Sunday Afternoon

On Sunday my family and I gathered together to celebrate my dad's 62nd Birthday!

My mom catered from yummy Portillos and we all shared in conversation and company

for the afternoon. But there always seems to be times when I start feeling antsy just sitting around eating and talking for more than 2 hours, that photography was my perfect excuse to escape and see what my favorite little people were doing outside. Here were some of my findings.

Fallish Friday!

Happy fall Friday everyone!! It's officially here today in the Chicagoland area. The trees are starting to turn a burnt red/gold and the days shadows are no longer lingering into late afternoon. But don't you just love it?! I can't wait to go apple picking with the family and just yesterday I remembered that we never went last year, for reasons I can't seem to remember. So in hopes of trying to raise excitement back into their memories, I pulled a photo from my 2008 archives of when we last went to Apple Holler located in the heartland of Wisconsin :) I created an email to the family titling it Holla back 2010! I got a kick out of this photo, because my nieces and nephews are so innocently young and sweet...ha. On another note, check out this super easy tutorial (brought to you by the talented Pugly Pixel) on how to create a fun starburst, like the one I created in my photo.

Fall into Rue

The Premier issue of all things stylish from decor, fashion, trends, and design is out on digital stands everywhere! Rue is my new favorite magazine because it offers more than just eye candy (which is a must), but the layouts are clean, the ads are not eyesores, and the writing is smart to boot! I've highlighted a few of my favorite articles featured in the issue, but you'll have to stop by and check it out for yourself. Grab a warm drink of your choice (Yogi green tea for me) and cozy up to your screen, because you'll be glued to it for a while, just like I was during my lunch break :) P.S. as a bonus Rue is offering there readers quite a few freebies including a full stationary download, invites and other goodies!

For the DIY love

Good afternoon ladies & gents. As fall slowly encroaches into the Midwest, if you're anything like me you tend to spend your shortened daylight evenings indoors. This hunkering down time of year causes me to take a second look at the everyday objects/artwork I choose to surround myself with everyday. I couldn't think of a more perfect time of year to re-examine your wall spaces and imagine fresh eco and budget friendly ways to spruce up your everyday objects. Which is why when I found this DIY link via re-nest on framing everyday objects I got excited and had to share all about it! I have a growing collection of vintage cameras which I admire from my shelves, but I love this idea of mounting them to the wall and framing them. The shopping bag art is also a fun way to add pops of color and would be a feminine touch to any powder room, closet, or bedroom. Happy sprucing!

Back to Green

As many little ones and big ones return back to school this month, how great would it be to start off a year of learning with a few of these recycled newspaper pencils by your side? It sure makes those yellow no.2's seem so out dated.

Sunday Photo Shoot

Meet Adina, my beautiful and fearless model for this past weekend's photo shoot. She called me a while back requesting for a few playful looks for her portfolio. In hopes to get work as a lifestyle model in the near future. Let me tell ya, this girl will have no problem with that, besides having energy to last, she's one of the sweetest and genuine gals I have meet in a long time. We had a blast shooting at a private beach in Highland Park then to the beautiful Chicago Botanic gardens. I was almost as excited going through all my photos during the post production work as I was actually shooting. I can happily say that I've found another aspect of photography that I hope to do more of. Enjoy some of my favorite shots!

Louie wanted to join in on the fun, we met him on the beach and he wanted to have some face time with the camera too :)

Happy Start

Butterfly Moss

I have so much to be happy for to start off the week. I spent the weekend with little down time (for which I was grateful when I did have time to devour the Sunday Trib) and spent it with family at a bar-b-que, at dinner and a movie, drinks at a friends, and at the Botanic gardens for an afternoon photo shoot. I'm still going through my files today, but would love to share with you some of the portraits we ended up creating. How was your weekend?