March 21, 2023

Pittsburgh Family Photos

Ohhh, friends of the blog will remember Jessie and Dan’s wedding at the Pittsburgh Aviary in 2018 where I met a really lovely little penguin named Disco who pooped on my shoe and it was the best cocktail hour ever. I also met a very small adorable owl. It was the best. Anyway, it was also the best because Jessie and Dan were there and they are absolutely two of the kindest, sweetest people in the universe. I like them a lot. I’m sad that we’re far away from each other, especially since I developed a strong, undeliable, and presumably lifelong bond with their cat Lola in the 1.5 hours I was at their house. Lola is an *extremely friendly!* cat. I’d like to assume that she only loves me, but I don’t think this is the case since she seems to also really love Jessie, Dan, their dog Charlie (also very sweet!) and their lovely little toddler Lilli (also VERY sweet!). Lilli is extremely close with Lola and Charlie. She hugs Lola a lot, and Lola is totally cool with it. Charlie also accidentally hits Lola in the face with his wagging tail a lot, and Lola is totally cool with it. Lola recently went to the groomer and came away looking like a small little tortie lion, and she is totally cool with it. Lola is cool with a lot of things and I am totally cool with Lola.

I love toddlers who love animals and treat them gently and lovingly and I know that Lilli will grow up to be a sweet and kind person like her parents. She offered both of her parents her crackers. She offered both of her parents her ice cream (!!). She even offered Charlie and Lola her ice cream (we intervened). I can’t say that I’ve voluntarily offered anyone my ice cream ever, and maybe I think I should take some notes on sharing from Lilli. It was so much fun to see this family all together – cats and dogs getting along together, toddlers and cats getting along together, world peace and harmony. I’m so happy to have gotten to work with Jessie and Dan again and to meet their amazing little crew!

parents sitting next to toddler on couch reading a book

parents reading a book to a toddler in front of fireplace

parents holding toddler in living room with black dog

toddler standing in a hardwood floor and smiling

mom holding laughing toddler upside down

toddler feeding a dog treats and cat with lion haircut

parents helping toddler walk on the couch

girl carrying around bunny doll and black dog

parents reading a picture book with toddler

toddler looking out window in pittsburgh

little hands on windowsill looking out window

mom and daughter looking out window in pittsburgh

parents trying to get little girl to dance

parents reading book to little girl in chair

toddler looking at stained glass in house

mother carrying daughter down the stairs

toddler gets cold while eating ice cream

toddler eating ice cream next to cat while holding cat doll

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January 24, 2023

Sam+Casey+Desmond+Spencer

What better way to start of my 2023 shooting season than a 30 second walking commute to my neighbor’s house?! Best commute ever. Was very tempted to send them a text shortly before telling them that I would be late because traffic was bad. Meet Sam, Casey, Desmond, and Spencer! They are most excellent neighbors with good taste in music (if you ever see me wearing my rainbow Nirvana shirt it is because I saw Sam walking around the street with one), good taste in holidays (Desmond is a big fan of Halloween and loves discussing The Nightmare Before Christmas), and good taste in felines (they have a very adorable orange and black cat named Lily who is extremely sweet). I was very excited to go photograph them hanging around on a Sunday morning, especially because I knew it would involve Desi’s amazing Power Wheels bulldozer. The kids on our street all have Power Wheels, which makes me very jealous of them even as a late-30s adult woman who clearly never recovered from never having a Power Wheel herself. But at least I can photograph them now, and so I’ll take every opportunity. I also photographed Spencer looking absolutely precious in her little winter outdoor clothes and eating her first s’more in the backyard. It was a ton of fun to photograph our wonderful neighbors Sam and Casey and their amazing kids, plus bring back leftover S’mores for Geoff. :)

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January 30, 2020

Alys+Brian+Diana+Zeta // Raleigh Family Photographer

Alys and Brian met on MySpace and I love them for it. Remember MySpace, you guys!? Those were the golden days of social media and are dearly missed by yours truly. They were both living in different parts of NC, met on MySpace, and were married thirty-three days later. That was a little over 12 years ago. I find this story very endearing and sweet and it just proves even further than those who met on MySpace were destined to be together. Alys and Brian just had their first daughter about 17 months ago and her name is Diana. She is a GOOD kid. This was my first time photographing a napping/bedtime routine (which I loved doing!) and I was astonished at how Diana put up zero percent fight, agreeably climbed up the stairs, put on her pajamas without a fuss whatsoever, read two books, said “yes” when asked if she wanted to go to sleep, then kissed both her parents on the cheek and laid down without a fight. What! Alys and Brian then went to cuddle with Zeta (who is, in her opinion, actually the original daughter even though she’s technically a dog), and Diana remained peacefully asleep. I couldn’t even believe it. She’s a little gem. When she’s awake, Diana enjoys playing piano, throwing oranges off the kitchen counter and playing outside. She also enjoys wearing an extremely oversized sweater that makes her resemble some sort of Alaskan fisherman and is very adorable. Her parents love her and it’s not hard to see why.

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