m•o•m : stitch

mother's day and photography

mother's day will be upon us before you know it -only 7 weeks away.

i'm not sure you noticed the new page we added to the blog called photographs a while ago (it's on the righthand side bar). it was my attempt to quietly and sheepishly put my work out there. i didn't say anything about shooting again, i was just adding images every now and then to show you what i see and what i create (outside of m•o•m).

well it's time for me to really put myself out there (complete self-doubt as i type that -must force myself continue and not delete -i am worth persuing what i want)... sorry, mini-therapy session going on right there. okay finished, i'm back.

so... i take pictures. i used to take lots of pictures and then i stopped. i want to do it again. suddenly i have ideas, new ideas for me, i am daydreaming again about photography. it feels both good and scary.

images of children, mother + child, the whole family, siblings, dad + kids, or how about mom on her own -any of these would be a great gift for mom.

my photos are a bit different, so look them over to see if my style suits you. i love to shoot with film, medium format specifically, but of course i also shoot digitally. the last image in the post (of my late dog stella) is expired 4x5 polaroid film -it's perfect, flaws and all!

if my work is your cup of tea, shoot me a line at bethanyjensenATmacDOTcom so we can talk about working together.
thanks a mill.

 

what do you think?

tomorrow, sunday january 22nd our extended family is having it's christmas. we couldn't get our acts together in december -too many performers, athletes, and jobs that get busy that time of year.

in our family, all kids under 18 gets gifts from everyone. once you're 18 you join the grown-ups and we each just buy one gift. we play that fun game where every person gets a number and starting with #1 they choose a gift then #2 can either choose a new gift or steal #1's - you know what i mean right? it's actually a lot of fun... if people take from others!

our rule is that the gifts stay around $25 -makes it easy on everyone. there is usually some good beer or wine. and of course there is that one awful gift that gets recycled every few years. one year the gift i brought was a 24 pack of toilet paper, boy was that a popular gift! lot's of stealing with that one.

this year, at moms suggestion, i'm going to do something different. i've decided to offer a small photo session with me. obviously this gift is worth more than $25, but i think mom was right, it will help me get back in the saddle as it were.
so what do you think? will my family fight over this one?

i don't think anyone in our family reads this blog regularly, so no sweat in letting my gift out of the bag a day early (fingers crossed!)

it's december 13th already!

what's been going on at m•o•m? ...a photo essay

look at this cutie-pa-tootie in his Cool Tie!

sometimes being a grown-up is the best: brownie for breakfast

we started decorating for Chirstmas.

i took a self-portait while having breakfast at one of my favorite cafés in los angeles: café figaro

we've made the natalie pinafore in the softest red plaid flannel.

the sweetie pie purse is back! we've got three of them. they're in the shop and online.

the Christmas lights are in place!

i had a birthday and mom got me these awesome day-glo pink daisies and a fabulous handmade card by fern&feather.

oh and this happened....
i became engaged! my boyfrined of almost two years proposed on my birthday. and i said yes!

yay!

so far december is great!

• online stores •
Clothing: our online shop for girls clothing and accessories is full of handmade goodness, take a look.
Jewelry: we're having a sale on all Antoinette jewlery; use code WinterSale to receive 25% off your purchase.
Decor: shop our handmade rugs and garlands.

instagram: mom42ndandorange
pinterest

 

hello february, glad you're here

So happy to welcome the second month of the year because man, January was a tough month -well the last half of it at least.
In November, a few days before Thanksgiving, I got a call from Xina, my best friend from high school, she had been diagnosed with stage 4 stomach cancer. I was in shock, to say the least. She's 43 years old, how does this happen? Xina spent most of December in the hospital (her birthday and Christmas) and New Years Eve.
Another friend and I made plans to visit Xina in Brooklyn at the end of January. By Jan. 10th we were asked to visit sooner as Xina wasn't doing well. Flights and hotel reservations were changed and we anxiously awaited our departure date. We didn't make it. Xina died Sunday January 16th at the age of 44, less than two months after being diagnosed. I still can't believe it, and writing that sentence is just crazy.
Xina and I met on our first day of behind-the-wheel drivers training. I don't exactly remember, but I'm sure she said something outrageous, I laughed, and we were instant friends. Throughout high school, Xina had me singing to Chaka Khan, dancing at Club Zu, and staying out really, really late. What I gave her was a friendly ear, quiet moments, and a shoulder to lean on. Later in life she would refer to me as, "the voice of reason." 
She will always be in my heart.

Here we are at Xina's 22nd birthday party in '89.

This is Xina's senior picture. Her hair was awesome back then, She had a mohawk, a-la Annabella Lwin from Bow Wow Wow.

On my personal facebook page I've been sharing a few Xina memories, here are a few favorites.
Memory #12: On one of Xina's first visits to my home when we were in high school, my mother happened to be making brownies -from scratch, not a box. Xina couldn't believe it; she had never had homemade brownies. She later dubbed my mom, "the brownie queen of Cardiff."
A few years ago Xina graduated from The Culinary Institute in NYC. She regularly called on my mother for advice on techniques and recipes and she would always say something about those brownies.

Memory #3: A very proud moment for me whas the first time Xina said, "You gotta lotta soul for a white girl."

We knew all the words to this song and would sing it out while driving home from school. Thank God for good memories!

