London: The Belated Version

I should never say I'll be back tomorrow. My life is too chaotic, and I'm too prone to distraction. Sorry about that little month-long intermission. I know it's absurd to still be talking about this trip that happened six hundred months ago. But if I don't properly thank Xanthe for her loveliness, it will continue to be an incomplete sentence in my head... a perpetually uncrossed "T". Which is a bit of a travesty after someone you've never met, who lives on the other side of the planet takes an entire day out of her life to acquaint you with her city.  

Would you believe Xanthe's sister (Zoe) owns the most adorable tea shop in London? Y'ALL. It was like someone coming to visit me in Texas, and my sister just happening to own a dude ranch. 

Tea anyone?

It was also quite the monumental way to check off a Life List item: Photograph Grown Sisters. 

Absolute beauty, inside and out.

 These make me miss my sister. There's nothing like that relationship, is there? 

La la la la!!!!

We only had two days in London, so being able to spend one of them with Xanthe and Zoe made the trip feel more personal. It also allowed us to see a part of London we would have never found on our own. If you're ever there, I highly recommend you go have tea and a cupcake at Adorable Bake-A-Boo. Then pick up a copy of Zoe's awesome Cookbook. In fact, for fun I think I'll give one away! Leave a comment before midnight CST on the 14th, and someone will be chosen at random, announced on the 15th. Good luck!

One more thing. I know this is a random note to end on, but I couldn't blog about London without mentioning our favorite meal. We got into a cab one night, asked the driver to take us "somewhere great" and ended up at Ayoush restaurant. People, I'm not exaggerating when I say this might be the best meal we've ever eaten. I was so mad when I was full. If you are ever in the area, please go. And then email me about every detail so I can live vicariously through your experience. 

Paris

I think I was expecting it to be like the Statue of Liberty: standing solitary, declaring official business. She welcomes huddled masses, as long as the huddled masses are willing to get up early, stand in line for hours to ride the ferry, remember to pack sunblock and a picnic and devote an entire day to her. If you want to see Our Iconic Lady, you're going to work for it. 

The Eiffel Tower on the other hand, is your neighbor who shows up unannounced. There you are, just walking along the street, and BAM he pops in with wine and cheese and a baguette. He likes to hang out in the midst of the cars and strollers, couples getting married and people selling snow globes. 

The Eiffel Tower is an extrovert. 

It's also where I met Irene (pronounced E-ren, isn't the sound of that lovely?). She's a wildly talented photographer who I felt like I already knew through Shutter Sisters. But no matter how long you've been reading someone's blog, it's surreal when they step off your computer screen into 3-dimensional life. This feeling is magnified when you happen to be half way around the world, meeting under a world monument.

But the beauty of internet friends, is that because you already know so much about them, there's a kind of immediate comfort between you. I felt this way with Irene. She's so talented yet unassuming, and was amazingly generous with her time. She took the entire day to show us around. And given the fact that we only had 2 and a half days there, we felt lucky and grateful for her. 

One of the highlights was when she took us to this bridge, called the pont des Arts. I'd seen it prior in this video she did of a photo walk in Paris (which you should watch, it's dreamy). But I never knew the significance of what the locks meant. She told us the tradition is for couples to put a lock on together, then throw the key into the Seine river as a symbol of their love. Jason and I are lame and couldn't find a lock. So to make up for it, I think we are maybe going to lock our love into a chain linked fence at the Alamo. And then maybe go on a world tour locking our love into Mt. Rushmore, Yosemite, the Liberty Bell...

Kidding aside, I do think this is pretty sweet. 

Irene also took us to famous Cafe de Flore.

where we happily depleted France's supply of cheese and bread.  

She introduced us to real macaroons, which was really really evil.

And basically, our time in Paris just wouldn't have been the same without her. Also, if you never saw the shots of her rocking out our Paris bag, check out her supermodel self in the Epiphanie Look Book.  

Annnd this is where I should be posting all of the amazing pictures that my professional photographer self took because my professional photographer self was surrounded by so much beauty, she just couldn't put her camera down. 

Except, when presented with experiences of a lifetime, my professional photographer self would rather gaze destructively into my own reflection to ponder my ass. 

She would also like to take non-sensical pictures of the French iconic landmarks like the Louvre. Look, The Louvre! So much history! What an amazing spectacle!

BUT, have you seen the CLOUDS? I mean, I think one is even in the shape of a dinosaur. 

 And the tomatoes. DUDE. Parisienne tomatoes. 

An obligatory shot of a street grocer, complete with poodle cliche. 

Plus a random street shot and a BIKE. With a BOX on the back of it. Try to hold back your excitement.

And come back tomorrow for more random, nonsensical shots from London.  

