Thursday, August 12, 2010 at 09:04PM 
Turns out that I've found a way to procrastinate posting my Life List for one more day. In the mean time, go here to read about one of the most fun sessions I've done in a long time. Thank you Maggie, Bryan and Hank!
Also, BlogHer (okay, really it was Stephanie) convinced me to join the masses on Twitter. Want to follow me?
More soon. xo
Tuesday, August 10, 2010 at 03:11PM Bike doily anyone?
Remember the first time I went to New York with DD and Katy when we morphed into Tourists On Crack? LOOK! The Statue of Liberty! Central Park! Soho! Noho! The Piano! The Brooklyn Bridge! Hot dogs! Pretzels! Ridiculous Caricatures That Look Nothing Like Us! Let's do it all NOW!
Well, this time wasn't much different, except that I brought my friend/assistant Lauren with me. And she put our previous adventures to shame. Turns out Lauren is The Sightseeing Champion of the World. Oh you might think you know how to explore a city. You, with your little guides and google searches. I think we were there fifteen minutes when Lauren had memorized the entire map of Times Square. Hungry? There's Chinese on 48th, Korean on 37th or the best take out in Manhattan on 23rd. Okay, I'm exaggerating. But the truth is that I was truly amazed by the amount of activity she was able to squeeze into our short time. Even on her last day before she had to be at the airport. It's 9am and I hear the hotel door open. It's Lauren.
Groggy-eyed Me: "Where'd you go?" I'm thinking Starbucks, to make a phone call, maybe she was sleepwalking in her street clothes...
Lauren: "Oh, I just got back from St. Patrick's Cathedral."
She is a rock star.
Lauren and I are always texting each other like 12 year olds during Housewives, so you can imagine our joy when we saw this. No way!
Way.
We also celebrated her birthday while we were there. Here she is saying that Facebook is so good for your birthday ego. Happy birthday Lauren! We love you!!
We also roomed with my friend since Houston, Meredith. She had multiple images displayed at the Gala event, which wasn't surprising because her talent is phenomenal. And so is her heart. I adore her.
Have you guys seen the Grayson Chance video yet? Apparently, I was the only one who hadn't. He became a YouTube sensation after singing his version of Lady Gaga's Paparazzi. Well, at that same event we got to see him in person. And for as skeptical as you (okay I) might be about another Justin-Teenie-Bieber, I had to admit that he's pretty spectacular.
I also got to spend time with Ms. Chookooloonks.
The best way I can explain her is by what I told Jason on the porch the morning after I got home. Drinking coffee I said, "She's a dichotomy... like a force of creative, positive energy which makes you feel like you can conquer the world, mixed with the calming sense that you can stop performing. She recently wrote a book called The Beauty of Different, which you can pre-order now. I can't wait to get my copy.
And because I really do think she is that rare person who believes everyone is beautiful, I decided to get over my neuroses and ask her to take my portrait for her 1000 faces project. You have no idea how hard this was for me.
You can see the result here (and gorgeous Lauren too). Thank you, Karen. Thanks for pushing me out of my comfort zone even when I did my best to bail at the last minute.
As usual, I didn't take nearly enough pictures. But the other highlights of my weekend were finally getting to meet some of my favorite online people like Rachel, Amber, and fellow Shutter Sisters Kristin, Stephanie and Jen, and Kate. Thanks for a great time everyone!
Tomorrow I'll be posting my life list (finally!) as well as one of my favorite family sessions ever, plus a fun contest on the Epiphanie blog! So stay tuned!
Also, thanks to everyone who was rocking their Epiphanie bag at the conference! I can't tell you the joy it was to see people sporting something that used to be a figment of my imagination... just right on there shoulder as a part of their normal day and routine and life. AHHH! It was awesome and you guys rock.
More soon. xo
Wednesday, July 28, 2010 at 08:06PM Because I'm sure you've been on the edge of your seat waiting for way too many photos of our family vacation. Remember that time when we were at the bottom of the grand canyon? Whhoo, my dogs were barkin'. Remember that? And what about that time we went camping and we thought we heard a bear, but it was really just my stomach? Oh man, that was scary right? Remember that?
