This is Talia, the brand new daughter of very good friends, Jen & Marc. Talia was an unexpected 2011 tax deduction, as she surprised Mommy & Daddy with an early arrival ahead of her January 4th due date. Talia let me take a few photos of her for her birth announcement. So, I thought I’d share some from our morning together.

Yes, I included some crying shots. Is that bad? I know Jen isn’t using them for the birth announcement, but I still think they’re funny / cute because it’s real. Like…babies CRY. A lot! You see photos of babies (and this is not a critique, just an observation) and they’re all serene in their little buckets and pails. PUH-LEASE says bucket baby. She’s all “don’t take my clothes off. It’s cold.” Right? I’d be cold, too, even after the heating pad trick.  Anyway, I don’t think I ever blogged my personal snapshots from Jen’s baby shower. Now would probably be a good time to do that!

So, there you have it. Ms. Talia’s life has been pretty extensively documented thus far. She’s a sweet thing who promises to bring her parents and loved ones much happiness. I wish them all the very best!

Wrapping an oversized baby shower present when you forgot to run to Paper Source in time and don’t know the gender? Think quilt. This was two full size sheets taped together, seaming in the center. Cover the seam with a flat bottom, flat bow. Flat knots take less ribbon. Tie with a vintage post card you happened to have picked up at a Paris flea market and you’re good to go….

What? You don’t stock vintage post cards from Paris? Now, I’m totally going to judge you. Kidding.

This is for my friend Jen’s shower tomorrow. Our mutual friend, The Future Mrs. Darcy, is in town with her new baby, Fiona. Some Honey Badger humor inspired me to write her a new nursery rhyme last night. It was hysterical to me, but got me shushed by my husband who was trying to sleep.  Feel free to sing it your children.

Honey Badger is my friend, is my friend, is my friend.

Honey Badger is my friend until he eats my face.

Now I have a real problem, real problem, real problem.

Now I have a real problem cause I ain’t got no face.

Speaking of crafts: I went to NYC to see the Martha Stewart show tape. Here are some images I shot while there.

Today I head to NYC with Rachel from Architecture Babble. She landed tickets to the Martha Stewart Show taping tomorrow. Look for us in the very pink audience on the Breast Cancer Awareness episode. For the bus ride up, I’m bringing with me a new book called Record Collecting for Girls: Unleashing Your Inner Music Nerd One Album at a Time by Courtney E. Smith picked up at a weekend trip to Kramer’s. Plus, I scored some excellent restaurant recommendations from my foodie friend, Mandy.

Here are some quick shots I snapped this weekend in and around Dupont / Georgetown.

They grow up so fast. Just a year ago I photographed Mark for his birth announcement and now it’s cupcakes at his first birthday party. Where does the time go? Mark is the son of our friends, Rachel & Jason. Rachel, an architect, has been staying at home this past year to care for Mark. She still maintains her blog, Architecture Babble. I have nothing more taxing than an air plant to look after. Most of the time, I forget it exists. Reason #32 you might not ask me to watch your child: see that photo of Mark in the grass? Is he putting something in his mouth? It didn’t occur to me to prevent that. I promise when I do become pregnant, I’ll read a few books that tell me things like: don’t let toddlers graze on lawn clippings. Sorry, Rache. Contrary to my complete incompetence, I love babies. I fell in love with Mark’s friends. They are sooo friggin’ cute! Babies are the best to photograph because their skin is so luminous, it requires no special Photoshop magic to make it sing.

Speaking of singing, I want to share this video. Remember videos?

Okay, I love this video for so many reasons. 1.) That candy colored pinky-yellow rich tone that I love so much. 2.) Urkel can dance. 3.) Cee Lo Green has been chipping away at his career for….well, forever. I was a freshman in college when I first saw an early video of his at a Blockbuster Music. Remember those? See what I just did there. I did that hipster thing where I tell you that I’ve been listening to something like 5 years before you. Well. Can I help it if it’s true? I’m sorry. I’ll stop being a hipster now.

