life. photos. scrapbooking.

Lisa & Scott :: Baltimore Inner Harbor Wedding

Lisa was a friend of a friend... That is until about 6 months ago. Now she's a FRIEND. No more "once removed."

And believe you me - I'm the lucky one. She is just sensational. Sweet, kind, genuine, open and adventurous. It's no wonder why Scott's madly in love with her. Oh yeah - all that and a bag of chips later... She just happens to be gorgeous too. I mean - Kristen Stewart, eat your heart out kinda gorge.

And what to say about Scott? I'll admit - I was a little intimidated at first. But underneath all that tall dark and handsome - he's just as fun-loving and sweet as can be too. And he was first in line to try any zany pose Karena or I could cook up! A dream come true really for a photographer... as usually it's US who have to coax the boys out of their shells.

And this day - what a day! On Baltimore's Inner Harbor they exchanged vows with a backdrop of blue skies and bobbing masts. It really was marvelous.

Thank you, thank you Scott and Lisa for your trust. I hope we captured your special brand of magic. Congratulations to you both and may you have many splendid years ahead!!!

xoxo!!!

Some of my favorites...

Lisa's sister Sarah... the maid of honor.  :)
Lisa seeing her dad for the first time at the hotel... Well... more like seeing him see her. It was a special moment.

The elevators in the hotel were taking FOR-EV-A... so we hoofed it down a dirty stairwell. Loved this very photojournalistic moment...

I paid off the ticket lady to let me - not only double park my car - but also to let us have this carousel all to ourselves for about 10 minutes.... Money well spent.

Then Lisa and I left the girls behind and headed to Federal Hill Park for the First Look and some portraits of Lisa.

The view of the harbor from the park was sensational.

I love that they agreed to a First Look.... they are soo very special.

Scott was clearly blown away.



Then came the "I-Do's"... :)

And now... it's time to party...

Siblings...

They even had a party crasher...

Mr. & Mrs. Peters y'all...

Lisa... you are so stunning... I don't know what to say. I'm a lucky photographer.

The reception was at Tabrizi's... amazing location. Wonderful staff (Michael you are great!) and delicious food. Yes, we got hooked up with the same meal as the guests. Thank you Lisa and Scott! The filet and crabcake was insanely better than the ham and cheese we usually get!

The flowers were by Ellen Frost of Local Color Flowers. And this marvelous cake was made by the pastry chef at Tabrizi's.

Scott introducing his new wife...

The remarks and toasts were heartfelt and tender...

At the end of the evening we snuck outside to get a shot of them giving some "sugar" in front of the Domino Sugar factory sign across the harbor.

 

Raw Week

On Sunday Clark and I decided to go raw for a week.

We packed up the kiddies and visited his family up in western PA over the weekend and during our trek I took a look around our van and silently lamented what a big bunch of garbage eating punks we all were. Then I started to think about life "outside the van." All the chips, frozen pizzas, Chick Fil A, Diet Pepsi, M&M's, hot dogs, etc. etc. etc. Made me quite sick at myself. Life is hectic and busy and sometimes frozen pizzas and Chick Fil A are all you can do at mealtime to save your sanity...

But - I've been wearing out that excuse. I'm tired of feeling tired. I'm tired of my skin breaking out all the time. I'm tired of having lower back pain like a MOTHER. I'm tired of the vicious cycle that carbs and sugar provide... the high and the ridiculous low. And the craving for more. Poor Clark has to contend with NO caffeine too. Since being pregnant with Macho - I swore off that stuff. Been a decaf girl for over 3 years now. Not looking back.

Clark and I are both fairly "lean" people... good genes I guess - because our diet and exercise routine would suggest that we should both weigh over 200lbs. So really, this week isn't about weight loss. It's about hitting "reset" on our digestion, packing ourselves with healthy fiber, fats, vitamins and minerals. It's about more energy and better overall health.

I've done detoxing in the past... In fact, I had a spare one of these in the pantry. So Clark is using that in combination with our raw diet. Since I'm still nursing the little one, I didn't wanna overdo it with a lot of herbal supplements that would pass through to her. So I'm just doing the raw food part of the cleanse.

I didn't read any specific book - or follow any specific plan, per se... Just googled "raw diets" and followed a few links to find out what was "approved" and what was not. YES :: Raw Fruits & Veggies, Uncooked Nuts, Dried Fruits (unsweetened), beans... NO :: Meat, dairy, anything cooked, grains/starches, anything with refined sugars. And I watched a few YouTube videos on some good, healthy recipes.

I have found that when I'm told EXACTLY what and when to eat I begin to obsess about food and thus become ravishingly hungry all the time. It's just my personality to become obsessive about things. So I decided reading a big book would be bad...

Food just needs to be a part of my day - not the focus of my day.

On our way home on Sunday, we stopped at Whole Foods and stocked up on things like, raw cashews, almonds, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, kale, spinach, flax oil, spirulina powder, unsweetened coconut, coconut water, dried fruits... and then went to my local grocery store and purchased just about every type of produce they sold.

Here's what my kitchen looked like on Sunday night...

(forgive the iphone photos)

Ummmm... honey? I think we need a bigger fridge.

And we got started making green smoothies, salads and other wonderful raw dishes...

Love Instagram by the way... :)

Macho wanted a "red" smoothie - little did he know there were beets and a carrot in there with his strawberries!!!

This is an adapted recipe from a site I browsed called www.thebestofrawfood.com.

Basically it's a cucumber "boat" filled with fresh guacamole (avocado, tomato, onion, cilantro, lime juice and salt). I've eaten this twice now and it's AWESOME.

For dinner one night I made this salad... Spinach, red pepper, cucumber, grape tomatoes, black olives. I had some homemade pesto in the refrigerator that I made a couple weeks ago... so I took a scoop of that - added the juice of one lemon and a bit more olive oil and made more of a pesto vinagrette for on top. Sooo delish.

At night I usually make a "green" smoothie for Clark and I. One thing I've learned - don't skimp on the water base (I've been using coconut water)... This smoothie was waaay too thick. And though the flavor was great - the consistency made it really hard to drink. This bad boy was packed with kale, spinach, carrot, avocado, strawberries, blueberries, apple, pineapple, spirulina powder, flax oil and banana... A meal in a cup.

From what I understand... the whole juicing/smoothie thing is great because it takes out the "chewing process." Therefore, the fresh foods are already semi-broken down when they enter your body and the absorption of nutrients happens in like 20 minutes. Ka-chow!

This is what I've been eating for breakfast. And, truly - I've had to stop myself from eating it multiple times a day... Fresh berries, raw nut and dried fruit mix (cashews, almonds, banana chips, sunflower kernels, raisins, cranberries), flax seeds, unsweetened coconut... with rice milk on top.... AHHHH MAZING.

On the other hand...

I have had a few missteps. Like this particular smoothie.

My attempt at a savory "Bloody Mary" style green monster. Celery, tomato, carrot, kale, salt, lime juice, parsley.

Yep - the gag reflex won out on that one and I stuck to crudites and hummus for din-din.

Ahhhhhhh...

 

So... how am I feeling?

PROS::

I think it's pretty amazing how these foods sustain you. I mean, I really didn't have any sugar/carb withdrawl - and I haven't been hungry AT. ALL. That's just plain incredible in my book.

Plus - on days when MK is here watching the kiddies and I'm in my hole working... By 3pm I was usually doing everything possible to keep my eyes open... Probably because I'd had a hot dog and chips for lunch with a Diet Pepsi (caffeine free, of course) followed by some Oreo's or a handful of M&M's....Talk about JUNK right into my trunk.

But now - I cruise right along through the afternoon... no fatigue.

My skin is showing signs of improvement... Another few days and I'm thinking I'll be in better shape there. Being 33 with blemishes is just stupid. Like, enough ALREADY!

And lastly - and this may sound weird... I feel like the blood pumping through my veins is "cleaner." Sounds strange, I know.... But hey, I AM STRANGE!! Haven't you people figured that out yet?

CONS ::

I have had a pretty bad sore throat for the past few days but I'm thinking that's unrelated...

I was SUUUPER bloated last night. You'da thought I had a bun in the oven again. I need to do a little reading on how to combat that issue.

Finally - I need to do a little more research on how to get kale to taste good in the blender. Now that I "know that taste" I'm having more difficulty masking it... Where - the first night I just gulped it down and thought it tasted great because I'd never had it before. I've been saving my spinach for salads becasue I don't think I can do kale with a fork... but that may have to change.

 -----------

My brother and sister-in-law are also inspiring us. They recently purchased a Vitamix and are so in love with it. In their case, they have replaced one meal a day with a green smoothie. They've been doing that for a few weeks now with great results... Liz has offered to write another guest post on this - which I'm really looking forward to!!!

SO folks - have any of you ever done this? I'm really digging it. And I'd love to hear what you've done! Post a comment and let me know!

 

Embracing the minimalist in me.

I'm so drawn to all of the minimalist style craftiness that is Paislee Press. I own SEVERAL of Liz's digital kits and collaboration kits... yet - somehow - my layouts never quite make the "minimalist" grade that her style is so affectionately known for.

So - this time - I decided to just straight up scrap-lift a design I saw on her blog. A design by one of the members of her creative team. I'm thinking if I just keep doing this - eventually my creative eye will just "go there" on its own. Like training.

I gotta tell ya... I love this pic of Macho so much - my first instinct was to make it as huge as possible on this 12x12 spread. Making is so small totally went against my grain. BUT - I believe that sometimes a small photo with a lot of white space surrounding it - draws the eye in... Like - ooooh - what IS that?

So I tamed the beast inside and went for it.

Here's my version of a layout from THIS post :: 

LAYOUT SUPPLIES :: Adobe Photoshop CS5, All elements by Paislee Press and Fei Fei's Stuff - Montage Kit, Font - Courier New

 

Happy Tuesday!!!

:)

 

Guest Post :: Word Art

By :: Elizabeth Martin

 

This is my downstairs hallway -- one of the first things people see when they come to my house. 

See that bow? 

It has been tied around that frame since this past Christmas.  That was my way of making a picture-less frame… festive, I guess.  Also, it ended up being a fun way of unknowingly punking people into thinking it was some kind of lame “hint” about me being pregnant again.  (I just used “punk” as a verb.)  

Here’s the problem – I just took this picture, and last I checked, it’s July.  If Santa is still around in that furry red suit, he is dying of heat stroke right now.  As with most of my projects, I started out just not being sure what to put in this large frame, but then (spoiler alert) I just got lazy.  As I’ve said before, I am an extremely slow mover. 

Well, this slow mover got a kick in the pants the other day while perusing Pinterest.  I saw something on there, and as soon as I saw it, I knew it would be perfect for this empty space in my house.  I’ve never been on Pinterest before, so I thought I’d check it out. 

I am in LOVE.  It is an amazing site, and I whole-heartedly recommend that all of you at least give it a test drive.  I started on Katie’s Pinterest page and just kept clicking on things I liked, and it took me to so many different pages, all of which contain a variety of different tastes and style choices.  It is a really great place to get ideas and inspiration for decorating your home and sprucing up all kinds of things in your life. 

Along the way, I stumbled onto an art piece that I LOVED (note the second use of all caps – Pinterest is a very cool place).  The words really grabbed my attention and gave me a chuckle because all the pictures that hang in my downstairs hallway are of my children.  I think it is a funny, if not ironic, way of acknowledging the absurdity of this makeshift “shrine” to the wonderfulness (new word?) of my children.  Here is the original artwork if you want to check it out.  Below is my adaptation and new color scheme… but I can’t quite figure out which font I prefer.  So what do you guys think?

 

What do you think?  I decided to go bold in my color choice because, unlike Katie, I am a total beige girl.  (You saw the hallway, right?)  Everything in my house is either beige… or sage… or some other ridiculously boring color.  (Except for my husband and son, who make Albinos do a double take.)  These colors really seem fun and playful to me -- just like the kids whose pictures I plan to surround them with. 

Since I went bold with the text colors, I thought I would mute the colors in the pictures to make the entire thing seem a bit more balanced.  Here are a few of the pictures I plan to hang around this new piece of “word art”:

 

I hope you all have a great day!  Also, go have some fun with a “word art” piece of your own.  It can spruce up an empty space in any home.

