my girls. :)

aaaaaaahhhh.
the day has officially ended as I kiss my kids goodnight and fin-uh-ly sit down and ponder my day... :)

tonight.
tonight, I got to meet with my girls.  there were eleven of them tonight. :)

I get to spend time with my girls every wednesday for small groups.
I get to lead (although sometimes I'm not sure who's really leading) :)  some of the most interesting, most colorful, most profound girls that I wouldn't otherwise have known if it were not for these wednesday nights.

tonight, we talked about what our "elsewhere's" were.
the phrase "God is good, so we don't have to look elsewhere." was the topic.
and somehow this lead to the topic of first crushes.
oh, how they love to talk about the boys. :)
and what girl wouldn't really?
God made them interesting so we would want to talk about them...and apparently talk about them.
a lot. :)

do you remember your first crush?
I do.  :)
1st grade.  jay kimball.  he smiled nice and didn't pick on me the way brian kowalski and kip rogers did. (although, they let me play kickball with them...so they were still cool.)
he had yellow hair and could run fast.
apparently my standards back then were seriously high. :)
crushes are fun...they make your heart race and the world seem just a bit more colorful.

yes.  these girls tonight made me smile.  as they animatedly talked about boys and then furrowed their brows at the "dumb" boys.  I got to watch them form new thoughts about finding the right boy.  the boy that would care more about them loving the One rather than just the boy...
yes.  they make me smile.
they teach me a lot about myself...and let me remember pieces of myself that I might otherwise forget...
even things like first crushes. :)

the wall.

yeah, that's the wall this week.
thanks to d + k and my efforts to be more disciplined, I now have an obsessive nature towards post-it notes.
but I do like seeing my to-do's in a row on a wall...it makes me feel like it's do-able.
like it's not this giant insurmountable plethora of stuff. (yeah, check out my smart words barrett girls) :)

I'm not gonna be all cheery for the sake of being cheery today.
it was a hard day.
the kind of day where you could look at the wall and simply cry because you feel like you're slopping through mud with 20lb. weights attached to your ankles. 

BUT.
I still got to make it to italy tonight.  and I needed to go to italy tonight.
I know what you're thinking.  "she's lost it.  there's no way she went to italy tonight."
oh, but I did.
you see tuesday nights are our one night a week family dinner night.  one of my goals this year is to be a better cook, and the only way to do that is challenge myself.  so each tuesday we go to a different, far-off place...places that we'd all like to go someday...a couple weeks ago it was china...last week was hawaii with shish-kabobs and fruit pizza's.
well, this week was italy.  oh, I had great plans for italy...it's somewhere I seriously would like to go to someday!  italian sausages, caprese salads, garlic everything...oh, yes...it was going to be amazing.
since you already know what kind of a day I had, you know it didn't turn out quite that way...
let's just say it takes a lot, and I mean A LOT of talent to burn a boiling pot of water with pasta in it.  :|

but the calzone's still made it - stuffed with fresh basil and italian cheeses, smooth riccotta and real pepperoni slices...and no one was put off by paradise bakery's perfect pasta salad (it's my favorite anyways.)
AND my cake turned out...my super rich mafioso italian chocolate cake turned out perfectly.
and THAT cake, I suppose being a girl :)  made everything better. :)

now, as I lace up my tennis shoes to go work off the guilt :)  I'll share my perfect chocolate cake recipe.
trust me...it's worth the extra effort...and has the power to make the wall seem like just a post-it note.

Mafioso Italian Chocolate Cake

• 1/2 cup Hershey's Special Dark cocoa
• 3/4 cup boiling coffee
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups sifted cake flour (do it.  trust me, it's better that way)
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 cups C&H Baker's Sugar
• 3 egg whites
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 6 tablespoons butter, softened
• 3/4 cup Dutch process cocoa powder
• 2 2/3 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. In a small bowl, mix together 1/2 cup cocoa and 3/4 cup boiling water; set aside.
2. In another small bowl, dissolve baking soda in the sour cream by stirring them together.
3. In a large bowl, cream the 1/2 cup butter and 2 cups sugar. To the butter and sugar mixture, alternately add the sifted flour and the cocoa mixture with the sour cream mixture. Beat until fluffy. Beat the egg whites until stiff and fold in the egg whites and 1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla.
4. Grease a 9x13 inch pan and pour the batter into it. Bake at 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) for 50 minutes. Frost with La Famiglia Chocolate Frosting (below).
5. To Make La Famiglia Chocolate Frosting: Cream 6 tablespoons butter or margarine in a small bowl. Add 3/4 cup cocoa and confectioner's sugar alternately with milk; beat until spreading consistency. More or less milk can be used depending on the texture you want. Blend in the vanilla. This yields about 2 cups of frosting.        

