Still pinching myself that tomorrow makes it May. 2012, slow down a bit, will you?

For more information and a full explanation about the self-portrait project, please see this post.

This post probably won’t mean much to many people, but to me, it’s huge. Epic, even. This is just me sitting on a sofa. Right? No images on the walls. Pillows looking frumpy. But you know what’s significant? It’s me, sitting in MY OFFICE. With walls that are no longer neon green (we’ll talk about that later). It’s been a month of a ridiculous amount of office-improvement projects, but one that I believe was well-spent. While the office still has a long, long way to go, it’s finally starting to reflect me and my business.

So, consider it far from a “welcome to my office” post, it’s certainly a peek at my new little humble abode. More details to follow, promise! In the meantime, I’m just reveling in this short, sweet little glory. This baby has come a long, long way and we’re just getting started. What about you, have you ever finished a project that has made you want to do somersaults of celebration? That’s kinda how I’m feeling right about now.

For more information and a full explanation about the self-portrait project, please see this post.

Next thing I know she flips the chair around and I wanted to scream. Thankfully, I’m a very internalize-any-extreme-emotions kind of girl and so I just took a deep breath and reminded myself that, yes, it was still hair. And, though it would take some growing, that I would – in fact – get over it.

Thus, I title last month’s self-portrait “And So It Grows” as I spent the whole month wondering how long it would take before I didn’t mind my hair again (and I still ponder this question every few days, though I hate it much less now than I did four weeks ago). This pose is perhaps one of the most awkward, and not particularly flattering, but – hey – I actually like the way my hair looks in it. Maybe that’s because you can’t really see it?

Live and learn, I suppose. Live and learn.

Have you ever had a haircut that just went horribly totally wrong? Tell me I am not alone in this!

So, here goes… a few of the things I have been up to lately:

Nicole and Darin’s maternity session in Hershey, PA. With some of the only bit of snow we got this year!

Amber and Sterling’s maternity session around UPenn’s library.

Kendra and Tom’s engagement session in Old City.

Then, let’s not forget that I am working on NEW BRANDING.

Oh yea, and did I mention I’m getting a NEW SITE?

[alright, I have no peek of that... yet]

Or how about the fact that I’m about to have a NEW ADDRESS?

Yea, things have been a little crazy lately. All good. All fun. And so much I can’t wait to share. Of course, you would have known all this already if you would have signed up for the newsletter.

But first up? February’s self-portrait (whoops!). Coming tomorrow, promise!

Firstly, let’s start with this. Cutest card ever?

I think so. Being a Philadelphian, I can’t resist a little pretzel humor.
Etsy shop: Hello Small World. Card found here.

For Valentine’s, the husband and I gifted one another a short little vacation away, which we proudly took last weekend. And which I proudly didn’t even bring my SLR. That’s right folks, I actually left home without my camera. Of course I felt totally guilty about it, but didn’t miss lightening the load for the weekend. And I’m pretty proud of my little point-and-shoot. All images taken with my Canon G12.

Never get tired of this skyline.

Our favorite Italian meal in Little Italy. I’ve had it every time I’ve been to NYC, except for one.

My favorite little lady on the left, right where my husband proposed in Central Park.
And me on the right, thoroughly enjoying my Italian.

So, for the actual day itself, there was no real gift exchange. But my husband did bring me home a big bouquet of roses and, when cooking my requested meal, cheeseburgers (yes, I’m easy to please), he even made mine into a heart. For him? I couldn’t resist sneaking him this little book:

Image taken with Canon G12.

Which, though he is usually explaining the inappropriate meaning behind the lyrics I’m singing along to to me, it was still a hit. After all with gems like these, how could it not be:

Phrase: “Bag full of chips – we ain’t talking Ruffles.” (Throw it in the Bag by Fabolous)

Explanation: I have a bag that contains a large amount of paper money that I am describing by using a term that stems from the circular disks casinos use as in-house currency, clarifying that it is not a particular brand of thin crinkle-cut potato slices that you may have thought I was referring to.

I mean, really, even if you’ve barely ever heard rap in your life, you have to admit that’s pretty funny. And it’s really unbelievable just how brilliant some of the rap metaphors used really are.

But, moving on, I also tried to earn extra credit by breaking my kitchen abstinence and baking up our house favorite as far as desserts go…. red velvet cake pops. I didn’t take a picture, but let’s just pretend they looked like this:

Image from Bakerella. Recipe found here.

Go on, be jealous. What about you? Did you do anything fun or totally cliche for Valentine’s?

It starts out a little like a fairytale. A beautiful house. Big fluffy white clouds in the sky. Birds chirping. A gorgeous bride getting ready for her once-in-a-lifetime day. But then, as the day unfolds something goes wrong. Very wrong. This is where the tale changes each and every time. Sometimes, no one can find the groom. Sometimes, I show up and no one there has ever heard of my bride or groom. Sometimes, I show up and the bride doesn’t know who I am. The dream, which probably only lasts minutes, feels like it goes on forever while it’s happening. Each agonizing second. And each time leaves me feeling frantic, panicked, and completely nauseous.

In one version, I run (with all my gear) knocking on every door in the neighborhood asking if anyone has seen the groom. In one of my more epic editions, I try tirelessly to find the right house – like a detective – hopping from clue to clue to try to unravel the mystery behind my couple’s disappearance. In another, I explain to a bewildered bride who I am and frantically try to find details that might help her recall our months of interactions with one another.

