the lake, part II

More ingredients for a happy weekend away:

Have you ever tried this before? Simple, fizzy, lovely:

Vintage cameras at an antique mall ($12 each--I wanted to buy them all!).

Waking up to a winter wonderland :)

the lake, part I

Have you ever been to Lake Geneva?

It's just across the Wisconsin border; in the summer, it's packed to the gills with vacationing families, boats, RVs, jet skis, and eager shoppers, ready to take the antique stores by storm.

But in the winter? The town breathes again. Things are quiet. Peaceful. Life moves slower.

Here are a few snapshots of the town:

A year ago today...

A year ago today,

the weather was in the high 50s, and it was sunny.

A year ago today,
I woke up at 4:30am to get my hair done.

A year ago today,
I was so excited, I can't remember what the food tasted like.

A year ago today,
my best friends prayed with me,
before I walked down the aisle.

A year ago today,
I danced with my new husband,
and Etta James crooned "At Last" in the background.

A year ago today
was one of the best days of my life.

Not because the weather was great,
or because the cake was good,
or because everything was perfect,

but because

I married
my best friend.

:)

Friday!

Friday again!

After a week filled with
late nights,
yawny afternoons,
hours spent staring at computer screens,
and too much stress on the brain,
it's time for some much-needed rest.

We're going away this weekend,
and I'm excited to wake up Saturday morning
with absolutely nothing to do
and nowhere to go.

(pssst. Sunday is a very special day.
Expect a post!)


Have a happy weekend :)

New Website!

Draft one looked like a 3rd grade web-design attempt.

Draft two? Not me. at. all.

Draft 3 was a little bit better, but still clunky, and not quite there.

Draft four... six... ten... you get the picture.

But now, after many attempts (and gentle critiques [er, reality checks] from onlookers who happen to be in the room), its finally done!

Thanks to ShowIt Sites, yours truly (non-web-designer, non-internet-savvy, etc. etc.) was able to create a fully functional website.* Hopefully, this site shows a little bit more of who I am and what my photography's all about. It needs some refining, and I'm still thinking through how to use the ShowIt software to its full potential... but it's getting there, I think!

Would you head over, check it out, and let me know what you think?

www.sherahgphotography.com



* . . . I think. Let me know if you find any bugs!

one of those days...

I'd like to re-do today, if possible.
It just hasn't been that great.
But I think tomorrow will be better...

And if it's not, Friday will come to the rescue ;)

On a more positive note,
the new website should be up and running soon!
I'm having more than a few technical difficulties,
bugs that need to get worked out,
but it's coming along!

Stay tuned...

vintage omelets

Hi bloggy friends :)

First and foremost, thanks so much for your kind words about Anna and Steve's engagement shoot. Aren't they the cutest? They made my job a zillion times easier than it should have been.

Did you all have a happy Monday? I started off my week with a trip to the dentist--not exactly the first thing you want ot wake up to on a Monday morning... but I'm cavity free!

I've been busy working on a project (a.k.a. a website), and it's consumed all my free time, and then some (Marty often drags me away from the computer, usually so I'll remember to eat. or sleep). I'm hoping to be done by the end of the week; I can't wait to unveil it for all of you!

In the meantime, here's a recap of last Saturday, in pictures:

We got off to a great start--homemade, customized omelets, whipped up by my youngest brother:


(Here's where he wrote down all our orders.)


And... nothin' better than some dry-erase-board-love on a Saturday:


Next up? I took my sisters to my favorite vintage store. Suzanne and Jules own the shop; sometimes, a little dog sits on the counter in a knitted sweater and watches customers peruse the vintage wares. Jewelry, clothes, trinkets, photos, dishware, vases, cameras, instruments... you name it, they have it. Such a fun place to shop!

Inside the store:




Imagine piles and piles of trays, filled with beautiful vintage jewelry pieces.... totally amazing.



That's all for now; my brain is shutting down, and there's a pillow calling my name from the other room... sweet dreams of sparkly costume jewelry and omelets with extra cheese :)

Anna and Steve : engaged!

