Christmas is coming, and cookies are abundant! Here are some favorite cookies I’ve made over the years, along with a recipe for my absolute favorite Christmas cookie: Linzer tarts! Yummmmm
Enjoy and Merry Christmas!
Hello and welcome!
Thanks for stoping by! That's me, and my super cute and spunky 1 year old, Nora. When we're not laying on the floor taking selfies, we also like to bake, take lots of pretty photos, and practice yoga. Aside from posting way too many pictures of Nora on instagram, I also take pretty wedding picures and make pretty baby items. So browse around, and keep up with all the latest.More about me...
Jun
19
2014
So this post is going to be long. And personal, definitely deeply personal. And honest. There will be no sugar coating things. I wont leave out details just because they don’t fit the perfect picture of the perfect life that I might want you to believe we all live in (because come on, who doesn’t want everyone to believe we all have it figured out, we all have it all under control). It’s real.
If you browse through my Instagram feed, or my Facebook photos (same thing), you’ll see a beautiful little baby girl who smiles and laughs, and is learning how to crawl. Every now and again you’ll see a picture with me in it, or maybe Greg. But it’s mostly Nora. And she’s mostly smiling. And this is a pretty accurate portrayal of my life with Nora. She’s a smiley, giggly little almost 8 month old. She was a pretty easy newborn. She wasn’t colicky, she didn’t have that “witching hour” of fussiness every evening like I read was common for newborns. Sure, she cried, she fussed, she wouldn’t settle sometimes, but in hind sight, she was pretty easy.
Around 4 months she got difficult, and I think so far, that has been my least favorite time of raising a baby. But we got through it, and life resumes.
But let me tell you a little something about being a mom (first time mom). It’s weird. For me, anyway. Maybe it was peaches and roses for you from day 1. That’s cool. It wasn’t really that way for me. And in talking with other awesome mommies, it wasn’t really that way for some of them, too.
I’m part of a really great mommy group. We all found each other through our town’s prenatal yoga program offered at Parks and Rec. We would chat before, during, and a bit after class, and a wonderful friendship blossomed between us all. We would commiserate about our bulging bellies, our painful hips, and our constant search for a bathroom as our due dates approached. We kept in touch after the classes ended, and started to get together after the babies were born, who are all very close in age. And it has been an amazing resource to have these ladies in my life. To be able to talk freely, and openly about the struggles and difficulties of being a first time mom, without fear of judgement, has been nothing short of a miracle.
I can tell them that breastfeeding my baby was NOT natural or easy for me. I can tell them that at times, I absolutely hated something that the world portrays as a beautiful, natural, amazing experience. It WASN’T for me. Not at first. And sometimes, not even today. But being able to vent about my hardships with nursing is probably something that helped me stick with it. And now it’s easier, it’s enjoyable, and I’m happy about it.
There is something shameful about feeling anything other than elation, joy, and absolute confidence in being a mom. But lots of mommies feel scared, overwhelmed, stressed, and even regretful when they become moms. It’s a huge change. Yet, nobody talks about that side of motherhood. Everything is all, “oh baby snuggles are just the best” “There’s nothing better than the smell of a newborn” “Your heart will just melt the first time you see your baby” “You’ll never be the same woman, you’ll be better because of your baby”
Yes, that’s all true. That’s all good. That’s the positive side of becoming a mommy. But what about the sleepless nights? What about the pressure of figuring out how to care for another human who is 100% completely dependent on you not fucking it all up? What about the goddam spit up covering every single piece of clothing, bedding, and furniture surface you own!?!
That’s what I want to talk about. How it’s hard. How you feel like you aren’t you anymore. How, at 3 in the morning, when you’re feeding baby (from bottle or boob), and changing yet ANOTHER diaper because the kid just shit like Mount Rushmore, you just feel like a robot; a milk machine if you’re nursing. Feed, change, get baby to sleep. Repeat.
I have to take pause to mention that the very first person I turn to when I am having a tough day is my amazing sister. She is my rock. My stability. And with 2 kids age 4 and almost 2 years old, she is my best resource because she has been there, she has done that, twice. Love you Melis!