tune in next week as we head to Alabama - in honor of my most favorite movie :)

playing house :)

almost every little girl (including me!) loved to play "house" growing up.
I have no idea what my sister and I were thinking as kids,
but we would go over to vanessa bridges house across the street to set up our "house".
we'd drag out old sheets and clothespin them to the branches of her backyard pine tree's that created a little cove for us to build our "house".  we'd "borrow" flowers from neighbors to decorate around our house.  we even swept the floor and laid down a "rug" (okay, so it was a towel) to make it cozier!
but we'd play over there for hours, just imagining what our real house would look like someday!

I used to think that magazines like these were THE end all.  And, if your house did not look like the ones in these magazine, then you fail.  :)

but I'm getting a little more comfortable with my own style.  kinda minimal, kinda modern, totally comfortable and just a smidge eclectic... and I've found a place that I simply LOVE!

it is a most magnificent place online that I might just be getting a smidge too obsessed over...
house wares...vintage decor...giant graphic design sticker wall art...kids clothes...unique one of a kind presents...vintage shoes...even techy stuff like web design, printables + custom fonts!

yeah, etsy has my number. :)

but I love that REAL people are either creating or refurbishing old stuff...cool stuff...one of a kind stuff!

1.  custom blog design by paper me pretty 
2.  vintage fan by KMDCreations
3.  cupcake pin cushion by made in lowell
4.  custom, original baby onesies by evy love creations (friend of mine who is SO creative!)
5.  pea pod long necklace by art of silver
6.  the dress that my daughter wore at my brother's wedding by beane and co.
7.  vintage desk that I SO want in maddie's room by poppy cottage studio's
8.  seriously cool shoe clips (jazz up a plain pair of black wedges!) by Chloe and Maddie
9.  refurbished vintage cedar planters by andrews reclaimed
10.  vintage white + green chandelier by vintage chic furniture
11.  and my favorite store lately...wall art by simple shapes

playing with a thunderstorm

"pets" is this weeks challenge over at i heart faces.
but I do not have a pet.
although, I should VERY much like one (for you matt, if you happen to read todays post) :)
a pug, a min-pin or even better yet...an english bulldog.  *sigh*  but it is not to be.
you see...my husbands heart is three sizes too small...he and the grinch are cousins. :)
*bigger sigh* but I love him anyways :)

I like to imagine sometimes what it would be like to have a pet.
having the thought like tiny tim from a christmas carol
"if I can't have none of them, why not want all of them?" 
and if I could pick any animal in the world without fear of being bitten or eaten,
I think I would pick a lion.
a lion?!
yes.  I lion.

when you're a kid, what's the first animal you want to see at the zoo?  yup, it's a lion.  they're majestic.  they're powerful to the point of being slightly scary.  and their eyes look like they've seen a lot and could tell stories if they could talk - almost as if they're looking through you...

as a young girl I read the chronicles of Narnia.  and my fascination with lions only grew.
aslan was all of the things I imagined a lion to be and more!

"...He stood for a second, his eyes very bright, his limbs quivering, lashing himself with his tail.
then he made a leap high over their heads and landed on the other side of the Table.
laughing, though she didn't know why, lucy scrambled over it to reach him.
Aslan leaped again.
a mad chase began.
round and round the hill-top he led them, now hopelessly out of their reach, now letting them almost catch his tail, now diving between them, now tossing them in the air with his huge and beautifully velveted paws and catching them again, and now stopping unexpectedly so that all three of them rolled over together in a happy laughing heap of fur and arms and legs.
it was such a romp as no one has ever had except in Narnia; and whether it was more like
playing with a thunderstorm or playing with a kitten 
lucy could never make up her mind..."

so here is my "pet"...
photographed from an amazing place called "out of africa" set in the high hills of arizona.
his name is lazarus.  he almost died as a cub and was even pronounced dead for a full minute before simply breathing on his own.
I like that...Lazarus. :)

last week is so...2000 and late.

