Shelly Miles and her girls

My friend Shelly came by the studio the other day. We took a few newslady-ish shots so she could update her photos at work. 

"Hello, I'm approachable yet serious interviewer Shelly Miles. Tell me all your secrets Brangelina."

She also needed a few shots for her daughter's dance competitions. They happen to be prodigy superstars who travel throughout the year winning up all the awards in Texas. 

12 years old people.  

Then we went outside and took some funner pictures. Is funner a word? Spell check is not underlining it. Weird. 

Happy hump day. Also, thanks everyone who commented on the last post to say you're still reading. I love you guys. xo

Alli The Great

Once upon a time I went to Nashville to photograph one of the new fall styles. Alli had graciously agreed to be the next Epiphanie model. And in true form, I made things more complicated than they needed to be by organizing a girls trip around it because:

1. I am addicted to girls' trips. 

2. I think work and play should converge whenever possible.

3. No photo shoot is complete without a little bruising. 

It was such a great time. I'm now an advocate for planning random girls' trips around any sort of business travel. Dental conference in Des Moines? Realtor meeting in Bakersfield? Party.

...The only thing is that I might have extended my complication extravaganza a little too much, by deciding to entirely change the design of the new style ... oohhhh you know weeks AFTER our shoot.

Because:

1. I am clearly allergic to simplicity. And there is not even a 2 or 3. 

Sooo, I won't be posting the photos from the first bag because I've since broken up with it. But I do have a few of Alli that we just took for fun. And she is too cute not to plaster all over the internet. 

Alli is The Quintessential Southern Belle in the loveliest sense. 

My favorite:

If you don't know Alli, she is (among other things) founder of all things Blissdom. I think she is also Czar of the Internet. 

And this look, including the belt that was cut from a pair of orange TIGHTS was crafted by amazing Macgyver Stylist: Erin Loechner. 

Family Portrait Session: Bammel

I think this was our third or fourth session together. The first one was a belly shoot for their oldest. Sometimes it's hard to believe how fast families grow.

I love the Americana feel of this one.

Michelle is also a fantastic veterinarian. If you're in San Antonio and ever need one, I would definitely recommend her.

peeps

Have you guys been following Kal and Elise this week? They started a project called Go-Ventures. Each day there was a different prompt. Anyone who wanted to play could create their own interpretation of each word. I loved her post today because it reminded me of our awesome conversation over wine and Ethiopian food. It made me wish that San Antonio and Winnipeg were neighbors. And you HAVE TO check out the piece she made that was inspired by vintage bus rolls. Who even knew how cool these things are?! I think I really need one. 

Anyway, yesterday I was supposed to play along. But sometimes I'm lame and I think that I can do carpool, ballet lessons, dinner, homework, a shutter sisters post, and a craft project in 5 minutes. So I'm late, but here's my interpretation of "PERMANENT". I started collecting ampersands last year because I love their shape. And to me they represent the idea that there's always more to the story, no matter how permanent everything might seem. 

Okay, so I don't usually talk about what my friends are up to here, but they've been doing some cool things lately. For instance, DD got a job HOSTING A COOKING SHOW! First let me tell you that for all the years that I've known her, she's been calling herself the Mexican Rachel Ray. You know how I hate cooking and wish that there was a way to sustain my health by injecting vitamins into my arm? Well she says that cooking calms her. At the end of a long day, she loves the ritual of going home and chopping, grilling, sauteing. Personally, I can achieve the same calming effect (with less mess) by uncorking a bottle of wine. BUT, cooking is her thing. AND, for as long as I can remember she has always talked about hosting a cooking show. HOW random right? I mean what are the chances that she would be looking on Craigslist, find a want ad for a TV show host (that was not a cover for a psycho killer trying to lure her into a van), go to the audition WITHOUT even a resume, and GET THE JOB?! Because that is exactly what happened! If that's not kismet, I don't know what IS. RIGHT?! I think it says so much about how much power there is in putting your dreams OUT THERE!

So, it's a local show and will air on GVTC next month. And she did so well at the taping that the station already expanded them from 6-12 shows. Here are some behind the scene shots of her if you want to check them out. So proud of you DD!

Okay so remember Jessica? You guys already saw this picture, but I'm posting it again because she's so pretty and she's not wasting it!  :)

You know that book called He's Just Not That Into You? Well, there's a part in it where he talks about "not wasting the pretty", which is what we've been telling her for a while. So she started a blog yesterday about how she's not going to settle for men that don't do things like send flowers etc.. Well, ONE day of her blog being posted, and someone already sent an anonymous bouquet of roses! Go internet. (...as long as the anonymous sender is not the above mentioned van-owner).  :)

Here's a behind the scenes shot of that photo. Sometimes I get emails asking how I get people to smile. The trick is to bring DD and let her grab their ass between shots. Works like a charm.  :)

 K, remember I told you about my friend Cara who is an amazing writer. Well she got me all addicted to her new blog. Then she totally dropped the ball and made me stare at Carrot Top for MONTHS. That's just cruel and unusual. Especially after we even did a PHOTO SHOOT for your banner! Cara, come back already! 

She is 100% Irish, so the pub was a must. 

 She's going to kill me for posting the smoking ones. They're just props that we borrowed from the waitress.  :)

Another little known fact about Cara is that she likes to text random quotes from Jersey Shore. Like, I'll be standing line at the bank and look down at my phone to read, "I was going to put my hat down so I could get that money." or "I'm not trashy unless I drink too much." SO, when it was her birthday last weekend, I had to make her a customized card. It's in these moments that I knew I learned photoshop for a reason.

One more friend shout-out. Remember Tara? She looks like a supermodel. Only it gets worse because she's also nice. I know, it's not right. Because she can also turn your flabby buns into a brick house. This is her new card that I helped her make. So if you're in the area and want to get swim-suit ready with a vengeance, email her for deets. 

I also have some exciting news of my own! We found out this morning that our first shipment cleared customs in Dallas. That means it's a matter of days until finally-after-two-years-my-babies-will-be-here!! So, if you are one of the awesome people who has been waiting since December, your bag will ship very soon! Also, as a heads up, this shipment is sold out. BUT our second shipment gets here at the end of the month. So if you order now, it will be shipped from the second delivery. If you have questions, please email support@epiphaniebags.com. We're working on getting the blog up for that site too. And I have to say, I'm pretty much bursting at the seams to get these bags out to you all. 

I even made these little inspiration cards to stick in the pockets of each bag. I'll post more pictures on the bag blog, but here is one of them. 

Have an awesome weekend! xo

Millie Hunt

If you're in San Antonio you might already know that DD has a new roommate at Chic Mama. Katy's sister Jessica moved in, with her cute line of clothing/accessories/gifts. It's called Millie Hunt, named after her grandmother (how cute, right?). If you're in town, you should definitely pop in. It's like a one stop shop for everything belly/baby/mommy over there. 

These were taken the other day because she needed a headshot for a magazine article. This is my favorite, partly because she's so dang cute, and also because she's on The Couch I've been coveting for months at Urban Outfitters. 

So last night we slept in 20 minute intervals while Miss Mimi was throwing up. Poor baby. There's nothing I hate more than being nauseated... to the point that I'm kind of phobic about it. So it's doubly hard to watch her little body be wrenched around like that. Today will be spent washing sheets and praying that no one else gets it. 

On that lovely note, have a great Thursday! :)