this shows that they received it on January 11th. So, what pictures have you taken this week and have you shared them over at Sunday Shutterbugs yet?


If you like what you've read here, please share it with others using these buttons: