Surround yourself with things you love

A little while back, Brooke Schultz came to our home to capture our lives as they are now. I had really wanted some photos of our life as a little family in our first home. However, the excuses kept getting in the way. "Our house is never clean, there are still some projects I want to finish, I could still lose some more weight..." the list of "reasons" could go on forever if I let it. Finally, I just broke down and wrote to Brooke.

When she came into our (still not very clean) house, she instantly made us feel comfortable. I've worked with Brooke a few times, and my favorite thing about her is her genuine nature that makes your time in front of the camera feel natural instead of posed. So that's what we did. We just lived. Played toys with Greyson, rolled around on the bed, ate a snack, went for a walk. All the while, Brooke was capturing beautiful photos.

When I saw them for the first time, I couldn't keep the tears from my eyes. How beautiful our life is! I spend my time styling photo shoots and weddings, making sure every detail is lovely and "perfect," but Brooke found the perfection in our everyday imperfection. I feel so blessed to have these so I can always reflect on how amazing our simple life is now.

Check out more amazing photography by Brooke Schultz see more here.

Vote for Us!

Today, voting begins to select the winner of the Occasions Magazine holiday table styling competition. You can see the rest of the table I designed with Leslie Dawn Events and Megan Robinson Photography in my last post. We would appreciate your vote by liking this Facebook photo!

Vote here.

Featured on Occasions Magazine: Thanksgiving Table

This is a Thanksgiving table I collaborated on for Occasions Magazine. This table, created with Leslie Dawn Events and Megan Robinson Photography, has been chosen as one of the five finalists in Occasions Magazine's Holiday Styling Challenge! Next week, you can vote for your favorite table to decide the ultimate winner! Your votes would mean a lot, and don't worry, I'll remind you :)

I loved working on this table design. The rich tones, textures and soft candlelight were so warm and inviting. It was so beautiful, we sat down at the end of our shoot and enjoyed some pumpkin pie together, because it felt like a waste to take down such a beautiful setup without using it for its communal purpose.

And what you don't see, the wind was blowing so hard that day! It was crazy, every few minutes, I was running into the shot, arms outstretched, making sure centerpieces, candles and glasses would be carried away in a strong gust. We did lose some of the gold leaves on the pears at the place settings in one such gust, and had so search the yard to make sure we had enough. Oh the fun things that happen on set.

See the full feature here.