But back to these babies. I think women have this tremendous amount of pressure to just take mommyhood in stride. To do it. To love it. To be all that and a bag of chips. And that’s the reason for my post today. I want to let other mommies know that if you feel like you are sad, or anxious, or overwhelmed… that’s OK! It’s okay to not love the hard stuff. It’s okay to miss your old life. It’s okay to cry because you’re tired and you just don’t know how you are going to get out of bed and survive the day on 3 hours of sleep. Spoiler alert: you will, somehow!
In the beginning, I had moments where I felt like a hollow mold of my former self. Like everything that made me ME was sucked out. I no longer slept. I no longer had time to read a book for more than 10 minutes. I no longer had the energy to sew a button on my hubby’s pants, let alone make a quilt or any other fun project. I was different. Everything that made up who I was as an individual was gone. And that was weird. I was this new person, and I wasn’t quite sure what made me ME anymore.
As the months have (quickly) ticked by, and as Nora grows, I have realized that this new version of me is different, but it’s actually really amazing. First: things slowly start returning to “normal” and I put “normal” in quotation marks because obviously, things will never be the same after you have a kid. But now? I can spend an hour sewing when Nora naps. I can read at 8pm before bed because Nora is usually asleep by 7:30 (usually). I can sleep for more than an hour at a time at night! OH SLEEP. I HAVE MISSED YOU SO. I never knew how much I loved to sleep until it was taken away from me. 
And all those hollow places I felt deep inside of me have started to fill up with things that make up every day life. Some of these things are familiar, like sitting on the couch with Greg and watching TV on Sunday afternoon. And some of these hollow spaces are filling up with something totally new. Like making batches of food for Nora (OH how she loves her peas and green beans!), washing her cloth diapers every few days and then stuffing them, and jiggling and squeezing Sophie the giraffe 1000 times because it makes Nora giggle. And something else is filling my hollow spaces. A love I never knew existed for a tiny human being that I didn’t quite know how to love at first.
I didn’t think I’d write such a cliche sentence about how I feel about being a mom today. Seeing people write crap like that when their baby was 2 weeks old made me kind of want to vomit all over my phone while I scrolled through my news feed. But hey, everyone is different, and everyone handles and reacts to things differently, so like I said at the beginning of this post. If it was all peaches and roses for you from day 1, I’m so happy for you! If it wasn’t, hang in there, because it has slowly gotten better for me, and I think you’ll get there, too.
Jun
06
2013
Today I’m 21 weeks pregnant with our little girl Nora, and sometimes, I can’t believe how fast this time has gone. We’re now into the 2nd half of this pregnancy, and October is coming fast!! 
I’ve been documenting, in a notebook, all of the milestones, feelings, symptoms, and up’s and down’s of this pregnancy so far, and I plan to go back and create a journal of sorts (when I have some free time… ha!) to remember it all. For now, I’ve been snapping pictures where I can, and keeping my notes in a little pink (how appropriate!) notebook that I keep in my bag, so that if something huge happens (like, feeling her kick/move around for the first time on Wednesday, May 1st), I can write it down and make sure not to miss a single amazing experience!
As I sit here and think about the last 20 weeks, I can’t help but feel overwhelmed with just how blessed Greg and I are. I mean, we’ve created this life, its growing and thriving, and in another 20 or so weeks (theoretically) we’ll meet this little peanut. It’s amazing. It’s also amazing how right and perfect this all feels. I wont lie, before we decided to start a family, both Greg and I had serious thoughts about becoming parents, and what that would mean for us. We’ve been together for 8 years now, and it’s been just the two of us for most of that time.
When we adopted Vespa & Leo, sure, our lives changed a bit. We were now responsible for keeping two cats alive, but that’s easy. A baby represents a whole new and challenging set of responsibilities. And we were questioning if that was something we were ever going to be ready for.
Making the decision to go ahead and start our family was scary at first, because that meant making a lot of changes in our life to make sure our kids have the best that they possibly can. We know how we want to raise our kids, what we want to do to be the best parents we can be, and what we have to change about our lifestyle in order to achieve that. And it’s a big change. But we feel so ready, so excited, and so right about it all. And that is an amazing thing!
