Guest Posting Today...

Hi friends!  Just popping in to let you know that I am guest posting today over for a dear Chicago blogger friend of mine Jillian @ Cornflake Dreams.  She is currently enjoying her newly married life by celebrating in Paris!  So happy to be a part of her guest post lineup this week while she is away with her love. Drop by and check it out as well as other fun blogger guests.

Coach House Pictures

New Blogsite Launched!

Hi folks!  I've been focusing and putting my energy towards my passion, Coach House Pictures for the past 2 weeks.  And my goal was to merge the 2 platforms (blog + website) together to help create a more cohesive brand.  I also wanted one place to direct clients, bloggers, and friends to come and connect as well.  So after much thought I finally found a blogsite platform that seamlessly has everything I was looking for!  I was a bit scared and hesitant at first because it runs on Wordpress (I'm still feeling my way around) but the more and more I use it I find it to be as equally user friendly as blogger is. Joe and I are passionate about getting our photo business to flourish and re branding our site is just one of the steps we feel will help us take that next step in the right direction.  

With a heavy heart I have decided to step away from posting on this blog (for now) so I can focus my energy and time to blogging over at the Coach House Pictures blog.  On the new blog I  will still be posting about inspirations but with more of a focus on the business of photography and of course our photography as well. 

I feel like I am leaving my first baby, because I've worked hard and passionately for the past few years  to build and grow this blog to where is it today.  But at the same time I am over the moon excited to focus my energy on what I love to do and share and connect with a great supportive online community!  I love what I have built here and I am not deleting this blog, I am simply stepping away for a while to dedicate more of my time to CHP.  I'd love to stay connected with you!  To help me do this as well I've already added a friends list on my sidebar so we can continue to exchange ideas, thoughts, and inspirations.  You can also connect with me through twitter, facebook, and Instagram @coachhousepictures.  

I want to give a BIG thanks to Theresa, Leah, Tori, and Lauren for inspiring me to focus and follow my heart! You ladies are inspirational and I am so glad you are in my life! 

xo,

~Liz 

Free Photo Download for Earth Month!

Maybe it's the Eco conscious, earth loving side of me that really stops and thinks about ways to be kinder more gentler to the planet especially as Earth Day is fast approaching! Besides recycling everything, using reusable water bottles, using real cutlery at work for lunch, shopping second hand for furniture, taking the train to work, and buying organic/local when possible what else would you recommend I add to the daily earth friendly rotation?

As a reminder to stay green and to do your share for this beautiful planet that gives us such enjoyment I'm including this free moss heart print as a free download today. Click here to find it in my flickr album. Continue to live green lovelies!

IKEA Family Live

Have you heard of this great source of interior inspiration known as IKEA Family Live?  I just found out about it last week and am excited to be sharing some of my favorite interior shots with you today!  My favorite thing about this site is that all the homes are real! You can tell, too..they just feel so comfy and lived in, love it!  All of these images can be found under the home stories page, where you can see and read in more detail about the singles, couples, and families that have transformed there spaces to work for them and their living needs.  I find it so fascinating to see how people from around the world set up their homes.  Don't you? Enjoy browsing through these archives!

Photos by IKEA Family Live

DIY: Photo Booth Roundup

::one: :Giant Paper Flowers  ::two:: Bling Ring   ::three:: Cardboard Heart

::four:: Fabric Strips  ::five:: Lace Fabric  ::six:: Chalkboard  ::seven:: Lilys

With wedding plans on the brain this week, especially since we are taking a tour of The Grove Redfield Estate tomorrow morning (eekk..super excited)!  One of the elements of our wedding that we want to include is a photo booth...naturally!  And since we are doing everything DIY style I created a sweet roundup of fun props and backdrop ideas I'm loving right now.  Have you been to a wedding recently where they had a photo booth?  If yes, what did you think?  

Current State of Mind

quote found via Pintrest

This weekend I took a trip over to my local floral shop Larkspur to pick up some of these beauties to do a mini photo shoot indoors. I was in need of a mood boost, since the skies were grey and my heart was a little down.  Nothing to do with recent family health events, they are all fine and well, thanks... I think this quote  just speaks to how I've been feeling lately.  

Day Trip: Lake Geneva

Remember this trip we packed for the other week?  Well funny thing happened when we got to our destination...I was all excited to take pictures and then I realized that I forgot my memory card for my camera.  Luckily Joe had brought his Holga and as always have the trusty iphone to take snapshots as well.  So that's exactly what we did. The reason for the delay on these was that we had to wait to get the film processed!  Haha, remember those days? I especially loved the way the holga pics turned out...soft and dream like!  It was worth bringing along, I'll say!

Thanks for all the well wishes this weekend!  I feel fresh and energized and ready to take on a new week!  How was your weekend?   Oh and Happy April to you today too :)

Work gets in the way!

