Today looked a little like this...

7:30am- wake up 15 minutes before my alarm and realize I should go ahead and get up so I'm not rushing around. no missed calls from Melanie must mean she didn't go into labor last night!

8:30am- leave the house and head to Melanie's for a belly shoot. I'd never done maternity shots before and I had so much fun doing it! Melanie's beautiful as it is- but seeing her with Lena and another little girl on the way just makes her even more so. I am so happy with how the photos turned out-here's a favorite so far:

12:00pm- head home. feeling a little sleepy at this point and my creative brain needs a break. looking forward to a little rest before i start preparing for photo session #2 for the day.

2:00pm- nap. ahhhhhhhhh

3:00pm- time to start working on preparing for the family shoot this evening. really looking forward to a new family and new ideas, but starting to get my normal nervous self whenever i get within a few hours. a good nervous, but just the kind where my mind starts flooding with thoughts of showing up without my camera or a screaming kid that wants nothing to do with me.

5:30pm- head to gahanna for the shoot. i pull up and see a beautiful family playing in the driveway. i know this is gonna be good.

6:00pm- photo time! we start with a few of my ideas and gradually they get back into their routine of digging for bugs, playing baseball and lots and lots of tickling. more photos to come this week, but for now here's one that I just cannot get enough of...

8:00pm- home in time for Dave and I's date with Big Brother!

9:00pm- begin a long night on the computer sorting through the oh, 800 pictures I took today.

i was reminded that it was days like today that I dreamed of having when i lost my job. it seemed so far away back then, but today was real. it was creative, it was exciting, it was new, it was challenging, and above all else, it was fulfilling.

you may have noticed though that Dave's name was not mentioned in much of my day today, so I'm off now to spend some time with him...have a good night!

Like a kid in a candy store...

That's the feeling I got when I walked into Sew to Speak yesterday. It's a great little fabric shop in Clintonville and I was in love with all the beautiful prints and the endless possibilities. I dream of a day when I have a nicer machine and I can go to a class there and make a dress!

So here's the prints I bought yesterday. I'm using them for a patchwork quilt. The project started as a table runner, but I think I like it so much that I'm going to end up making a quilt out of them! Aren't they delicious?

So that's what I'll be working on tonight while I watch the finale of So You Think You Can Dance (dance, dance). Sorry, I can't say that without the reverberating (dance, dance, dance) like the intro song. This means nothing to you if you don't watch the show. Anyhow, Go Jeanine!!

I have a fun day planned today...started the day with physical therapy, now off to lunch with Leslie, brainstorming my Etsy shop, yoga and then sewing! Now if I only had another bottle of that Strawberry Riesling!

Ciao!

It's moments like these...

when I am so thankful to have my days to spend as I please. Last week I headed to my dear friend Angie's house for a visit and some creative time. It was wonderful! I couldn't believe how much Lauren had changed in just a few short months- her hair is noticeably lighter and she's developing such a personality!

(Lauren)

The weather was beautiful and so that evening after dinner (and the most delicious cheesy bread I've ever tasted!) we took a trip to Lake Erie to let the boys splash around. What a treat to be so close to the water! I loved watching the boys splash and run along the beach. I tried to think back to a time when I had so much energy and couldn't care less that the water was cold or dirty or that I had sand in my shorts.

(Holden)

(Parker)

(Lauren and Angie)

(Holden)

And that night, after the kids were asleep, we started crafting. I've always admired people who can sew- and Angie is one of those talented people. She makes the most beautiful patchwork quilts and after watching her work I became intrigued. I started to wonder if I could teach myself (with the help of some family, friends and the internet) how to sew. I have a sewing machine, but it is just a tiny thing that is not meant for heavy fabrics. It's very basic, but I figured that's where I was at with things as well. So I picked Angie's brain, dug through her books and was so inspired by the endless possibilities. So over the weekend I took a trip to JoAnn. I got a few yards of fabric, some thread, some batting and some yarn. I took my sewing machine to my mom and got a crash course on how to use it again. And Sunday, I made this...

It's far from perfect. The binding was very tricky and I really need to work on sewing in a straight line (who knew it was so hard?), but I got the basics of it. It was a great first project and now I am feeling ready to try again. I think the next one I will begin to play a little bit more with a patchwork style and see where that gets me. Wish me luck!

And one more note from the weekend...this past Saturday we celebrated my dad's 61st birthday (or as he says- his sweet 16 if you reverse the numbers!). I am so fortunate to have such a wonderful, wonderful father. He is optimistic in the most trying of times, he's a teacher, he makes me laugh with his really bad jokes, he's just the right amount of serious when he needs to be, he believes in me and he makes me proud. I hope you had a wonderful birthday, dad! Here's to another year of good health, happiness and love. I hope you win big in Vegas!