A Fresh Start?
We recently upgraded some of our computers (helloooo iMac Pro) and whenever we do this, I get excited and overwhelmed at the same time. When I recently upgraded my iPhone last October, I forgot to back it up. I was in Chicago for my grandpa’s funeral and in an instant, I realized I could possibly lose [&
First Steps to Patio Makeover
We moved into our house in April 2016. When we first toured the place, the back patio was completely covered in snow. We had no idea how much of it was concrete or where there was grass but we loved it. Like I’ve mentioned before, it’s really secluded. The patio is sandwiched right between the [&hel
Day Trip to Cincinnati
We spent the day in Cincinnati after taking photos for our client, Cherbourg Cyprus. It was a rare, sunny day in that corner of Ohio and, while it was cold, there were many people out and about. I picked up two cute cards (my go-to purchase in new shops) and we had a chai latte […]
Cute Book Alert
We don’t have a dining room (or even a full dining table) in our house. Our last place (a townhouse) had its own enclosed dining area and I loved it. We strung lights and had Sunday dinners. If our current house didn’t have a back enclosed patio area, I would be super sad. It allows […]
Skincare and Makeup That I Repurchase
I’ve never been paid to endorse anything but I understand why it might be appealing (if you already love that product). But I’m here, as an unpaid blogger, to share some of my favorite skincare/makeup products that I constantly run out of and then re-purchase. When I say repurchase, I mean it. I don
Teach Me
I grew up in a home where makeup and shopping wasn’t a focus. My parents didn’t drink. I wore a uniform to Catholic school where I wasn’t allowed to wear logos on my socks or even nude nail polish. My high school friends and I didn’t drink. I went to a tiny college in the […]
A Safe Place
My grandpa owned a lake house my entire life. From what I hear, they found out my mom was pregnant with me the year they bought it. He’d be able to know exactly how long they had it just by looking at me. “25 years!” he’d proclaim (when I was 25). The timing of them […]
A Passion Project Revisited
If you didn’t know, my project last year was focused on styling and photographing something daily. I ended up creating two of my favorite photographs (you can view them here and here). I loved this project because I spent a lot of time finding existing paintings and wanted to recreate pieces of them feat
The Problem With Perfection
Our podcast is back for its 4th season. The term “season” makes me laugh because it’s not like we wait a year in between (just a few weeks). We’ve slightly changed the format every season and we’re really excited about this season’s structure. We’ll release an episode e
Nights Outside
I’m pretty sure spring has finally scooted into Ohio. I think we can take our plants outside soon. Last night might have been the last night it hit freezing overnight. It feels good. I took this photo last summer out at Adam’s uncle’s cabin in Indiana. I have great memories of that night. We
Oh, Interesting Vol. 2
It’s Friday! And by Friday, I’m ready to not be in front of my computer. That’s why these short and sweet posts work well for me pre-weekend. Here’s a list of things that made me say, “Ohhhh, interesting!” 1. I recently photographed some of Branch Basics for a giveaway as col
How I Made $10,500 in 31 Days (After Freelancing For Four Months)
A few months ago, I stumbled upon a spreadsheet of my 2012 freelance income. On August 2, 2012, I started freelancing full-time. That December (my fourth month freelancing), I had pulled in $10,595 within a 31-day window. I remember looking at that number in amazement. I had made $10,000 just the year before,
Living In My Spring
I may have mentioned this before but my creativity and mood are very aligned with the seasons here in Ohio. In the winter, I retreat and hunker down. Our hope is that next winter, we literally retreat to someplace warmer. I also tend to get lazy. Lazy in a physical way. Lazy in a creative […]
I Knew It Was Great
I grew up as a fine artist. I learned to paint with oils and watercolors via semi-private lessons at the age of twelve after learning as much as I could on my own. People told me, “You’re so talented!” I won every contest and competition that I entered. I repeated AP Art in high school. I [&h
Outer Quiet and Inner Quiet
Over the weekend, I started reading my friend Brandi’s book. It’s called Myths of Being Human and it’s been such a special read so far. Back in January, I ended up (unintentionally) hanging out with Brandi at a big gala at the art museum and enjoyed our conversation so much. We talked about th
Let’s Get Coffee (or Tea)
Back when I blogged often…oh wait, I am blogging often now. Ahem. Back when I blogged as much as I am currently blogging, I would create this post annually. You can read the posts from 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013. Feel free to jump into those comments as well. In these posts, I ask 5 questions, encourage
Representation
I grew up in a small Catholic school where 99% of the students (and staff) at my school were white. I loved the Olsen twins, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears and Celine Dion. I had Barbies, I had Samantha, the rich American Girl Doll* and I would pinch my nose like Amy in Little Women. The Internet wasnR
Recent Photography
Whew, it’s been a productive past three weeks. Over the course of 21 days (which have gone by SO quickly) have been filled with a lot of photoshoots and now I’m hitting an edit and design phase in my schedule. It’s weird, I feel like all my shoots are scheduled back to back to back […]
More Breaks
Today I took the afternoon off and sat outside for over two hours in the sunshine on our patio. Desh even joined. It made me think about taking breaks. Adam has been experimenting with the Pomodoro Technique and has been loving it. I also recently read Breanna’s post about working for two hours and taking
Things That I Screenshot
On this episode of “quick blog posts that are fun but not really that deep, so what,” I’m sharing things that have made me take a screenshot (on my phone). I’ve done this post before. Read it here. To be totally honest, my screenshot game is way less embarrassing now that the iPhone lets
A Week of Blogging
A few people have asked me how this year’s challenge is going. To be honest, it feels weird. I felt such momentum the last two years. I felt like people honored it and respected it. It’s not that I think people don’t honor or respect 100 days of blogging but it definitely feels different. Whe
Gift Giving
At one point in my life, I tested high for “receiving gifts” as one of my love languages. As in, I loved it when people gave me things. The older I get, I’m not sure that’s the case anymore. First of all, when you have an office/studio, you get a lot of gifts. People drop […]
Behind The Scenes
My favorite thing to do is sneak a peek at other people’s processes, photographer sets and artist studios! I work really hard to not follow other designer/photographer work but I do love seeing what tools they use, how they practice, what helps them execute and how they keep learning. I think it’s
A Quarter Century
I was six when I stopped being an only child. By then, I was ready for a sibling. For years I had pretended that my stuffed bear was my brother and it really wasn’t cutting it any longer. It took a few years for this brother of mine to learn to talk and actually play […]
Oh, Interesting!
Yesterday, during a private yoga session with Josie (who is also writing every day for 100 days), we were talking about all the things we wanted to blog about. We both agreed that we love sharing deep thoughts, straight from the heart, but some days will be funny or lighthearted or a little fluffy. Today is [&
And Then I Found Twenty Dollars
My memory is AWFUL. But I remember a few things. I remember watching that documentary about Bill Cunningham years ago and his quote: “If you don’t take money, they can’t tell you what to do, kid. That’s the key to the whole thing.” When I watched that documentary, I was pretty broke.
Anticipation
I’m waiting to take some of these plants outside. I’m waiting to sit on our patio, on the weekend, late into the night, sipping bourbon with my favorite people. I’m waiting for my schedule to let up, to have a little extra space (I always say this). I’m waiting to hit a few financial goa
One Of One Hundred
Over the last two years, I’ve returned to this space multiple times to share things close to my heart and on my mind. In 2016, I recapped our travel adventures (and we honestly haven’t traveled much since). It includes one of the last photos I took with my grandpa before he passed away the following
