So I'm finally getting to the computer tonight, we had to take Isabel to the hospital today with an eye injury, she is fine but in a bit of pain.

The good thing about today is I got to sit and watch a movie No Reservations which I enjoyed but what was so cool is it had an awesome quote ... it's this "The best recipes are the ones you create yourself" Oh my Gosh!! I love it ... it's so true! As an artist we are constantly inspired by others ... but our true greatness always comes from something that we put a little of this ... a little of that ... a pinch of our authentic self and whola!

It was nice just to hang with Izzy today and snuggle. I know she needed it ... but I did too and on a rainy day ... it doesn't get any better.

too cool

Cooper is too cool for words! He had so many expressions he had me cracking up the whole time ... from silly to thinking to laughing to angry ... honestly ... Hollywood watch out!! So fun!

sweet ... so sweet

I honestly could hang out with Jordan all day! She is a true love! She gives the BEST hugs! Jordan's eyes are amazing ... so beautiful and she is so full of life ... we had so much fun. I'm sure I'm in a little trouble for teaching her a bad habit or two ... taking our shoes off in public, sticking our tongues out at each other but we sure had a blast!! Here are some of my favorites from our session.

hipchick

I had so much fun shooting for Dana with Hipchick Designs! Dana designs custom flower hair clips and they are to die for! She really has impeccable style ... and she is one the sweetest people I've met!

Each piece is fabulous! Everything is hand sewn with exquisite details such as Swarovski crystals ... they are awesome! The flowers look so very real ... that is what I like the best about them. It was so fun photographing each unique piece ... my little Isabel was drueling over them ... all I could hear in the background was "mommy ... can I have this one ... oh! oh! mommy ... what about that one!" She was driving me crazy! Not only does my Miss. Isabel love them ... but they have also been featured in Hudson's and you can find them at many local boutiques including Koukla Kids.

mommas who get it

... what is important that is!!

Jill and Shelley are two moms who really get what is important in their families lives ... their children.... who are a kick in the pants I might add. See ... Shelley was married to Rod and they have a little boy and now Jill is married to Rod and she and Mike have a little boy from their prior marriage ... and they are one big HAPPY family! Not to mention that Shelley and Jill are one of each othere BEST friends! How cool is that?!

I got to photograph them; then grab a glass of wine and chat with them just about life and stuff and it was AWESOME! Check out their website NirvanaMommas.com. Their story is coming up in the next issue KidAround Mag so check it out ... they truly are inspirational ... coming from a family similar to Jill's growing up , the way they are making it work for their children just totally ROCKS!

prom

Last night was totally rad! The Mininger Foundation hosted a benefit for the Stanford Home for Children and it was way awesome ... lots of mullets, lacey tights, 80's blig ... great music ... great times ... here is a sneak peak ... warning ... I don't usually post so many photos on the blog ... but they were too fun to resist!

give

If you are generous it will come back to you ... in buckets...the funny thing is, is that you never know what will be in those buckets...but it's always good.

I've know this and live by this ... in fact many times my husband thinks I'm totally crazy...just shakes his head sometimes and then I get to giggle when he sees the ah-ha moment. I LOVE it!

I want to share with you all a book that I grabbed in the airport on the way to Santa Barbara to meet my friend David Jay, who also by the way is a giver. The book is The Go-Giver by Bob Burg and John David Mann. It is a quick read and RIGHT ON! I finished this book smiling so big ... my husband walked by and said man, must be a good book ... I just giggled ... I'll make sure I leave it on his night stand! Really though, the book is an awesome, right on the mark business book and I highly recommend it. The book gives THE FIVE LAWS OF STRATOSPHERIC SUCCESS. I'll head to bed on this note ... Give more in value ...

authentic beauty

What an afternoon I had this past Thursday! I was so blessed to spend an afternoon with Nancie, who actually bid on me at a Red Cross event! Our mission was to capture her new beauty. A writer I am not ... but I want to share a little here ... see when I met Nancie, briefly on a cold Friday night at a Red Cross event she caught my eye ... she was striking to me ... I thought to myself, wow! I hope when I am a little older I will have the kind of class and beauty that she resignates. I had no idea of who this woman was or what she had been through the past two years. To my delight Nancie was the highest bidder and we were going to have a session together! I meet Nancie for coffee to discuss our session and Nancie shared with me that she is a recent cancer surviver ... and she is so so so amazing, so full of life, so spunky ... we hit it off instantly! With our goal in mind we set the date; Thursday February 7, 2008, I left Starbucks feeling excited to get to have a significant project in the works. I arrived and Nancie and I had a cup of tea and enjoyed chatting, petting Pippen, her most wonderful doggie, while I captured her authentic beauty. Nancie, as she will tell you is a women with an opinion and I just LOVE her! Nancie gets it! She is inspiring, she is honest, she is beautiful! And she has a most wonderful laugh! It is contagious! I am so honored to have gotten to capture her authentic beauty ... I left her home feeling warm inside ... feeling so full of life ... smiling. Thank you so very much Nancie!!! Here are a couple of images I wanted to share ...

freeze

so much has been going on these last few weeks ... I found this clip of the coolest collaboration project off of Dane Sanders blog ... just made me think ... we all need to take a little break every now and again no matter how brief or where!



Several years ago when I was in New York and went to Grand Central Station they were remodeling it and it was like deader than a door nail .. I kept thinking I wish I had my camera .. it was creepy quiet! Anyway, that same trip, 6 people were shot on top of the Empire State Building as we were heading down the elevator ... CRAZY!

ever wonder

if you have the BEST job, ever? I don't ever wonder that ... because I know I do! I love what I do! The other day I got to spend some time with Pierce and Preston and it was so great to see them again. Aren't they so cute ... and talented!!

old soul

This weekend I spent time with a family that is so sweet ... I love 'em! When Surrender called me to photograph their new baby Raha I was so so excited. I had photographed their little boy when he was just barely sitting up so it was so fun to see him again.

The neatest thing, when I was photographing Raha she was so in tune to the camera ... it was awesome. When she got a little fussy and her mom starting singing her name ... she instantly calmed. As I looked into Raha's eyes when I was photographing her ... it was so interesting ... I had heard people say "oh, he or she has an old soul" which I thought "humm, ok" ... but there was something so intriguing about Raha ... her eyes seemed to speak to me.

Anyway, I feel in love with her soft, sweet self and enjoyed photographing her so very much! Here are some images from the session.