Monthly Archives: April 2009

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{the world around me}

Ahhh….finally getting time to make a post.  We’re are still getting settled here in Arizona in our temporary house until our new house is built (hopefully October/November – just before the holidays!).  Boxes surround me still since I’m hesitant to open too much knowing that we’ll just have to pack everything back up and move again.   I think I’ll be wondering where things are for months to come – lol.   This area is beautiful!  So much nature!  Each morning I wake up before the sun comes up and head out on my run/walk (it’s a bit of both since I’m not much of a true runner) and discover new things.  Honestly I never knew the desert had so much wildlife…so far I’ve seen – bunnies, carpenter bees, bumble bees, quail, dove, lizards, coyotes, bobcats, a snake (yes, a snake!), bunnies, woodpeckers, bunnies, grasshoppers (Briella has caught dozens already), and did I mention bunnies?  It’s incredible how much I see each morning.

And since I’ve received many e-mails asking to post images of the desert and the surroundings here – I decided one morning to grab my camera after my run and capture what I see each day.

Also, the Botanical Garden is featuring an amazing display of Chihuly glass.  I had to make that one of the first things on my list to see – I studied Chihuly in college and I’m a big fan of his work.  So below you’ll see some images of his work in the desert.

More to come!  Thanks :)

Near our house is this post…hmmm… ‘decisions’

Close-up of a Prickly Pear Cactus. 

Surroundings next to our house at sunrise.

Chihuly beauty!

{Designer Spotlight: Kait Emerson & Nuximade}

Oh…my… what a crazy month this has been.  I’ve been loving photographing Spring lines for so many designers.  Briella even asks me to photograph her – whaaa?  Yes, shocking me how much she enjoys these sessions.  Anyway, below is a taste of Kait Emerson’s new spring line. And the coordinating hats are from the talented Nuximade.  You’ve seen both of them featured many times on my blog and I’m digging their latest designs and colors.  Love them!!   Brielle wore the green and yellow ensemble on her last day at school before we moved.  Yes, we moved yesterday!  So her last day at Byrnes was on Wednesday which happened to be ‘Spring Pictures’ at school.  She loves accessories so the hat and the bows on the shoulders of the dress drew her in and she instantly fell in love ;-)   Check out more of their fun styles by clicking on their names above!

To update you all… we flew out to Phoenix yesterday from Charlotte, NC.  The night before we cleaned out our old house and then made the 2 hr drive to Charlotte (getting in at just past midnight).  Our flight was at 6 am the next morning so the kids flew on 4 hrs of sleep – oh my!  They did amazing (to my surprise) and we arrived mid-day to AZ.   I’m without my main computer (it’s on the moving truck which should arrive early next week) but I made sure to upload the images below to my laptop since I knew I couldn’t wait for the truck to arrive to make a blog post ;-)  

I’ll be blogging more about our final days in SC and some session sneak peeks.  Saying good-bye is so painful but I’m incredibly thankful for the experiences we had in SC and I’m excited for the adventures and opportunities that await us here in Arizona!  Now I need to get to bed…my body is paying me back by giving me an atrocious cold – uggg… ;-)

{Designer Spotlight: Eliza Kate Designs}

A couple of months ago Krystin, from Eliza Kate Designs, contacted me to photograph some of her fresh, fun, new Spring line.   Even though my life is crazy right now I couldn’t resist.  There are 5 pieces to this collection – ruffly capris, halter top, an apron skirt, an apron dress and a sun dress.  I love them all!  I really couldn’t pick a favorite.  Anyway, here’s a sample of her Spring collection.  She’s still working on her website but you can also visit her blog.   Oh and this adorable hat is one of Nuximade’s recent designs.  I love it!  

On a side note:  Briella has really enjoyed our ‘photo sessions’ and asks to do them almost daily now.  Although, it’s ironic that she doesn’t want to listen to me at all during our sessions.  It’s almost comical how much she ignores me and my requests.  I’ll delve more into that in my next post otherwise this could be long and I have a lot of packing to do.  But thankfully, somehow we make these sessions work and have been able to get through one like this in 30 minutes.  Yah!!  :)  

”NAPCP