On The Move Layout

_{LAYOUT SUPPLIES :: Adobe Photoshop CS5, Digital Template - Paislee Press Conversation Piece No. 7, Cardstock - Michelle Martin Manchester Solids Pak, Patterned Papers, Elements - Paislee Press & One Little Bird Dialogue Kit, Font - Courier New}

 

Because ensuring these memories get preserved keeps me sane.

Have a great weekend!

Thankful Thought No. 5 :: My MK

I'm so thankful for this beautiful girl. (Kate Middleton anyone?) She's my cousin's longtime girlfriend and happens to be a bonafide child guru. She loves my two knuckleheads so much. To the point where babygirl fusses when she puts her down - just like she does with me. It's official. My babies are fully attached.

And so am I. Her help these past few weeks has been a revelation for me. I'm feeling less overwhelmed than before. And, I feel like my three days a week with her allow me to be relaxed about all the good things this responsible young lady is doing with the kids so I can focus on my workday.

My only problem? She'll be going back to college in a month. Oh MK... we'll miss you!

Childhood Randomness

I follow Kayla's blog pretty religiously. The other week she had some prompts on childhood that I found to be a very entertaining read.

Figured I'd take a stab at it. (Yes, I totally had to call my mom for help.)

Circa 1979

P.S. on the photo - What the heck am I wearing?... Clearly it's a bathing suit... but holy revealing! Where are the sides? It looks like an apron!

MY FAVORITE CHILDHOOD TOY WAS :: at around 2 years old I loved stuffed animals, my baton, a camera, Big Wheel, my dad's electronic Scrabble set... The baton obsession lasted a long time... MAN - I really wanted to be a majorette.... They were my eqivalent to like an astronaut or something to a boy... I wanted to wear a sparkly costume and be out in front of a crowd twirling twirling twirling. Throwing that thing way high in the air, doing 17 spins and catching it at the last second without getting dizzy. The girls at our high school even twirled fire at night football games. I remember being in such awe of that.They were the bomb... and at like 4 and a half - I wanted to be the bomb too. In fact - my two childhood babysitters were like THE majorettes... you know - the ones who got to wear the silver sparkly suit when all the others wore blue...they were seriously the bomb. No wonder I was so obsessed.

See?

MY FAVORITE SONG WHEN I WAS LITTLE WAS :: "Ka-Ka-Ka Katie... beautiful Katie".... Yes, my parents nurtured a very self-absorbed thread in the fiber of my makeup... What can I say - my self indulgence, my vanity, my insecurity... it's all THEIR fault... not me THEM! THEM! Because - oddly - I never heard anyone else sing that song... like... ever. Oh yeah - some other faves according to my baby book - "Baby Bumble Bee" "ABC's" "Twinkle Twinkle" "Jesus Wants me for a Sunbeam" - the usual suspects. And - around 5 - I really really really loved to sing... with vibrato. Which totally explains the fact that from about 15-30 I was on stage singing in some performance role or another.

ONE OF MY FAVORITE CHILDHOOD MEMORIES IS :: Oh man... so many. Here's one... Once a year, my brother and I getting to pile into the back of wood-sided station wagon at bedtime with our sleeping bags sprawled out in the back (no seatbelts back then). We'd sleep all night - well most of the night - when we weren't belting out 80's tunes like Hall and Oats or Michael Jackson - only to wake up in the morning at the Outer Banks for the start of our annual family vacation. YAAAHHOOOO! And the beach - THAT beach - every summer was also woven into the fiber of my soul. I loooooove the ocean. I love the OBX. My my how it has changed since 1978.

P.S. We're going back next month! Woot!

Here we are at the shore with our majorette babysitter! We coordinate!

MY CHILDHOOD CRUSH :: Hands down - Joey McIntyre from NKOTB. O-O O-O-O, O-O O-O. the right stuff... Every Teen Bop I could get my hands on would ultimately get ripped apart so I could wallpaper my bedroom walls with whatever I would find. I remember my heart actually fluttering when I would oodle over the photos and silly little captions I would read. Never did get to go to a NKOTB concert. It's cool though - I survived anyway. Ya see - back then - MTV actually played VIDEOS - and that was enough.

