Okay, so it has been a LONG, LONG time since I’ve updated this blog.  I could feed you a ton of excuses about my life being too busy, or how I’ve been working on several projects and have only gotten 4 hours of sleep per night or less.  But really, all you need to know is that when I’m juggling a lot of balls at once, the ball that involves my family (my amazing hubby, my adorable little man Spence, my puppies, etc) comes first.  Closely following that ball is the one that involves my clients.  If I have to chose between updating my blog and finishing editing a shoot for a client, delivering a clients work early or on time comes first.  I’ll be catching up on blogging in the near future.  Remember, patience is a virtue.  I’m just helping you become more virtuous.

You’re welcome. ; )

Hugs,

Jewels

Hubs and I went up to Schenectady, NY last weekend to visit his brother, sis-in-law, and their new baby, Isla.  I am beyond thrilled to be an auntie (for the first time!) and it has taken tremendous amounts of restraint to wait an entire month since she was born to be able to see her.  We’ve had a lot going on, so we kinda waited until the 11th hour to plan our trip and after seeing the flight times and other various travel options, we decided to be adventurous and drive.  We left the Little Man with his Nana and “Bop Bop” so he wouldn’t have to endure a long car trip (he’s not a huge fan of his car seat for extended periods of time.)  We had a great 4-day-weekend with Tim, Amanda, and Baby Isla.  Hubs and his brother got to play Wii and go to the gym together <grunt, grunt> while Amanda and I talked babies and I snuggled with my precious little niece as much as I could.  It’s amazing how TINY she is right now, I seriously don’t remember Spencer ever being that small.

Here are a few shots of my lovely niece, Isla…

SERIOUSLY!

On the drive home we stopped off in Scranton, PA (being the huge ‘Office’ dorks that we are.)  We considered finding the Chili’s Restaurant that “The Dundies” took place in (if you’re not a fan of NBC’s ‘The Office,’ you’re really missing out…and I’m seriously questioning your sanity…) but thought better of it since we still had several hours of driving ahead of us.

We really are dorks.  No, but really.

Hugs,

~Jewels

This past week has been one of the ugliest our family has seen in awhile…and possibly ever.  We got home from our trip to NY just in time for me to come down with some sort of crazy nuts cold/flu hybrid that attempted to take my life.  This is wild for two reasons: 1.  I almost NEVER get sick, and 2.  The few times I do get sick, I am NOT  a wimp about it.

I only get sick about once every couple of years, and it’s usually extremely minimal.  I’m almost certain that it was all those years spent working in Dental offices, spending my days frolicking about in people’s mouths that built up my He-Man-esque immune system.  When I do get sick, I usually feel it coming on early enough, so I pop a few Echinacea pills (they are like gold, I tell you) and an Aspirin, and then within a day or two I’m usually back to my old self.  Also, I tend to be pretty stoic when it comes to illness.  I believe this is due to my deep-seated hypochondriasis–I pretty much always feel like I’m knocking on death’s door so I don’t want to look like a wimpy nut when I actually get sick.  I know it sounds strange, but I feel that it’s better to offset the crazy a bit.  <don’t judge.>

So this week I got sick.  REALLY sick.  First it was the crazy cold/flu/bubonic plague (whatever you wish to call it), that left me in a Nyquil-induced haze for a few days.  Then on Wednesday night, Spencer hosted Vomit-Fest 2010 in his crib (I blogged about it here.)  Hubs spent the next couple of days working from home, so he could provide relief to a sick mommy who was trying to keep her sick baby hydrated and feeling okay.  Then, on Friday, the inevitable happened…Hubs and I caught Spencer’s terrible Gastroenteritis from him and spent the better part of the next three days committing various terrible acts in the restroom.  TMI?  Sorry, but it was too ugly a day to go unmentioned.  You know, I’ve always wondered why people feel the need to share their vomit stories (and tales of other bodily incidents) with random strangers, coworkers, etc.  I’ve always been quite offended when people have felt the need to share these tales with me.  Now I get it.  It’s about as close as many of us will ever come to a “near death experience” in our youth, and our need for pity somehow overrides our need for privacy.  Anyhow, it was a dark, dark day in the Massie Household.  Thank God our friend Angela is still staying at our house while her apartment is being renovated (come to think of it, she’s the one who brought this atrocious Plague upon our family…remind me to give her a good kick later…)  Angela was a lifesaver, taking care of Spence while we lay around the house reenacting scenes from Saving Private Ryan.  She even took him to the store and got us Gatorade, Smart Water, and Ginger Ale.  Truly a good friend.