In other fun news, I thought it would be neat to journal out how my first half (and specifically first trimester) was. Lot’s of women write down their experiences by answering fun questions about their pregnancy, and I think it’s cool to see how different and unique each pregnancy is. Mine has been so different from how I thought it would have been, which just goes to show you, you really can’t base your future experiences on what other people have experienced when it comes to pregnancy. It’s just SO variable! Check out how my experience has been so far:
*When is your due date?
– October 17th, 2013
*What week are you in?
– Started my 21st week today
*How much have you gained so far?
– About 14 lbs
*What was your first symptom?
– Bigger boobs. lol
*Weirdest pregnancy symptom so far?
– I’ve had an increase of saliva production since about the 8th week. Like, I seriously spit into a sink anytime I can because there’s so much there. It’s so gross and I had no idea this was even a possibility in pregnancy! It makes the nausea worse too 
*Have you had an ultrasound?
– 3 so far, maybe 1 more before delivery!
*Are you in maternity clothes yet?
– Yes, I was quite surprised to find out that my pants and shorts stopped fitting very early on. I haven’t worn pants since February.
*Is it a boy or a girl?
– Team pink!
*Do you have a name picked out? What?
– Nora [something]
*Is the child being named after someone?
– Yes. A cat we saw 4 years ago when we were adopting Vespa & Leo… don’t laugh.
*How are you sleeping through night still?
– Not anymore, due to my sore hip
*Any aches/pains yet?
– See above
*Do you have stretch marks?
– I’ve always had stretch marks on my hips and boobs. lol. But they aren’t getting worse because my awesome hubby got me Burt’s Bees Belly Butter cream and I put it on every day (most likely it isn’t doing anything, but I like to pretend)
*Belly button in or out?
– In, and I hope it stays that way…
*Are your hands and feet swelling at all?
– Only the usual amount for this time of year
*Any food cravings?
– I’ve had cravings for buffalo chicken, and mustard. Like, from out of the yellow squeeze bottle. Don’t judge me.
*Anything you loved before that you absolutely cannot eat anymore?
– In the first trimester, dairy made me so nauseous! But I can thankfully eat it in small quantities again, now that the nausea has subsided a bit I can’t eat wheat (gluten probably) because it makes me really sick… kind of like an intolerance. Boo
*Have you felt any movement yet?
– Yes, I felt it for the first time on Wednesday, May 1st, when I was just 15w6d! It honestly felt like my uterus twitched… much like your eye would… but I just knew it was her!
*Sum up your experience so far
– When you haven’t experienced something before, you really don’t know what to expect. Earlier in this post, I talked about all the wonderful feelings I’ve felt since becoming pregnant, but let’s face it, pregnancy isn’t always sunshine, lollipops and rainbows. Getting through the first trimester nausea and exhaustion was, at times, unbearable – never mind the extreme bloating, the food aversions, and breaking out in pretty bad acne. There were weeks in February and March where I would wake up, go to work, come home and lie on the couch like a helpless child (Greg was amazing at taking care of me, making sure I ate at least a little bit of dinner, and got me water when I was too tired and sick to get up and get it myself) because I was just so tired and felt awful. Although I never threw up ::knock on wood::, my nausea was really bad, and it started pretty early, at 5w3d, and really hasn’t fully gone away, even at 21 weeks. I was surprised by that because almost everyone says that the nausea went away once they hit their second trimester, and that has not been the case for me. But I will say that it’s a lot better than it was, and I think I’ve also learned how to manage and handle the uncomfort of nausea a lot better as the weeks went on.
The biggest thing I learned when dealing with the less glorious side of pregnancy is that you have to stop waiting for this or that to happen and just live your life. I got caught up in the “once I reach the second trimester, I’ll [fill in the blank]…” and I basically stopped living. I didn’t cook, I didn’t clean… my laundry situation was, let’s just say, out of control… The only thing I focused on was making it into the 2nd trimester, where I thought magically everything would just be perfect and I’d feel so magical and 10000x better. And you know what? I do feel better, but I still feel tired sometimes, I still feel nauseous or just generally kind of yucky. But you have to push through that stuff and enjoy what is going on around you. That has been my biggest struggle and my biggest ah-hah! moment.
I’m now excited for the next half of this pregnancy, to get the nursery ready, to make her cloth diapers, to make a quilt for her to sit on and play on and even puke on. And even if I feel nauseous while doing all that, so what? It’ll all be worth it in the end.
