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How lucky am I? I fell into this beautiful, lively, friendly, interesting family simply by moving in!
And I love my job. :)
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December 10, 2011 - 1:11 pm
Wow, absolutely beautiful! Love them all – thank you!
Adventures in holiday family portraits isn’t just for kids — it’s fun for the whole family! Just ask the parents of any 2-year-old boy, and their stories will make you laugh. :)
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Baby Eliza is my very special, first official portrait session in the Big Easy. Giving credit where credit is due, she came with confident parents who never ran out of stamina. Eliza is flashing her best grin not for the photographer but for the studio soundtrack — her Mommy’s amazing voice, singing original songs inspired by Eliza! I was in awe.
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November 20, 2011 - 12:12 pm
Wow, great job Christine. Beautiful photos.
Three weeks ago, I set out as an aspiring student in search of a yoga studio.
Today, I bought it.
The journey from Point A to Point B was every bit as whirlwind and/or crackpot as it must sound, plus some.
The short story version begins with the move to New Orleans. First things first: find a new dentist, chiropractor, doctor for the kids, hair salon. Get the kids settled in school and into their new routine. Learn my way around and the quirks of traffic. Meet my neighbors.
After those details of life (that we tend to take for granted until suddenly they are no longer routine) are once again familiar, I begin Phase II: figuring out where I fit into it all.
And when there’s figuring out to do, I do what I’ve been doing since junior high: I go running.
And while running clarifies, simplifies, strengthens and empowers just about everything for me, it doesn’t offer much in the way of flexibility. This is especially true when I stop. Stretching my reach toward my feet to untie my laces after a long run reminds me of my mere mortalness (to say nothing of my age.)
Yoga. I need a yoga class. For years, I’ve been chasing the perfect yoga class. In the D.C. area, class times either conflicted with morning carpool or coincided perfectly with commuter traffic. New Orleans, on the other hand, serves up yoga classes easily and conveniently. I was thrilled to find a studio in my neighborhood.
And then I learned, talking with my instructor after class, that the owner was closing the studio in December. Crushed by the news, I lingered in the doorway and took in my little snapshot of this community I’d just discovered. Something in me shifted — that’s the best I can describe it.
I drove straight home and asked my husband how he felt about buying a yoga studio.
• • •
Fast-forward through three crazed weeks of talking with investors, bankers, accountants, attorneys, friends, family, neighbors and just about anyone who will listen to last night, when we met with the owners, Dave and Jen. We made a formal offer, and they accepted. Looking back, that moment when Dave and Carlos shook hands and Jen and I embraced encapsulates all that is this yoga studio we are buying: a business — one welcomed by and entwined with community. Our community. Our new home.
“Bloom where you’re planted,” wrote my graduate school advisor when I announced the move to New Orleans. “You always do.”
A lotus blossom, perhaps? :)
10 comments
November 10, 2011 - 9:10 am
Namaste!
November 10, 2011 - 10:25 am
How absolutely exciting!! I love yoga and am green with envy but tickled pink you’ve found something…..something wonderful!!
November 10, 2011 - 11:51 am
ummm…looks more like a marijuana leaf than a lotus blossom.
November 10, 2011 - 12:04 pm
Thank you!
Woodhams, you make me laugh. 
How’s this?
November 10, 2011 - 3:19 pm
That’s incredible, Christine. Congratulations.
You always surprise, in a good way.
November 14, 2011 - 10:06 am
Hey Christine,
I just wanted to let you know that you are officially the 15,000 client of MBO. You are kind of a big deal around and just wanted to let know that you are now part of MINDBODY history. Congratulations and welcome!
Best Wishes,
Trevor Hadley
November 15, 2011 - 1:32 am
Absolutely awesome! You are kinda crazy, and I’m sure that is what makes you who you are! You are outstanding and a model for many of us who should do more things like this. Kinda outside of our box, so to speak! Congrats and good luck with this new adventure!
November 19, 2011 - 3:57 pm
Wow, congratulations, Christine!! That is exciting news. I wish you all the best! Namaste.
November 25, 2011 - 8:51 am
C, SO HAPPY FOR YOU!! Hope it not only profits your wallet but you soul. And would a ganja leaf be so bad? Has enlightened plenty of journalists and writers over the years. 
January 26, 2012 - 9:54 pm
Congrats Christine!
Wishing you all the best!
Randy
Long gone are the days when I could load everything I own into my little Honda, uproot and move in a few hours. Even still, there’s something strangely cathartic about the stress of a move. I think it has to do with the purging of stuff — the shedding of unneeded, unnecessary, unwanted items that pile up in a house when nobody is looking and become the dead weight of clutter. My rule is this: if I haven’t worn it or used it within the last year, it doesn’t move with me. I make very few exceptions. For me, there’s nothing worse than going through all the work of unpacking a box only to find something carefully wrapped up that isn’t even worth the paper and cardboard it took to transport it across the country. I spend months before a move weeding through all the closets, tossing everything into keep, donate and/or throw away piles with the expectation that I will be happy to unpack on the other end.