I’m pleased to report that the “stomach bug” is behind us, and the tiny remains of my cold are on the way out.  Hubs and the Little Man are back to 100%, and we are actively getting ready for our trip to Vegas this weekend.  Vegas, you say?  Yes sirree, I’m headed to the big WPPI Photography Convention and Hubs is coming to join me for a little sightseeing.  Neither of us have ever done the Vegas thing, so we’re looking forward to it.  Just say a prayer for me that I don’t discover my “calling” as a full-time Nickel Slots Mama, or end up waking up in a bathroom with Mike Tyson’s tiger (a la ‘The Hangover.’)  I somehow doubt it, but you never know…

Hugs,

~Jewels

Not one spill.  Not two.  Three spills.  And it left me curled up in the fetal position on the kitchen floor asking myself why this atrocity had happened to me.  Let me explain…

My name is Julie, and I am a clean freak.

Notice I didn’t say “neat freak,” because they are quite different.  I can handle the occasional small amounts of clutter…the pile of randomness on my desk, the three baskets of clean laundry that sit at the foot of my bed (I’m not gonna say whose job it is to put it away, but it rhymes with “schmusband,” and it’s not me or the baby…just sayin…), and even the seemingly endless pile of magazines that accrues on the ottoman faster than we have time to read it.  Yes, the clutter makes me a little nuts…I occasionally develop a slight tick when it grows to a certain point…but I can live with it knowing that in a house with a one year old, two dogs, and two working parents (one of which runs her own business within said household), we may not be perfectly organized in every aspect at all times.  I can live with a little clutter, but cleanliness is a different story.

Perhaps it’s my perfectionism, or my very slight case of OCD that I refuse to admit that I actually have, or possibly even my control-freak tendencies (which are just so stinkin’ adorable)…but I can NOT live with a kitchen that isn’t spic-n-span clean.  I’m one of those annoying people who threatens divorce every time Hubs leaves a tiny spec of tomato sauce in the microwave (trust me, he LOVES this about me, trust me!)  I wipe down my countertops at least 5-6 times daily (I’m pretty certain that I’m keeping the Lysol Wipes people in business), and there is a very small water-mark looking thing in between the two panes of glass on my oven that has been driving me NUTS for about 6 months.  There is no way to get in between there, and it makes me tick a little.

So now that you know all my dirty little secrets, you should know that last night was a BAD night.

SPILL #1: Hubs was heating up some of his famous Butternut Squash Soup for the Little Man for dinner, and accidentally heated it too long.  When he was pulling it out the microwave, it burned his hands.  He yelped and dropped it on the counter fast as steaming hot soup splattered the counter and him.  We managed to clean it up relatively fast, and everyone was fine.

SPILL #2: I was re-heating some leftover Lasagna Bolognese for myself (it was a “leftovers night” in attempts to clean out our fridge) and on my way across the kitchen one side of it slipped out of my fingers.  The whole dish went SPLAT on the floor and scalding hot driplets of cheese and bolognese sauce splattered from the floor up to my face, hair, kitchen cabinets, walls, countertops, etc.  It was a MESS.  I even discovered a few spots on a chair in my living room, which is around a corner from where the spill happened!  It took me about 15 minutes of crawling along the floor and wiping down every cabinet, wall, door, the dishwasher, etc, that it had hit.  Terrible.