You know, MTV just turned 30. To celebrate they reran the first hour of broadcast. How quaint. Want to take a mocking walk down memory lane? Okay. Check out Flavorwire’s Much-Loved Music Videos That Are Actually Terrible list. I agreed with most of these, except George Michael’s Freedom. Under what criteria is that video terrible? It starred a young Linda Evangelista who wouldn’t get out of bed for less than $10,000. We used to have models. MODELS spelled with capital letters. Now we have it-girls who breathe too much when they act. We get it, girls. You FEEL. You’re emoting. Linda Evangelista didn’t have to breathe to emote. In fact, Linda Evangelista didn’t have to breathe (full stop). Kids today.

Hello! I hope everyone’s week is going well.

Above these images, I should have placed a warning to women of child-bearing years that this blog post will make your ovaries all twitchy. Sorry. These images were taken awhile back of some super duper adorable kids. I’m blogging through some older work. You’ll be seeing more from Ashley & Kevin’s engagement session soon.

This week I’ve been busy setting up my new Etsy storefront.Thanks again to The Future Mrs. Darcy for creating the Etsy banner and my new less obtrusive watermark. The moment I think I’ve finished I remember another image and I spend 10 minutes scouring through Bridge to locate the file. Wedding and portrait work are neatly organized chronologically. My personal and fine art work is filed by an illiterate helper monkey whom I pay in jellybeans. He’s not very fastidious, but he is cute in his little hat. In Nick Hornby’s, High Fidelity, the protagonist organizes his music collection uniquely. It’s not alphabetized or chronological, it’s autobiographical. It’s creatively narrative. It’s so self-indulged. I can relate. More so than I care to admit.

Please check out the new storefront. I’m pretty proud of it. Showing fine art makes one a bit vulnerable. It makes me a bit neurotic. Pulling one’s work together, editing and self-curating is how one grows as an artist. My sincerest thanks to those close friends who offered their critique and support. You are a lucky person if you have people in your life who will tell when something isn’t good enough, because you know you can trust the compliment that is paid.

Hello! I’m blogging from Boston today.  I’m here visiting my friend Kristen from The Future Mrs. Darcy. We’re about to head to Salem, Mass for a little tourist action, so this will be a short post.

The first time I photographed Bella she was a wee lass. Now, she’s all grown up! During an exceptionally mild Fall day in October we played at a pumpkin patch, the very same pumpkin patch Bella’s Daddy worked as a teenager.

My gosh, is she adorable or what?

- Brandy

Okay, yeah, sorry. When I start quoting Austen Powers I know I’m hungry. Time for lunch.

Bye, kids.

Brandy

Thank you, Easter Bunny!

I’m coming at you live from a bus en route to NYC. So excited. I pinky swear to blog about creative wedding venues, but for now, I’m shutting this lap top down. I have a window seat bathed in directional afternoon light and a paperback copy of Northanger Abbey. What more can you ask for?

Have a lovely weekend, dolls.

Brandy

January has been a busy month.

I attended the DWF Conference in Nashville. It was great! I met a lot of really cool photographers and gained measurable knowledge. I even sang on stage in Nash-Vegas. Okay, so it was at a karaoke bar. No talents scouts were in the audience. I wasn’t “discovered” per se, but it was

wicked fun.

From Nashville, I took a road trip to visit my best friend and my god children, pictured in this post. Actually, only Liam is my god child. Sasha belongs to Matt & Jana. I try to be a good God Mother and that means not making comments to Matt & Jana such as, my god kid can beat up your god kid, since that’s wildly inappropriate…

but true.

Up next: New York City. This weekend I’ll be catching up with some old friends and taking in the sites. I’m packing light as we’re taking the bus from DC. Maybe only two lenses. Wide and a prime 50. Probably not even a flash. Light packing still means

4 pairs of shoes.

I booked a wedding at a firehouse that’s been converted into a artist’s studio. It prompted an idea for a blog post of creative wedding venues. Stay tuned. The bus to NYC offers free wi-fi, so I’ll have it to you this weekend.

In the meantime, enjoy the snapshots of my favorite subjects, Liam & Sasha!

Love, Brandy