Last Thursday, I watched as Dax and Ron loaded the truck with the contents of our entire townhome in Virginia (well, except for the couches — they wouldn’t fit, so we left them behind.) At the end of those days, I stand and watch as the truck turns the corner and fades off into late afternoon traffic, and I’m always struck by the powerful realization that it’s just STUFF, and all whom I treasure most are left standing with me.
Early Easter Sunday, we sat on the front steps of our new home on the other end waiting for Dax and Ron to arrive. We listened to the bird who lives in the Magnolia tree out front, he changes his song every few seconds. We sipped coffee and listened in amazement. Whenever I think of moving to New Orleans, I’ll think of that little bird and his songs.
As it turned out, Dax spent the night on Bourbon St. and we didn’t see much of him that morningbut Ron and his crew of locals came at 6 a.m., bearing boxes, including boxes 147-153 which is Christine Gacharna Photography condensed into a very small space. After that, the neighbors began to arrive. Thus begins this next chapter in our lives, The New Orleans Chapter.
8 comments
April 25, 2011 - 5:58 pm
I’m happy for you but sad for me that you’re so far away now! 
April 25, 2011 - 7:34 pm
Sooo happy y’all are half way here. Want to help. What can I do??
Lynn
April 25, 2011 - 8:44 pm
welcome to the neighborhood ~ we are more than thrilled to have you guys moving in next door! can’t wait for our kids to get to know each other – our door is always open!
April 26, 2011 - 8:15 am
New Chapter, New Adventure!!!
April 26, 2011 - 10:08 am
See all I needed to do was look at your blog to know what is up! So excited for you guys to make the big move! Here’s to your next adventure! Cheers!
April 26, 2011 - 4:32 pm
ugh! you moved? we never connected — sheesh. that stinks. I often think of you when I drive pass your old exit off of 7100 now that I’m in Fairfax Station. shoot! I am bummed but good luck! stay well! have fun and have a hurricane for me!!!
April 29, 2011 - 1:50 pm
Congratulations on your move to New Orleans. We are happy to have you in our community. Best of luck to you and your family.
May 2, 2011 - 11:50 pm
thank you all!!! (I just can’t bring myself to type thank y’all! 
) what a wonderful Southern welcome we received from old friends, new friends and friendly strangers. Julia and Cameron, I hope I’ll get to see you once more while we’re in VA, I’ll follow up with party details. Lynn, thank you! I got the sandwich you packed for me for the game, it was fantastic. really, you made that??? I’m glad I got to see you even if short and sweet. Lori, it’s going to be fun! Lora and Kate, you’ll come visit, I trust? it won’t be long before I see either of you.
crazy stuff, huh? never say never. 
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April 15, 2011 - 8:55 am
Christine – These are fantastic! Thanks so much for taking them. You will make so many people so very happy in NOLA!
Can’t wait to see the rest.
L,
Connie
I enrolled in a watercolor class at The Art League last winter precisely because I know nothing about watercolor. I have found that studying art in unfamiliar mediums helps me to see the familiar more clearly — that is to say, studying watercolor helps me to solve problems that I come across in, say, photography. It’s kind of like this: take a favorite picture and turn it upside down. You’ll see things you didn’t see before.
I chose Steve Fleming based on his portfolio — I figured, wow, if I could paint, I’d want to paint like he paints.
Originally, my intention for this post was to focus on the watercolors and the fun I’ve had learning to paint with them, showing a progression toward better in my paintings as the class went on. One of my first efforts a year ago was based on a photo of two men standing on a cliff, overlooking salty Pacific air in the late afternoon sun. My rendition was painted so poorly that the class interpreted it as a comical cowboy in a desert scene. ! The cowboy from that painting lives on three semesters later as a metaphor in class for solving problems:
“Values are far more important than the lone cowboy in the desert.” — Steve Fleming, Winter, 2011
I wish I had a more complete written list of the wonderful one-liners from Steve Fleming’s watercolor class to share with you. In hindsight, it might’ve made a Twitter feed to rival Justin Halpern’s. But I digress.
At some point, I stopped writing notes in class and instead picked up my best camera — the one that’s with me, and in this case, my iPhone — and I started videotaping Steve Fleming as he presented his class demonstrations. The videos exploded my learning curve and everything changed. I began sharing the videos with my classmates, and the positive response got me to thinking larger about a project based on his work. Last week, we started the shooting and hopefully the final project will be posted later this spring.
Enjoy the teaser!
“We see the brightness of a new page where everything yet can happen.” —Rainer Maria Rilke
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July 17, 2011 - 3:48 pm
I read this again today, and I really must say yes the painting reminded me of a lonely cowboy but it was a really nice cowboy. But I never realized it was supposed to be overlooking the pacific ocean with mist and weather. I feel like a cad but then again that is sort of my job.
On another front, Christine is the most professional person I ever had the great fortune to work with, she promised me some quality work and delivered in a fashion that I was totally not used to. Plus she took some fabulous photos of me, so email her and get her to work her photo magic for you. Steve Fleming
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Lora - you’re kidding, right? beautiful family Christine!!!