SPILL #3: After cleaning up my Lasagna mess, I decided to heat up a little Butternut Squash Soup for Hubs, since he was kindly feeding the Little Man.  I pulled it out of the microwave and set it on the counter nicely and made some smug joke about how it may need a few more seconds but I didn’t want it to be too hot and risk another burn.  Just then, I turned to walk away and my arm hit the rim of the bowl.  Hard.  The bowl went spinning into the air, spewing hot soup on every square inch of my kitchen as it flipped through the air.  Hubs was standing at the sink, and the piping hot soup splattered his entire back and side of his neck.  When the bowl landed (mercifully without breaking!), I was in shock.  I looked around my kitchen in horror to see soup dripping from every cabinet (EVERY cabinet,) every appliance…it was even splattered on the ceiling, people!!   It was all over the backsplash and in the crevaces of my sink faucet.  Worst of all, it had somehow made it’s way down in between the two panes of glass on the front of the oven!  Remember that little water spot I mentioned?   Well now it’s been joined by two huge lines of dripping squash soup!  A thought crossed my mind, if only for a minute, that we could just set fire to the house and leave.  It would probably be easier than having to clean up that whole mess.  Spill #3 left us devastated.  Spill #3 left us broken.  Spill #3 left me laying on the floor of the kitchen asking God “why?”  It took the better part of an hour to clean up spill #3.  If the Olympics gave out medals for “Losers Who Make Ginormous Messes,” I would take home the gold.  Hubs won his own medal, when, without me even asking, located a proper screw driver to take apart the oven so that I could get the soup (and water spot–YAY!–silver lining, folks) out from inside the oven door.  He knows me so well, and I LOVE him for it.

Gah!  <shakes fist>  Seriously people, if my gorgeous hubby hadn’t cracked that bad boy open for me to clean it, I may have had to move.  Okay, or maybe just buy a new oven.

Yep, it was a dark night in the Massie household.  I’m not going to grace you with the details, but when we put Spencer to bed (he was totally healthy and fine) we heard some funny noises on the baby monitor.  We ignored it the first time…it just sounded like he was coughing a little.  The next time, around 2:45am, his breathing sounded a little funny so Hubs went to check on him.  I heard his voice over the monitor (trying to sound calm, but it was his nervous voice), saying “Julie, get in here.”  I walked in to find what looked to be a crime scene.  His crib, the walls, the white carpet, the curtains, my poor trembling child, COVERED in purple.  My first thought was blood and I went into a cold panic, I then remembered that he had eaten a metric ton of fresh blueberries for dessert.  Spencer has never thrown up before, so this was new to us.  I’m not going to go into details about that mess (I’m still in shock, and my poor kid has a stomach bug so I don’t have too much time to worry about my poor, purple carpet.)  Just know that it was a night of three spills.  Well, three spills and a LOT of vomit.  I need a vacation…

Hugs,

~Jewels

I love colors.

Big, bright, bold, sassy hues of vibrant gorgeousness.  Color is beauty.  Color is life.  I really love colors.  I tend to think of myself as a photographer that likes to showcase the full spectrum of lovely colors this world has to offer.  There is nothing more exciting to me than going through a batch of newly “developed” photos, and coming across a truly spectacular image absolutely saturated with delicious color.  One where the composition is flawless, my subject’s eyes are tack-sharp…emotion seeping out of every pixel, and big, gorgemous light is warmly illuminating the creamy toned faces of my subjects, and the grass is so green you can actually smell it.  I have been known to stare at an image such as the one I’m describing for 20-30 minutes.  It’s near perfection.  It evokes a certain peace within me.  I am in love.

