Living What I Love

Nicole + Erik

Last weekend on a brisk but beautiful Sunday afternoon, I met up with Nicole and Erik at the Olympic Sculpture Park for my very first Seattle engagement session. I swear the sun seemed to shine for them that day, because I hadn't seen it much prior and it's been hiding again ever since. Ah, Seattle. ;) We had a great time - congrats again you two!

Pumpkin patch!

A few weekends ago Chad and I went out to a pumpkin patch in Renton with his sister, brother-in-law and their twin girls. It was a sweet little farm, complete with geese, chickens, a calf, pigs, old tractors and trucks to climb on and plenty of pumpkins. The girls picked out one each and Uncle Chad surprised them both with a mini pumpkin, too. =) One of my favorite fall things, for sure. Hope you're getting out and enjoying the season!

My photos on Groupon

Yesterday I noticed through a friend's facebook post that a photo I took back in Ann Arbor at 826michigan last spring was the photo featured on Groupon's deal of the day. Pretty exciting! It's from a field trip, where 2nd grade students come by bus to 826 for a 2-hour creative writing workshop, and leave with their very own storybook. Anyway, I love this photo and it's always fun to see your work pop up in unexpected places. I've been told that a set of my photos has been enlarged + presented in a place I'd probably least expect them to be showcased... more on that later, stay tuned!

Yes: tea.

A fall wind whipped in Seattle today, and I spent a few hours with my friend Eva at an absolutely lovely tea shop called Remedy Teas in Captiol Hill, sipping a pot full of chai pu-erh (delicious and so seasonally appropriate) and nibbling on a piece of harvest squash bread with butter. We went there with the express purpose of 'doing work', and work did get done, but I also found myself luxuriating a bit in the place itself, and watching Seattleites go about their day, and enjoying being inside looking out of large windows while rain poured for a bit outside. The tea pots they serve there are kept hot by an ever-burning tealight underneath this little metal stand, and the minimalist in me loves the Bodum double-wall glass teacups they use, too.

Remedy prides itself on being a bit of an herbalist of sorts, catgorizing their teas by type and also listing not only the ingredients but the benefits of each concoction. I really do kind of believe tea can often cure what ails ya. Drinking any kind of tea, even the caffienated stuff, always relaxes me in a way that drinking coffee never can. I loved the mix I tried today, and here at home I have a bag of looseleaf leaves of #128 mind body soul that is just the thing to unwind after a long day at work. If you're in Seattle, the shop is amazing and I highly recommend spending a rainy or blustery Sunday there in the company of friends or your laptop. =)

Christina + Adam are having a baby!

This was my first maternity shoot ever, and my subjects were my good friends Christina and Adam, who are expecting their first baby (after their fur-baby Cali, that is) in about a month. We shot these in a friend's yard, complete with wine grapes, in Alamo, California over Labor Day weekend. I'm so incredibly excited for these two to become parents - they're going to be excellent at it!

Sneak peek: Christina's maternity shoot

Last weekend while barbequeing and soaking up the sun with friends for Labor Day in the Bay Area, I was lucky enough to squeeze in a maternity photoshoot for my good friend Christina. Since I shot her and her husband Adam's engagment photos over three years ago, I was thrilled to be able to capture this next super-exciting stage in their lives: impending parenthood! I haven't finished editing all of the photos yet, but here's a sneak peek. Isn't she the prettiest momma-to-be you've ever seen? I can't wait to meet their little one!

It's collabo time again! Another session of photo sharin' with the one and only Mister B. This time our theme was 'urban.' B's are the black and whites, mine are the color. I love how his are a mini series of their own - bridges. So cool. They were also taken in different cities... New York and I think Chicago + Minneapolis (B, correct me if I'm wrong!) Mine were all shot right here in (for now, anyway!) sunny Seattle.

Living in a city is an endless photo shoot. So many people, views, even the light being slightly different can change the entire look of the city skyline. Though I can appreciate a nice, calm nature-y landscape shot, there's something about concrete, glass, and city lights that draws my eye. More from my end of this session to come later!

 

Lake Serene

Another day where the sun shined from dawn to dusk. I feel like we're getting this completely warped view of Seattle, but whatever, we are not minding. We spent yesterday out-of-doors hiking the 7.2-mile trail up to Lake Serene and back. The hike's about an hour's drive northeast of the city, but don't worry, the hike is worth it and there is a Dairy Queen in a little town called Monroe conveniently located on your way back so you can gain back most of your calories burned on the trail quickly and deliciously. (Blizzards did the trick for us. Mmmm....)

The lake is reached at the summit of the hike, and it's a great reward. It's incredibly smooth and clear (and cold!), with huge rocks all around for munching on your trail mix and soaking up the view. We had an amazing morning on this hike, I'd definitely recommend it! Washington, so far - you're pretty impressive.

 

Puppy love

Stopbeingsodamncute, she can't. She eats rocks, pieces of paper, twigs, flowers, and anything else that happens to be in her path; she whines when she's not close enough to me and Chad, she nibbles on our fingers and our shoelaces and dribbles water from her bowl all the way across the kitchen floor, but...she's the best. Having so much fun with our puppy! Hooray for Frenchies. Especially ours.

To friends + Happy Friday!

It's almost the weekend, hooray! I'd like to take this Friday morning to give a shoutout to friends. Old friends, new friends, the kind of friends who you see rarely but always have a complete blast with in the short time you spend together. I've been feeling very blessed lately with the amazing people in my life. We had close friends fly to Seattle last weekend to surprise Chad for his 30th which meant so much; I've just booked a flight to watch an old college friend and fellow Sconnie get married in a few months; I made a new friend here in our building who I can't wait to hang out with; and I thank the nerds every day for Gchat, allowing me to keep completely up to date with friends in faraway places on the daily.