THE THING I WAS MOST AFRAID OF AS A KID :: This is going to sound really wierd - but I was afraid of music boxes when I was like 2. Every time one would open and play - I would fall apart in a total meltdown. It was like a very very sad scary thing.

To this day - I still don't like em.

I'm so strange.

Later on - I was over at a friends house for a sleepover... Maybe like 5th grade? She had rented Nightmare on Elm Street : Part 3. I'd never seen anything like that before. She had older brothers and was utterly entertained by this. I, on the other hand, was scared outta my mind. I then forced my parents stand outside the bathroom door while I took a shower for the next like, 6 years. Ridiculous.

Again, to this day I CANNOT do scary movies. I even have to change the channel when previews come on TV. I'm a total and complete wimp with an over active imagination. Scary movies are NOT for me.

FAVORITE FOODS AS A KID :: French fries, PBJ, ice cream, cottage cheese, and tapioca pudding. Of course I instantly compare this to what Macho's favorite things are right now... and since I turned out pretty much ok - it makes me feel a whole lot better about his regular dietary intake of PBJ, nuggets, mac & cheese, pizza, ice cream and whatever other junk he can swindle out of us.

------------------

xo

Katie

 

8 MONTHS... Photo Fun.

Homegirl turned 8 months old yesterday. I decided to have some fun with her.

Perhaps you've seen this very unique work by a photographer in Helsinki, Finland - Adele Enersen. She imagined what her daughter would be dreaming of and created those dreams with household items like blankets and cd's, pillows, candle votives, etc. then took pictures of her daughter...

I was inspired by this and decided I had to experiment with my "little" while she is still... well, little.

Adele has created quite a stir among photographers with this type of "overhead" photography. I was on a forum the other day and saw lots of creative spin-offs. Really cool stuff.

 

Anyway - without further ado - I give you my somewhat lame attempt... I used only stuff from around the house. And with the help of our great babysitter - we pulled this off in about 20 min.

Beach baby.

Bring me another Mai Tai won't you?

Definitely more difficult when your subject is awake.

I actually had that bed sheet ironed and smooth. It stayed that way about 9 seconds.

Happy Tuesday!

and now... For the birthday girl!

Happy Birthday MOM!

Life is so funny. I look back and think of all the silly time I wasted trying to grasp my own independence.

You see, my mom was a teacher at my high school. So, during those hormone filled teenage angsty years, I felt I could barely breathe without her knowing about it. She was thick as thieves with all my teachers, coaches, etc. I felt suffocated. And I made a point of throwing a fit about it whenever the opportunity rose. Heck - I probably threw a fit without an opportunity present.

Things came to a head quite often in those years... Finally, I think I just plain wore her out. She ended up taking a half-year sabbatical my senior year to give me some "space." Amazing, right?

Homegirl quit her job just so I would give it a rest already.

What can I say? Sure I'm ashamed... but at that moment in a girls life - it was all about MEEEEE! Teenage girls just stink - and I know I'll get payback for those years with my little "angel."

But then I flash my mind to now... now I can't get enough of my mom (and dad for that matter). She's like a wonderful drug. Now that I have kids of my own - I want them to experience as much Mimi and Grandpa time as possible... which ain't easy when you live a good 6 hours away.

It's like I was a magnet flipped the wrong way during my teenage years. And now, I've righted myself.

Anyway - just thought I'd share some of the crazy things that run through my head on days like today.

I LOVE YOU MOM!

And I'm sorry I was such a royal pain in the ass!

And I hope you have a happy birthday! Can't wait to see you in a couple weeks!

xoxo

 

 

Marshall Kiddies :: Children's Session

I loved Brittany the instant I met her. Beautiful. Genuine. Infectious. She's a friend of a friend who came highly recommended to me. I was so honored that she would then ask me to capture her two little muchachos at this sweet stage in their lives.

I packed a blanket and some of my son's blocks and toys and we met up at a local park, then we went to play in the sand and water for a bit before rewarding big "J" with some ice cream from the most fabulous homemade ice cream place EVER.

Let's get started, shall we?