I feel like a lot has happened over the last three days.  maybe just internally though.
let me explain...
do you ever feel like you're doing life and doing it pretty okay?
that was me.
last week. :)
the last few days I feel like God is stretching me.  and challenging me to do life even better...and to grow in the area of discipline.  (I kinda just snickered a little bit to myself...it almost sounds like a cuss word to me.) 
that's how far removed I am from discipline.  and I desperately don't want to be a stranger to it anymore.

don't get me wrong.  discipline is not that foreign of a concept to me in all areas of my life.
if there was anyone who could be a workaholic, I'd be first in line.
but I think that that is where the problem starts.  for whatever reason, work comes easy to me.  I like it.  challenging myself with the things I like and am good at and interest me.  so the equation:
hard work + interesting things = jen is happy.
but am I disciplined in the areas of my life that aren't "work"?
to be honest.  no.
(*gasp* I just admitted that.  out loud.  take it back, take it back!) :)
no.  I won't take it back.  it's who I am.  or rather who I was.  last week.
to quote the b.e.p.'s last week is "...so 2000 and late..." :)

I realized with the help and continued help of my amazing husband and seriously cool sisters that it's okay to recognize areas you fall short in and to work hard at them.  which is hard to do.  especially when it means being 100% honest with yourself and the people around you who love you.  I'm the queen of getting gung ho about something for two weeks and then crapping out two weeks later.
discipline is working hard when the gung ho leaves.
discipline is work.  hard work.

but today.  june 25th, 2010.  is a new day.  and discipline has started today.  and honesty about myself has started today. so here's to a fun friday being disciplined....and being truly happy. :)

now.  on to my favorites + not so muches!

*my lovely sisters.  they are two of my closest friends.  the younger one being miles away and has the ability to hug me through a phone.  the older one taking the time to really listen to me over a diet coke at wendy's.  even though miles and life may get in the way of us being together...I know that these two will forever have my back and be my biggest fans to the end.  I simply love, admire and cherish them.  a lot a bit.

*true love.  I got to photograph the 50th wedding anniversary of some dear, sweet friends of mine.  two people who have demonstrated what true love is.  is their marriage perfect?  is it easy?  nope.  but they chose to love.  and to grow old together.  and to be best friends.  and it is a most beautiful thing.

*good friends. :)  these two make me smile.  and be inspired by how hard they work at life.  I love to see them love on each other.  I love to read their post-it notes.  and I fully believe you could make a new york times best seller book out of their continuous life story.  I would call it "love. on a post-it note."  seriously cool people. :)

*being featured on other web-sites!  it shouldn't matter what other people think of you and your work, but it kinda is really cool when they "like" you and feature you on their web-sites.  must be the high-schooler in me. :)

on i heart faces on facebook

on pretty lovely designs

on swatchbook weddings

and now for the...

*being stuck in the middle.  let me explain.  not being gung ho.  not not caring.  but stuck somewhere in the middle.  the middle is not cool.  the middle is not for me.  :)

that's it for this week!  have an amazing weekend! :)

kissing the clouds :)

as a kid I remember riding the train into chicago and visiting the sears tower.

standing at the base of it, typically you couldn't even see the top because it was buried in the clouds.

all you would see is window upon window and steel beams leading up as far as you could see!

riding to the top was an adventure, too.

going up the seven minute elevator, you would feel the sway of the building.

yes.  I said the building swayed.

and yes.  I said seven minutes.

not good for a motion sickness prone little girl. but no worries, I made it.  :)

once you reached the top it was simply breath taking.  but I distinctly remember the fear of not wanting to take that first step onto the observation deck.

as if the floor would give way and I would fall to my demise.  pbsh.

after being coaxed by my dad to walk around, you got used to the feeling like you were a sailor.  and when you looked around, it was breathtaking!

how was it that mere man constructed this amazingly tall skyscraper that kissed the clouds?!  Ah-mazing.

that was my first experience with architecture.  later in life in college, I would try and replicate through drafting, creating pencil drawings of buildings that others had constructed and I was intrigued with grids and lines and shapes.  there's real art in architecture.  not baby cheeks + wedding flowers - which I love...but different art.  and I admired it.

over these last few months, I have had the privilege to shoot three commercial architecture sessions.

steve kovach, of kovach, inc. is a most interesting person that I've had the privilege to work with.

a man of many layers with interests in off road racing (he has his own team he takes to baja, MX every year!), playing the blues in his sound proof music studio and more importantly running an incredibly, successful company!  I shot his family this last christmas and he asked me a few months later if I would be up for photographing some of his latest projects for a brochure he was working on and to use the images to create an art gallery for his offices in phoenix

I was most definitly up for the challenge!

