Countdown to Big Brotherdom

November 5, 2009 | Filed Under child portraits, family portraits, maternity portraits | Leave a Comment

This is Jordan.

This is Jordan’s family.

Jordan’s GROWING family!

He’s about to be a big brother.

It’s going to be tough, sharing his parents with a baby brother or sister.

Something tells me he’s going to make it.

Amy & Steve - the Sunday morning cartoon!

November 4, 2009 | Filed Under Amy & Steve, weddings | 1 Comment

One last story: a few days before the wedding, Amy and I were running around town scouting locations and setting the final schedule when we stopped at their new home to pick up something. As we were leaving, Steve drove up in his car. As soon as he saw Amy, he started pounding the steering wheel with an expression on his face that said, “You’ll rue the day you crossed me!” Amy, in response, started dramatically running away from him, up the driveway, flailing her arms and squealing in terror. It was like a chase scene in a cartoon, and this is how I now imagine their daily life.

Amy & Steve - Ceremony

October 30, 2009 | Filed Under Amy & Steve, weddings | Leave a Comment

I already told you once that Amy is my best friend - we met in college, and she’s the reason I moved to Virginia back in 2005. I remember that first summer, driving around Charlottesville in her car, talking about our imaginary futures, when Amy says, “At this point in my life, I can’t even fathom meeting a guy that I’d be willing to marry.”

Steve exceeded our expectations.

Amy & Steve - Briday Party

October 26, 2009 | Filed Under Amy & Steve, weddings | Leave a Comment

To allow more time with their wedding guests, and to take advantage of the light earlier in the day, Amy & Steve decided to do their bridal party photos before the ceremony. Amy & I scouted out the Downtown Mall a few days in advance, and figured out a few locations we liked as backdrops.

Of course, Amy and I failed to put this statue of Stonewall Jackson on our list, so it’s a good thing the guys spoke up.

Amy & Steve - Getting Ready

October 25, 2009 | Filed Under Amy & Steve, weddings | Leave a Comment

Amy’s entire wedding felt like an intimate affair, since most of her vendors were family or friends - even Dusanka at Bella Boutique has been Amy’s stylist for years (she also cuts my hair, and both of Amy’s sisters’, and a constantly-growing collection of our friends’ and acquaintances’ hair).

After a relaxing morning of hair, make-up, bagels, and mimosas, the ladies all walked back to Amy’s hotel room to get dressed.

Steve came up to the room for a first look, and to help Amy with the finishing touches, while the whole bridal party waited for them in the hotel lobby.

“Your wedding pictures are great, but why aren’t there more pictures of Lidia?”

October 20, 2009 | Filed Under Amy & Steve, child portraits, weddings | 1 Comment

Amy was an incredibly gracious bride. My favorite part of the week was hanging out with her a few days before the wedding, running through the details of the wedding day with her, and hearing her sing the praises of various friends and family members - there were multiple verses to the tune of, “If so-and-so hadn’t offered to help with this, it would have been so ghetto.”

She was so un-focused on being the center of attention that when we discovered a flower girl dress that was an exact replica of her wedding dress, she KNEW her niece would love wearing it.

So, to appease the doting grandparents - rumored to have said the above quote when sent to the full gallery of wedding photos - here is a collection of Lidia’s pictures, along with a few NEVER BEFORE SEEN outtakes from the weekend.

Something exciting has happened.

October 11, 2009 | Filed Under Amy & Steve, weddings | Leave a Comment

These two got married!

Many more pictures to come.

Retreat - Part III (The Sights)

September 15, 2009 | Filed Under personal, travel | Leave a Comment

Things we did while in Somerset, PA:

Walked down the road to a farm which has been converted to a driving range. Attempted to hit the cows on the neighboring farm. Failing that, attempted to hit the wooden cow in the middle of the range. Failing that, picked up my camera and took pictures of the pretty flowers.

Drove to an area with biking, hiking, and river kayaking. Attempted to find a short trail which ended at the river. Failing that, retraced our steps over two miles of bike path and took the most heavily traveled trailhead, trusting that it would take us to the river. Failing that, retraced our steps over three miles of trails and found ANOTHER trailhead, which took us, within half a mile, to a steep, muddy hill which carried us to the river.

Retreat - Part II (The Food)

September 15, 2009 | Filed Under food!, personal, travel | Leave a Comment

Little did I know, as I drove toward the inn, that my friend expected me to help her cook a feast for the two of us.

We were to start by making our own tortillas.

I had no idea that people did this outside the pages of Martha Stewart Living. Did you?

Thankfully, she did most of the work, allowing me to drink wine and take photos of the process.

We had to let the dough sit for a while, so I was handed a knife and told to chop a collection of onions and peppers, which were added to a pot of black beans along with a TON of cumin. We discussed our mutual love of cumin, and how sad our lives were before we knew of its delights.

It turns out she had already made pico de gallo, so our feast was nearly complete. All we had to do after that was roll out the tortillas, cook them on the stovetop, and assemble our feast.

It was so good, I made it again a week later - without the homemade tortillas.

Retreat - Part I (The Inn)

September 14, 2009 | Filed Under personal, travel | 2 Comments

I recently took a weekend trip to Somerset, PA.

It was to see a friend who has known me since I was an awkward, overdramatic teenager. Compared to her memories from a decade ago, I seemed composed and mature.

Which might explain why the entire weekend was refreshing in a way I somehow forgot existed.

Though, the scenery didn’t hurt.