junk drawer

Hello from Alaska!

I'm here in Alaska.  Getting ready for my next shoot.  This time it's Northern Alaska, the Bering Sea, and Far East Russia/ Siberia.

I've never been up this way before, and it is GORGEOUS!  Both in sights and smells.  The air is so clean and pure I just want to bottle it.

Posting might be slim around these parts for the next two weeks. I'll post when I can!

Be well friends.

{my crew looking out  tram station window high up on a mountain top down to the valley below. The views are just humbling.}

**I forgot to mention, I'll probably be posting more over on my flickr page. Check me out over there!

It's in the details

A few more images from the wedding...

{our kicks}

{my gorgeous bouquet.  I literally cried when I first saw.  It was perfect! All flowers were by the amazing Christine from A Modern Touch} {our wheels. a london taxi.  one of very few here in the states.}
 

{our guest book branches.  kristin from the fairmount bride helped me string those tags.  that's the sign of true friendship.  Especially when the bride calls in an SOS panic two days before the wedding because there are TAGS TO BE STRUNG!!!}

{our fabu flowers that filled the long rows of tables.  Christine alternated between yellow and orange flowers lining the middle of the tables which were topped with a burlap runner.  She filled the tables with lemons, lemon leaves, and apricots to coordinate.  It was PERFECT...and exactly as I had imagined.}

{our ring bearer pillow and my purse.   You might recognized that fabric from the invitations...}

{our flower girls wore  cute yellow dresses...a running theme...and tossed rose petals from linen bags I made  utilizing all the fabric from the invitations. (see photos of them here)}

{The best sign of a successful reception...Empty tables!}

***all photos by the lovely and talent Lara and Kate from the Studio Nouveau!****

more soon. happy weekend! 

I'm hitched...bitch!

That's right friends.  We got married...and Otis and I had so much fun.

It all went down on May 31st here in Philly at Bartrams Garden. This place perfectly blended the city and country vibe we were looking for. 

Bartrams Garden was the first botanical garden in the US and the home of John Bartram.  It also has beautiful gardens, a funky old barn (oldest in Philly) and a massive 6 acre field that overlooks the city...not to mention cool paths that lead down to the Schyulkill (school-kul) riverbank. 
So here's what went down in a nutshell.

My Dad and I walked into the old creaky barn (our backup, rainy day location btw) to be greeted with humungous cheers as our engagement song "All you need is love" played in the background.

Our ceremony was very decidedly us.  We had the great honor of having my friend Harvey, who is perhaps best known as the former announcer of Double Dare,  preside over Otis and I. (Yes! that Harvey. The, "so Harvey, tell them what they've won!" Harvey.)  Actually, we legally married ourselves with a Quaker licsense, but Harvey led us through the ceremony. It was so incredibly special.

As our short ceremony progressed Harvey tossed a coin to decide who said their vows first, and we had our sisters recite special readings, Forever Young by Bob Dylan and from a childrens book named "I like you" by Sandol Stoddard Warburg.

We had to keep it relatively short because veryone was crammed into the barn which turned out making the ceremony feel really intimate.
 
After more cheering we headed to the brick barnyard for dinner and dancing.  Our friends from the band Shark Hat came down from NYC and rocked the night away.  The dance floor was packe!  Then Otis and I surprised everyone and sang a Junior Kimbrough (a famous Hill Country Bluesman) tune called "All Night Long."

yeah.  it was a whole lotta fun.

I'll be back tomorrow with more details and more reception madness.

PS: ALL photos are by the amazingly talented Lara and Kate of The Studio Nouveau out of Boston, MA.  They ROCK.

on a bloggy vacation...

I'm still on my unexpected bloggy vacation...so much has happened since I last popped in.

-I got married

-I went on a mini-moon

-I went on a biz trip to Europe with my new gig with the *Travel Channel*.

-I shot my first wedding and actually got paid for it.

-I relaxed

I'll be back next week with a LONG overdue wedding recap and some more updates on my adventures.

Till then, check out some of this internet goodness:

I have TWO *two!!!* real life friends who have started blogs of their own.

One of my dearest friends, Kristin, has started a fantastic wedding blog, The Fairmount Bride. Check out posts about my wedding here and here.  She has made major waves QUICKLY and was recently named one of Alltops best wedding blogs. gooo kristin!

