Yeah, these are the sneaks I shared on Facebook last week.  But I love ‘em enough to share again.

Jeez.  My heart beats a little harder every time I see that face.  Gah.

• I had the absolute pleasure of photographing Heather and Robby’s small family wedding this weekend.  It was them: simple, beautiful and perfect.

• Well, minus the drizzle, it was perfect. ;)

• After a multiple month hiatus, bunco was reintroduced into my schedule.  I love bunco.  I love winning.  But sadly, I didn’t win.  This time.

• I completed The Hunger Games trilogy.  I liked it, for the most part.  Book three was mildly depressing and did not like the ending.  But I’m really excited for the second movie because the first one was soooo goooood.

• Speaking of movies, the hubs and I took off on Oaks Day to spend some time together before his big trip to China.  We decided seeing The Avengers was a priority.  I think it might be my favorite super hero movie now.

• Because of continually added events that I cannot control, my stress levels has reached an all time high.  And after not being able to figure out how to let it all go, I decided I had to get moving.  I’ve been doing what I call “walknjogs”.

• Walknjog [wawk-en-jog] (v.) – to advance on foot at a moderate pace with intermittent jolts into a steady trot.

• I know, I know.  You’re thinking, “Brooke!  You laugh in the face of those who exercise and act like they like it!”  And you’re right, I do mock the overachievers who run their gluteus maximus off.  But the thing is, it seems to be working.  *weird*

• Except for yesterday.  I called myself an overachiever more than twice on my walknjog.  Felt like I was jogging through mud.  I blame the exercise I got from Heather and Robby’s wedding.

• But I’ve found that a good song helps me out, keeps me going.  So I want to know what your favorite songs that get your running.  I may not “run”, but my walknjogs are helping melt away the stress.  When I don’t feel like I’m crawling through quicksand, that is.

Because sometimes, we just need some doggin lovin’ to make the day a little brighter. :)

I love food.  A lot.  And I love blogs.  I tend to read a lot of food blogs.  A lot may be an understatement.

One of my favorites is How Sweet It Is.  Jessica comes up with the most fabulous recipes and tests so many sweet treats that I tend to drool on my keyboard.  She also takes the most beautiful food photos (causing more drool) and has the wit that everyone can admire.  People, she’s funny.

So while I was catching up on her blog, I came across her Green Chili Chicken Burgers.  I had to have it.  That night.  The thing was I didn’t have ground chicken, chilis or monterey jack cheese.  But this did not stop me from getting creative – her burger inspired me.

Using the things I had in my fridge, I made the tastiest, juiciest burger I’ve made in a long while.  Ground turkey, sautéed red peppers, fresh parsley and a hefty handful of bleu cheese.  I tucked it in a pita pocket with some red onions and baby greens [and possibly more bleu cheese] and proceeded to wolf down two of them.  I wish I was lying.

So while I am no chef, I’m quite proud of my whim.  Discovered through inspiration, but made by my two hands.  Nom.

Now we put our camping chairs in a circle in a suburban driveway, drink bottled beer and have too many homemade delicious snacks to choose from.  The annual Kentucky Derby party has gotten a wonderful makeover as we’ve gotten older, but I think all credit goes to Alan’s wife, Navi.  She’s continued to let us come over and their home reflected her decorative touch to get everyone in the mood for the big horse race.

The pineapple chutney was soooo yummy.

Cheesecake stuffed strawberries.  Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.

Mini tacos, don’t mind if I do.

Somebody went to Muth’s.  Which made somebody else smile.  (That’d be me. I love Muth’s!)

These babies are cookie dough truffles.  The only thing in the entire house that was totally consumed.  So delicious.  I ate way too many. 

Of course after I took these, I set my camera down and started chit-chatting with friends, stuffing my face with salsa and mini tacos and cookie dough truffles, asking Navi every 15 minutes when the beef tenderloin would be done and squishing limes into bottles of Corona.  I took no more pictures that day.  None of all the friends that showed.  None of everyone huddled in their living room cheering on their horse.  None of Jeff and Laura smiling big after winning both the $2 and $5 pot.  None of me feeling miserable after eating too much, making myself step away from my over-piled plate that could have been referred to as a trough.  But even though I’m thankful there’s no photographic proof that I ate like a little piggy, I’m OK with not having more photos.

We had another enjoyable year of spending time with friends, recalling old stories and watching the 138th running for the roses on television.  Who says you have to be at Churchill Downs to enjoy the Kentucky Derby?  I say if you a good crowd, that’s all you need.

But the addition of cookie dough truffles don’t hurt either.