But…

Every once in awhile my curiosity gets the best of me.  I wonder what that image would look like in Black and White.  When I take a photo, I almost always know at the moment I depress the button whether I intend for that image to be processed as B&W or Color.  It’s all very intentional.  So when I am staring at a near-perfection image, and in the middle of my back pats and fist pumps find myself wondering what it would look like altered, I seriously question my sanity.  After a few minutes of some pretty intense back-and-forth negotiations (all in my head, of course…I should be studied…), I give in to the temptation and slowly decrease the saturation of the image.  100% turns to 80%, which then makes it’s way down to 50%, which eventually finds itself a mere 9%, and within a fraction of a second, all of my yummy, gorgeous color is gone.  I start asking myself “what have I done?” and immediately go to change it back when…wait…hang on a sec…that doesn’t look so bad…  I then boost the contrast a bit and bump up the clarity a hair and my eyes widen.  I burn the edges to draw even more attention to the subjects face and eyes.  A few more slight changes or photoshop actions later, I step back and stare at my work…

O.  M.  G.  I.  Am.  Michelangelo.

As much as I love color, I am often caught off-guard by my passion towards B&W photographs.  There is something so intense about them.  Would I be overstepping the bounds of my allowable melodrama for the day if I say that “it speaks to my soul?”  (don’t hate…)

So, during a recent trip down south to visit family, I took the lovely Kristen out to shoot a few senior portraits.  Kristen is a really fun senior.  She’s a swimmer, a pageant  participant, an avid texter, a general smartypants, and madly in love with her new car.  We had a great time and while I was truly digging the ample color palette provided by the State Park in which we were shooting, during editing I got the itch.  You know the one…the B&W itch and it was begging to be scratched.  I kept most of her images fully saturated with creamy-dreamy color but I decided that for todays post, I want to try something different and do a TOTALLY BLACK-AND-WHITE POST.  This has never before been attempted in the history of this blog so hold on to your laptops, ladies and gentlemen.

She has a VERY.  COOL  CAR.

Seniors 2010, baby!

Her sister, the adorable Caitlyn, on the attack.

I told them that they would be best friends when they are my age.  They laughed at me.  Hard.  A lot.

I told her to give me her best “teenager attitude.”  She delivered.

Kristen, thank you for being such a gorgeous girl that you make my photos look great with or without color.  Thanks also for spending a couple of hours with me and putting up with my lame-o jokes and attempts to make you laugh.  You’re aces, girl.

Hugs,

~Jewels

I’m baaaaaccckkk!

After taking a not-so-breif hiatus from my blogging (due to an incident involving a toddler, a sippy cup, and a death-blow to my Macbook), I am back.  I had a great Christmas vacation with my family, and a couple of very nice, relaxing weeks with my boys.  I’ve been thinking a lot about New Years Resolutions, and how my feelings on them are so utterly bipolar.  On one hand, I find them loathsome and laughable.  I’ve never known someone to keep a single one beyond May, and with my perfectionistic tendencies, they seem to do nothing but disappoint me and make me feel like a complete failure when the inevitable happens and I don’t (for example) stop eating chocolate for the rest of my life.  However, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that there is this funny little hopelessly optimistic side of me that considers them sweet, encouraging, even romantic.  After all, we are imperfect beings and if we can’t have enough self-control to change even just one small thing about ourselves per year, then we are in bigger trouble than we think.  Right?  Maybe?

So, while the pragmatic, pessimistic realist that lives inside my brain dominates the majority of my life, I have decided to lock her in a closet for a day.  I have decided to make a few changes and 2010 is a better time to make them than 2011.  I have no intention of  winning an Grammy for my shower-singing performances (although it could happen,) adopting an entire Haitian orphanage (if I could afford it, I would in a heartbeat,) or solving that whole Ozone problem we’ve got goin’ on.  I will, however, work toward making the Julie Renee of 2011 just a little bit kinder, smarter, and more relaxed than the one who sits typing to you this evening.  So here it is.  My list of changes (dare I call them “resolutions?”) to make in 2010.  <I’d really like a drumroll, please…>

