NEW BLOG!!

I've got a new blog, with a more sophisticated look and I couldn't be happier! Check it out HERE.

AN ADORABLE LITTLE FAMILY SHOOT

I'm so proud of myself for finally starting to catch up on blogging! I've also updated the family section of my portfolio - it's nice to finally be out of the craziness of the early pregnancy energy void and wedding season - so I'm doing what I can to get all my ducks in a row before this little lady arrives in March.

I loved this family - they were so sweet and easy and fun to work with! And I love their outfits - this is a great example of what I mean when I suggest clients coordinate their clothes, without getting too matchy-matchy. You don't want to all be wearing the same thing - dressing identically is super '90s and it also makes you look like a big blob with heads and hands when you snuggle up together. Notice that none of them are wearing the same color top - that's key to not being a blob. :)

To see more of this adorable family, check out Nat's blog, Take the Cannoli.

SO MUCH HAS BEEN HAPPENING!

I can't believe I haven't blogged anything since July. I think I need to finally accept how horrible I am at blogging and not begin every post with a promise to be better.

However, this time I have a really good excuse. We are expecting a little girl at the end of March! We found out we were pregnant in mid-July and then I spent my whole first trimester shooting a bazillion weddings (August & September are always crazy wedding months) and while I didn't feel nauseous, I had zero energy. None. I needed a nap after walking from the fridge to the couch. I'd manage to rally for weddings - high on adrenaline and excitement. But, the rest of the week it's all I could do to edit photos for a few hours in the mornings and then lie on the floor wishing someone would come along and give me food. I'm lucky that my boss was ok with that (insert winky smiley face). I really don't know how the rest of you women who work for other people do it - I have tremendous amounts of respect for you!

I haven't really taken any non-wedding photos with my nice camera in months - that's how lazy I've felt! So, everything in this post is iphone/instagram photos.

Anyways, we were home from Atlanta for only a few days before Rodney and I headed off to Hawaii for another wedding - we stayed about a week and made it something of a babymoon. It was really one of my favorite vacations to date. The wedding was amazing - one of the sweetest couples ever - we loved our hotel - The Modern Honolulu - we snorkled, ate delicious food everywhere we went, except when we went to the worst "luau" in the world - but it was so bad, that it was funny - and did a lot of much-needed relaxing. It doesn't get a whole lot better than hanging out with your best friend on a gorgeous tropical island.

Then the 2013 wedding season slowed down and finished up. I've had lots more energy, and by October/November I was feeling amazing. I finished up my weddings for the year with a bang - I got to shoot a really rad couple, work with my friend Tori from Sitting in a Tree Design, and check "glamping" off my bucket list all at the same time. You can see some of my favorite images posted HERE.

My mom came to visit the entire month of December and my dad and sister joined us about a week before Christmas. Which, if you know me, you maybe know that Christmas is my most favorite thing in the world. My enthusiasm for Christmas rivals Buddy the Elf's. December 26th is the saddest day of the year because I'm the furthest away from next Christmas. Etc. And, also, there's literally NOTHING I love more than having my entire family around.  So, we had a great time - it was my first year hosting Christmas at our house and my mom was a huge help getting everything decorated.

While everyone was here, we did a little gender reveal party, just the 6 of us. We got the adorable cake pictured above from Sweet and Saucy & we were completely shocked when we cut it open and the icing was pink inside! All of us had been convinced it was a boy - so that was a huge surprise and we were all really excited (we would have been just as excited either way - it was just such a big deal finally finding out!). My mom and I were going to cook a nice dinner for everyone and then have cake, but because I'm pregnant and was feeling really emotional about the gender reveal, I had a mini meltdown the night before where I realized that what I really wanted instead of dinner, was a little afternoon tea party followed by cake. I cried (pregnancy hormones!), and at 9pm the night before our scheduled "party" my amazing mom and sister shifted gears - actually, oddly enough, my sister has an emergency tea party kit - she literally has, in her apartment, a rubbermaid container filled with about 10 adorable mismatched tea cups and saucers and matching tea pots etc - you know, just in case. In the morning, my mom and dad ran to the store and got ingredients for finger sandwiches. And the whole thing was absolutely perfect. I couldn't have been happier and everyone had a really wonderful time and agreed it would've been too hard to wait until after dinner for cake. My little pregnant crazy lady moment was maybe not that crazy after all?

And now it's 2014. My family has all gone home. I'm booking new clients for this year, but not shooting any weddings before June - so my focus is on wrapping up some 2012 and 2013 albums for clients and then I'll be on maternity leave so Rodney and I can fully focus on getting ready for the little one.

xo

GEORGIA ON MY MIND...

illustration by mike lowery

I'm heading out to Atlanta later this week to shoot a wedding and I love this little illustration I came across - I hope I have time to try Holy Taco as well as check out that little cemetery on the left with the cute ghost...

Traveling and getting to explore new cities is one of my favorite parts of my job. And I actually really look forward to plane rides because it's one of the only times I can sit around and watch an entire season of a new show on my laptop or read a bunch of magazines and not feel guilty... One thing I do want to do differently for this trip however, is pack up some yummy, healthy food. Plane food makes me sick, airport food is junk, but I think bringing along these golden potstickers by 101 Cookbooks might be just the ticket!

xo