Apr
21
2013
I know I have not blogged in a long long time, but today I had to share some very exciting news. We have a little secret we’ve been keeping for the last 14 weeks
We’re expecting a baby this fall, and we couldn’t be more excited for his or her arrival!! More pics and updates to come along the way as we await the arrival of our sweet baby Cuc in October!
Aug
06
2012
A couple of weeks ago, my niece, Julia, turned 1!! I can’t believe how quick their first year flies by. I feel like it was just a few weeks ago that I was visiting them at the hospital on the day she was born, and visiting them at home in her first few weeks of life.
I was looking forward to her birthday party like a giddy little kid on Christmas eve! And how can you not with a Pizza Truck with all you can eat gelato!? As always with the Cucinelli’s and parties (especially ones at the beach house), there was an abundance of great food, and even better desserts! It was a huge, beautifully decorated party, and I think everyone had a really great time! I know I did. Check out this little cuttie-pie and all of the fun she had at her butterfly-themed first birthday party. She even had her own cake to smash and eat, which she did a wonderful job on!
These gorgeous cupcakes and her special cake topper were made by the super talented ladies over at Sugar Bakery
I haven’t done a Sunday Afternoon Baking post in a looooong time! But I have been baking like whoa! I’ve recently found a love for making delicious, chocolatey, baked goods, especially cupcakes and cake pops. And Whenever I get the opportunity to make something, I jump on it! Someone graduated from college? I’ll make cupcakes for that! You’re baby turned 1? Cute cake pops coming right up! It’s Saturday afternoon and you’re bored? Don’t worry, I’ve got some cupcakes to cheer you right up.
No occasion is too big or small. In fact, I tend to bake cake pops lately whenever my family comes to visit. Maybe I’m trying to entice them to visit me more often 
Here’s a whole bunch of recipes I’ve recently tried out. Some were major flops, but some turned out to be fantastically delicious! Everyone’s tastes are different, and what I absolutely love, you might not but if you love to bake, and try new recipes, I encourage you to try out some of these, because its so fun to experiment, and to eat delicious delicious cake (in any form!).
The Brownie-Cookie
This past fall, my brothers came to visit and whenever we get together, we always seem to make delicious foods. Whether its strawberry filled crepes, or lemon ricotta pancakes (no pics, sorry), it seems my oldest brother, Eric, is always finding new recipes to try. He did graduate from Johnson and Wales (though he is not a chef. He owns his own business welding… go figure… hey, it must run in the family, I graduated with a BioMedical Science degree, and I take photos!!).
So on this particular visit we decided to make not only brownies, and not only cookies, but a brownie-cookie hybrid. This was just as I was starting to get into baking seriously (now I have a whole slew of recipes with crazy combinations of baked goods I’m just itching to try), so whereas this isn’t my most favorite recipe, it was still fun to make! I’ve also found other [better??] cookie and brownie recipes since making these, but I’ve included the recipes I used here, since they were still really really good!
For these recipes, I didn’t bake the brownies in an 8×8 dish, as it calls for… as you can see, we made little pumpkin brownie-cookies, as it was fall and we were in the pumpkin mood! We tried two different ways to make these brownie-cookies; half with the brownie batter and cookie dough baked at the same time, and half with the brownie batter cooked half way through, and then adding the raw cookie dough on top. As you can see, adding the cookie dough half way through yielded a better result, although both were equally as delicious. If you want clear definition when making a brownie-cookie, definitely wait for the brownies to be half way baked before adding the raw cookie dough on top!
Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache and Raspberry Buttercream
I made these cupcakes for my mom’s birthday this year, and they were really really delicious! I used this recipe from the Cupcake Project, toted as the BEST vanilla cupcake recipe, test baked by 50 different bakers. I was excited to try this recipe because I’ve been searching for a go-to vanilla cake recipe for a long time now and I thought, this must be the ultimate. I didn’t make them right (I didn’t measure the flour accurately, and they were doughy and heavy), but since making these, I’ve honed my baking skills considerably, and I have to say, the last time I made these vanilla cupcakes, they really were pretty fantastic. I’m still curious if there is a better recipe out there, or maybe a better list of ingredients, so I’m always looking for a new recipe to try. If you think you have one, or want to try this one, let me know what you think!