Mom 2 Summit

I'm not good at conferences because even though I can plan my time, it doesn't come naturally for me. My true nature is to throw calendars to the wind and just show up with my party hat on (literally). It mostly works out. But when it doesn't, my 36 year old self morphs into an 8 year old new kid looking for a seat in the cafeteria. So this year when it was time for the Mom 2 Summit, I tried to plan ahead. And by plan ahead, I mean frantically email my friend Karen the day before and beg her to send me an itinerary of my life. She is amazing like that. And her itinerary made me feel safe, because we all know that you can't be socially awkward when you're busy. 

And turns out I was busy, just not doing much of what I'd planned. Most things turned out better. Some things were worse. Okay just ONE thing was worse. It was the photo booth Epiphanie was supposed to sponsor for the pajama party at the Ritz. How fun right? I've done it many times in the past and thought, what goes wrong with a group of women + wine + pajamas and wigs? Right? In fact, I took it so lightly that I didn't remember to ship my equipment until the day before which meant I had to overnight my gear for a thousand dollars. So when the situation got all thousand dollar serious, I went into This Is Going To Work NOMATTERWHAT mode. No matter that the delivery was late.

No matter that I spent hours in my hotel room waiting for it. No matter that I couldn't get the brand new printer to work after 3 more hours of working on it. No matter if I had to decide we didn't need a printer. And no matter if New Orleans was trying to kill me. 

Searching for a costume shop five seconds before the earrings blew off my head.  

AND IT DIDN'T MATTER BECAUSE NOW THIS WAS SERIOUS AND IT WAS GOING TO WORK NOMATTERWHAAAAT.

Then I burst into tears. 

A few minutes later Karen called and said, "Do you want me to come get you?" And the idea sounded so lovely, I couldn't give in to my normal reflex which is to resist help at all costs. All I could say was, "Yes. Yes I do." And so she did. And it turns out that Jenny had been feeling the same way. And I felt better immediately after seeing them. 

Never underestimate the power of friends and a red wig. Also, how much does Karen look like Naomi Campbell here?

This is where you think the story's going to end all happy. But the real ending involves the wind promptly knocking over and murdering my light as soon as we got to the party. Yep. Turns out the photo booth was NOT going to happen NOMATTERWHAT.

And it was okay because there was so much awesome everywhere else. 

Laurie and I hosted a photo walk on Bourbon street. It was such a sweet group, and my earrings didn't blow off once. 

Cat and Mae

Linda and Sarah

Rachel

 There was so much more. So many amazing, accomplished, articulate, deep-thinking, hilarious women. It's kind of overwhelming to try to explain it all. And this is getting long so I'm going to wrap it up with my favorite shot from the weekend. Because it makes me think about laughing until 2 am, and it reminds me about how grateful I am to know her. 

One last thing (on a lighter note), if you haven't been to New Orleans, you should go even if just for the food. 

 and the bloody mary that comes with your morning coffee. 

Blog-high club

I am blogging from the sky. Look, clouds in real time!

Nashville Girls Retreat

There are lots of things I didn't know when I launched Epiphanie. But one thing I was sure about was our branding. From the beginning, I had a very clear picture of what I wanted our company to be about: travel, adventure, and the idea that life was waiting for you to go explore it. I think it's because at the time, that's what I was craving for myself. So last year, I planned a series of shoots in distinctive locations from Phoenix, to NYC to California to Paris. I did all of them within the span of ten weeks. It was the surreal experience of a lifetime. I met the most inspiring people, and I'm so grateful for it. 

The summer was also naturally riddled with real life stresses and at points, super overwhelming. So by the time the holidays came, I was in Full Hermit Mode, intensely guarding my calendar. Anything that meant I had to get out of my sweats, or wash my hair had to be damn worth it. And that's how my life has always been; a pendulum swinging between extremes. I don't know if it's "right", just that I have a propensity for it. Eventually enough time passes, and I'm ready to wash my hair to go play outside again. 

This is where I was a few months ago when I started planning the next Epiphanie shoot. My adorable (insert every lovely adjective here) friend Alli had agreed to be our next model. Each shoot is based on a particular region. And since she lives in Tennessee, I knew I wanted hers to feel very rustic with a country vibe.

So I started googling log cabins. 

Then I found this. 

Then wheels started turning. 

The house was gorgeous and perfect and COULD SLEEP 14 PEOPLE. Which is all I needed to read before I knew I was going to make a girl's trip out of this. Who could I lure into the woods with me? Since I met Alli at the Mighty Summit, it seemed natural to invite the same people. So literally five minutes after finding that cabin the evite was sent out. 

Like that, I hit "send". Then I realized I had just voluntarily taken on the planning of a weekend for four.teen.people: what was I thinking what if no one shows up why do I always complicate my life what the hell am I getting into.

I'm a little bit addicted to doom-thinking.

But I'm more addicted to the adrenaline of planning fun events. So that's what I did. I planned and planned and planned, and googled like a maniac. I became obsessed with details and caterers and flight schedules. And as the weekend took shape, it went from being a fun idea, to a labor of love. 

