spicy ♥ :)

do colors evoke emotion out of you?
I can't be the only one... :)
put on a red hat or dress or even better red high heel shoes and how do you feel?
                                                                      sassy! :)
or how about brilliant blue?  blue as the ocean in greece?
                                 calm and collected.
and green...ah, green.  my "go to" color.  it's my absolute favorite. :)  they say it's the new red. ;)
                                                 the world is right when I wear green...confident.
to me the emotion yellow brings out is obvious!
                      cheerful! :)

but what about brown?
                            for the last ten years, brown has most definitely grown on me.
                  mostly because of the person I associate with brown.
                             it's warm.  it's inviting...
                                                 it's calm.  and just a smidge spicy. ;)

you've met these people before.  they are my friends.  my dear friends.
                  friends who have simply become family...and I love them.   tremendously.

and p.s.  they ROCK the brown.  definitely spicy.  ;)

sunshine. ♥

you would SO be laughing at me right now if you were sitting with me at my desk.
I feel like I've stopped and started a million and four things to say about her.
"remember the time..."
"and then we laughed until we cried..."
"oh man, were they ever angry that time!"
yup, you'd be laughing...but I still wouldn't know how to put into words the way I feel about her.

there is a couple songs that have become "her" songs to me.  okay, more than a couple. ;)
if I'm in a funny mood it's "500 miles".
if I'm in a nostalgic mood it's "strawberry wine".
then there's "empire state of mind"; "red wine"; "crimson & clovers"; "the theme from beaches"...
she'd get me to dance like a spaz in our room growing up...she just brings it out you.
and to this day if I hear mary chapin carpenter's "only a dream", it can bring me to tears.
I'm not even sure why we knew that song...but it will forever be hers.

and yet, we're so very, very different...obviously in looks  
                                                       (I had serious issues thinking I was adopted growing up.  seriously.) :)
but where I'm the gold-star getter,
      she's the chill one saying "you do it better, jenny"
                                                 (but not because she couldn't get the gold-star - just because she didn't feel like it.)
where I'm the OCD straight line follower,
          she's the one saying "why the heck NOT color outside the lines?!"
and when I want to quit, OH when I want to quit...
       she's the first one in line to encourage me to keep going.

yup, I love her.  a lot.
tenacious. fierce. sunshine. and one who I am privileged to call one of my closest friends.
yup.  I just love her.  :)

P.S. she is an amazing photographer who captures b.e.a.u.t.i.f.u.l. images of my niece and nephew on a regular basis...but getting pictures of her and her man are hard to come by seeing as SHE is the one typically with the camera...so here are some of the images I got to capture of HER and her man.  LOVE you!  :)

he loves me taking a bazillion pictures.

you can see it in his eyes.  yup, he loves me. ;)

dragging.

I have a confession to make.
I am sssssssssseeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiioooooooooouuuuusssssssssslllllyyyyyyyyyyy
                               dragging today.
like "oh my gosh I need to crawl into my bed and not come out for a month"
                                                                    kind of dragging today.

           curious.  what do YOU do when YOUR wagon is dragging?
                             where do YOU go for inspiration?  or a pick me up?

me?  I go to my feeder...my feeder full of lovely, colorful, perfect sounding people who write about wonderful, interesting NON-DRAGGING things to inspire you and feed your mind. :)

my favorites today are:

full house.  why is called full house?  get this, she has twins AND triplets!  and yet, she posts amazingly creative things for me to read!  I LOVE the bright and visually stimulating design ideas she posts on a regular basis!  her D.I.Y. pom pom's are SO going to be strung throughout maddie's room soon...
just you wait and see, henry higgens. :)

sugar & fluff.  again, I chose this design house because the color palettes and imagery is incredibly visually stimulating and is in general a mood lifter for me!  I SO am going to steal use the star confetti picture in a shoot I'm doing this weekend...it's just cool.  and they're just cool.  they just are. :)

kind over matter.  now these ladies have a HUGE soft spot in my heart.  I come back to them again and again when I need an inspiring quote to pick me up or an image to encourage me.  this whole site and concept is simply to share kindness.  is it the most visually savvy site?  no...but the content runs deep and is definitely worth keeping in your reader.  it is for me. :)

brand camp.  this blog makes me smile just writing it's name down.  I've followed this blog for about a year now and have to say it's helped me immensely business-wise.  her slogan kinda says it all for me "left-brained knowledge for right-brained people".  yup, that me.  sign me up. :)  this writer takes the fluff out of five step business plans and kinda smacks you upside the head (in a funny, happy, witty way) and cuts it down to the knitty-gritty for you.  she's witty and writes in a way that you wish you could meet and just listen to her break down your business for you.  worth it.  especially if you have a business. :)

 

and last, but definitely not least...

she makes stuff.  she doesn't have a super-huge following...but I kind of dig that.  she's just really good at what her blogs states...she makes stuff.  and some really cool, interesting stuff at that.  she's the type of person I'd like to be locked in a scrapbook store with to see what she'd create.  and.  I like her blogs font.  I know, I'm a nerd.  it's okay, I've embraced who I am. :)

that's it.  I'm crawling back into my sea of covers to finish editing.

the end. :)

larger than life... :)

scenic [see-nik]
-adjective
1. having pleasing or beautiful scenery
2. representing a scene
-noun
1. a photograph depicting natural scenery
2. a scenic tour

                  do you see him?         no.  do you see him?

I see his nose kissed with freckles...
I smell his skin when he hugs me...he smells like sweet boy who loves the outside...
I see his blue eyes krinkle with a joke that's sure to come...

I have this photograph.
     this scenic photograph...
              of this larger than life boy dwarfed by the great redwoods...

                                    this is my boy.
                                            the one who brings me joy...

more at:

not photogenic. :)

the first thing she says to me is...
              "jen, seriously.  we are not photogenic.  no, I'm serious."
   catherine, you officially win the award for liar of the year. ;)
these people were a joy to hang out with for a quick mini-holiday shoot!
hudson (the only other little boy I know with the same name as my nephew!)
was the sweetest, most chill, blue-eyed little boy!
he's in the crawling phase of life and I was genuinely impressed with his parents ability
to just let him roam and be free!  seriously adorable little boy!
and bentley (um, can you say rockstar name?!  pretty sure if I had more kids - which I'm not - I'd use that name...that or evelyn...)
was a cute as the bow on her perfect little dress!  and you should have seen her light up as soon as the train passed by...it was like a trance...cute little girl! :)
yes, catherine.  you and your family are incredibly beautiful and photogenic.  and you were simply amazing to photograph!  thanks for such an amazing session! :)