I topped these with a pretty good vanilla buttercream frosting. Now, the thing about buttercream frosting and me is… well… we don’t get along. I just don’t like it. Well, not buttercream I’ve made before, anyway. But this recipe from Our Best Bites intrigued me because I (for the most part) don’t love buttercream frosting made with powdered sugar, either. I’m very picky. So when I saw that this recipe called for granulated sugar, I was really interested! Its realllllly good. It’s also reallllly sweet, so if you don’t like sweet, you might not like it. But I think the sweetness over-flavors the butter flavor, which for me is ideal because I do not like tasting butter. ICK.
Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream and Butterscotch Filling
These cupcakes were just okay. I mean, I used the “Best Vanilla Cupcake” recipe again, which was pretty good. I made a generic butterscotch filling by taking an old bag of butterscotch chips I had in the cabinet, and basically melting them and adding some cream or something (I can’t even remember really)… and I made my favorite vanilla buttercream frosting (see the Vanilla Chocolate Raspberry cupcakes recipe above for that) to top them, and then drizzled caramel sauce on top – making caramel was a fiasco and a half! If you’ve never tried making caramel, I encourage you to read up about it before trying. There is a specific method to the madness that I won’t get into here, but let’s just say you really really have to follow a specific method in order to not A. burn it, and B. end up with solid rock candy. Suffice to say, by try #3 I got it. I now have a little jar of home made caramel sauce in my fridge that I use only for very important occasions!
There wasn’t any chocolate, so in my opinion, I could have taken them or left them, and it really wouldn’t have made a difference to me. But everyone else who tried them seemed to like them, especially my dad who likes butterscotch, so I consider them a hit!
Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting and Peanut Butter Mousse Filling
I made these cupcakes for a family party, and used the “Best Vanilla Cupcake” recipe yet again. I’m still not sold that this is the absolute best recipe out there, and I’m planning on experimenting with different vanilla substances (pastes, maybe a whole bean, if I feel daring), etc. to see if that helps take this cake recipe over the top! However, I have definitely honed in on my baking skills and I can really appreciate this recipe now. I think its a great one, and maybe if I can find some really top notch ingredients, this will win me over once and for all.
The chocolate frosting I used here was a generic buttercream frosting recipe I found online somewhere (can’t remember where). Since making these cupcakes, I’ve found the ULTIMATE most AMAZING chocolate frosting recipe on the planet. I’m talking heaven in a piping bag! Now here’s the thing. I don’t like butter. I know I know, how can I not like butter? Who doesn’t like butter?? I don’t. I hate it. It’s gross. I hate tasting butter and so, its no reason I didn’t like the buttercream frosting I found online because well, it tasted like butter. So, I’m going to give you the ULTIMATE most AMAZING frosting recipe instead, because it’s to die for good. If you like the taste of butter, and you like buttercream frostings, you might not agree that this is the best recipe, but if you like rich chocolate flavor, with just a hint of creaminess, then this is the recipe for you!! Chocolate frosting lightly adapted from this Annie’s Eats recipe.
After baking the cupcakes, and making the frosting and PB mousse, I cut out little triangles from the tops of each cupcake and piped in some PB mousse inside the cupcake, then I cut off the pointy part of the triangle (it was more of a cone really), and put it back on top of the cupcake before frosting them with the chocolate frosting. Finally, I roughly chopped up some Reese’s PB cups and sprinkled them on top. That right there really made the cupcake! I think next time though, I’m going to make these with my favorite chocolate cake recipe (I’ll be blogging about that later, when i show off my sexy cake pops!!)
Banana Crumb Muffins
I made these yummy muffins as part of a thank you package for Greg’s parents. They helped take care of Vespa and Leo while we were away in Disney last month. I wanted a simple muffin, with a nice flavor that would be good for a quick on the go breakfast, and knew a banana muffin was the way to go. I kind of looked at a few recipes, and then picked what I liked best from each of them… so I suppose you can say these are my own creation!
I topped them with a crumb topping, though it kind of melted, so I think I used too much sugar and not enough flour… but they were still pretty good!
