Birthday Girl!

Saturday was officially Ella's first birthday... so birthday cake was obviously a no-brainer! Once the cake was put before her (the WHOLE cake that is) it didn't take long for her to have the icing everywhere! She was so content just sitting there making a complete mess and even taking a few tastes here and there. Happy Birthday Princess!

It's hard to believe...

my sister's baby girl is turning ONE tomorrow! The time has just gone by WAY to fast. I feel like I want to put her on "pause" for a little while so I can keep her just the way she is... at least for a little while longer!

It's funny when I look back and remember how convinced I was that she "should" be a boy, just because I thought boys were easier, more convenient, but mostly because we already have Andrew & Kaleb in the family, so I guess I just thought it would be too hard to break that mold, that "mold" in my own little head that is!

So, one year ago Miss Ella Grace came crashing into my world of "boys" and I couldn't be happier to admit that "I was wrong." I totally needed this little girl in my life. So, here I am, the Aunt/Godmother who was convinced that I could only be good at boys...funny how so much can change in one year...thanks to one little girl!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

Dave Matthews Band!

Went to the Dave Matthews Band concert last night with my sister and as usual it was AMAZING! These guys or i should say "gods" can do no wrong for me. Thanks to Marie we were lucky enough to be sitting in the 8th row. Needless to say, I'm paying for it today, i'm so exhausted.

I'm off to the farm this afternoon to shoot an assignment for school, if there are any worthy of sharing I'll do so tomorrow.

Kimmie Chang + bottle of wine= Ricky Bobby

This weekend I was at Rollie's SAVE event, where I was supposed to be getting some scrapbooking done... needless to say, not much scrapbooking got done, but plenty of laughs were had.

here are some pictures from the weekend.

Kim getting creative... at the golf course in a sand trap!

Kim cooling off at the mini-golf course... in her defense it was pretty hot out and she also wanted to wash off some of the sand off. (sorry, I can't figure out how to turn that picture around the right way.)

Finally, I leave you with Kimmie Chang and the infamous Ricky Bobby!

getting ready...

Tonight I'm getting ready to go away once again. This weekend I'm heading off to SAVE for some scrapping and hanging out with my girlfriends. I'm really looking forward to this event, it's been a while since I had some serious creative time.

Tomorrow heading out to catch Kim's "boyfriend" Rocco DeLuca @ the TLA. I'm pretty excited for the show myself, these guys are great live and they're finally headlining the show!


I guess that's it for now, not much to report just busy, busy, busy! Must finish packing!

my boys of summer...

Well, our annual trip to LBI has come and gone... and needless to say it never goes down without a catch. This year I was lucky enough to be taking Kaleb to the beach with me and this was his first time away from home without his Mom & Dad! (at least longer then just an overnight.) This was a milestone in itself.



does this look like a child that is homesick?.... nope, I didn't think so. He was so excited to be at the beach, and I was just as excited to have him there with me!



Andrew has been coming here since he was a baby. Now at age 14, he still looks forward to the week with his cousins just hanging out on the beach. And the bonus is he still lets me take his picture, no matter what!

Anyway~ on to the "catch." Sunday night we headed to the basketball courts which also is a nightly event when we're at the shore only this time I managed to score myself a trip to the Emergency Room. I thought I was going to be fine, but the next morning my knee thought otherwise, so Kim and Erik took me to the ER... basically they did some xrays, found nothing broken which I kinda figured. Their assessment was that I had a sprain of some sort in my knee with possibly some ligament issues going on but they would need to do an MRI to come to any conclusion. Long story short... my regular doctor did his exam and concluded that I did not need the MRI, but simply needed some rest and possibly some physical therapy. So I guess this is my first sign of getting older, huh?

Now, I'm going back to that happy place....

not much going on...

So, sometimes or I should say most of the time Andrew is subjected to me and my camera. I have several weekly assignments and in most cases he is the "chosen one!" My very own, in house model... does it get any better? He's actually a pretty good model, mostly does what I tell him to do even if it is against his better judgement. Well anyway, this week one of my assignments was to shoot "skin." Yup, that's right skin. So I told him to put on his model face and take off his shirt!




I really love the first picture... just because that is SO him right now! That one probably won't make the cut for the project but the second one has potential.

Other then work and school there's not a whole lot going on. I'm getting ready for LBI this weekend with the family. I'm sooo lucky this year I get to take Kaleb to the beach with us! Can not wait, he's going to have a blast, and Gwen & Erik will get a little breather! Oh and I almost forgot... John Mayer Concert on Friday.... so cannot wait for that!