The Perfect Summer Dress {with Sammy Dress}

Hello friends! I recently received a lovely gift from a new-to-me online shop, Sammy Dress, and it's absolutely one of my favorite summer dresses. So here we are, miss Scarlet and I, in our Sunday best.

{dress - ℅ Sammy Dress, jacket - Forever 21, booties - Steve Madden} 

A Fancy Occasion {and a few laughs}

My sisters and I had a little fun over the weekend. We had a mission to find creative black tie attire and set to rummaging through our closets as well as our mom's, in the hopes of unearthing adequate prom dresses and whatever other formal/semi formal wear we could find. There just aren't many opportunities to really and truly dress up, so we have little to choose from. The event was a very fancy gala held by our kid's school, Providence Academy (well I was actually a delighted plus 1 ;). So here are our final picks. I wore one of my mom's dresses and Daena wore my little sister Cara's senior prom dress. You just never know when one of your old prom dresses will come out to play again and it sure helps that she graduated in the mid 2000's rather than the 90's! Let's just say that my prom dress was not a contender.

Daena and I wanted to take a few pictures too. You know, the real deal stuff. 

We really could have done a much more stoic job of this staircase shot but hey, we tried. :)

Little Zoey's 1 Year Portraits

Hello friends, happy Friday! I have some adorable smash cake pictures to share with you today and our star is Scarlet's little friend Zoey, who recently had her first birthday. Zoey's sister Kylie jumped in for a few pictures too and were both as sweet as can be. It's pretty awesome watching a little person have their first bite of cake smothered in icing. Take a look ...

Thanks to the Gruse family for the pleasuring of photographing their girls. Much love to you!

The Butterfly - 11 Months Portraits

She's 11 months now and you know what that means, party planning is in full swing! But really, there's a bittersweetness that comes with watching your baby grow up. Far more sweet with so many smiles but every once in a while there's a moment that catches my breath, a sad little hiccup of time when I think about how my baby is soon to be an official toddler and that, well, that my baby will be gone forever. I have loved all my babies so much …. so, so much. Gah! (note to self - get a grip!)

I tried to capture some of those delicious details that are just so perfect and so "Scarlet". Her funny expressions, her perfectly toned arms (heehee), the red-in-the-sun hair that sticks up wildly and freely at her crown, her persistently drooling mouth, the lashes, the eyes, the cheeks, the mouth. It's all soooo good.

The Stylish Artiste {for YOU mag}

Hello friends! I thought I'd share a few more photos from a fashion feature I worked on back in March for YOU magazine's Arts and Entertainment issue. You can check out the full article here. Thank you to these gorgeous ladies, Danielle, Tara, Genna and Holly, for participating in this feature and allowing me to style them in looks inspired by their arts and talents. You all are beautiful!

Meet Danielle, a painter, who also teaches kindergarten through 5th grade art.  

Meet Tara, a vocalist, who placed in the top 30 for American Country Star last year in Nashville!

Meet Genevieve, a poet and writer, who is currently working on her third novel, a young adult dystopian romance. (I had the wonderful pleasure of reading the first section of one of her novels and she's really good! Watch out Barnes and Noble ;)

Meet Holly, a graphic designer and blogger, who specializes in branding, print and art direction. 

And me! Check out the Celebration Dance tab if you want to know a little more about my greatest artistic passion. :)