Jun
01
2012
You know its been too long since you’ve last blogged when your Dad casually mentions it to you on the phone one day. So, I’m going to skip over all of the usual excuses of why/what/when, and just get right to it. My Favorite thing for June is Disney World!! How can you possibly NOT love Disney World?! Actually, I know quite a few people who hate it, but let’s not even go into why their brain obviously has a crossed circuit when it comes to imagination, fairy tales, and wishes coming true ;).
A few weeks ago, Greg and I went to Disney to celebrate our 3 year anniversary. If you’ve been keeping up with this blog from the beginning, you might remember me mentioning we got married in Disney, and we were beyond ecstatic to finally be going back! My sister, BIL and nephew also went down, and we had an incredible week together! The weather was in the mid to high 80’s (I know most people find that uncomfortably hot, but for me, its just perfect!!), there wasn’t a cloud in sight, and the humidity was really not terrible until the last couple days we were there. It was honestly a perfect trip! We ate incredible food, found the BEST soft serve station in Epcot (France), and we stayed at the Boardwalk Inn (a villa), for the first time. It was the perfect location – a 5 minute walk to Epcot, a 15 minute walk to MGM err, I mean Hollywood Studios (it will ALWAYS be MGM to us), and a terrible bus ride to Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom. If you can’t stay on the Monorail, (and let’s be honest, why can afford that these days [AMIRIGHT?!?]), then I think staying at an Epcot Resort is the way to go! Next time I think we’d like to stay at the Yacht Club – where our reception was <3... I'll be doing a full blog post on our trip, with lots more pics from the trip soon
If you’ve never been to Disney World… well…I don’t understand why that would be, but if you have any questions or just want to chat about all things Disney, leave a comment below! And if you have been, tell me, what are some of your favorite things to see and do there?
Mar
16
2012
A while ago, I saw a blog post by another photographer who had a huuuuge list of goals, and she called it 101 in 1001. It was a list of 101 goals that she wanted to accomplish in 1001 days. Some of the goals were huge and scary and probably really hard to attain, and some were so small and seemingly insignificant. And, there were goals everywhere in between. I read through her list, and thought to my self, what a cool thing to do. I mean, really. I didn’t really do any “New Year’s Resolutions” for 2012, partly because I had this long list going, and partly because sometimes, writing down things makes them scarier!
Well, it’s taken me a long lonng looooonnnnnng time, but I finally finished writing up 101 goals for myself. Its a lot harder then you think! I cruised right along till about number 65, then I just got stuck… for a while. I finished my list this morning, and I think this is a great Favorite Things post for this month, because with Spring coming, the new wedding season upon us, whats better then laying out 101 of your hopes and dreams for everyone to see?!
Here’s my list, in all its glory I created this list on June 24, 2011, and using this neat website I was able to calculate the date I should hope to finish this list, which is March 21, 2012. Yikes! Only 2 years left, I better get going!! And if you have one, too, let me know and post a link to your 101 in 1001, in the comments section!! Don’t be shy
1. Take portraits of my sister
2. Go on a romantic weekend getaway with hubby Feb. 18/19, 2012
3. Go to the beach on a weekday
4. Learn how to knit and make a shawl
5. Make headbands for my newborn photography
6. Book my first wedding
7. Book my second wedding
8. Book more and more weddings
9. Print that portrait of my sister and Paulie
10. Go camping Oct. 18/19, 2011
11. Star gazing
12. Go back to Disney world with my sister and familyGoing in April 2012, wahooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!