I've had a crazy work week and thus my reasons for being MIA this week. All my body wants is food and sleep...thanks for still being my friend! Tomorrows Friday..yay!! Looking forward to reconnecting next week :)

Madewell

Thanks for joining me this week!  On Sunday my mom and I went shopping and I found myself stopping into the Madewell shop for the first time.  Loved the cool vintage styling of this place and all the beautiful wares are well!  Too bad I had already purchased these prior to stepping into this place...
I picked up their Spring catalog on the way out and today I share with you some of my favorites from this issue.  Are you familiar with this shop?  Do you frequent it often? Because I can see myself coming back to shop here once my account allows me to :)

Photo layouts: Pugly Pixel

It's the Weekend!!

Book Review: Nest for Two

I pulled this book off the shelves this weekend to help spark some ideas on organizing and after browsing through it I knew that I had to share some of my favorite pages with you!  I bought Nest for Two way before me and Joe moved in together, mainly because I liked the way the book is divided into the different living categories of eat, sleep, work, play, and relaxing (my fav)!  But it does give some great tips on how to mesh his and hers home goods together to create a cozy and livable home. I especially love the many practical (and budget friendly) office and closet storage solutions they showcase.  Makes me want to get a jump start on my closet cleaning!  

Are you inspired like I am yet?  Any practical storage solutions you love to share?

Because I'd love to know :)

Nail Files

1. Sally Hansen, Brilliant Blush/ 2. Revlon, Peachy/ 3. Revlon, Make Mine Mango/ 4. Revlon, Cherries in the Snow/ 5. Sally Hansen, Commander in Chic/ 6. Ulta, Deep Desire/ 7. OPI, Holiday Glow


Since getting engaged a few months ago my new favorite thing is changing my nail polish color to reflect my mood, outfit, time of day, oh yay and to highlight the bling I am happy to wear!  To start this Monday off, I wanted to share with you some of my favorite colors I have in rotation right now.  I'm currently liking the Revlon Top Speed brand for its lighting fast drying time (about 60 seconds, until you can touch them) and the Sally Hansen Manicure in a bottle collection, which packs a base coat, top coat, strengthener, and grow treatment all into one bottle!  And with this secret weapon that I recently discovered, I always have time to do my nails!

Do you have brands/colors of polish that you are loving right now?  Please share!

Leaving the City!

I'm taking the day off to go and enjoy the early summer like weather we've been blessed with this week! Joe and I are packing a picnic and heading to Lake Geneva, a quaint little town about 1-1/2 hour drive from the city!  I'll post photos of our day and share with you next week!  Enjoy your weekend peeps!!

Tilt Shift Focus App

Today I wanted to share with you a Mac desktop app I've been playing around with for a while.  It's called tilt shift focus app that mimics the old view cameras we practiced on in photo school.  But this is way easier and you don't need a whole semester to master its skills.  All you need is a Mac computer (sorry pc's) and a few of your favorite photos!  The best part about this app is that you can control the focal point and intensity of the soft focus feature.  But don't take it from me, you can learn more about this fun app and it's other included features. Simply download the app application to your desktop and start searching for the tilt shift focus app.  It's amazing how easy it is to change the feeling/mood of your photos just by redirecting its focus!  Have fun :)

I found this quote today while browsing through my Pinterest feed.  I couldn't find the author of the quote but I knew I had to share it on the blog today because it rings so true to me.  As you know Joe and I have been working on getting Coach House Pictures up and running which has lead me to experienced many out of comfort zone moments, but I know that they are good for me/for us. And I know that they are a super important step to creating anything new in this world.  Plus when I am shooting for CHP, I can't help but smile because my heart feels like it's about to explode (at times) because I get so excited and inspired when we have a photo shoot! It's amazing to see the results come to life and I can't wait to shoot more and share it with you all here!

So I have to ask....what have you done lately that has brought you out of your comfort zone? Would you do it again, now that you see that it's not as scary as you have played it on your mind to be?

DIY Fabric Covered Potted Plants

To jumpstart the week I wanted to share a simple project I worked on this weekend.  I recently bought a few small potted plants from my local home depot to add some color to our bay window.  And instead of transferring the pots into a better looking pot I decided the quickest way would be to just cover them with materials I already had on hand.  A few pieces of fabric and yarn did just the trick!  I like the way these came out that I'm thinking of incorporating a handful of these fabric covered potted plants  (big and small) into the wedding decor. I'm digging the casual and rustic vibe these will bring to our day. Plus they are super affordable to boot! Wishing you a happy start to your week :)

Happy Friday!

Hooray!  We made it till Friday!  Did this seem like the  l o n g e s t  week to anyone else?  It was worth it to be able to see these guys perform tonight at the Allstate Arena with some of the gals from work!  I'm SO looking forward to hearing them.  I saw them last year for the first time and they are so great live.  They really get the crowd going and they sound just as good or even better live on stage!  Thanks for joining me this week...wishing you a joyful weekend!!

