'heaven help us, if he's anything like me....' - fort walton beach newborn photography

There's something that makes me all melty and gooey inside when I see the contrast of a fresh, dewy newborn up against the grizzly, tattoed exterior of his daddy.  *Sigh*  Welcome to the world Baby Sal!  You're going to be one little heartbreaker!

'an amethyst remembrance is all i own...' - fort walton beach photography

This week my family received the unfortunate news that my son's birth mother had taken her own life.  As my husband and I grapple with the overwhelming prospect of one day having to tell our son of this heartwrenching event, we are filled with every single imaginable emotion known to the human race.  Sadness, anger, heartbreak, rage, sorrow, hope, heartbreak and confusion. 

 She was a woman full of spark and creativity, adventure and love but was also a woman deeply broken and full of wounds that just wouldn't heal.  We are so helplessly saddened by this loss of life as well as for our son's now-future of unanswered questions.  We would appreciate any and all prayers, not just for us but for the friends, family and all those touched by this tragedy. 

***on a related note, for those of you who know the details of our situation surrounding this person, you may wonder why we would grieve so hard for someone who caused so much pain and hurt and confusion in our lives.  #1 - pain and hurt and confusion can sometimes be caused by both parties involved.  #2. life is sacred and should not be taken for granted.  ANY loss of life should be grieved.  we rallied for her life and only ever wished her well, even to the point of encouraging her relationship with our son a few years back.  though our wounds may still sting and we will surely deal with the ramifications of her life choices as our son grows older and asks us unanswerable questions, the bottom line is this: forgiveness.  without it, we'd be dead while living...

'hold me closer, tiny dancer....' - fort walton beach photography

What's it like to be so carefree?  I don't remember.

'the sun came out the other day, through those dusty clouds...' - fort walton beach photography

I love this family.  Like, love love.  I've known them for about 3 years now and they were also one of my very, very first public photoshoots.  They are the ideal family to shoot too because they just melt into one other and posing just comes naturally to them - a photographer's dream!  And, just like the last time, when reviewing & editing their photos, the tears just suddenly sting my eyes because they're more than just photographs - it's like a glimpse into something so intimate and beautiful and precious.  I am so delighted for them as they prepare to welcome their second daughter into the world and just want to wish them all the happiness and joy!  "Ain't life grand?!"

' Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast' - fort walton beach photography

I have been dying to share this session with you all - this is a "concept shoot" I pulled together quickly for part of my daughter Ava's third birthday photos.  Think "Vogue" magazine and you'll realize that concept shoots are no new thing - fashion + photography has been creating stylized shoots for a long, long time but they are increasingly become more popular for the average-Joe's family photoshoot.  They can be based around a theme (summer picnic, the Beatles, sailing, etc) or a story or time period (Peter Pan, Marie Antoinette, the roaring 20's).  I chose "Alice in Wonderland" as the theme for Ava's concept shoot and she had an absolute blast helping me scavenge our home for odds and ends to piece together for her pictures.  We even had a "rocking-horse fly" by attaching butterfly wings to our beloved vintage rocking horse!  I have a couple more concept shoots coming up this fall with various clients that I can't wait to share; if you ever have an idea whether it's your favorite childhood book or family's favorite pasttime or just something you've seen in passing and you'd like to play it out in YOUR photo session - feel free to let me know!  Nothing's ever impossible if you can only imagine it!

'ain't no sunshine when she's gone' - fort walton beach photography

I'm off to Jacksonville, FL tomorrow for the Sandy Puc Creative Edge Kids Tour and also to celebrate my birthday with my mom, sister and littlest chitlin'.  I've been busy running around like a goat with no tail - my day's been a little like this: pack, clean, nurse, pack, wipe spit-up, clean, slap together some PB&Js, pack, clean, deliver photo disc, clean, drink some coffee, pack, clean, nurse AGAIN, pack some more, cook dinner, pack clean....you get the picture! Anyway, thought I'd leave you guys smiling with a couple cutie-poo pictures of Lydia in all her 3 month glory.  Dontcha love her panda bear hat?! My beautiful mom made that and if you EVER want a custom hat for your little ones' photoshoot - just name it - she's amazing!  Happy weekend and be back Monday!! xoxo



  {click on images to see them in all their splendorific glory...}

'here's a bean, there's a bean, everywhere a mean mean Bean' - fort walton beach photography

First things first - have you ever listened to the song "Coffee Mug" by Descendents?  Oh. My. Lord.

Moving on.  If you don't know me, then you might not know that I am serious about coffee.  Seriously serious.  I take it everyway but I.V. drip.  Most of you may have even experienced me showing up to your photoshoot with a nice cold latte in my hands (it fuels the creativity in me).  Actually I come from a long line of coffee drinkers - my mom, sister and I can't even start a descent shopping spree or road trip without hitting up a coffee shop first.  It's practically impossible.  Anyway I had found this recipe through Pinterest and decided I had to try it and, like most photographers I am privy to, I had to document it.  Have you ever documented something with photos then thought, after uploading them all onto your hard drive, what now? Start a blog and share - that's what I do! 

Ok, so firstly you're going to buy 1lb of strong, dark roasted coffee and a gallon of water.  Soak your grounds in the water for at least 12 hours or longer.  This is called "cold-brewing".  I didn't get a picture of this - sorry! But you can imagine it -it's really not hard.  You want to make sure your grounds are completely saturated with water so mix or stir it up really well then walk away....

They should look like this the next day:

Once your 12 hours are up (I know the anticipation is great - hopefully you're able to sleep that night!) you are going to strain your now condensed coffee mixture using a mesh strainer and filters or several layers of cheesecloth.  I had a very very TINY mesh strainer I borrowed from my mom for this project so it was taking a very...very...v.e.r.y. long time...

So eventually I got tired (and lazy AND impatient..)  of using and squeezing out the coffee filters so I used a new approach; pouring it straight in to the mesh strainer and praying no grounds would fall through. 

Hallelujah - it worked!  Now that I know I like this recipe, I will buy myself a bigger strainer and might possibly have to use the coffee filters (or cheesecloth) in addition - it's all experimentation folks!

Just look at this frothy, yummy goodness that you end up with!

I saved the gallon container from a Chick-fil-A sweet tea and poured all my cold-{delectable} goodness into it.  So do that now and then give it a sweet little peck - things might seem formal now, but once you've developed a relationship with this drink, you'll be french-kissing in no time!

You know that old saying "If you love it so much, why don't you marry it?"  Well, coffee and I, we were just dating before apparently because now - its official!

Here comes the creamy goodness part : sweetly simplistic and oh-so-cheap!

Seeing as how I am an extreme penny-pincher, I DID buy off brand, especially since I was at first extremely skeptical this recipe would actually be any good.  So stick with me now even if you are a kitchen snob and I've offended you. 

Mix those two together into some sort of sealable container that you can keep in the fridge.  The only thing I had on hand was a canning-jar-turned-into-Irish-Wake-cup from McGuires.  I suppose you could use a tupperware bowl but they don't pour so well. 

It will look disgustingly rich at first but trust me (and thank me later).

Now, I'm not going to get too extremely detailed on this next part just because who am I to tell you how to mix up your own morning hit but I will say this: the original recipe calls for a little over half of coffee and then fill rest with sweet cream - that was too sweet for me.  So really, it all depends on how you like your poison so play around with it 'til you find the perfect sweet spot. 

 Then whip one up for a loved one, interrupt a phone call of theirs insisting on taste-urgency and watch them do this:

Move on over average-store bought creamer - there's a new cowboy in town and he's here to stay!