people of my parents' generation remember where they were when JFK was assassinated.  people of my generation, sadly, remember where they were during the OJ police chase.  everyone remembers where they were on 9/11. 

i was watching t.v. with my dad, fresh out of the peace corps in malawi, central africa, only five days prior.  i quit the peace corps, due mostly to philosophical reasons, and was still processing my experience as a 23 year-old american girl-woman in what was then the 7th poorest country in the world when i watched the newscasts in utter disbelief.

in order to avoid an image-free post, here's a picture i shot near the village in which i stayed, kambenje, a 45-minute ride, in the back of a pick-up truck, away from the nearest paved road.  talk about isolation!

i'm thankful that there is political hope on the horizon and that adam and i didn't have to make a b-line for canada or mexico. 

that was a long-winded introduction to the inaugural events of tuesday, details of which were surprisingly not super easy to find, so i am posting them here.

regardless of for whom you voted in the election, this is history. 

from http://inaugurationday2009.com/schedule.html:

who were just ENGAGED.  YIPPEE!!!  though it looks like it could have happened at exactly this moment, such is not the case.  adam snagged this basking-in-the-glorious-sunset pre-engagement portrait of the two love birds last week in florida.

this may be my most off-topic post ever, but i stumbled across this super link for mgi home inspection in kansas that gives approximate costs for every type of home repair you can dream up.  holy helpful, batman.

i know we're not the only ones in our circle of friends and clients that live in an ANCIENT house, so i'm guessing maybe someone out there will find it of use.  :-)  happy 130th birthday, casa williams!

not an original post idea, i know, but still an important one worth sharing.  so, here's my 2009 to-do list (a work in progress):

• figure out how to be more of a social entrepreneur and use my business skills to do good things in the world.
• be a better wife.  by that, i mean doing my share of dishes.  just kidding.  mostly.
• eat fewer of these -- seriously, how many of my posts in the last year have mentioned cupcakes?  way too many.  we generally eat healthfully, but butter cream is my mortal enemy.

• make amazing imagery for the awesomest couples in the 'lou on their big days.
• volunteer again.  volunteering has been a huge part of my life to date, but it's been too long.
• shoot a wedding in mexico.  san miguel de allende, anyone?
• shoot at least one same-sex wedding.  adam and i wholeheartedly believe in equal marriage rights and are sad that our state and all of the surrounding ones prohibit gay marriage.
• lunch/coffee with at least four other industry pros.
• mosaic our back porch.
• plan out a garden.
• make jewelry again.
• go to yoga on a regular basis.
• hand-make all of our christmas gifts in 2009.
• make more of an effort to cook from scratch.
• network with other businesses in the city.
• get involved with the benton park neighborhood association.

happy most overrated almost holiday ever! 

by overrated, i am referring to that unspoken pressure to go out and do something cool, expensive and storytellable, so everyone you know doesn't think you're a big dork.  i used to feel that pressure.  i went to a "ball" in my high school prom dress one year (after high school- could still wear the dress, baby.  woohoo!  in fact, if you remember our original blog welcome photo, that strapless bubble skirt number was from 8th or 9th grade.  phew.  bubble skirts are even back.  madness.) 

i went to memphis and was the only sober person on beale street on nye another year.  a few years ago, adam and i went to times square for new year's.  after getting there in the early afternoon and deciding we didn't want to just stand around for hours, we went out galavanting and came back to a MASSIVE security line to get back in.  they stopped letting people in about three people ahead of us after we waited at least a couple of hours.  we ended up having dinner in a cute little restaurant in greenwich village and rang in the new year on the train back to new jersey where my grandma lived.

can't remember any other events i attended to try to make myself feel cool enough to keep on living for the next year.  (note my sarcasm, sometimes lost in cyber-translation.)

my long winded point is that adam and i will be happy to fall asleep way before it's 2009 after stuffing our faces and wii-ifying at our neighbor's house.  two doors down, no driving, no craziness.  we're not cool.  :-)

are you cool?  what are your plans for THE BIG EVE?

in case you are cool, you have options. 

this one, 24/6, tempts even me to put on a sparkly hat and step out of my dorkdom.  the folks at immediacy theatre project will be writing, rehearsing and performing six ten-minute plays in 24 hours over at soulard preservation hall.  doors at 8.  show starts at 9.  15 buckaroos.

there's first night st. louis.  no longer free, apparently, but still a reasonable $4 to enter.
the black and white ball at luminary center for the arts. 
24 hours of yoga at marbles in lafayette square.  thanks to the fabulous tracy lee for enlightening me!  you could head to white flag projects for the tom huck new year's evil party, which sounds quite hilarious.
or you could drop a couple of benjamins at any number of washington ave. clubs, i'm sure.

regardless of what you do, make sure you have a blast but don't drink and drive, please. 

*this message brought to you by the folks at benton park photography co.'s center for social responsibility.*

sounds official, doesn't it?