Spring is on it's Way!

It was amazingly warm today in Chicago at around 64 degrees..in March!  That's almost unheard of really, in these Midwest parts.  We think 40 degree weather is nice this time of year.  I got started on my indoor bulb planting to celebrate the weather today and I hope these babies bring much needed color and brightness to the place because in all honesty we need it!  What's the weather like in your neck of the woods/rainforest and what are you doing to celebrate the changing of seasons?

Inspired by: Utterly Engaged

Photography: Utterly Engaged

After taking our first venue tour last weekend at a local barn, let's just say that I left feeling underwhelmed by the feeling on the space.  It seemed nice from the outside with a big red barn door and silo but the inside seemed dark and too country picnic-ish for a wedding.  What we did decide on is that we want to have the ceremony and reception all in the same place, so our guests don't have to shuffle around.  Needless to say I was in need of some major wedding decor inspiration.  I got my fill with the help of these two very different wedding styles found via Utterly Engaged.  I love the modern, sleek feel of the first space and the romantic and laid back vibe of the second.  The hunt continues for a venue.  Next up we are looking at possibly renting a tutor home located on a few acres of wooded preserved land. And I also got an idea from a co-worker to see about possibly renting out a bed and breakfast to serve as the venue.  Any out of the ordinary venue ideas you might have for me would also be greatly appreciated.  Wish me luck on my hunt!

*A few more wedding details:

  Guest List: 75

  Wedding Colors: Mint & Poppy with accents of Ivory & Yellow

  Honeymoon: Thailand

  Date: TBD

Free Photo Download

To celebrate the weekend and to show my love for my blogging ladies and gents, I thought I'd give you a freebie photo print of mine to download.  It's a closeup of my newly redesigned header (thanks for all your sweet comments).  Click here to find it in my Flickr album.  I'm signing off for the week, have an inspirational weekend! xo, Liz

Dinner with Trader Joe's

The other night my main man Joe was out for the night, which left me to fend for myself for dinner.  This is one of my all time fav dinner for one recipes and *bonus* all the ingredients are a one stop shop at your local Trader Joe's! In my version I use 3 egg whites and only 1 yolk.  I make the egg omelet first and then set it aside and while the pan is still hot I throw in the greens and wait a few minutes until they get a bit wilted.  Then I spread the feta and red pepper spread on top and savor each bite!  HHmmm..I can taste it now.  Do you have any quick dinner for one recipes?! Please share.

Where I've been & Where I'm going..

Work in Progress...

Another little project I worked on this weekend!  Here's a quick sneak peek!! I'm still tweaking some details but I can't wait to share the final with you tomorrow!  Eeepp....

Fresh Start

Happy Monday to you all! It feels good to be back online :) Thank you to everyone for your well wishes and prayers for my abuelita!  I spoke with my dad yesterday and she is back home and in his care.  This weekend I spent sometime around the apartment looking for something to give new life to.  And as I saw my wilting V Day flowers on the table I decided to create a new arrangement with the ones that had life still in them.  I simply just got another smaller vase and cut the stems about 3 inches.  Can you believe these are almost 2 weeks old?!  It's the little things that really made my weekend that much more enjoyable!  What little thing made your weekend?

Worried Week

Last week my family and I got the news that our 89 year old Abuelita (grandma) has colon cancer.  And today the doctors performed surgery to try to remove the cancer.  Please keep her and my family in your prayers during this time....I'd really appreciate it.

My Abuelita lives in El Salvador, that's where my parents are both from. I feel good knowing that my dad has been by her side for the past 3 weeks.  It saddens me to think of someone going through something as scary as this alone.  She's a strong lady in heart and spirit. I just hope that her body is strong enough to handle the stress of the surgery....


***UPDATE:  Abuelita made it through her surgery this week!!  She woke up and asked my dad for something to eat, which is a good sign :)  Thank you for all your support and well wishing for me and my family this week.....Looks like we are going to see her celebrate her 90th this year!! Hooray!!!

LOVEly Day

What are you and your lovies doing to celebrate today?  Joe and I are treating ourselves to a special night out on Friday at Boka but tonight we are staying in and making a yummy chicken curry in coconut milk with soba noodles and unwinding with a glass (or 2) of vino! I always like to write a few sentiments in a card too...yes I'm a card person, but I don't really need a holiday to inspire me to pick up a pen.  I just enjoy capturing the moments through words.  After all, words are all we have, right!  To show those we love that they really matter and that they are enough.  And when words aren't enough we can always rely on crafting something sweet like this paper projects above!  How great is that giant pom pom heart!  May your day be a most lovely one indeed!

DIY Hearts/ Crayon Hearts/ Love Pom Pom