When it finally came, I wanted to make sure we were (freakishly) prepared. So Lauren (My Friend and I Might Die Without Her / Helper Of Everything Person) and I flew in the day before everyone arrived. We got there just in time for Nashville to spank us on the ass. HARD. Five minutes into driving our rented unfamiliar vans, we were greeted with a MONSOON. People driving 5 miles an hour on the freeway, my windshield was WHITE. I couldn't see cars, or lines in the road, or my hood. We barely found the exit to make our way off the freeway into a parking lot, where we sat talking to each other through windows until we found the courage to take the backroads to our hotel. *Side note: maybe it's because we were just happy to be alive and everything seemed sweeter, but the Hutton Hotel is one of the best I've ever stayed in. If you're ever in Nashville, I highly recommend it. 

So we got to our room, cleaned up, and decided that it was only responsible for us to go check out the downtown strip. We were going to have dinner, scout out a few spots for the weekend, then come back to the room and work. Yeahhhhh.

We did go to dinner. We did scout locations. We even took cheesy tourist pictures with Elvis. 

Then we decided to have one drink. At Tootsies. Because it's a Nashville Icon, and we had to. 

But we all know one drink is never really one drink. In fact it was maybe five or six, and no one's driving so let's have another drink. The next thing you know Lauren and I are screaming Sweet Home Alabama from our barstools until 2 in the morning. 

Which meant that I, who had planned on leaving the hotel at 8am, slept 'til 9, had a head ache 'til 10, and barely got my ass out at noon. And that meant I had about five minutes to get everything ready at the house I had never been to. 

Untitled from maile wilson on Vimeo.

I raced to find a Target, I power-shopped for everything from milk to extra tampons and razors and candles. I found a grocery store that Tennessee doesn't let sell wine. Which meant I had to scramble to find to find a liquor store, get lost ten more times, lug 32 bags of food and preparations up a massive flight of stairs. Running behind, texting Lauren (who was picking people up at the airport) to "please take your time", "please go the long way, I still have to make the gift baskets!"  

Inner Martha was in FULL FORCE. 

But, I have to say that putting these together was my favorite part of all the preparation. All I could find at Target were easter baskets. But when I posted this on twitter, a few people asked what was inside. I can't take the credit because the contents were a result of obsessive googling. But if you're interested, it was lotion, a candle, snacks, a monogrammed notepad, tea, water, a magnet, and most importantly glow sticks. 

All sweaty in 42 degree weather (pretty!), I finally got stuff put together. Then I took a minute to be astonished by where I was and by what I was doing.

The result of my impulsive evite, and weeks of obsessive planning was finding myself in the middle of obscenely beautiful nowhere, waiting for some of my favorite people to come meet me there. 

Worth it. 

I wanted to take in every minute, every bit of conversation, every spark of connection. And as a result, didn't get that many photos. But here are a few.

I'd planned a picnic. I ordered blankets (which *TIP: $20 quilts from Walmart are way cheaper than actual $70 "Picnic" Blankets. But they sat in the corner as it rained. So we moved our ideas indoors. And the awesome troopers from Tin Can managed to lug their adorable trailer up our massively dirty road to bring us cupcakes and old time-y treats. Who knew Tennessee was this adorable?

I'm not sure they knew what they were in for, looking that cute in a room full of bloggers and photographers. 

They also let us use their sweet trailer as prop. 

*Note about Alli's outfit. In another things-don't-always-go-as-planned-moment, the clothes I'd pre-ordered for her didn't work. But then Magical Princess of Styling Erin Loechner came to the rescue. See that orange belt? It's actually a pair of tights that she MacGyver-tied into a knot, right before she plucked that floral pin out of thin air. She is a Renegade. And we made the shoot happen despite the rain, also thanks to Leah for randomly having an umbrella. 

We also fit 13 people into a rainy 6 person hot tub. 

When the lightning struck, we took the party to the bathtub.

And yes, I know we should've used plastic glasses, but look how pretty they were in the morning. 

One night we hired a cheesy limo to take us into town. Because it's not Nashville until you ride a mechanical bull, and rock out the karaoke stage. 

It was so much fun. And I couldn't have done it without Lauren The Great (Thank you LL!) You are a truly bionic woman. 

Leah blogged more photos here and here. My favorite part of what she said was this:

"Here's the truth of it: Blogging facilitates closer, faster friendships because even if we don't all read each others' sites regularly--if at all, because who has the time?--the mere fact that we have that quirk in common means it's easy to move past the smalltalk in short order and find ourselves doing intensely personal things like giving each other permission to say and think and do things we might not think we can or should say, think, and do, whether it's as innocent as using certain swear words or as deep as feeling things about our lives, our loves, our wants and needs that we might never have dared to feel without someone from the outside saying, "It's okay."

That, for me, says it all. 

Love you girls.