1.  I will use “the good china.”  I recently invited a couple of friends over for dinner.   They are both the kinds of friends who regularly see me with unwashed hair and sans makeup (I’m a mommy now, don’t judge.), and I don’t even think twice about the dog hair on the floor when either of them come to my home.  They are just those kinds of friends.  Effortless friends.  When I woke up on the morning of the dinner and my china credenza just looked so sad.  So unloved.  I’ve had my wedding China for nearly 8 years now and only used it a handful of times.   I always promised myself that I’d never be the type of person who has couches that aren’t allowed to be sat on (and eat on), or have rooms that kids and dogs aren’t allowed into.  It’s ridiculous to have such lovely things but never get to use them, live in them, love on them.  That night, I set a beautiful table of beautiful linens, warm candles, my grandmother’s crystal, decorative accents, and yes, you guessed it, the GOOD china.  I put my hair up, wore some fabulous pumps, and even got to show off my fabulous new Anthropology a la Donna Reed apron that I got for Christmas.  The lovely evening made my friends feel special and loved, and while the dishes may have taken a few extra minutes to wash and put away, it was SO worth it.   In 2010 I will actually USE my good china, rather than admire it from a distance.  Life is short.

2.  I will learn to appreciate my husband more.  Don’t misunderstand me, I ADORE my Hubs and thank God every day for blessing me with a man like Chris.  But do I fully appreciate what an amazing man I ended up with?  Probably not.  I have been known to (very rarely, of course) pass on my perfectionistic tendencies on him and expect him to be perfect.  For example, when we are flossing our teeth at night, and he is finished flossing and ready to start brushing, he usually will get my toothbrush for me also.  Now this is where most lovingly devoted wives would say “Aww, thanks sweetie!  You’re the bestest!”  I, on the other hand, have been known to (VERY rarely) say something more akin to “What do you want me to do with this?  I’m not finished flossing yet.”  What kind of jerk says that?!?!  Apparently I expect him to get his own toothbrush, watch me with bated breath until 20 seconds later when I finish flossing, and then get back up and go get my toothbrush for me.  Naturally.  <shakes head in disbelieve of her own selfishness>  In 2010 I will focus on the 99.89% of my husband that is absolutely perfect, and know that that last 0.11% of him that is imperfect, is only there because God knows that if he was truly 100% perfect, he would have absolutely no reason to stick with an imperfect schlep like me.

3.  I will blog more.  When I initially became interested in professional photography, I immediately found 5-10 amazing photographers that I admired and sought to learn from.  They are all truly gifted photographers, and their work is brilliant and inspiring, but it was their personalities that I fell in love with.  I was a fan of Jasmine Star before I ever once visited her portfolio website because I fell in love with her heart on her blog.  My goal through this blog is not only to keep my clients, family, and friends updated on my recent projects, but to share my heart with you.  I have a deep desire for my clients to know me, I mean really KNOW ME, before they ever sign the contract to hire me.  I don’t want to be chosen to shoot someone’s wedding because I had the best package prices, happened to be available that day, or even necessarily because of the quality of my photos.  I want a couple to read my blog and think “Man, that girl’s a little cooky and I think she would help make our wedding day just a little more relaxing, more fun, and I think she would get my sense of humor.”  I CRAVE that.  In 2010, I will create a stronger online presence for my business and will strive to get to know my client’s, not only for their photographic desires/needs, but their real hearts and souls and silliness and fun personalities.  In exchange, I will show them more of me.  My heart.  My soul.  My silliness (oh my, this could get ugly…)

4.  I will take better care of myself.  This is not a vow to work out 5 times per week, to only eat 1,000 calories per day, or to run that marathon I’ve been talking about for 5 years.  This is simply a declaration that for the past year+ of my life (basically since I had Spencer), I haven’t really taken care of myself as I should.  I make sure he eats nothing but whole, nutritious, mostly-organic meals and then turn around and buy ice cream for Chris and I.  I insist that he gets a solid 12 hours of sleep per night, as well as a consistent nap every day.  And yet, I’m frequently up “working” until 2 or 3am, only to wake up at 7:30 and spend the day that should be spent energetically chasing around my adorable little boy, standing with a cup of coffee in my hands while he runs circles around me, wishing I were smart enough to nap when he does.  In 2010 I will focus on sleeping more, eating better, relaxing more, laughing greater, and loving deeper.