Sara, one of my best gurls in Philly, has started a kick ass foodie blog, Eatin' Good in the Hood.  Check it OUT and get inspired.  Sara is one of the best cooks I know...which is clearly why she works for the Food Network.

Also- I'm super excited to be contributing to the new blog label-free which was founded by my gal Aimee of Betsy Ross Patterns fame.. It's going to be so much fun and will highlight some of my talents that I use everyday at work...ooh la la

See you next week.  I promise

snap snap click

You know when good karma kinda just jumps out and bites you in the ass.?

That happened to me when it came to finding great photographers our wedding.















Randomly, the wondeful Lara, of Studio Nouveau fame, sent me an email.  Next thing you know, she and her biz partner are flying to Philly to cover our wedding.

We're so excited!

Plus, we'll be working together on some video stuff later this summer.  Good times!

So go check out their website and their blog. 

These ladies are TALENTED with a capitol T!

be there...be square

Hey gang-

Kinda took a little leave of absense there...

With two weeks (TWO WEEKS!!!) to go until our wedding, I've been kinda busy over here.

Therefore, I dub this, week o wedding.  Each day this week I'll fill you in on a bit about our day.
Kinda exciting stuff.

First up:

Our invitations. 

If you recall I mentioned a very special fabric project a good while back.

Well- here is the main reason why I spent all those hours at spool.

Take a look:

Our envelopes (from paper source. They have the most dreamy colors!).  Calligraphy was done by our very good friend JZ.

Each guest recieved an invitation wrapped in very special fabric that I bought when visiting my friend Aimee at work. so fun. (thanks for the fabric guidance girlie!)

I designed the invitations myself on illustrator.  It was quite the process and WAY tougher than the sewing bit.  It had been a while since I had used a graphic design program...kinda cool to access that side of my brain again.

Otis and I really wanted to include our nicknames in our invitation.  Afterall,those names are what we call each other (Otis and MB) but we included our formal names on the main invitation.  (erased for posting here)

Our response card.

Our response envelopes.

Overall, I really enjoyed this project.  Most people thought I was crazy to sew all these little pockets (over 200!!), but I thought it was really fun concept and a personal way to set the tone for the party.  Best of all, by doing all the labor myself I estimate that I saved $2,000!!

And to be fair, I got the idea for this project from "The Knot" Magazine and the concept is from local Philly gals Bird and Banner. Thanks for the uber creative mojo ladies!!!

week of color: orange and red and pink

I'm back from the Big Easy...Otis and I had such a good time.  It was just what we needed before the last big push before the wedding. Words can't explain the joy of that city. New Orleans vibrates. It seems like the city was built for the sole purpose of having fun.

I'm happy to report that this year felt much more ALIVE than last year...a very good thing indeed.

But now we're back...back home in Philly.

And I'm back on hiatus again too.  Which, while it stinks not to be bringing in some dough, is a very good thing at this point in "operation wedding".

In addition this little break will give me one more week of quiet before I start a very exciting new gig that will have me all OVER the place.  Should be fun.

Today I just puttered around the house and settled out of vacation mode.  It was so quiet around here...after 4 raucous days down south and it was just what the doctor ordered.

Above is a red/ orange shot.  The pattern on the left is a new rug I got from Anthro.  Lovely.

And here is a shot I snapped last week for the macro challenge.  It was the last of the blossoms. When we got home yesterday everything is pretty much green.  All settled in...just like I'm trying to be.

I'll be back tommorrow for the last day of week of color and with some snaps from my trip.

peace

week of color: yellow

mellow yellow... tho it kinda looks orange. oh well.

I'm having so much fun here...in New Orleans!!

more tomorrow.

week of color: green

Hey there from vacationland.

Here is my photo for Leya's week of color...can you guess where I am???

This is the view from our hotel. I LOVE IT HERE!

See you tommorrow for mellow yellow tuesday.

sometimes...

..walking to work I can barely stand how gorgeous Philly seems. She's a tattered city in some spots, rough around the edges, and unapologetically so.

I like that.

I think it's beautiful.

And another macro shot.  I am really loving this project. so fun!