I had a shoot last night that was the swampiest, muggiest shoot of the year, and as much as I’m not ready to say goodbye to summer and pool days quite yet, seeing the mums start to line the walkway at the grocery store and thinking about cooler temps and getting to see all of my beautiful families for sessions this fall has got me inching towards that autumn season giddiness.
One of the most GORGEOUS, kind, endearing families from last fall, below.
My kids start talking about what they want to do for their birthday the day after their most recent birthday. The ideas change for the next 364 days, and so I just let them party plan to their heart’s content! It is easy to say, “oh, okay, yes you can have a piñata, and a jumpy jumpy house, and a strawberry cake, and fifteen other things,” when they forget almost all of it. Clearly I’m going to need to change my parenting strategy once they’re a bit older because I have a feeling they’ll actually hold me to all of these super special birthday wishes. But for now, when I have so much I have to say no to during our regular day-to-day, saying yes to these daydreams is my go to.
So, when we started asking Henry what he wanted to do this year when he turned the big seven (HOWWWWW?!), he once again had one million ideas, and then had bit of a challenge pulling the trigger on his party theme and venue.
I think I designed four different invitations on Basic Invite for him! The hands down best part of shopping for invitations on their site was the option to change colors with nearly unlimited color options on the designs. This made my designer heart so happy. It gave me the creative freedom to really customize his potential invitations with just the right colors. They had darling designs for seriously so many different events – wedding invites, baby announcements, shower invitations, birthday party invites, invitations with foil options, and seriously so many awesome unique graduation invitations – high school graduation picture invitations, trifold graduation invitations, unique graduation invitations, you get it! Way better than the basic, very lame graduation announcements I had when I graduated high school many moons ago.
Henry changed his mind at the last minute on the final details of his birthday, so I didn’t get to send out his paper invites. But you know what will be hitting mailboxes? Thank you notes on his personalized stationary! (This design with customized color.)
Get 15% off now with code 15FF51! And let me know if you want Henry to send you some snail mail. He’s very into writing real mail and using all of my stamps.
I’m booking up my summer, and so ready for hot summer evening shoots. Summer has always been my favorite season. The carefree, relaxed, barefoot vibe is very much my jam, and so are the overgrown fields with wildflowers galore that I tend to gravitate towards for my sessions. Let your hair down, let the kids run wild, connect, explore, and I’m there to capture it. Plus ice cream after! Always.
On the first day of rain, I soak it up. (Very clever pun, yes?) I’m all, “Ooooh I should make soup or cookies!” and look out the window to see drops starting to splatter the glass and think it’s so beautiful.
On the 2,734 day of rain (which is the day we’re on now), I send the kids outside with umbrellas, and roll my eyes at the drops on my windows thinking I’ll just have to clean them againnnnn and go looking for sunshine somewhere else.
So that’s what I’m doing! Finding the sun from this gorgeous session last fall and basking in it.
Oh how I remember the day of this shoot so well. Faye was only about a month old, and I timed feeding her right before I left so I could make it through the Darr newborn shoot without missing a feeding with her before I got back.
These two sweet babies are just precious, and I was blown away by how tiny baby Henry was compared to my month old at home. It just goes. so. fast.
And it will for Jordan and Scott as well because they’re in a thick season of parenthood with two littles so close together in age. Their days are full, but in the best, best way.
One of the best ways I've heard my work described.
It's like a dream you can't quite get back to, but you know was so so good because when you woke up you had a smile on your face, and you keep trying desparately to remember all of the vivid details you can be present in that in-between state for just a little more - the warmth of being together, the sounds, the laughter...the feelings.