Mira and Sydney's 2nd Birthday

So the other week right after Betsy's baby shower, Shawn and I sped down to the South Bay for my 2nd celebration of the day, Mira and Sydney's 2nd Birthday Party, and I did actually remember to bring my camera to this one! (although we missed the first half of it).
They had a Taco and Dinosaur-themed Party, which I think Shawn found quite comforting, as I'm pretty sure half the reason he's excited to have this kid is because of TOYS. He loves toys, but I think is concerned that as we are having a girl, she won't like the "right" toys, so I think seeing these two little girls so into dinosaurs gives him hope.



Sydney seemed to be having some trouble getting started with her cake, but luckily mom was there to show her how it's done.

(don't hate me for sharing this pic, Candice- it's cute!!)





Cameron and Conner, who you may recognize from their recent photo shoot, are good friends of these guys'. Anyway, Conner somehow "won" the prized frosting-volcano topping as his piece of cake and could not have been more pleased! It was pretty darn cute to watch his face.






It turns out I'm a lot less stealthy with my camera than I thought I was. I really wanted a picture of Maddie with all the green frosting all over her face but she wouldn't let me take it, so finally I convinced her to let me "just take a picture of the dinosaur", to which she agreed. So I pretended like that's what I was doing, but actually took a picture of her. I thought my little plan had worked until she then said, "I want to see". Crap! Kids, and digital cameras! So then I had to pretend like it hadn't worked and take one of the dinosaur really quick.


Mira and Sydney were lucky enough to get a surprise visit from a "real" dinosaur ( . . . and spiderman- not really in keeping with the theme, but I suppose you can't really tell one kid they can wear their costume, and not the other). Anyway, the girls were a little unsure about the guest appearance, but the boys were pretty excited about it!








So anyway, the rest of the afternoon was just spent in the warm backyard, relaxing and "swimming" in the water cooler, and hanging out.

Betsy's baby shower

My good friend Betsy and I are scheduled to have babies on pretty much the same day; we're totally hoping to be hospital roomies! Last weekend was her shower and it was so cute! Liz and the girls did an adorable "wagon" theme.
I forgot to bring my camera (as I do for pretty much any personal event) but I grabbed Steve and Betsy's camera for a bit. Even though it's like an embarrassingly 1/4 of the weight of mine, I swallowed my pride, and snapped some shots :)
(When they got their new camera a while back I was apparently totally rude and held it up with like 2 fingers like a toy camera and exclaimed how light it was. Only after the look on their faces did I realize that was maybe one of my more embarrassingly snobbish moves)







This one doesn't really belong amongst the shower photos, but I couldn't resist throwing this one of Finn getting fed before the shower in here.


Papa-to-be leaving the all-girl premises.


Liz had us play this GREAT game where we took different pictures of Betsy and Steve, and cut and pasted to create an image of what their baby would look like.

Sneak Peek of Hudson {dog photography}

I know dogs chewing on Manolo Blahnik's shouldn't be cute, but somehow Hudson managed to make it so.


I just did a photo shoot with this little guy tonight and wanted to post a quick peek for his people.

sneak peek of "Meatball" on the way {maternity photography}

Just a quick little peek here from my photo shoot with Mariana and Shawn, hanging out on their Vespa, with mystery-gender baby in tow.
So many fun ones from this session- can't wait to share the rest!

Matt and his Guitar

I have this good friend from Nashville named Matt, and by 'good friend' I mean old boyfriend from about 12 years ago. We met when he was out here going to Stanford and we were both servers at Macaroni Grill. And I was completely in love with him :) Our lives went different ways but every few years or so one of us will reach out and say hi, and on one of these reaches, Matt sent me a cd he'd just recorded. I've been super happy to see that he's following his dream, so when he asked if I'd be willing to help him out with some pictures during a trip to the West Coast to record, I was more than happy to oblige!
I'm sure I'm gonna butcher the explanation of his music, but it's like world/spiritual/life-loving/happy-sounds music. (You can listen/buy here and you will soon be able to check out his website for a more accurate understanding :)) Anyway, I had no clue what I was doing with these pictures because . . . well, I have never really photographed just a person and an inanimate object- my subjects are always with other people or other living things. So I was a little out of my element, but in the end, I still think they turned out great and, it was wonderful to spend the day with him and listen to him sing.





This is my favorite one- it's exactly how I remember him in my head, with his fabulous laugh that I'm surprised doesn't give him whiplash.
















And one of the two of us on Stinson Beach.

Cameron and Connor {kids photography}

Last month I had the chance to spend the day with these guys down in the South Bay, and had such a great time hanging out with them- we read, played with bubbles, built Legos and even dyed Easter eggs (since it was Easter weekend). Seriously, it was so fun and relaxed, I kinda didn't want to leave after we were all done.
Sometimes people (understandably so) get so worried about the photo shoot and how it's gonna go and what they should be doing and if they are doing it right. . . . It can be hard to just let go, but these guys were so great at just simply hanging out, and to me, that is when we get the best shots, when it's just a little piece of everyday life, and nothing more.

Facing History Benefit dinner, last year.

Also last weekend, Facing History and Ourselves, a nonprofit organization that Shawn and I give to (an amazingly wonderful nonprofit that does fabulous work and you should definitely check out) was having their annual Benefit Dinner. We had every intention of going, but somehow kept forgetting to buy our tickets until it was too late. So anyway, while this is where we were supposed to be last Sunday night after getting back from the Farm, we were not, but I thought this was a good excuse to share something I've been avoiding sharing for the past year. . . .
At last year's dinner, I was actually asked to do "the ask". That's where, in front of 100s of people eating really nice food at The Four Seasons Hotel, and after they have all just heard some really amazing speakers with all sorts of degrees and credentials and influence and experience speak, I get up at the end and ask everyone to consider what they've heard and donate money. Slightly nerve racking . . . a lot nerve racking . . . the nerves were 100% racked.
While I practiced for weeks beforehand, it still didn't do much to make me into a public speaker, and I actually really hate watching the video. In fact, I've only watched it once, and not even all at the same time because the first time I tried to watch it I was so . . . what's the word. . . ehhhk, watching myself, that I couldn't even watch. I look like a bird or something. I have no idea why my mouth makes such funny shapes when I'm nervous.
So I clearly didn't want anyone else to see this, buuuuttttt, at the same time, in all seriousness, this was also one of the moments in my life when I have been the most proud to be involved with something. The work that this group does is truly the work that I feel will make the world a better place. Plus, it's been a year, and I'm way prettier now! And I'm sure I no longer talk like a bird.

Ok, so first, here's a pic from the event

and now, here it goes: Me speaking at the 2009 Facing History Benefit Dinner.

But also, please check out one of the other speakers from the night. Trevor Gardner is just one of Facing History's many dedicated teachers, and I know you don't know him like you know me, but his speech was much more interesting and inspiring than me asking for money, so look at that one too.