13. 3 months in a row with sub 1K credit card bill
14. Completely clear out the laundry room of all laundryDid it recently, although its tattered with laundry again… I’ll keep this goal going and going
15. Get a tattoo
16. Build a mini bed for newborn photography (with my dad)
17. Buy 85mm 1.2 lens
18. Get far enough with photography to quit my day job
19. Learn how to make home-made pasta
20. Cook a really nice 5 course meal for Greg and I one night
21. Hike other mountains besides Sleeping GiantSo far, only2 others, but we’re planning on doing a lot more this spring summer and fall (2012)
22. Practice yoga Started when I started my 10 Week Workout Challenge back in the fall of 2011. Its ongoing
23. Start meditating
24. Eat more fruits and vegetables
25. Go through old photos and get rid of the “junk” Did this in January 2012
26. Learn how to make sushi
27. Develop a killer chocolate frosting recipe
28. Start reading more and finish unread booksHave been reading about 1 new book a week since Feb 2012
29. Research health and nutrition and keep up to date with current health and wellness trends
30. Brush up on my geography
31. Drive somewhere I’ve never been before without using a GPS
32. Go for a drive to nowhere and enjoy the scenery
33. Go on a real picnic with our picnic basket
34. Attend every PUG meeting I can unless I’m physically out of the state
35. Visit California
36. Network with Bliss Bridal
37. Photograph an Indian wedding
38. Lose 5 more pounds to reach my ultimate weight loss goal
39. Rebrand myself to attract the right kinds of clients that I ultimately want to work with – started, but not finished yet…
40. Get better organized by doing the following: vacuum once a week
41. Do a load of laundry once a week
42. Plan out meals for the week for dinner and keep up with it
43. Clean the kitchen every nighthave been keeping up with this and its so relieving to have a clean house to come home to every night! I’ll try to keep this up as best I can!
44. Make a turkey meatloaf like the one from Whole Foods – tried and failed… try again!
45. Get my wedding band resized so I can wear it – F it, I just wear it now
46. Run another ½ marathon
47. Make a quilt for myself (for once)
48. Get back into taking vitamins dailystarted Jan 2012
49. Start using coupons and planning grocery shopping trips again
50. Design the back patio by fall 2011 – opps, by Spring 2012…
51. Submit the plans for the patio to the board by fall 2011 – By Spring 2012…
52. Weed all gardens and lay mulch by the fall of 2011 – By Spring 2012…
53. Rearrange the office and bring the iMac back upstairs Found a better place for the iMac!
54. Go through old bills and organize paperwork in the officedid Winter of 2011/2012
55. Vacuum my car once every other month
56. Wash and wax my car as often as I should to keep it protected
57. Cook pancakes for Greg’s parents again did once, but would like to do a lot more
58. Get on a better sleeping schedule (in bed by 11pm)
59. Go for manis and pedis as a little treat to myself once every few months
60. Reread all Harry Potter books Finished winter 2011/2012
61. Paint a picture to hang in our house
62. See the Grand Canyon
63. Go out west and go to some states I’ve never been to before
64. Spruce up our bathroom – new mirrors and lights, maybe new bath fixtures, and paint the walls
65. Do the entire P90X system (its really tough!)
66. In the winters, do 2-3 days of cardio to keep my endurance up so I don’t huff and puff when I start working out again in the spring
67. Put granite or some sort of nicer counter tops in the Kitchen, and do up a nice back splash
68. Keep my tree garden alive so that I can transport the trees to other areas of the yard when they are ready to be moved
69. Take a CPR and first aid class in preparation of becoming a mom some day
70. Get my boating license
71. Take a vacation to Canada just because
72. Start reading the Outlander series
73. Send greeting cards to friends and family 1-2x a year just because it’s nice to say hello. Try to start in 2012
74. Drop those 2 bags of unused clothing to Goodwill, or another charitable organization who can use them
75. Plant some veggies every summer and make sure they don’t go to waste
76. Juice 2-3x a week in the summer using either a farmer’s coop, or veggies from the Farm (if they start growing this year)
77. Find and/or create the perfect buttercream frosting recipecheck! I should do a blog about my baking adventures… they are fun!
78. Find the perfect chocolate cake recipeI think I’ve come really close, if not perfect! Blog post to come…
79. Find the perfect vanilla cake recipe
80. Create 1-2 handmade artifacts to sell on Etsy
81. Knit the baby snuggie in a neutral color yarn as a gift to the next person I know to have a baby (or in my fancy purple yarn, if that baby is a girl, or buy boy colored yarn if it’s a boy)
