Back to the Real World

Well, I'm now back in PA after an awesome week long vacation in Florida. My grandparents head down south every winter, so I love being able to visit them at their beach-front condo for vacation:) It's so hard getting back into every day life after you've been on vacation.....especially since I had beautiful weather every day I was there.....and because this is where I got to lay out in the sun all day every day:



I've always loved palm trees....I wish I could have palm trees in my yard in PA!


It seems like every single house down there has perfectly manicured lawns with gorgeous flowers - I loved these:)


And here are my grandparents hanging out poolside:) I'm so lucky to have all four of my grandparents still with me today, and I'm even luckier that each one is an amazing person who has taught me so much, set a great example of what good marriages entail, and have always been there for me. Love you guys!


Unfortunately, now it's back to the daily grind.....while wishing I was still in Florida!

Photo Shoot with Alison

Two weeks ago I met up with Alison to have some shots of me taken for my new website - the new website is coming soon....so stay tuned! It was a lot of fun walking around with Alison chatting about photography, but wow, was it WEIRD being on the other end of the camera. I love how her images turned out, here are a few I grabbed from her blog:







When Alison got the shot of me above holding my camera up taking a picture, I snagged a picture of her below:)



It was making me laugh because people were wondering WHAT we were doing when we both had our cameras up and were basically taking pictures of each other.....but it was fun. And hey, I'm sure everyone has seen MUCH odder things walking around the streets of Philly:) Thanks again Alison! I had a blast!

Roanna & Reed: Engagement

Last weekend I met up with Roanna & Reed in Philly for their engagement shoot.....it was cold and rainy all day, but the sun finally broke out right at the end of our session:) When Ro and Reed first met each other through work, they were both dating other people.....but before long, then wound up together in a relationship of their own. Now Roanna lives in Kansas City and flies to Michigan every week for work, and Reed lives in Chicago and flies to California every week for work. But the distance definitely didn't come between them - Roanna & Reed have a love you can feel, just from being around them. From the way Reed interacts with Roanna, to the way Roanna looks at Reed, they just have one of those relationships that you know is true and real. Here are some of my favorites from the session:













I just loved the feel of this picture....






Steamy! I love it!






Such a happy couple:)


When Roanna e-mailed me and said they wanted to bring their school jerseys to the shoot and have a little fun, I was all about it - Roanna is a PSU grad (the best school EVER), and Reed went to Illinios.....here is Roanna showing Reed who is boss:)




Ro and Reed, thanks for having me document your engagement session - you guys are too much fun and I can't wait to hang out again!

Happy Easter!

Hope everyone had a great Easter! My Easter Sunday started off a little rough, but turned out to be a great day. I started off my morning by taking a spill down our stairs.....our hardwood floors were recently refinished, aka they are SUPER slippery right now. You'd think I'd learn after many close calls down the stairs, but I finally learned after my tumble today. Of course I had my camera bag in hand (thank GOD for padded camera bags), and a full glass of water, which subsequently flew in the air and all over my face/hair/outfit. So my pants were soaked, my makeup was running down my face, and water was all over our walls.....as I was trying to run out the door. Oh and I may or may not have broken one of my little toes.....still determining that one:) Once I dried my pants and wall/floor, touched up my makeup and dried my hair a little bit, I was good to go!

J and I went to visit my grandparents for the day, and my Grandma's cooking can ALWAYS make me feel better:) I just love the view they have from their porch:



My Grandma also makes homemade chocolate peanut butter eggs - they are HEAVENLY.....I told her they made my toe feel all better:)


I also realized recently that I don't have any picture of my grandparents.....so I had to make sure to get some nice shots of them today. They're both such amazing people, and I feel blessed to have them in my life. They still have a strong, amazing marriage after 50 plus years, and they've always set a great example for me growing up - I can only hope to one day become the great people they both are today:


Also, yesterday I had an AWESOME engagement shoot with Roanna and Reed - so I had to post a sneak peak:)


Check back later in the week for MANY more pictures from their engagement session - they turned out so well it's going to be hard to pick which ones to blog about! Happy Easter.....I'm off to nurse my toe:)

Perfect Pair Bridal Shower

One of the things I love most about weddings is all the amazing details that the brides put together - I love the details:) This weekend I went to Cait's (who is pretty much like my own little sister) bridal shower, which was thrown by my best friend Sam.....and she of course had put together awesome details for the bridal shower. Since all the bridesmaids in Cait's wedding are wearing red shoes, Sam's theme was "the perfect pair", with red high heels every where....so creative! I loved the idea, and of course had to take some pictures:

I loved the favors - little red high heel sugar cookies!


She even had the balloons anchored in red high heels:


Although I can't say I'm surprised Sam picked this theme - if there is one thing she loves more than anything, it's shoes....I love how I was taking this picture of the balloons, and caught her cute yellow heels in the background:)


And of course, even the cake had the red heels:


I really loved all the details of the bridal shower, but I expected no less out of Sam:)

Big Summer Ahead!

I'm ecstatic that spring is finally here! Did everyone get their free Rita's water ice to celebrate the first day of spring? I never miss that event:) This year they had a "mystery" flavor, which was thoroughly enjoyable. I may have had to stand in line with a winter jacket and gloves while ordering my water ice, but at least it's a sign that warmer weather is on it's way....soon hopefully. For some reason it has felt like this winter is just dragging on and onnnnn. I'm ready for a warm up!

Jeremy and I are still incredibly busy trying to get our house together - I can't stand when things aren't in their place.....and right now there are boxes and piles of clothes everywhere. I can NOT wait until we are done with all our painting so I can put everything away in its spot. I'm so excited for what's coming this summer though - I have a packed summer of weddings and engagement sessions, which will be starting soon:) I am also working on re-vamping the website, which is my project for April - so stay tuned! And here is a little sneak peak for what's to come:

Baby Henry

Here is baby Henry. He is 3 weeks old.



Don't you just want to squeeze him?? He was such a good baby for our photo shoot - he didn't cry at all even when we were changing his little outfits multiple times. He is just such a content little baby - Erik and Ash are lucky parents! Here are the proud parents:





And this series was too cute that I couldn't pick a favorite:




From this picture you would think Henry just saw something REALLY exciting. He was staring at a wall though:) Too cute.







I love his tiny little feet:



And little hands:









Look at how tiny Henry's fingers looked wrapped around Erik's finger! (Can you tell he was helping us paint our new house this weekend?)











I know you can't tell from this picture, but Ash looks AMAZING for just having a baby - she was so cute when she was pregnant, and she already looks great post-baby! I can only hope to look as good as her when I have kids on day:)


I love how it looks like Henry is laughing from Erik tickling him:)



By the end of our shoot, Henry was exhausted. So exhausted he could not hold his head up any longer.