GRATITUDES + BREAKTHROUGHS // MAY 24, 2016

Gratitudes

Saturday I had an appointment in Baltimore with Allison + Bobby for their wedding at Area 405 , a trendy and unique art gallery turned venue. As most of you know – especially you DMVers – it rained all day. The wet weather, umbrellas and chill in the air didn’t dampen their spirits or their excitement! The rain forced us to get creative and use the older architecture that the city had to offer. These two met because of art and decided that getting married under one of Bobby’s painting would be the best and most natural way to celebrate their vows. Together with their tribe they literally and physically tied the knot with a cute rope ceremony. Alfie their pup made his presence known with a quick “woof” during the exchanging of the vows, I think he said he “approved!” The rest of the night was warm with friendly embraces, toasts, a one of a kind song and performance by a groomsmen, pizza and an assortment of gourmet donuts. The favorite of the night was Old Bay Caramel… I mean, when in Maryland. Their wedding was a solid reflection of each of them as individuals as well as their relationship together. I’m so grateful they chose me to shoot it and I’ll be sharing more sneak peeks today!

On Sunday, my grandparents offered to pick me up on the way to my cousins graduation party. Since moving I haven’t hosted family at my new place, so I was excited when my Grandma insisted she swing by. You’ve heard me mention her on the blog before, but she really is my homegirl. I call her almost daily to talk about work, recipes (let’s be serious to complain that I don’t know how to cook and I’m hungry), shopping and now decorating. Welcoming them and giving them the tour made me a little nervous, but I appreciated them making the trek out here to support me. I won’t always have them around and I admire their energy and spirit, especially when it comes to family.

I’m slowly falling in to a routine and it feels good. Moving and starting wedding season almost simultaneously left me feeling a little frazzled. I felt like I had so many things to move, organize, clean, decorate, shoot and edit all at once. The last seven days felt like I had the time to enjoy my cup of coffee in the morning instead of grabbing it with my eyes half closed to sit at my computer in the early morning to knock out emails, so that I would have time to swing by HomeGoods for a few new home accents. I even picked up my calligraphy pen in the afternoon and started reading again before bed.

I am so excited about this week’s color. I’ve been dying to get my hands on OPI’s Can’t Find my Czechbook, from their Euro Centrale collection. Yes, I’m aware that websites like Amazon carry it, but there is something about the thrill of the hunt that I love. I’ve seen it a few times in the last 6 months but I always passed on buying it for one reason or another. Last week, I found it and decided to treat myself. This punchy turquoise/aqua is ideal for this warmer weather we are finally having this week. I love that it’s not a bright pink but it’s still cheerful and catches the eye. There is something about a short manicured nail with a bright pop of creamy color that screams chic. Anyway, if you haven’t tried it or were thinking about getting it, absolutely do it. It’s fab.

Breakthroughs

With a lack of breakthrough last week, I do have one this week that follows a gratitude up above. Being able to feel like I have a routine makes me feel secure, like I have a sketched out plan. I always thought of myself as this type b, free spirit and the more I continue to own and run my own business I’m realizing that isn’t necessarily true anymore. I like the structure behind a good to-do list, crossing things off makes me feel accomplished and gives me a sense of the things I need to tackle for the day or even the week. Along with that I try to write down things that I would like to enjoy doing during the day like calligraphy practice, reading, yoga  or watercoloring. Those get put on the list because they are as important to me as regular business tasks. If I don’t have the time to disconnect and explore other interests I won’t be able to be a good business owner or photographer. But, there is still a big part of me that loves flexibility and being able to move tasks around or ignore them completely. So maybe I’m not totally type b anymore, maybe now I’m type a who frequently dabbles in type b. Either way, I recognize the change.

As always, thanks for reading. xoxo.