82. Take another craft class with Greg’s mom, like pottery.
83. Make the JCrew elastic waisted mini skirt for me and melis
84. Make a piece of clothing for Paulie and Julia
85. Join a book club
86. Learn how to speak German or Polish… or maybe both!
87. Upload a portfolio slideshow onto my iPad for future client meetings
88. Order the new Moo Luxe biz cards (once my new brand is done)
89. Order a sample album from one of my more recent weddings
90. Cut my hair short………. Maybe…….
91. Nail workflow down to 2 weeks for weddings and 1 week for portraits
92. Make new house quilt of the Farm for mom and dad
93. Take photos of the Farm to blog about
94. Start and complete another 365 project
95. Create a “365 gratitude” journal… one thing I’m grateful for, everyday…
96. Run a 10k
97. Try frozen banana “ice cream” and maybe some “raw” toppings too (cookie dough, etc)…it was good, but I dont know if I’d make it again…
98. Visit a Naturopathic doctor
99. Make applesauce and apple butter – made pumpkin and butternut squash butter in fall 2011… still have to make apple sauce
100. Learn to make jellys and jams
101. Get an ND filter for my 35mm lens (plus adapters for the other lenses) before our next vacation
Wish me luck!! <3
Networking is one of the most important (and sometimes most difficult) aspects of being a wedding photographer. So, last year, I mustered up all of the courage I could, and I attended my very first Photographer’s conference, the Inspire Boston conference… completely alone… by my self. Yep, that’s right. If you know me at all, you know how huge of a step that was for me… little old shy and introverted me. But I met some really really awesome people at the conference, made a lot of friends, and even got to hook up with some great people this past summer to shoot with!
When Suzanna, from Suzanna March Photography, emailed me after the Inspire conference asking if I wanted to shoot a wedding with her in Ridgefield, I was psyched! She was really fun to hang out with at the conference, and I simply was blown away by her photography. She really gets it… what it really means to capture the love between her couples. You can just feel it in her work, and I was so honored that she asked me to shoot with her.
And her clients are awesome! Sheila and Stephen were possibly the cutest and most head over heels in love that I’ve had the privilege to witness. Their wedding was so much fun, and I had a blast photographing with Suz, especially when I manned the photobooth at the reception! All of the guests really got into it, and I think you can see in Suz’s part III post just how much!! Thanks so much for letting me share in their love, Suz, and thank you Sheila and Stephen for letting me help capture your story!!
Make sure you click on these three links to see Suzanna’s awesome shots from the day!!
Part I, Part II, and Part III
Enjoy my take on the day:
Feb
21
2012
I was recently introduced to Pinterst.com and to say I’m addicted is an understatement. I’ve been saving pictures to my desktop and clipping magazines since I could hold a pair of scissors; keeping these sources of inspiration and creativity in a neat and orderly place so that I could go back to them and create something of my own. Pinterest makes this 1000x easier! Not only can you save a picture right from the website you are on to come back to later (how many times have you navigated away from a page only to say later, “what was that website with that incredibly awesome pic of that dress??!?!”), but when you use the Pin it applet on your web browser, it links back to the original source of the image, too! This serves as two really valuable resources, in my opinion:
1. You can finally go back to that website/blog *easily* and see all of the how’s and where’s and when’s of your inspiration image (maybe a DIY craft, or a pretty braided up-do that you’re dying to try for your next big night out) without having a million bookmarks in your browser, or sending yourself a million emails with links (or am I the only one who does that??).
AND 2,
It CREDIT’S the owner of that image. You get linked RIGHT to their website, where you can search and explore tons of other amazing DIY crafts, recipes, or really pretty braided up-do’s. This is huge for me, because as a photographer, I really like to give credit where credit is due, and I really want to know how you did that pretty braided up-do!! I have weddings that I’m attending (as a bridesmaid no less!!) and I need to do my hair up all nice and junk.
I think Pinterest is a great source of creativity and inspiration, and can be really useful for everyone, photographer or not! I know I like to print off a million recipes that I’m curious to try. Why waste all that paper, when I can just pin it to my “Delicious!” board, come back to it when I’m ready to try it, and save a tree!!? Its awesome.
Speaking of my “delicious!” board, this is my favorite board to pin too because I’m a total chocoholic, and I’m constantly looking at chocolate cake recipes online… it’s kind of one of my favorite pastimes. It’s kind of a running joke in my family that I look up chocolate cake recipes like a 15 year old boy would look up … well, you get the idea.
You can follow me on Pinterst here, and if you’re on Pinterest, please leave a note in the comments and link to your Pinterst page so I can follow you too!! Happy Pinning