{Rock the Shot Interview}

So many fun things are happening lately.  Lots in store :)  Recently Karlen, from Rock The Shot, asked me to be the featured photographer on their blog. Have you seen their blog?  Their forum?  Check it out.  It's jam packed with so much photography goodness. It's a very cool site!  Thanks Karlen for the fun interview!

Hope you all had a relaxing and fun Labor Day weekend.  Since it's still ridiculously hot here, Labor Day couldn't be celebrated without being by a pool or in a lake.  Our friends had a swim party at their house and the kids were in the pool 80% of the time while the adults sought shade, water and libations.  It was a great  day with friends, kids and fun!  Here's a little snippet of our day :)

Partial body shot of Ty since he was jumping on the trampoline and I didn't want to make him stop for a pic lol.  I like the artsy feel of it though - it works ;o)

Brielle playing a balancing game on a friend's shoulders while he turns super fast.  Brielle stayed standing - awesome!

Playing in the sandbox, swimming and hanging out with friends.

Claire & Brooke playing dress up :)

{Parents Magazine & some randomness}

When I write blog posts I forget that there are people out there that may read my posts that I don't know.  And rarely check my blog analytics, I always forget how to access it.  I blog because I want to and because I like to journal my sessions, my life, my kids and just everyday things that inspire me.   So when April from Parents Magazine contacted me, introduced herself and complimented my work I was completely flattered.  She looks at my blog? What?  My little blog?  She then asked if she could use the 'Back-to-School' photo I took of Ty and Brielle on their first day of school this year in her upcoming feature.  Yay!  Here's a little look below.

Okay so abrupt change of subject, but who's ready for Fall?  I'm sooo looking forward to the crisp weather (which still doesn't happen till December her in AZ), smell of pumpkins, the scent of autumn candles, the clothes (boots, boots and more boots!), the yummy baking and the list goes on.  Well, the other day we had a little tease with the weather.  It was the first morning in months that I walked outside and I didn't' immediately break into a sweat.  It made me feel alive and made me yearn for Fall.  So what else did I want to do?  Bake!  I had some bananas that had been dismissed by the kids and I that were begging to be used somehow (instead of ending up in the garbage like they usually do).  So my baking assistant, Brielle, and I immediately started the yummy bread baking right after school.  She loves to bake as much as I do.  She tested the batter and preferred to put it all over her face saying she didn't really like batter.   Thankfully she thinks the bread is heavenly ;o)

Here's how I made my Yummy Banana Bread!

• 1/2 cup margarine, softened
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 1/4 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 4 to 5 very ripe bananas
• 2 teaspoon Mexican Real Vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups Baking flour
• a dash of salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 tablespoons dark brown brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon of cloves

Mix the butter and cream cheese together until smooth.  Add in white sugar, eggs (mix well after each egg), mashed bananas, and vanilla extract.  Then sift in flour, soda, baking powder & brown sugar.  Then add it cinnamon and allspice.  Fill 1/2 way in a prepared pan and place in a 350 degree oven for 40 to 50 minutes.  It is scrumptious!!  We're making more today.  :)

And lastly, August our puppy is now officially potty trained!!!  Yes, it's true!  I'm removed all of the baby gates and have allowed him free run of the house when we're home (although he follows me and is at my feet where ever I go).  I'm so proud of him....a little overdue but I'm so glad he's finally learned that going potty inside causes everyone stress including him.  And he's stopped chewing on things that aren't his!  He has a basket of toys that are his and he goes to those whenever he wants to chew on something.  And August has enjoyed his new-found freedom by being the focus of play for Brielle and her friends.  While Ty and his friends play DS, Brielle and her friends are dressing up August in princess dresses, and jewelry.  He's such a good sport about it all.  Tee hee :)

{FaithWorks4You Back School/Fall}

Oh Faith, she is amazing!  She's a treasure in the handmade community.  She blows me away with her creative styles and retro-modern looks for little girls.  I'm absolutely smitten with this dress!  Oh and my  previous session (a snippet shown below) for Faith's back-to-school 'Brielle Dress'  was featured on I Lived 2 Click.  Check it out :)

Faith is getting a lot of attention - businesses and clothing mags are intrigued with her amazing style.   More to come! Below is her 1969 Retro Style V Shaped collar dress.  I love it!!

{Gooseberry Lane Originals} commercial photography

Eek!! Temperatures are spiking out of control in Arizona :( and I'm not too happy about it.  For those of you on FB you may have heard my griping yesterday.  I can't help it.  I'm usually a very positive person but this has pushed me too far lol.  High temps 110- 115 mixed with any amount of humidity is a recipe for disaster here in Arizona and the humidity is between 30%-60%.  That doesn't seem very humid does it?  When I lived in South Carolina the humidity was 90%+  (not fun) but the temps were in the 90's not the 110+'s.  So I feel like I'm in an oven here and I'm just waiting for this pain to stop.  The kids' recess at school has been canceled this week because of the heat advisory.   It's just not fun.  The dog has to be coaxed into going outside to go potty it's even too hot for him.  But I know, it could be worse.  I've heard from my Texas friends and friends in Southern states that they are suffering too.  So at least there's company in the misery :)

Not too long ago I photographed some adorable dresses for Gooseberry Lane Originals.  Have you heard of of this cute Boutique?  They have beautiful handmade designs - since it's handmade by the owner and designer, turn-around my be a short few weeks but it's worth the wait.  Mandy, the designer/owner of Gooseberry Lane Origninals lives in Ohio with her husband, and two children.  She started  her Business in 2010 but has been sewing for customers for years prior to the opening of her boutique.  I had so much fun brainstorming this session.  I wanted it to be unique, fun, girly and interactive.  So I came up with the idea one night while trying to fall asleep and in one day build the 'Fruit Stand' while my husband was out of town {sleepless nights can be productive when he's gone :) }.  The temperatures were HOT when we shot this session, so we had to pat the girls sweat down every few minutes.  They didn't seem bothered thankfully but you can tell by their flushed cheeks that it was a warm day.  I was so happy how it all turned out :)

Gooseberry Lane Originals can also be found on Facebook.