Hoping you have a great weekend filled with your favorite people. Happy Friday everyone!

Some outtakes from Maddie's and Maria's senior photo session, June 2011.

things I've made

Moving into a new apartment always fuels my DIY instincts, so I thought I'd share a few projects/things I've made recently as well as a painting I made a bit ago. People get intimidated about art on the walls, but it doesn't have to be something expensive or, if you want to try your hand at making art yourself, difficult. I'll show you!

I've always loved the cross motif - not the religious cross, more like the medical cross. I wanted a smaller piece to go above our bed and it needed to be cool and graphic. One trip to Blick, a 10"x10" birch board for $8 and $2 tube of black acrylic paint later, and I was on my way. I measured out the width I wanted (2" square), measured the center of the board, and penciled in light lines at the edges of the cross design. Then I laid blue painter's tape over the lines, using an exacto to make sure there were no frayed tape edges sticking into the cross design. Two coats of black paint dried in between with a hair dryer on low, et voila! A really cool, easy + affordable piece of art. I love how it looks in our bedroom:

Simple + cool. See, you can do it!

Next up: our Bosse stools from IKEA were pretty in their natural birch tone, but with the pale yellow renter's walls I wasn't totally digging their vibe. Using leftover wall paint from our deep teal accent wall, that blue painter's tape again, a measuring tape + pencil, I transformed them into something unique and more "us." Loving them now!

(Bosse stool as they come from the store, courtesy of IKEA.com)

I just measured 20" up from each leg's base and penciled/taped it in.

One down, one to go.

Done! So pretty.

Luna approves.

Last but not least, I thought I'd throw in the striped painting I created awhile back with our wedding date (9.6.08). The tricky part with this one was getting the lines to be straight, but with a measuring tape + pencil marks in a few places for each, it worked pretty well. Painters tape is your friend here, too. (Stuff is amazing!)

(in our old apartment - it's still in the bedroom in our Seattle place but on the wall opposite the bed.)

Don't be intimidated! A trip to your local art/craft store and $20 or less, some painter's tape and a little brainstorming can make a big impact on your apartment walls.

One awesome fountain

Chad and I walked Luna to Seattle Center this weekend mostly to enjoy some sunshine and sit and watch the local kids play in the fountain there. Before you think, 'That's kinda lame', just wait. This isn't your run of the mill smallish fountain with a steady, unintimidating flow. No. This is something from a another planet; even the thing itself looks like a spaceship recently landed in the middle of Seattle. It intermittently shoots water from all sorts of weird places, but the main attraction comes from the four spouts on top that with no rhyme or reason suddenly shoot jetstreams of water hundreds of feet into the stratosphere, then with a burst of air shoot them higher until they fall with a thunderous crash back to the concrete and onto the heads of the tiny kids below. It's fantastic fun and so hilarious to watch. We sat there for a good 45 minutes, mostly wishing we'd worn our swimsuits. Next time, fountain. Next time.

You'd think this was 'full blast.' Not quite....

This kid sees the steam. He knows - STAY BACK! She's about to blow!

!!!!!!!

It's about here you could hear the high-pitched screams of little girls... and probably some boys, because:

...what goes up has got to come down. BOOM! So. Awesome.

Yet another point for the city of Seattle.

And p.s.: the corn dog stand near the fountain has *super* tasty dogs.

Summer in the city

Last Sunday was an absolutely brilliantly perfect summer day in Seattle. Chad and I took the day to hit up the marina, the beach, and to walk around Ballard. We happend upon Cupcake Royale and (oops!) ate one. It was in the low 70s with a breeze, and there's not much I'd rather do than mosey aimlessly around the city, watch people, and eat cupcakes with my husband.

Beach, Puget Sound, and the Olympic Mountains. Not a bad view, Seattle, not a bad view at all.

Ah, the days of building sandcastles at the beach all day with your best friend. I miss those.

I feel like it's a rite of passage in Seattle to own your own sea kayak.

Even hipsters love the beach.

Loving our new city! Happy Friday everyone, + have a fabulous weekend!

finally, a Frenchie.

After about three years of stalking them on the street, watching their hilarious videos on YouTube, Googling their cute little faces and whining to my husband, I finally did it: got a French Bulldog puppy! I searched breeders high and low all over the country until I found her: Luna. A white and brindle spotted "cow" girl whose face was all it took for me to fall in love. We brought her home yesterday. She is loved to pieces already.

Quite the distinguished smushed-nose profile, don't ya think?

Little puppy, big bed (she's definitely not allowed in here, this was purely for photo styling purposes..... at this point.)

C'mon - look at that face! Props to The Copper Poppy on Etsy for making Luna's beautiful tag, and quickly!

Those covers are just so luxurious. *snortle*

Someone else fell for her fast, too. =)

I'm sure we'll have lots of sleep-deprived nights and various chewed shoes in the weeks ahead, but she is so, so worth it.

Do you have a dog/cat/pet just begging to be photographed? Holler at me!

Maria's senior photos

My sister brought her friend Maria along for the senior session I did while I was at home. It was fun for them to get to bounce ideas off each other and make faces behind the camera at the other. ;)

Maria's photos turned out awesome and it was great to get to know her. Wishing her an awesome senior year!

P.S. I'm now living in Seattle, WA, so if you or anyone you know need senior photos taken, give me a shout in the comment section!