{Grateful on Sunday} Getting Ready to Move

Happy Sunday my friends :)

I've had a week full of so many wonderful little things. I had like 20 images I could have shared but managed to cut it down to my favourite little moments. So, after much deliberation, today I am grateful for: driving through the valley at sunset,

movie night at grandma's house,

really comfortable red corduroy armchairs,

shoe glue,

Cara, my wee kitten who curls up on the couch at night,

cute houses in Seattle with awesome brick pillars,

beautiful big blue skies,

having the courage to give away 90% of my belongings to free myself from STUFF before our move to Hawaii (in 2 days!!!),

spending time with my dad,

 
my cute little bug that's been my friend since I was 16,



Cheryl Ford, my best photography friend & her office where so many fun memories and projects have been created!


What are you grateful for this weekend?

I'll Be Missing You

I've been trying to be all tough and keep a brave face, look on the bright side, see the silver lining BUT as my beautiful friend Cheryl Ford said tonight at a wedding we were shooting, 'it won't be the same' and she's totally right. I'm moving to Hawaii and leaving behind many loved ones but in particular Cheryl — my best photography friend. We've come through so much together in just the past year. I am going to miss all-day power work sessions at her house, eating Thai food together while plotting and scheming & having each other's back at weddings & shoots. Thank goodness gracious for the internet and text messages. We're continuing with our awesome photography/business podcast "ThePhotoChicks." How will we record podcasts while being 2650 miles apart? That's our little magical secret.

Anyway, tonight Cheryl & I shot a wedding together and had a super long hug at the end and I felt sad the whole drive home and when I got home and saw Miggy he asked me how my day went and I just burst into tears, mumbled that I'd had to say goodbye to Cheryl and that I didn't want to talk about it and he gave me a big hug that made me cry more but felt nice at the same time. Now I'm lying in my bed writing this blog post, my arms are pinned underneath Cara's tummy — why do cats always sit right on top of your computer? She's clearly givin' me some love too cuz she's got animal love radar that knows when you need a buddy. 

I still can't believe that in 2 days we're moving to Hawaii. Not possible. I feel like I'm just pretending when I tell people about it. Last night I was at a party and a friend of mine said "You're living the dream." Tonight, Cheryl said she was happy that I was "following my dreams." It all feels so surreal. I don't think it will hit me that it's actually happening until I'm sitting on that airplane. So I've been focusing on the bright side — we're off on an adventure, doing something exciting, learning more about photography, earning a regular paycheck, living in the sunshine. But for tonight I'm just going to let myself be sad because I'm really going to miss a lot of people. 

PS: Cheryl you're a rockstar friend & dancer ;) So glad I got to shoot this wedding with you and practice our equally rockstar reception flash lighting. Oh, and your offspring are BRILLIANT dancers - life of the party, seriously — great genetics I suppose ;) See you in Maui next week!!!!

PSS: So much love to our other gorgeous friend, Hanna Mazur who I will miss sooooo much. I'm so glad you were at this wedding today too. I will forever be grateful to Model Mayhem for bringing us together. Love you!

Switching Online Headquarters from Website to BLOG

For the next two years (at least) I'm going to be working full time for a wonderful photographer in Maui, Hawaii. I'll be shooting weddings & portraits for her on all sorts of gorgeous beaches! (So excited!)

As for my own business, I'm keeping my business license active but since I won't be actively advertising for new clients, I won't really need my website, or rather I should say, I won't really need to be paying for my website, during this time. My website is hosted by the fantabulous SHOWIT which I adore but at $39/month it's not worth it right now. So, although it was painful to click the button, I'm taking my beloved website offline and redirecting all traffic to my wonderful wee blog (right here where you currently are located). (The website officially goes down on Sept 17th - the day we leave for Hawaii.)

For the next couple years, at least, this blog is going to be my online headquarters.
Come here for all information about me, follow my adventure, check up on my artwork, or get in touch.

You'll be the first to know if/when the website returns to the web in the future! ;)
Lots of love!

Treating Myself to a FUN Pressure-Free Photoshoot

This weekend, my friend Alena Nieves and I spent the afternoon "just having fun" — we weren't working with clients or trying to achieve anything in particular. We both just wanted to shoot for fun - something neither of us have had a chance to do much of lately. We contemplated all the crazy projects we could do together but in the end our creativity was simply exhausted and all we could do was drool over the beautiful light behind Sarah and take 600 photos of practically the same pose....but like I said, it was backlit with heavenly light so we didn't care. Sometimes is so wonderful to just treat yourself to an easy shoot that's downright pretty with no pressure to create variety....give into that desire to take 600 shots in one pose - it feels good! Thank you to Sarah, our beautiful Scottish Cherokee model, who let us play dress up with her and for putting up with our confusing directions and brain farts!

Have you done any fun shoots recently? I'd love to hear about them! 

Share below in the comments :D