That’s it.  It’s a small list and a simple one.  It’s highly achievable and even that nasty pessimist in me is excitedly optimistic about the Julie v2.0 that this could bring about.  Now, it’s time for me to implement #4 and go to bed before 1am.  Right after I go rinse out my ice-cream bowl.  Hmmmmm…What can I say…I’m a work-in-progress.

Hugs,

~Jewels

Dearest Santa,

I’ve been a very good girl this year.  In light of this, I would like to present to you my list of demands…errr…requests.

Here is Julie’s Top 10 Wish List for 2009…

1.  The new Nikon D3s.  It is soooooo buttery smooth and FAST!  Everything about this camera is amazingness.

2.  The Clothbound Penguin Classics series designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith.  I first heard of them on Design Sponge last year, but at that time they were only being sold in the U.K.  I was beyond thrilled when I found out this year that not only are they now available on our side of the pond, but they are being sold at my fave store, Anthropologie!  High five!  Seriously, how pretty are these?!?!

3.  A sizable donation made to International Justice Mission.  They are an incredibly worthy organization and quite near to my heart this year, especially after the incident involving little Shaniya Davis last month.

4.  A new Macbook (since my Macbook has been “compromised” by a certain baby who shall remain nameless.  You would probably know him as “Spencer- the one on the Naughty List.”)

5.  A seat in Chenin Boutwell’s ‘Style Lab’ Workshop.  I so want to meet her and The Wedding Chicks.  Please make that happen.

6.  A couple of goats donated to World Vision for a family in need.  Goats nourish hungry children and families with healthy milk, cheese, and yogurt (and it’s more digestible than Cow’s milk.)  Goats also give a much-needed income boost by providing offspring and extra dairy products for sale at the market.  World Vision is another organization that I am a huge fan of.  They also happen to be one of the charities that Julie Renee Photography donates a portion of proceeds to.  Love the work they do.

7.  While you’re at it Santa, why don’t you go ahead and cure all world hunger…that’d be great…

8.  These Christian Loutoutin OTK platform boots.  Which, while gorgeous, I’m feeling a little guilty asking for in light of items #6 and #7.  The money spent on these boots could probably feed an entire village for a month.  At least they are pretty to look at, right?

9.  More time with my loved ones.  More laughs with my hubby.  More kisses from my sweet baby.  More walks with the puppies.  More long chats with my mom.  More giggly lunches with my best girls.  Yep, more time with my loved ones would be quite welcome.

10.  Every single item that Anthropologie sells.

So there you have it, Santa.  My wish list for this year.  I promise to make you some very yummy-tastic cookies and we’ll leave out the good organic milk for you, since I know you’re trying to cut back on your BGH’s this year.  Thanks Santa, you’re a gem.

Hugs,

~Jewels

It was a short battle, but both parties put up a decent fight.  There were a few low blows, a sucker-punch here and there, but the fatal blow was delivered via sippy cup by Spencer to my poor defenseless Macbook.  The old girl put up a good fight, but in the end the record stated:

Spencer: 1, Macbook: 0

I took my poor, crippled, less-than-2-year-young Macbook to the Apple Store’s Genius Bar to see if there was anything they could do.  After all, they have always helped me before.  When she fell out of my car last year they patched her up quite nicely.  So nicely, in fact, you could barely see the scars.  Then, during the great dropping-on-the-hardwood-floors incident of this summer (this time the offender was Spencer’s “Bop Bop”), and my boy at the Genius bar warned me that THIS time there was no way they could repair it under warranty because it was clearly my fault; they STILL found a loophole and mended her back to good health…FOR FREE!  God bless those Genius’.    So after multiple “indiscretions” in the past that they gladly fixed for me, I (naturally) assumed they would give me the “hook up” this time.  I waltzed up to the friendly looking Apple Genius’ and informed him of the situation.  He sized up my machine.  He pulled a face.  And then after a few minutes of furrowed eyebrows and slightly dramatic sighing, he delivered a painful blow to my midsection…”Your logic board needs to be replaced, and it will cost you around $700.”  I blinked repeatedly hoping to wake up from a very bad dream.  One in which a 30-something so-called-genius with dark-rimmed glasses was informing me that my laptop, my bff, has just died.  The blinking didn’t work, and I asked him to give me a moment while I bent over and put my head between my knees in order to make the nausea leave.

At that moment, Hubs swooped in like some sort of superhero and informed me that he had actually planned to surprise me with a new computer for my birthday (which was yesterday) anyway.  A 27″ iMac Quad Core!  Score!

So while this still doesn’t completely solve the issue of me not having a laptop, it at least softens the blow in that as of next week (or whenever it is delivered), I will have SOMETHING to do my editing/emailing/blogging/etc. on.  <Deep sigh>  I have one last person I want to talk to about fixing my poor baby before throwing in the towel and just buying a new one.  This has been a VERY expensive birthday!

So in closing, I’m sorry that this poor little blog has been so very neglected for the past couple of weeks.  We are working on transferring all of my most recent projects off of my old hard drive (without the computer catching fire, that is), and then I will be able to post a bit more.  For now, I have no photos to offer, but only my sincere and heartfelt “Merry Christmas” to you and your loved ones.

Hugs,

~Jewels

So I’ve been looking for a dress for my husband’s company Christmas party.   It has proved to be a daunting task.  I have a certain methodology in finding outfits for special occasions.  Here’s how it goes:

STEP 1: Flip through about 3 fashion magazines cover-to-cover

STEP 2: Wait for about a day and a half for my “vision” to take form

STEP 3: Once my “vision” is completed in my mind, perfect it with accessories, shoes, bag, hairstyle, etc

STEP 4: Go shopping

STEP 5: After shopping for around 7 hours and not finding ANYTHING that even remotely resembles the dress in my mind, get discouraged

STEP 6: Consider designing and making dress myself, despite the fact that my sewing machine hasn’t seen the light of day since I made those curtains 7 years ago.

STEP 7: Go home and hop online.  Search every major department store, boutique, and specialty store, and then after that doesn’t work, commence the Google Searches “Blue Satin Sheath Dress”, “Grey and Aubergine lace overlay,” “Black cocktail dress with square neck and feather detailing,” etc.  To no avail, of course.

STEP 8: Revisit the DIY angle for another 3 minutes before remembering that the aforementioned curtains were crooked, misshaped, and looked generally horrendous…and those were considered an “easy” project.

STEP 9: Go back out to the stores, this time abandoning the idea of finding anything remotely close to my “vision” and just looking for anything stylish, that fits, and doesn’t involve the selling of vital organs on the black market in order to afford it.

STEP 10: Eventually settle on something  ”meh,” and hope to find cute enough shoes and accessories to pull the outfit together.

So this time was nothing different.  I went through steps 1-9 as per usual.  I even hit step 10 and purchased a “meh” blue dress from Macy’s that didn’t make me look or feel fabulous, but the fit was okay and the price was good.  If all else fails, I at least have this dress to fall back on.  I had almost given up hope when I found this cutie little number at Nordstrom…

(The photo is small because that is the only one I could grab with a right-click)

The designer is Donna Morgan, and I just knew I would love the dress the minute I found it.  The problem?  The only size they had in stock was too small.  I still managed to zip it up (after all, who needs breathing, right?), but there is no way I can comfortably spend an evening sitting in that bad boy.  The sales associate/personal shopper tried to locate another one for me, but there was an error in their system and apparently although it was listed online as me being able to order it, they didn’t actually have any more in my size.  In the world!  I was heartbroken but because I’m an optimist, I bought the too-small one with hopes of upping my water intake and maybe losing 15 pounds of water retention this week (a girl can dream, right?)  When I got home I figured it was a long shot, but emailed Donna Morgan and explained my tale of woe and asked if they had any suggestions on where I could find it by Friday.  Fully expecting to receive an impersonal email two weeks from now from some intern saying “Sorry, try online.”  I forgot about it and conceded to the blue “meh” dress.