Sunrise. Coffee... (remember this?)

First, a story.

Since Anna and Steve met at college in St. Paul, I first encountered Steve on Facebook. We clicked on his profile, and up popped a big head of curly black hair. I then commenced my big-sister-Facebook-stalking: "He likes coffee? He's in a band? Wait. He plays the mandolin?"

Anna fell for this curly-headed mandolin player from Minnesota, and while it sounds cliche, I really don't think they could be any happier. I mean, come on. Steve makes Anna lattes with frothy hearts floating on top. It doesn't get any better than that ;)

I've been off-and-on editing these pictures all week. At long last, here are some shots from Anna and Steve's engagement shoot last Saturday. They were good sports and got up at sunrise with me... it was a chilly, below-freezing-tempatures morning, so while they may look all warm and snuggly in their short sleeves, picture me behind the camera, rockin' it out in a parka and handwarmers.

Isn't my sister beautiful?! Steve is quite the lucky guy...


*grin*




Click here to see a slideshow of the shoot!

And... p.s. happy first day of spring!!

gas pump adventures

As of late, we've been having dramatic episodes at gas stations.

First, some background info:

Because of Marty's work schedule, we're often forced to drive two separate cars when we go out for the evening: I drive my car to wherever we're supposed to be that particular night, and Marty drives his work truck, whenever he gets off work. Thus, at the end of the night, we drive two cars home. Sometimes, we stop for gas on the way home. (Boring, I know. Hold on. It gets better.)

Episode #1
We pulled into a Shell station to gas up my car. Marty hops out to pump the gas for me (isn't he nice?), and I roll down my window so that I can watch The Office on the gas pump's flat screen TV. (I know. How spoiled are we?)

We're watching Dwight replace all the junk food in the lunchroom vending machine with fresh fruits and vegetables, when I hear someone start talking to Marty.

"Hey man. I'm outta gas, and I gotta get to 159th and acorn--way south of here. No money. Can I have a few dollars?"

A likely story, sure. Could be true. Could be a big fat lie.

My reaction? LIAR! Dude, call a friend and have him pick you up...

Marty's reaction? He asks a few questions, weighs the situation, and gives the guy a couple of dollars. He also gives him a bible that he keeps in his truck, and talks to him some more.

Maybe the guy was a con artist. Maybe he was lying. But maybe he needed the bible. And maybe Marty's freely-given dollars were enough of a reason for the guy to open it up and read it.

Regardless, I am a skeptic. My husband is an optimist. We are quite the pair.

How would you handle that sort of situation?

(By the way, for what it's worth: we watched the man take the money, walk into the store, and pay for gas with the money Marty gave him...)


Episode #2
We pulled into a sort of seedy-looking gas station around 11pm.

Again, Marty usually pumps my gas for me (yeah, yeah, leave me alone...), but since it was late, and we just wanted to get home, I hopped out and started filling up my tank.

All of the sudden, I hear a whistle. As in, a cat-call whistle.

The older man with the white van at the gas pump next to mine was whistling at me.

Are you kidding me? Does anyone even do that anymore?

The best part? Marty heard it.

He comes charging over, grabs the nozzle from my hand, and says, "HERE HONEY. LET ME GET THIS FOR YOU."

The man's face melted. As I got back into the car, I watched him rip the nozzle out of his tank, hop in his van and peal away, Marty's eyes burning a laser-beam hole in his rear-view windows.

Hooray for cat-calls and overprotective husbands!

****

And because no post on this blog should be picture-less... a photo from last summer:
(Due to Chicago's balmy temps yesterday, I am now extremely excited about weather that involves tank-tops and sunglasses!)

*Side note: In the future, I'll spare you any more gas station stories. More pics, on the way soon!

bouquet

Have you ever smelled something,
and WHAM! -- you're catapulted back to a vivid memory from the past?

Sweet Pea body splash brings me straight back to
my cabin at high school summer camp
(my roomies sprayed the stuff like it was bug spray).

