It’s a beautiful day, friends!  School is out for summer!  Remington flew through 2nd grade with flying colors, with an even more intense love for math and art!  We could not be more proud of him and all that he has accomplished this school year!  And what a year it has been!  We love our elementary school, the teachers and staff, the bus drivers, and everyone who safely guided their students with love, support, encouragement, and joy despite the protocols and changes and masks!  Our neighborhood celebrated a successful year by hosting a water balloon fight – even in the misty weather – complete with adorable summer goody bags, cookies, and popsicles!  It was a blast!  You may have read the title for this post and thought, “Summer Chill…? What does that mean?”  Well, summer is so short, and I want to soak up every ounce of time with my family before BOTH boys go back in August! Remington will be a 3rd grader, and Emerson will hop on the bus as a new kindergartener! 😭While I may not post daily on social or as consistently over the next several weeks, please know I am here!  And I will include some blog posts too, because my editing queue is full of love and sheer gorgeousness from the past few weeks, and I cannot wait to share!  Numerous portrait sessions and weddings are on my jam-packed summer calendar, and I am so, so thankful and honored to be asked to document special times in the lives of my amazing, truly wonderful clients! Especially after the uncertainty and postponements from last year! 💕📸🥰 I’m calling this my Summer Chill! Time to be present. In the moment. Taking in the warm, sunny season and longer days with my loved ones and friends. I wish the same for you too! ☀️✨❤️

Thank you to Stefanie Childs, Julia Wadsworth Makeup Artistry, George Thomas Florist, Blooms & Linen Boutique, Kelly Moore Bag, Nikon USA, & DSW!

Happy June, friends!  Is it just me, or has 2021 been flying by at record speeds?  Speaking of speed, I hope everyone enjoyed a relaxing holiday weekend! Did you attend the Indy 500 or watch it on TV?  Reggie took Remington for the first time, and he loved it!  It was a busy one for me with photographing an absolutely gorgeous outdoor wedding, morning and evening walks with my hubby, pool time with family and friends, and feeling so very thankful to live in this great country of ours that allows me the freedom to do so many things!  And with that, I’m so excited to share what’s been going on behind the scenes here…a newly updated website!  Eeek!!!  My previous one had become antiquated in terms of how it worked, so it was time to start anew and I am so thrilled with how it has come together!  There may be a few minor tweaks to come over the course of the summer, however, it’s ready for its debut!  If you take some time to check it out, I would love to hear what you think!  I’m also over the moon because it’s peony season once again!  Despite the late Spring frost and snow (?!), these hearty beauties have blossomed and thrived.  And I can’t help but to draw some parallels with humanity and how we are emerging from the pandemic with strength and beauty and perseverance.  Without further adieu, here are some photos of my sweet white peonies, which are the first to bloom of what we have planted in our backyard. And if you missed the sneak peek from this weekend’s wedding, I’ll share that here too, because it was so “paw-fect”!  😉  Remington has one more day of 2nd grade tomorrow, and then school is out for summer!  What do you have planned for summer?

If you’ve followed my work and my blog for awhile, you may have learned that I am a big fan of peonies!  More like I’m obsessed with them!  A few years ago, my parents shared some of their peony bushes with us.  These plants have been in our family for years and years.  And they are just beautiful!  I remember growing up with them along the south side of our house and in a few places around our backyard.  A palette of white, pale pink, and deep magenta beauties.  And in these past few years, our peony bushes have grown and grown, each year producing more and more blooms, bigger than the previous spring.  They are fluffy and fragrant and delicate, and yet quite hearty.  And I love them so much!  For our wedding day, I carried a lovely bouquet of white peonies, cream roses, cream ranunculus, and greenery…it was so romantic and perfect – and to be a broken record! – oh so beautiful!  This summer we have loved sharing them with friends and neighbors to brighten their day.  At one point, I had at least 5 different vases of peony blooms throughout our house.  Nothing cheers up a room quite like some colorful flowers!  Don’t you agree?  While their blooming season seems way too short, they provided us with something pretty to share as well as to photograph, and that is a win-win in my book!  A sneak peek is hidden in the images below that are part of a fun project I worked on during the height of the quarantine, and I look forward to sharing more soon! I’ll be adding a few of these imagesto The Print Shop, which is my online gallery of images that can be purchased for a special gift for a friend or loved one or to hang in your own home!  I’ve also added some new travel photos that you may wish to check out!  To view the gallery, please click here!

What is one of your favorite flowers?  Do you have a childhood or special memory attached to a favorite bloom?  I’d love to hear about it!

Happy Summer, friends!

 

 

Buenos dias, friends!  Snow has covered the ground and trees outside…and the good news?  The sun is shining!  Who doesn’t love blue skies in the midst of winter?  Speaking of the midst of winter, my wonderful hubby swept me away with him to Cancun, Mexico for a few days in the sun to celebrate Valentine’s Day and my birthday!  While it was a business trip for him with a few meetings for a day and a half, we were fortunate enough to extend our stay for a few days.  We enjoyed sailing on a Hobie Cat, snorkeling, relaxing poolside, trying new foods, waking up to view the sunrise, and networking and hanging out with friends and colleagues.  On my birthday we went on an excursion called a Jungle Tour, where Reggie got to drive us in our own little two-seater yellow speed boat (along with 4 other pairs) through mangroves and out into the Gulf of Mexico to snorkel at a coral reef.  Thankfully we had taken some time to practice snorkeling the day before!  Having only snorkeled before on our honeymoon, I tend to get pretty anxious and lose control of my breathing, while looking out for sea creatures!  We had a fun time seeing all kinds of little colorful fish and various coral and plant life.  And we are pretty certain that we saw a baby barracuda from a distance!  Our resort was a beautifully landscaped, all-inclusive, adult-only beachfront property with delicious food, several pools, friendly staff, and a variety of fun activities.  I enjoyed yoga and Dance Fit/Zumba on the beach.  I even got roped into a cornhole tournament on the beach with people from Wisconsin and California!  While I didn’t win that tournament, I did savor the ocean breeze and sunshine while getting exercise!  There were daily and nightly themed parties and live entertainment and ways to enjoy the outdoors.

We have many people to thank for such a wonderful getaway!  To Bosch for surprising us with an upgraded room, thank you so much!!!  To the friendly staff members who ensured we were having a great time: Axel (our sailing guide who also has two little boys – a 3 year old and a newborn!), Gennaro from Naples (who helped us book our Jungle Tour!), Alan (who made delicious margaritas!), Daniel and Gio (who made zumba on the beach a blast!), and Esther (who gave me birthday hugs and provided excellent service and smiles each day!).  We also have to thank my parents for taking great care of our boys!  We love you so much!!!  And I must thank my dear hubby, Reggie!  Because of his hard work and drive and passion for life and business, he has built a thriving business that includes incredible opportunities such as traveling, meeting great people, and getting out of our comfort zone by trying new things, like octopus ceviche, escargot, and facing and working through fears.  I love you, Reggie, thank you for such a fantastic birthday!!! 

Here are a few photos of the resort!  I’ll share some of our iPhone photos on Facebook soon!

Until next time….Viva Mexcio!

 

Thank you for taking a moment to check out my blog!  Wishing you a great day!

From my family to yours, we would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!  May your hearts and homes be filled with the magic and joy of this holiday season now and throughout the New Year!   I am so very thankful for all of the amazing people and events and weddings that 2019 held, it has been such a great year with incredible clients!  Cheers to more merriment to come in 2020!  Happy Holidays to you!

We’re sharing some of our many favorite family photos taken by the super talented Stefanie of SB Childs Photography on a lovely November evening!