Get your '80s on. Turn up the volume and sing out loud! That's what Xina and I would do.

first week down

can you believe 7 days have already passed by? i would like everything to slow down just a bit. plus i came down with a cold yesterday (can you belive that, 6 days into the new year and i'm already down), so i'm moving particularly slow.
enjoy this first weekend of the new decade. i'm looking forward to a few days of sunshine, in a row, myself.
sunday, we're celebrating Christmas with our extended family (Dec. was too busy for everyone!) -more food and more laughter please.

mobile portraits

last month i set up an outdoor portrait studio at the market place at magnolia creek & co. atelier. it was fun.

the sandwich in her hand kills me.


i even got some grown-ups to get in on the fun.

this little girl was a rock star, she kept playing the fairy wand like it was a guitar.

three generations.

this was a lot of fun. i hope we get a chance to do it again.

memories

i've been spending some time down in san diego lately, specifically the north park area. before mom and i moved up to cardiff when i was 8 years-old, we lived in the north park and city heights area's. as i've mentioned in the past, my grandmother's house is on the corner of 42nd st. and orange ave in city heights (thus our URL: 42ndandorange.com). being down there and seeing street names that i remember tempted me to open up old photo albums.

here's a little glimpse from way back when.

that's my mom, the little one with the dark curly hair. next to her is sr. bertina, one of the 3 nuns in our family (my grandmother's sisters). 

mom. love her dress!

and here i am with sister bertina, it's probably late 1967. we're standing in the front yard of my grandmother's house and that's the catholic church behind us.

me, mom and friends. this is in north park and i'm 1 1/2 yrs old. i'm diggin' on the guys mustaches and their plain white t-shirts.

this is the best photo. what a crew.
when i would look at this photo as a kid, i always thought these guys were old. my mom just told me they were probably 20-25yrs old.

hello cutie pie! mom showing off her pretty dress.

mom and i in front of the garage at nanny's (my grandmother). love how we're both wearing stripes and yellow.

mom lookin' fine in her awesome cowboy hat.
i've always loved the shoes and socks kids wore back then.

me, looking like a little boy and that's my cat, lightnin'. check out my dirty face; it looks like i really enjoyed a chocolate ice cream.

grilled cheese makes everything okay.

bedtime for mom.

stylin'! mom and her prom date. mom's older sister pam made her dress, i think.

beauty school days; playing with hair color.

aw yea...red glitter banana seat bicycle. i'm probably 6 or 7 years old here.

mom as a blonde with our two cats, cheese and lightnin'.

lightnin' and cheese

hope this wasn't too boring for you.
perhaps you can see how our design's and fabric choices are influenced a lot by the 70's. have a great week.

a big deal

stella turned 14 on the 10th; she is currently asleep on her bed which is just where a 14 year-old dog should be.

she got a sweet treat, which she loved; and bath which she didn't love. her picture was taken, which was okay because that meant the treat was imminent.

here she is in her birthday finest. note anticipation on face, her treat was being held above my head.

devouring birthday treat

i tried to get a photo of her grabbing the cookie but she was too fast.

"is that it? there has to be more?"

14 years ago i brought stella home from a shelter, she was only 4 weeks old. someone had found her in an alley all by herself at approximately 2 weeks. when i got her she was tiny, shivering, and covered in fleas.
boy was she a stubborn puppy. she and i went to puppy training and the instructor told me i was doing really well considering how frustrating stella was. then it got worse before it got better -she went through the terrible two's! luckily a couple moved into the house next door and they had an older labrador dog named buddy. he was exactly what stella needed. he let her play but then told her who was boss when he'd had enough. she was schooled by the older dog and started to calm down some.
stella has been my companion these 14 years. we moved from encinitas to oakland and back down to encinitas. we've lived in houses, lofts, and condo's. she's had yards to play in and a sad concrete patio.
now in her golden years, i think our situation is ideal. because of the m•o•m workshop + store, stella is a true shop dog. she comes to work with us everyday and is the official shop greeter. she lies on her bed beneath the worktable, watching all that goes on. and the best part of her day is 3:30 when the ups man comes by with a treat. her life is pretty good. and so is mine having her in it.

to all the moms, we wish you a happy day

mom and i have always been buddies.

and the winner is...

photo #2 made a strong finish and has come out victorious! thank you to everyone that voted, we love the comments and reasons given for your specific choice.

here's the breakdown on voting. 

m•o•m blog: #1= 8 votes, #2= 3 votes

m•o•m facebook: #1= 3 votes, #2= 1 vote

bethany's facebook page: #1= 4 votes, #2= 4 votes

m•o•m twitter: #1= 2 votes, #2 =0 votes

nutrimirror: #1= 50 votes, #2= 83 votes

so the final count is: #1= 67 votes, #2= 91 votes

as you can see, most of the votes came from nutrimirror, which is really as it should be considering the photo is for the nutrimirror book balanced days, balanced lives (available next month). the portrait is our contributor photo as food stylist and food photographer on the project. this is by far the largest project mom and i have ever worked on. we styled and photographed one day's worth of food (3 meals plus snacks) for 35 people (and a few people had four days!). we're super eager to see the finished product. we'll definitely be sharing more about the book in the future.

ps: fred, you can send the moonshine to our studio. thanks.