I love the use of color and shape and lines in how he designs and constructs for each of his projects.  and am amazed at how many people are on the job sites!  amazing to watch and be a part of!

here are a few of my favorite snapshots from the sessions at phoenix children's hospital, the new arizona casino, barney's at scottsdale fashion square & his work shop at his office...

♥ the chipette's ♥

*warning - you might shed a few tears if you choose to read this post.*
(and for those of you who just said "pbsh, I don't cry" let's just say I warned you) :)

a few weeks before mother's day I teamed up with "save our stories" in books and had this contest.
there were quite a few unbelievable tear-jerkers on kreatid's facebook fan page! *sniff*
there is just something that tugs ALL of our hearts when it comes to mothers.

forever until I die, the soundtrack in my head when I hear the word mother
will be "the mother song" by the chipette's.
(I'm pretty sure I just audibly heard a few of you snort/laugh.)

but it's true.

this is a scene from the epic adventure "the chipmunk adventure"...
let me set the scene:
the chipmunk's and chippette's are racing around the world.  eleanor (the blonde chubby one) rescues this baby penguin that was stolen from it's mother in Antartica by an arabian twerp king.  she sings this song and convinces the stubborn britney (the blonde cool one) that they NEED to help the little penguin get back to it's mother.  even if they end up losing the race! *sob*. 

once again.  YES, I'm 32.  and NO, I will not grow up.  ever.

click here to listen to it.  :)

I couldn't decide a winner of the contest so I had my own mother pick the winner.
here's the entry that she ended up picking by the lovely miss emily maccrane :)

I'm no mom.   I'm the daughter. But by the grace of God, I know I want to be one from the example my mom has given me. My mom is the image of laughter, faith and love.

Recently I was commenting about how badly I wanted a surprise birthday party but I was already planning a party so I thought "No problem, there's still next year." My mom and 10 of my closest friends surprised me last night to celebrate my 17th. I was blown away, not only because I had just seen my friends 45 minutes before and not noticed, but my mom, who had been working everyday this week, planned it all because she loved me. She didn't have to day it, because her actions spoke the loudest.

Faith. My mom has been in a physical battle for 9 years. Breast cancer followed by CML. And yet she keeps going! When my dad sucks or I whine about a problem at school, she will listen and bring me back to my God, who gave us our relationship. She could have given up, she could have become bitter or despondent. Instead she loves her God, loves her family, and takes each day as it comes.

My mom is one of the more sarcastic people you can meet. She makes me laugh beyond the point of breathing with her silly voices, wit and faces. On a bad day she is the one I will tell because I know she will make it better. Just like a Bandaid cures any booboo.

I'm not my mother but when I grow up I want to be like her: faithful to my God, full of laughter, and loving to the best of my ability.

congratulations, Emily and thanks for letting us hear your beautiful story! :)   here's a couple of the snapshots from the mini-shoot that she won! :)

 

 

22 crayons

I am noticing in photography there is a fine line of being inspired and simply replicating.
let me explain...

do you remember the first day of 1st grade?

I do. :)

I remember Mrs. Pavonka and her pretty swishy skirts and perfume as she strode through our desks.
I remember getting to wear my new red + yellow sundress with long pigtail braids.
and, I remember being SO excited that I even got to have my own desk.  it was one of those old wooden/metal combo's where the desk lifted up so you could store your brand new school supplies in them.

and that year.  OH, that year I got to have a giant box of brand new crayons with a sharpener built right in!
I know! (again, you have to say it like craig fergusen, or it loses all meaning.) :) 
the box of crayons that came with built in sharpener had like 500 crayons.
(hey, I was in 1st grade and it felt like 500 crayons!)
okay...so it was just 64.
but to a little 1st grader who was SO grown-up enough to have her very own desk...64 crayons all to myself seemed like heaven!

oh, the pictures I was going to draw with colors like:
midnight blue...which obviously was SO much better than just regular blue!
and burnt sienna...by far, superior to just plain, old brown. :)
or dandelion...you have never seen dandelions quite as awesome as the ones I colored with this color!
and fern...not quite lime green, not quite kelly green...but fern.  a most splendid color. :)

I mentioned a new crayon box in yesterdays post in light of my own clients.  but the visual plays into my own crayon box of inspiration, too :)  you see as that wide-eyed 1st grader (no jokes about how wide-eyed I was.) :)  I was SO excited to create masterpieces with those brand new crayons.  I didn't care how beautiful emily bowling's flowers were as she colored next to me.  or, how cool and crazy kip rogers' drawing were.  I only cared about drawing the best picture that I could make...because it was mine.  mine, with the brand new shiny crayons.