Well, within hours of hitting “send,” I got a reply.  From the CEO herself, Kathleen McFeeters!  She told me to try Lord and Taylor and that when they got into the office on Monday they would search their specialty stores and see if they could find one for me that could be delivered in time.  I was amazed!!  I don’t care how small their company may be, a personal email from the CEO of the company within a few hours of me sending the email is *excellent* customer service!  True to her word, this morning I received an email from Christina Kolb, a Sales Assistant with Donna Morgan.  Telling me that she had located it for me in a few different places and provided a link to where I could get it.  FLOORED!  I have always been a snob about customer service, but this surprised even me.  I was able to order the dress (now we just have to pray that it gets here on time and that I was correct in my assessment of what size I need.)

It’s instances like this that reinforce my desire to run my business in a certain way.  I don’t only want to take good photographs for my clients-they can get pretty photos from any one of the many, many other photographers in this area-but I want to do it in a classy manner.  I want…nay, REQUIRE that my clients both like (love is preferred) and feel comfortable with me.  I want to take gorgeous photos.  I want to deliver those completed projects in a timely manner.  I want to exceed their expectations.  I want to leave them looking forward to the next occasion they have to need photos taken.  I want them to have a smile on their faces every time they look at that photo on the mantle.  That’s it.  Plain and simple.  Thank you, Donna Morgan, for causing me to strive for greater customer service in every aspect of my business.

Hugs,

~Jewels

A classic case of “Boy Meets Girl.” Well, sort of…

Boy meets girl in college while working at local movie theater.  Boy and girl spend a few months flirting with one another.  Boy and girl start dating.  Boy and girl fall in love.  Boy and girl realize a couple of years into their relationship that they are too young to handle a committed relationship.  Boy and girl move on…sort of.  Boy and girl lose touch.  Boy and girl grow and mature for years in completely separate environments, and thrive, but find themselves occasionally looking back at “what could have been.”  One day, boy comes across girl’s myspace page.  Boy stalks girl on myspace.  Girl is secretly doing the same thing.  Girl eventually reaches out to boy via a “friend request.”  Boy and girl become friends again, and over time decide that they are willing to give it another go, but they want to “take it slow.”  About 5 minutes into the “taking it slow” process, boy and girl fall helplessly in love with one another all over again.  Two years into their “Relationship-Take 2,” boy proposes and girl gives an emphatic “YES!”

Shannon and Ryan are so happily in love with one another, and it was such a pleasure to spend an afternoon and experience their joy with them.  We started out our shoot at the movie theater where they met and fell in love.  I managed to smooth-talk a manager into letting us re-create a few scenes from their earlier years together.  We then headed downtown and had a lovely time, ducking into back-alleys for a few lip-locks (well okay, they basically did most of the lip-locking…I pretty much kept my lips to myself.) I’ll only post a few of the photos from their session because I just bought the software to make these great slideshows and I encourage you to watch their slideshow.

A family divided.  We had a little fun playing “Cowboys and Indians” with the pigskin.

Shannon, you are gorgeous.  SERIOUSLY.  (Ryan, you’re not too shabby yourself)

HAWT.

To see more of their engagement photos, click HERE for a slideshow.

Shans and Ryan, I am SO over-the-top excited for you two.  You guys are both such beautiful people, and it’s blindingly obvious how happy you make each other.  Thanks again for letting me be a part of all that lovin’ for a few hours.  You’re aces.

Hugs,

~Jewels