I made the announcement on facebook and twitter a couple of weeks back but now that my belly is starting to pop out I thought I might make it official on the blog. Tim and I are expecting our first little one on or around November 3rd! If I look a little sleepy in that picture it’s because I AM. All the time, in fact. I have practically spent the last three and half months taking one long deep nap. Lucky for me, though, I have completely escaped morning sickness (apart from a few weeks of needing to keep crackers by my bed) and I am definitely starting to feel more closer to normal. Pants are officially too tight and I had to buy a few maternity staples this week to bring back feeling comfortable- although, I have a feeling I am going to be spending the summer in dresses. Baby is already the size of a lemon- moving around in there, making little faces, and maybe even sucking it’s thumb! We are so excited to find out if it’s a little boy or girl… either way, couldn’t be more thrilled for what the journey will bring us!

In celebration of our baby news, I wanted to extend an offer :

All newborn and kid portrait sessions are 20% off if booked in the months of June and July. Sessions must be done during an available morning or afternoon Monday-Friday only. All sessions are normally priced as follows:

STANDARD KID/NEWBORN SESSION : $550

up to two hours of shooting, 90 day online proofing gallery, one location, archival hard drive of final jpegs

Near the end of last year I started to feel like I hadn’t done anything fun in awhile. I was really yearning to shoot some images of pretty things that didn’t come with the pressure to perform that a wedding did. I happened to come across the first issue of Magnolia Rouge and immediately wanted to be a part of issue 2! Kate was such a doll and when she told me Issue 2′s theme was Nature, I reached out to Yelena and we started brainstorming. What ended up as our final product was something a little bit beautiful and a little bit freaky and I love it!

Check out the incredible issue 2 of Mag Rouge here and visit Green Wedding Shoes for my recent feature.

|| THE TEAM ||

Designer: Yelena Johnson of The Stylish Soiree || florals: Karen of Huckleberry Designs || Model : Lindsey of Bellalu || Styling (Hair + Make Up) : Jane Kim of The Glamourist || Rentals: Amanda at One True Love Vintage Rentals || Paper: The Aerialist Press || Dress: Haute Bride || Freaky items: Paxton Gate

I had the utmost pleasure of working with Yelena Johnson on a shoot for the second issue of Magnolia Rouge Magazine … The issue was nature themed and we had so much fun exploring a scientific approach to a wedding!

Check out the new issue here and stay tuned for more images from this shoot to run on my blog soon.

{seriously amazing women who worked on this shoot}

Huckleberry Karen

One True Love

The Glamourist

Aerialist Press

Burn out.

I don’t about you guys, but it’s hard for me to get motivated in these winter months to do anything that isn’t business upkeep. I fight the urge to throw a blanket around my waist, make countless cups of coffee, and organize files and contracts…. My camera sits neatly tucked away in the closet, recovering from months and months of vigorous shutter clicks, and I hunker down- letting my creativity regroup and my love for picture making to return. This is a yearly battle for me and I can usually feel it coming on like a bad cold. A little tickle in my throat manifests itself as a signal for me to clear my calendar of paying jobs. A fever creeps up telling me to get back to basics before the flame fizzles out completely. Usually a few months go by where I contemplate things like going back to school, changing my focus to food and interiors, canceling my facebook account, ya know… life changing things.

And then, the sun comes up whether I like it or not. That shoot I scheduled back before burn out settled in so comfortably arrives and I drag that camera bag out from it’s dark place and hit the ground running.

And then I go, “Oh yeahhhhhhh ….. I love this image-creating thing” and then my clients go, “I can totally see that you love what you do!” and then I go, “I do… I do love what I do!”

I am a big believer in embracing whatever you are feeling whenever you are feeling it. What is life without emotions and what are emotions without permission to feel them? If I am sad, I cry. If I’m pissed off, I throw a pillow real hard…(I know, I’m just not a punch a wall kind of girl.) ..if I’m over-whelmed I let myself break down .. and then I dry the tears, put the pillow back on the bed, and make a to-do list. Sometimes you gotta just embrace that darkness to get to the dawn.

Anyone else have a similar winter pattern? If so, welcome back from burn out!

It’s been stormy the last few days around here and it feels good to finally feel a change in the weather.

Unseasonably warm days in January confuse me. When the leaves change and the temperatures drop my first inclination is to hibernate- to pull the shades closed and focus on my future. I make lists, I clean closets and drawers, I organize both my things and my thoughts and I start to feel rejuvenated and the energy that I expended so forcefully all wedding season slowly comes back to me ready to take on another year. But it’s been warm here .. and sunny and that has been infuriating me. How can I be expected to get any reflection done when it’s 70 degrees and beautiful out? I don’t want to reflect on life when it’s beautiful out- I just want to live it!

So finally! Rain! Reflection!

Here’s to those closets that need cleaning, the drawers that need arranging, and the thoughts and things that need organizing! Decide what to be and go be it.

xoxo

a drop in the ocean | a change in the weather | i was praying that you and me might end up together

Ron Pope