Each time, regardless, I awake in the middle of the night in a cold sweat and thanking my lucky stars that it’s over. These agonizing tales used to occur each and every evening. I used to joke that I worked seven weddings a week because it was starting to feel like it. Thankfully, over the last year or two, the dreams have become less and less frequent. First, they tapered off to a couple times a week, then a couple times a month. And, before I knew it I was only having them every few months. In fact, so infrequent that I haven’t had one now for months…. until last night. But last night’s tale? It was a little different. Here goes:

The opening scene began the same way. A beautiful Spring morning. A lovely sunrise. This time, I arrive at the bride’s house and begin shooting (so far, so good). All is well. I’ve been there for a few minutes, chatted with a glowingly excited bride, and begun shooting the details until someone taps me on the shoulder and tells me the ceremony is starting. WHAT!?! But the bride hasn’t even …I turn around and there she is, fully dressed and getting ready to walk down the aisle (which is just outside the room where she was getting dressed – hey, I didn’t say these dreams all made complete sense). THIS IS IT – THIS IS MY FREAK OUT MOMENT. But instead of freaking out, as I feel the panic swelling up into my throat, I take a deep breath and swiftly relocate to begin shooting the ceremony. As I reach into my bag to change to the lens I like to use for the ceremony, I realize my bag is empty. ALL MY LENSES ARE GONE. You know, the ones I was just shooting with moments before when I was shooting her getting ready. They are just gone. The dream, of course, doesn’t explain what happened to them…. all I know at this point is that I do not have them, I didn’t leave them in the room, and that I’m not getting them back.

Normally, this would be the perfect panic moment again. All I have is a 105mm lens on my camera and I’m left with no other options (for those that don’t know about lenses, that’s considered a telephoto lens). But you know what I did in my dream? I took another deep breath, and backed way, way up. I shot the whole thing with my one lens. The ceremony, the portraits, the reception. And you know what? It turned out totally ok. It became a fun, interesting challenge and forced me to see the wedding in a completely different creative perspective. MY NIGHTMARE BECAME A GOOD THING.

I woke up baffled. I woke up feeling empowered. I woke up realizing, maybe just maybe that was my last wedding dream. But, even if it wasn’t, I’m not afraid of them anymore.

I call it “finding peace.” And yes, I realize this is neither the most intriguing nor the best composed images of all time. But it is me. And it is particularly relevant to my last month. I should probably clarify that January was a lovely month for me. I am clearly very excited and optimistic about 2012. I launched the first ever SOI Newsletter. I am knee-deep in huge, exciting changes for the company. But, when it comes to personal matters, it was also a challenging month for me. I grappled with some personal hurdles that I should have predicted were coming long ago. When someone asked me to jump, I said “how high?” and then I got walked all over.

But, as with anything in life, we recognize these experiences, we learn from them, and we grow. No matter how much things upset me, no matter how disappointed I was in some people, you can never let one person – or one experience – sour your perspective on life altogether. So even after we learn and we grow from these experiences, we – as we like to say around here – keep on keepin’ on. And we keep on jumping. Thank you Buddha, for constantly reminding me of that:

Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else;
you are the one who gets burned. - Buddha

Later that day she kept asking to go out on the back patio, and I kept letting her out (and then back in again 30 seconds later – it’s this fun game we play). But later that afternoon I had let her out (upon her request) and was in the kitchen making food when I heard a noise. I peek out the window to see her playing in it. By herself. Making prints on it, scraping at it, eating it. She was finally loving the snow. BEHIND MY BACK. I grabbed my camera and ran out there as quickly as I could. And, naturally, she only let me snap two pictures before she decided my picture-taking had really killed the mood. But, tell me this isn’t the cutest.

You uhhh, you’ve got a little something on your nose there.

I was wondering how well she’d hold up in a family full of snow lovers. But you see, folks, there is hope for her yet.

Did you play in our belated snow this weekend? I just wish there had been enough for sledding. Oh, sledding! P.S. Any Philadelphians remember last year when we got like twenty inches in one weekend and a mystery artist carved ice sculptures all over Rittenhouse Square? My favorite was the 20-foot-long dragon. (Note: Not my photo linked there.) But, how cool is that?

But, then I saw Tina’s compilation at the end of the year. Twelve images. Each one representing something personal that month that – when compiled together – told a story of her year. A story of growth, exploration, and reflection. And then, suddenly, I couldn’t love the idea any more. Inspired by her candidness about the project, and convinced it would help me fulfill one of my resolutions, I immediately hopped on Amazon and picked up this bad boy.

Wireless remote shutter release for Nikon by Vivitar. $34.99

And I’ve already started brainstorming my idea for the month. Wish me luck and stay tuned!

So, last Monday my good friend Tina and I hopped in the car and headed on over to to fiiiiinally meet April’s little Charlotte. And, she couldn’t have been any cuter. And her momma couldn’t have been more smitten.

This first picture might be my favorite. It’s Charlotte’s “no more pictures!” face. Get used to it, girl.

That’s Tina, on the left. Isn’t she going to be such a cute mommy one day? And, of course, you know we had to tweet some pictures of her too…

Tina also grabbed a couple of me while I held her (see below on left), and I have to say… so weird seeing pictures of me holding a baby. So weird.

Above two images compliments of Tina Jay Photography.

And April (below), being the sweet mommy that she is. Tina and I can’t get over how incredible she looks just three weeks after giving birth. Seriously, I hope I look that good three months afterward!

After just an afternoon with Charlotte I left convinced that it’s possible there is just nothing in the world like a little baby cuddling. Thanks, April, for sharing your little nugget with us.

P.S. Since we visited last Monday, which marked three weeks for little Charlotte Reese, that means today has been officially a month. Happy one month of life, little girl!