I have been on the brink of utter disaster this last weekend. Not because of any wedding or any person but because of the damned Internet. We have as many of you know, been in the process of rebranding in a way that better suites our style and our company as a whole. During the process without a long explanation I basically lost the ENTIRE old blog with all of my posts AND photos. Thankfully for some reason the only thing salvaged were my written entries so I didn’t have to rewrite everything which honestly would have just been impossible, BUT I did lose all of the blog’s photos and photo-collages I painstakingly put together. Just so everyone knows-for each portrait/engagement/lifestyle session I blog it takes me at least 30 minutes to write THEN it takes probably another 1-2 (no kidding!) hrs. to make, arrange, and edit the blog photos. Weddings?! That’s another ballgame. Sometimes I’m out for a good 3-4 hrs writing, editing, posting, critiquing myself…So I’m no coding expert, but I’d like to say I that I became very familiar with Mr.HTML this week. Oh…I lost all my sweet comments too.: (

So moving on; here’s to the new and improved, the new day, the new week, the new minute as it seems.  I’m sure I will be tweaking things here and there but at least its game time again. I’ll leave you with a little branding fun and a sneak peak for whats up next.

As always, thank you for blogstalking.
-A

Ahhh…it is almost here. Why does the “New Year” start in January when it is still dismal and dark? I have just decided that my new year arrives as the SoCal weather sets in.  I always say that I just want to move to somewhere warmer.  And then I’m always hit with the same comeback appropriately from Kyle of, “Well then you just wouldn’t appreciate the weather as much when it does become nice, would you?” Well…maybe not, but at this point snow does not go with Christian Louboutin’s.  I don’t care WHAT you saw in past posts.

There is something so magical about spring and summer that cannot be duplicated in the winter or fall here in the Midwest.

I love the powerful breeze from our 12′ windows. I love gallivanting at 9:30 pm wherever and the sun juuuuust decides to set. I love dresses-especially ones with the prefix, summer. I love warm conversations and accordingly, summer love. I love the moments where my girlfriends and I lose our adult-ness in exhange for a more giggled, gleeful child-like joy and lay in the middle of a deserted street in the dead of night, just because we can.

I just stumbled upon these images today and combined with the fresh scent of spring nearing, I am ready to break out whatever it is you break out for spring. The first photo came from an engagement session I shot in Chicago near Lakeshore. We were walking along and I, being the fervent dog lover and never one to pass up a puppy opportunity, snuck this in along our stroll. If you look close enough you can see that his water bowl was perfectly turned so that “POOCH Chicago” is visible.

This photo was actually taken with a point and shoot, again while meandering about. (I end too many sentences with a preposition, I know.)

Anyway, it’s not ALL about the gear, bb. (though it doesn’t hurt!)

Deeply inhale and let the countdown begin.

As you all very well know, I AM NOT a model. I am nowhere in the realm of such words. I am vertically-challenged, I have pock-mark scars forming a triad on my forehead, my hair in unruly and unapologetic. I have inherited my grandfather’s button nose which also happens to gleefully support a hump of bone as it slopes downward. I have legs/thighs that could give any seasoned track sprinter a run for their money, which inturn = “man legs”. I am extremely clumsy and over the years have acquired countless battle wounds. But through all of this, I am a master of trickery. I have an arsenal of tricks up my proverbial sleeve.  5-inch heels, Chanel foundation, Chi-hair flatirons…I have yet to get someone to “accidentally break my nose”; I’m still working on that one. And, ah-photoshop.

None of that matters here and now.

I made a public and personal promise in December that I would work on creating a much healthier lifestyle. This is not to be confused with any New Year’s resolution making. I do not want to reach a certain weight, I only want to have more energy, eat pounds less of sugar daily, and maintain a very active lifestyle. I am a girl, and even though I do have all those said flaws, I still want to feel pretty just like any other as well.  Happily,  I have been kicking myself into gear by combining tons of cardio and weight training at least 5 days every week. December’s promise also includes one minor detail; I would post my TRUE progress on my blog before May. True meaning that I would be in a burlap sack bikini for everyone to look at all my gnarly flaws. Open for the world to judge me. If that isn’t motivation then truly nothing is for me.

My photographer self thought up ways I could make a bikini shoot somewhat interesting and not too entirely ridiculous. I didn’t want to include anything that one would associate with swim attire, so I went in the complete opposite direction. So after the 2nd huge snowfall of the winter in Indiana, we made our way west on I70 to scout out some untouched snowfall. We fell upon many broad, open, and often glacial fields. The snow was so deep that it was impossibly painful for me walk around so we came to what you will see below. I am ever so lucky that I have someone that will pull through with my outlandish ideas.

I want to note that part of my goal was that I could NOT retouch myself.  Minus some uneven skin on my face, I made true to my promise.

The first photograph is my favorite.

Kyle, thanks for taking exquisite photographs even while under my heinous scrutiny. Everyone else, thanks for blogstalking my unmodelness-A

pray with me as I hit the submit button…..

GALLERY | SUBSCRIBE

…with the lovely April Foster, of April Foster Events. Check out our interview, and see some of her tasty blog while you’re at it! Thanks for the pleasure April!