I'm learning that photography is kinda like that for me.  just a different medium.
that's not to say I'm not looking to see what others are producing...FAR from it.
I get inspired by the things that I personally see.  but also stretched artistically when I see what other artists are producing too!  not that I want to replicate exactly what they do...but be inspired by their work to stretch and grow my own point of view as a photographer and to see life bigger.
that's the fine line of being inspired and just copying.
and to be honest, I'm happiest and most content when I get to create...not copy. :)

so.  being the spaz that I am.  :)  I've listed my 22 favorite crayon "colors" that inspire me to see life bigger.
whether it's how they view life, or how they shoot with their camera's...these people inspire me to create even bigger and better masterpieces.  :)

brick red = jasmine star - this girl, by FAR...is one of the most inspiring.  she gives tips and encouragement away like it's candy...super rare in this industry.  and for the most part, she seems genuine about who she is and how she doesn't take her self too seriously.  serious enough to be a flaming success at what she does, but still able to chill and realize what's most important in life.  I simply love coming back to her blog to hear her stories...definitely a regular blog stalker with her. :)

magenta = sarah rhoades- is someone I truly admire.  I don't see life (for the most part) through the same eyes that she does, but she SO intrigues me.  she did a crazy cool house wife shoot not to long ago that I simply adored!  and her encouragement is not quite as often as j*'s but it's from her soul when it comes and I love to listen to how she thinks!

'

periwinkle = justin & mary...for me, it is super cool to watch a married couple be passionate about photography and more importantly a life together.  mary is very witty and funny and actually responds to you on twitter...rare for someone as "big" as her :)

sliver = jerry ghionis - he is new to my crayon box. :)  I got to listen to him on escalate live about a month ago and I was captivated with his passion for good photography.  in my opinion, his blog does not do justice to his transparency and "coolness"...definitely someone I'd like to emulate and meet someday.  and seriously, seriously funny. :)

wisteria = purple nickel studio - this couple is a little like sarah rhoades for me.  people who like to draw with colors I've never heard of...but they're the kind-of people who have swagger with what they do.  reminds me of the b.e.p. mini-song "...I like that you like my style..."  just really unique, see's life through different eye's people that I admire. :)

dandelion = kacey luvi (pearson) - this girl is seriously one cool lady.  to be honest, she's the one who inspired me and challenged me to pick up a camera two years ago and just go for it!  she see's ordinary life like it's a scene from a hollywood movie and I am constantly in awe of her tenacity to expand who she is as a photographer.  love her. :)

fern = simply bloom - the two girls fascinate me.  I love their styled shoots.  I love their candid shoots.  I love their transparency.  I think that's why they're fern green to me...I just like what they do!  very unique and creative!  vania & christine are two people I'd love to have lunch with and pick their brains on photography and just life...

midnight blue = the boudoir divas - ahhhh, the diva's.  and rightly so.  I know this type of photography is not for everyone...but to me, it is beautiful, beautiful art and they create it with serious swagger. :)  to take a woman and make her feel beautiful to the point of allowing her to "sparkle" and then, be able to present her in a beautiful way is true magic.  I love following what these two ladies are up to on the internet! :)

check out these other "crayons" of mine for even more inspiration!
yellow = jamie delaine
denim = aaron shintaku
cerise = audrey coley
indigo = blue lily photography
peach = ree drummond
goldenrod = chenin boutwell
robin's egg blue = elizabeth ann photography
razzmatazz = jennifer skog
sea green = jesh de rox
tropical rain forest = jessica claire
mahogany = joe elario
eggplant = jose villa
cotton candy = love ala
fuschia = promise tangeman

my honey moon :)

did you know that today was the first day of summer?
I know! (you have to say that like craig fergusen for the full effect of saying, I know!) :)
otherwise known as: summer solstice. (summer solstice?!  for you lindsey. :) )

or:
the day that the sun stands still for a minute...
midsummer's night...
honey moon...

I like that.  honey moon.  because they made sweetened wine from honey for all the wedding celebrations happening after the summer solstice.  honey moon has a nicer ring than solstice, no?