And then there was that time we went to Grass Valley to stay with my sister in her might as well be a resort tree-house perched next to a river that sounds like the ocean at night. Remember I was so amazed the first day I couldn't stop saying, "Shut up kelly, are you serious this is really your house do you know how lucky you are? Because is that a river? Did you know that Jason listens to a thunder app on his iPhone at night to fall asleep? If you don't know how lucky you are I might punch you hard."
And then, to continue the obnoxious happiness, we sang songs. For real, like the Partridges. Only it wasn't 100% cheesy because my niece is stunningly talented. She plays guitar, writes her own music, and has one of the most captivating voices I've ever heard. Want to hear?
Oh wait. I don't know where the video is (thank you mac, I still hate you). But I did manage to find these photos (thank you mac, but I can still hear you laughing).
Haley (15) and Sari (13)
We went to Nevada City for a little shoot, and that was the day I realized I'm officially old. I've been shooting senior portraits since I was a senior. And that's not an exaggeration. I literally worked in a glamour studio, wrapping girls my own age in fluorescent turkey feathers, telling them exactly where to gaze into the "looking glass" mirror to achieve maximum forlorn effect. A little more shoulder. A little more hair light. A little more everything.
Since then, I think I've always (kind of) seen through the same (senior in high school girl's) eyes. You want to wear the cut off shorts that your mom thinks are too short? Bring them on. You like fuschia lipstick outlined with black? Way to express yourself, girl.
Until I just photographed my nieces who might as well be my daughters and I had to resist a million urges to wrap them up in a Snuggie. Do they make Snuggies with turtlenecks? Hoods? Jean dress anyone? Who says the Duggars aren't hot?!
Annnnd... Lord help my sister and brother in law.
It had been 2 years since our kids all got to play together, so I was a little worried that it wouldn't be the same. You know, like maybe they'd outgrown Strawberry Shortcake, or hide and seek, and my littler ones would be relegated to eavesdropping on their older cousins text conversations through a glass pressed to their no-one-allowed bedroom door.
Nope. They played endlessly together, which only made my heart melt even more for how great of a job my sister has done with her girls.
... And yes. *In case you were wondering* Moms get full credit for everything their kids do until about age 28... maybe even 30. Unless of course it's negative behavior, in which case moms get about 10% blame, because don't you know kids make their own decisions man. They're born that way.
Yep, thinking in mom-dialogue. Another sign that I'm truly, no turning back, OLD.
We ate.
We (okay Jason) infused vodka with peaches.
We laughed.
And just generally enjoyed being together.
We also let children play with fire. 
We found ugly dogs to be charming. 
And we laughed hysterically (and repeatedly) about the double complete rainbow. What does it meeeeeaan???? Oh my god, if only life could always be packed with that much insanely happy intensity (sans quaaludes).
Overall, I tried not to focus on the fact that we live so far away, but more on the reality that we will always be able to pick up where we left off. No matter what. Love them all so dearly.
Tomorrow: I'm off to Austin to hang out with some amazing photographers, plus hilarious & talented bloggers for the weekend. So fun. I'm not sure how great I'll be about blogging. But I will post daily snips here if you want to check in.
Until next time internet. xo
Thursday, July 15, 2010 at 02:14PM There's so much going on in the next few weeks, I wanted to get caught up once so I can finally clean out files and get back to current posting.
Speaking of what's going on currently. Have you guys been to my friend Katy's blog yet? She has started to update almost daily. And to generate interest, she's hosting a HUGE give-away ($1000 to Southwest, or a $2000 shopping spree). And right now the chances are pretty great that you could WIN!
Okay, back to your (ir)regularly scheduled overdue (let's call them vintage) sessions.
Phew, that was a lot of work to be summed up into one post that probably took all of 30 seconds to scroll through. I'm not even sure if that's everyone. But it satisfies my neuroses enough to make me feel caught up. Bring on the real-time posts! And thank you to each and every awesome, amazing, adorable family posted above. Much love to each and every one of you! xo