If I smell antibacterial cleaner, it's like I'm sitting in the pediatrician's waiting room,
on the orange vinyl seats,
stuffed animals staring at me from across the room,
the knowledge of an inevitable injection
niggling at the back of my 5-year-old brain.

Mothballs... playing in the closets in my grandma's summer trailer, up at the lake.

Fresh cut grass... soccer games on a warm Saturday morning in June.

Spicy potpourri... my parent's house, lit with candles on Christmas Eve.

You get the idea.

So when Marty brought me home a bouquet of flowers the other day,
I inhaled the gorgeous scent of the lilies...
and was immediately transported back
to a sunrise walk in Maui
sipping an iced mocha
and breathing in the beautiful smell of fresh lilies
growing along the sidewalk.

:)



p.s.
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
How are you celebrating today?
We're having soda bread, corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, parsnips and carrots...

and probably ham, too.

One year, the day after St. Patrick's day, my baby brother came down with a nasty case of the flu.
Ever since then, he can't stand even the thought of corned beef.
We try and humor him.
Hence, the ham :)

morning shoot

sunrise. coffee. love.

perfect :)

here comes the weekend...

...and since the weather's going to be beautiful,
I'll be outside for most of it :)

Happy Friday!

luck o' the Irish

My grandma grew up on a farm in Ireland.
She came to America as a nurse,
met my grandpa (a Hungarian),
and settled in Chicago to raise their six children.

This week and next, my grandma and most of her kids
(including my mom) have traveled back to Ireland
to visit our relatives.
My great Aunt Theresa lives in a small town in the south of Ireland;
her family owns and runs a flower shop, a funeral parlor, and a pub.
(they've got their bases covered, wouldn't you say?)

I dream about going to Ireland someday.
But for now, pictures will have to suffice.
Here are some that my mom took on her last trip (in 2004).
(Don't you think she has a knack for photography?
I've just popped them a bit in Photoshop...)
With St. Patrick's Day approaching,
it seemed appropriate to spread a bit of Irish cheer :)

Since I didn't take any of these pictures,
I can't tell you about any of them--except for this one.
That's my mom on the left, and two of her sisters:

See the rainbow?

Now you want to go too, huh?
:)

on the way...

Some exciting things are in the works for Sherah G Photography...

Like, maybe a new website?

Some upcoming photo shoots?

Posts about something other than me?

(My biggest fear in starting a blog is that it would becoming totally narcissistic.
Dear me, bloggy friends, hold me accountable!)

Here's a reason...

...why you should never leave your facebook page up,
and your laptop unattended,
when you have older sisters named Anna and Sherah:

18-year-old brother's facebook status,
as of Saturday night:

Luke loves planning Anna's wedding!
I'm SO into the little details that will make her day totally pop...

buahaha :D

weekend recap

(because nothing screams "classy" like a blimp at a hockey game!)

There's something about daylight savings that turns my brain to mush. Combine a lost hour of sleep with an already sleepless weekend, and yours-truly is a goner. As in, I'm a walking zombie right now. A mushy, weepy, exhausted zombie. It's times like these when Marty says, Hey there. Time to go to bed, grumpy pants. I am not fun to live with when sleep-deprived. The only thing that's going to help is extra-strong coffee ready to go for the morning, a snuggly bed, and a reminder to keep my mouth shut when I don't have anything good to say.

But bear with me. I need to end the day on a good note. Because the weekend was a good one, even if it didn't involve enough sleepy-time :) Here's a recap, in pictures:

Can you say, summer-fever?!


The dog, acting as if the world's abandoned her:



Godiva coffee = happy Sherah


Wedding planning in full throttle!


At a hockey game:


After the home team scored...

I just realized that the couple on the jumbo-tron were sitting right next to me.
This is not good, because I am the sort of person who has nightmares about being broadcasted on a big-screen like that.
'Twas a close shave ;)

I hope your weekend was absolutely lovely! Now, I am going to do my husband a favor and put myself to bed. Goodnight :)