I love summer.
well, not really arizona summer.  but summer back home...
going to the dunes and eating pringles with sandy/salty fingers singing chama-chameleon :).
rolling all the windows down and opening the moon roof and just driving old country roads letting your left hand "float" outside the window.
watching the sun set as you finish off just one more game of volleyball and then turning on the flood lights only to keep playing all night long.
laying on the trampoline with absolutely no lights on and counting millions of stars.
catching twenty lightning bugs in a glass jar only to let them go again.
canoeing down a river and letting your toes skim the water.
listening and watching a summer thunderstorm roll in on a screened in porch.

*sigh.*
yes, I love summer.
I get to go back home in three weeks.  july 14th to the 23rd to be exact. :)
there.

there is where I will enjoy my honey moon. :)
happy honey moon to you. :)

p.s. I am only taking on four photography sessions while I'm in IL, as of right now.   email me if you'd like to book one of those sessions at jendriesbach@kreatid.com :)

coloring with different colors

this weeks challenge at i ♥ faces is teenagers.
whenever I hear that word I hear sebastian from "the little mermaid" when he's talking to the king and he says "teeeenayjuhs." in his thick jamaican accent...
makes me smile.

and yes, I am 32.  and no, I will never grow up. ;)

I still really love this picture.  one of my favorite things to do as a photographer is go back through favorite shoots and and remember the people and places in them.

the place of this shoot makes me smile...Red, baby chicks getting a bath, the alpha goat, 1920 old cars and tractors...
and this girl?  this girl sparkled.

for me this shoot was like a new box of crayons.  excited about all the new colors you can't pronounce and not too sure how it's really going to go - but excited nonetheless!  and I loved how her pictures turned out...

fun, colorful girl.  fun, colorful memory! :)

sugar + spice

"...sugar & spice, and everything nice. that's what little girls are made of..."

meet sedona.
cool name, right?
cool little chick, too! :) she genuinely seemed so happy to have her photograph taken!
and the outfits!
oh, the outfits! little girls simply have the BEST clothes! :)

 loved the details of her quilt!

the return of fun fridays :)

I'm back, baby! :)

break time is officially over for me.  my mom always said a good vacation is one that you are SO looking forward to go on and one that you are looking forward to return home at the end.
according to her wisdom, this has been a good break for me.  :)

okay so why?  why the break?

somewhere in the last six months, I got lost.  don't get me wrong, I loved the business of working with clients...the creative adreneline rush from an amazing shoot...being challenged in ways I never dreamed of!

but I got so busy reacting to the business of life that I couldn't be proactive with the things I felt like I should be or wanted to invest in.

questions like these haunted me over the last six months:
what creatively inspires me?
what dreams should I be pursueing?
better yet, what does God want of me creatively?

there's a passage in Galatians that I LOVE in "the message"...

"...make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that.  don't be impressed with yourself.  don't compare yourself with others.  each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life..."

could these words get anymore inspiring!  these words breathed new life into me and gave me hope that God made me exactly who I should be.  and should I choose to live with "open hands" instead of feeling like a tight-fisted hamster on a hamster wheel, freedom to be ME is mine to attain.

all this being said...it's Friday.  and it's fine-uh-ly fun friday again...so here's my first of many more to come of "favorites" and "not-so-muches" :)

*Pretty Lovely Designs.
shalon (the designer) is an AMAZING, creative, super cool lady who helped design my new blog's look.  I tried out WordPress and like it...but didn't want to lose the history I've created with my current blog.  I didn't really care about creating a custom domain for this blog and simply LOVE the look of my new blog - mimicing my current style with my website.  She is extremely thorough and detail oriented and was more than helpful throughout the whole process.  DEFINITLY look her up to create a look that is completely unique to you! :)

*D300

yes.  I have one.  and it is AWE-some!  I just finished up three shoots with it and the D90 and am amazed at the usabilitly and clarity or it.  definitly a keeper and a challenge to learn - but I LOVE it! :)

*san diego.
if I could transplant my loved ones and life that I love in AZ to san diego...I'm pretty sure life would be almost perfect.  over the last two months I've had the privelage to travel there and it simply is amazing...the cool breezes, the deep smells of green things growing...the freaking OCEAN!  :)  yes, I love this place. :)

and the "not-so-muches"?
not in the mood this week...just favorites!  have an amazing weekend being creative! :)