i love my sweet yoga teacher.  i love my sweet dentist.  i love a very sweet cupcake bakery.   i find that my interactions with others are a highlight of my life.  this week audrey’s goldfish (version 3.0 mind you) died…she was heartbroken.

as a parent, i walk into her room every day with my breath held to see if he’s still swimming…and he was…until after some friends left one evening and we were getting ready for bed.  tears are falling on the floor.  we removed the tank from her room and just talked a bit.  and after the tears stopped i said “do you think we should end the day on a happier note?”.
“let’s play the glad game“…and so while she listened, i went on and on about all the things about her and our family and our happy life that made me glad.

and it was surprisingly wonderful.  and she wants to do it every evening ;)  (granted, i can’t sift out exactly what percentage of this is a delay of bedtime but we can always throw in some gladness at the end of the day to indulge a little)  so, on the eve of november…i challenge you to do a little glad game of your own and see how mood elevating it is!  will you share with me your thoughtful thanksgiving traditions?  it’s a favored holiday of mine and i want to spice it up a little this year :)  warmly, -melanie-

to the simmons family – you make me very very glad!

i adore the junior league’s holly day market…so fun, so many great gift items that make shopping a breeze*…
and i’m so happy that they’d like me to do mini sessions concurrently!  gladly, cute junior leaguers! and while i’m at it,
thank you for the good effect your work has on our community!

this year we’ll be at the civic center…a more contemporary setting (so dress your cute kiddos accordingly)…
we’ll have options in case of inclement weather (big yay!).

details: a 15-20 min session, $125
where: downtown lexington, lexington convention center

1-2 children (or you and a child), for additional siblings please add $25/child.  since these will be outside, please have children bundled in warm winter wear – maybe think darling patterned tights, boots, scarves, mittens and especially hats :)

in 4 weeks, we’ll present 3-4 too cute images.  since it’s so close to the holidays we won’t be able to make to get prints back to you but if digital files are part of your purchase we’ll send those to you ahead of time so you can make prints for gifts
(shop ahead for great frames!).

* tickets for the holly day market can be purchased here

p.s. the photo above is of sweet lauren in bardstown…truly one of my favorite images of the year.  oh that hair makes me smile!  can you imagine having that lovely face look up at you?  what a dreamy, happy life it is to be your photographer :)

hello to you! so, we had *the* best summer…and now *the* best fall and frankly, you haven’t seen too much of it on this dear little blog! but, i have been twittering with some regularity :) it’s been an amazing year…and I’m looking forward to sharing lots of images once the holidays wrap up!

a quick reminder that prints you’d like to have in time for holiday delivery should be ordered *this* week…
we need a bit of extra time to deal with the amount that comes in this time of year!

On to sweet Jennifer & Trey! Over the years I’ve noticed a ‘gap’ in photographs.
Too often it goes from wedding images to family shots with nothing in between.

Perhaps because in my particular case there were several years in between getting married to having Audrey, I think that can be far too long so I’ve been delighted with the anniversary shoots clients have arranged this year!

Totally smitten with these two and their ability to relish the great moments (I  particularly love their travel adventures)….
i feel so strongly that photography holds a key to helping us preserve our memory of happy times. And seriously, who wouldn’t love photographs of their parents like this? There’s an image of my grandfather sitting on a fence holding a darling beagle puppy that stands out as a favorite in our collection because of the sweet smile on his face. Thank you, Jennifer & Trey for being beyond wonderful! -m-

make-up: ana crane simpson

check out: a great blog series about having a ‘first look’ with your groom from a fun wedding planner
(saundra hadley in indiana)

this talk by james nachtwey really moved me…not only are his images incredible but they stir my heart in a deep way
and I think they are powerful enough to illicit change. Well worth 20 minutes to view.

the most delightful building swathed in liberty print

all the choreographed first dances at weddings this year have been so fun!
Here’s one via Cup of Jo (you’ll see three small boxes, click on the 2^nd):

love these mini chalkboards…I’m a message sort of girl: a smile on the fogged up window for Audrey, notes in a shoe or emails in the middle of the day to jason saying ‘I love you’…when I was little I had a box that I put messages back and forth in with my mom, perhaps that’s where the love stems…write a sweet note to someone you love soon.