I may not be great at playing the ponies.  I may not put on a big hat and hit the track.  I may not take in all the events and races and concerts.  But it does complete me.

Because I don’t go to the festivities or celebrate alone.

I took in the Chow Wagon earlier this week with my longtime friends, Abby and Kelly.  We walked, we talked, we ate, we drank, we visited with friends we bumped into, we sang along to the music and maybe danced, we teased each other…

It was everything I hoped it would be.  Only with steamboats.

Yeah.  I love Derby season, alright.

Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art… It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.

- C. S. Lewis

I am always amazed at how fast these babies grow, how much they resemble their parents and how much my friends have transformed.  The Hillmans are no exception – I can’t help but smile when I see Mandy talk to her daughter or when Josh whisks her up into the air – they both have pure joy across their faces.  A happy family, always enjoying one another’s company and helping Amelia grow into a sweet little girl.

Mandy brought along a mirror – hot pink, of course – and had the idea to let Amelia look at herself.  Such a fun idea and I loved watching Amelia watch her reflection.  But my favorites are the ones of her looking back me.

*look at those cheeks*

With big plans of a Minnie Mouse birthday party for her first birthday, Amelia’s grandma made her a matching onesie and bloomers.  Mandy constructed a bright pink tutu to wear with it.  It was over-the-top cuteness, so we had to a get photograph their handiwork.

Such a lucky girl to have so many people love her.

Happy Birthday to Amelia.  And well wishes to my friends Josh and Mandy – here’s to many more Disney-inspired birthdays. :)

{ click above to link up }

My blog and site didn’t get too much of a makeover, but enough to make me oh-so-happy about my two homes on the interweb!  I expect there to be some tweaking along the way, but feel free to poke around and see what’s new.  I’m hoping to receive a new headshot to include in my bio, but for the meantime I have a placeholder photo.  I think you’ll like it. :)  And DEFINITELY check out my new Raves on the portfolio site – I absolutely LOVE how they turned out and I CAN’T WAIT to add more! *wink-wink*

Thanks for your encouragement and support through my first year of business.  I am so grateful for the families and couples that I’ve been able to photograph and have loved sharing your stories on my blog.  I look forward to working with awesome people again and again.

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Christy worked with local vendors and set up a practice shoot in the warehouse district of Chicago.  I was excited to not only see her vision come to life, but getting to shoot in an urban area tickled me pink!  (I may have blogged about it already.)  Once the bouquet and boutonniere arrived, a handful of ohs and ahs followed and I was fairly certain the practice shoot would be awesome.

It was.  It was awesome.

Irene and Michael, who are friends of Christy and engaged to be married, were the unfortunate souls who had to stand outside in 50° weather with wind whipping around every corner.  Never mind the goosebumps – Irene and Michael were stunning.  Beautiful people with sweet smiles and even sweeter laughs.  Though it was practice shoot, their love was apparent and were adorable together.  Put them in a brilliant wardrobe, hair and makeup and you got some major wowza.

This is Irene and Michale.

Mignonette Bridal - Bride/Groom’s Outfits   |   Larkspur - flowers   |   Makeup by Pamela - makeup   |   Debbie Petrielli - hair

There are several things that I liked about this practice shoot, but these were most valuable to me:

1. Seeing Christy work.  The way she got Irene and Michael into a pose, directed them along the way, said all the right things to get those beautiful expressions.  Homegirl can work some magic.  And I got a front row seat to the show.

2. Understanding the setup of back lighting.  I knew what back lighting was and have occasionally pulled it off, but if I’m being honest here, it’s mostly been luck.  But Christy showed us the light, where it fell, what to watch for and after culling, I totally see it.  I can say that I finally see the light.  (Yes.  Pun intended.)

3. Watching how the other ladies worked.  All photographers stand on things and move constantly to rework a setting, but seeing the other ladies position themselves, recompose and then check their LCD screens made me feel like I’m actually doing something right.

4. Getting frustrated.  I’ll admit that I got frustrated with myself.  Unhappy with my settings and what I was seeing on my LCD screen, getting more flustered – I had to make myself take a deep breath more than once.  We talked about it afterwards and I was reassured – being able to have your fingers respond immediately will come later, with practice.

This was a great opportunity for me.  A great idea to act on.  Not only to be mentored for a day, but to meet and visit with three other fabulous photographers.  And I’m so happy that Irene and Michael modeled – meeting two people that are head over heels for each other just makes my heart beat a little faster.  And I wish them nothing but happiness in their future together.  I’m also grateful for Christy and her willingness to make herself available to us and for her and James to open their home to a handful of strangers.  It doesn’t go unappreciated.

Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation. -Brian Tracy