{little peek} commercial work

I really wanted to be productive this weekend.  So what did I decide to do?  Cut carbs in an effort to detox my body.  Bad timing.  It's really messed with my productivity since I now have a headache, I'm shaky, I'm tired and I'm weak.  I know it's only supposed to last a few days and then I'll feel better but right now I just want to crawl into bed.  Why is the detox so bad?  Well, I love bread and I love carbs (too much!) and I had to do something about it.  So my body is going through A LOT right now lol.  But I did want to make a post tonight so here's a peek at an recent photo shoot I did for back-to-school.  More to come soon.  Squeal!!

{Lil'pink boo}

Oh look who I got to photograph recently.  Isn't she precious?!  She's 8 1/2 months old and the most gentle little girl with the sweetest, calmest demeanor.  It was hot during our session, don't ever let anyone convince you that it's always a dry heat in Arizona.  In July and August (mostly August), it's 110ish with at least 50% humidity.  The positive?  We get some amazing thunderstorms (Monsoons) with amazing, moody clouds and sunsets.  I digress...so it was hot and this little girl wasn't phased by the sweat, heat, bugs, etc.  I was totally impressed!  Brittany & Larry (her mom and dad) were equally great in the heat - willing to help and happy to do what we needed to do for our session.   Oh did I mention this little cutie is walking!?!  Yea, it's true, she just started walking a couple of days ago and she showed me how well she can stand even on the uneven jungle of an area we were in.  She impressed me again :)  Here's a little peek at our fun session!

{First Day of School 2011}

Yes, it's true....summer is over and the new school year has begun.  I still can't believe I have a 3rd and a 1st grader - I feel so old.  And they are growing up far too fast (I know, I say that all the time).  I have a mix of emotions:  I'm happy, I'm sad, I'm excited, I'm anxious, I'm overwelmed, I'm ready, I'm so not ready.  I just want to stop time - put it in a bottle and save it for later.

Here are my munchkins in the courtyard before jumping in the car to head to school.  Tyler was beyond excited and couldn't sleep at all the night before.  He came to our room 3 times and I finally had him sleep with us.  Every time I rolled over he'd whisper 'Mom?  I'm so excited for school.'.  It melted me.  He has the same enthusiasm for school I had as a kid and remember how he feels - exactly. You can see how the kids felt from their picture - it's written all over their sweet faces.  Tyler was excited, confident and ready.  Brielle was nervous and cautious with a little bit of hidden excitement :)  They both ended up having an amazing day!  I was so excited to hear all about it.  We celebrated the first day by going to Golden Spoon and getting an ice cream with some friends.  We also celebrated the end of the first day of school with a breakfast dinner (their request).  And I prepared little notes for the kids at their place setting.  They loved it and felt special that the spotlight was on them.  I wished my video camera battery had been working - it was the cutest to see them get so in the letters and read them out-loud taking turns answering the questions.  They wanted more questions so we kept going with  the Q&A ;o)  It was a fun-packed, exciting, butterflies in their tummies filled day and they both fell right to sleep after kiss and hugs.

{Fanciful Frames!}

Aren't these frames beautiful!?!  I love them.  My good friend Haleigh and her husband Dane just started a really cool new framing business called Fanciful Frames.   When she first told me about it I knew that it would be a success!  Her husband has mad wood working skills and Haleigh has a great eye for color and design.  The mixture...awesomeness!!  I plan on using her frames on at least one of my walls and making it a fun funky frame wall.  I'm so excited!  I'll definitely post pictures when I do that.  But I wanted to share some of her frames with  you now - so many shapes, sizes and colors.  And her pricing is very reasonable - which is a big plus when you're trying to frame  a whole wall ;o)  Their website is here and their business is on Facebook here.  They are both the nicest people so if you have any questions about sizing or colors, they're happy to help.  :)

{Confessions of a Prop Junkie Interview}

I'm so flattered to be featured on Confessions of a Prop Junkie's blog!  What a fun interview with some unique questions :) Thank you Tabitha for asking me to be a part of your cool blog.  Check out how I achieve my before and after, shown below.  Also I show a little bit of my prop stash, my favorite shooting locations, what other fun little tid-bits.

Just a teeny-peek at my prop stash (it's a crazy mess lol).

Where I love to shoot :)

{Lemonade and Lenses - Eye Candy Session} Where the Wild Things Are feature!

Have you heard of Lemonade and Lenses?  It's new!  Two talented photographers, Lexi Vornberg  (Lexi Vornberg Photography) and Gina Weathersby (Kiwi Street Studios) are the creators of this fun new blog.   Recently, Lexi contacted me to see if they could feature my 'Where the Wild Things Are' photo shoot in their 'Eye Candy Session' segment.  I was flattered.  That was such a fun session to shoot and it's one of my favorites.   Their site if full of lots of eye candy in the short amount of time that it's been live.   Check them out :)  Thanks again Lexi for the fun feature.