mike + leslie :: engaged

Hi everyone. 

Want to see a cute couple?

Meet Michael and Leslie.

Mike likes hockey, Leslie likes basketball. Les is a huge, ginormous Beatles fan, and Mike has this incredibly contagious laugh. Mike comes from a big Italian family that has a giant seafood dinner every Christmas Eve (my mouth waters every time Leslie tells me about it). Leslie comes from a big Slovak family that eats oplatki at Christmastime and carefully keeps some very beautiful family traditions. They got engaged last year at Niagara Falls -- at night... while the falls were lit up... with a guitarist playing their song... really! -- and they're planning a wedding next summer that'll blow your socks off. I'm really excited for them, and watching them together makes me smile a whole lot.

So here's a quick story for you: Back in the middle of June, Chicago temps were happily camped out in the mid-90's, and things were pretty bearable. I remember feeling a little hot, and texting Leslie: Still on for tonight? She, being the sweet, considerate person she is, said something along the lines of, As long as you are! ...probably referring to my [very] pregnant self. So we went ahead with it... and wowee, I'm really glad we didn't put the session off longer. (For all you out-of-towners, Chicagoland is currently baking in a 100+ degree oven. Someone turn the heat down, or throw some waterballoons at me, please.)

:)

p.s.

Leslie is beautiful.

The end.

...and check out Mike and Leslie's slideshow below! (or ***Click here to be redirected***)

becca and nate :: engaged!

I've only met them twice, but I really like Becca and Nate. Here are some reasons why:

(1) They like hockey.

(2) They have the cool vibe. (you know. the cool vibe.)

(3) They're Mac-users.

(4) They're getting married in the mountains.

(5) They're both youth pastors. (= they love Jesus.)

(6) Becca has impeccable taste in shoes. (Particularly, red ones.)

I told you they were cool.

On Saturday, we walked around downtown Stillwater, MN (for those of you Chicago-ans who don't know about Stillwater, it's like this cutesy small-town-downtown area that's just really beautiful), and then headed over to the Stone Arch Bridge in Minneapolis.

The weather was perfect.

And Becca and Nate are excellent smile-ers.

And so, it was the best.

 :)

{favorite. right here.}

** click here *** for their slideshow!

Matt and Liz : engaged!

I took these pictures almost two months ago... and just was able to get around to editing them... which is ridiculous, because they were the engagement pictures for my brother-in-law and his super-sweet fiancee! {I'm using my chubby baby as an excuse, here. Like my grandma says, tongue in cheek... always blame someone who can't fight back ;-) }

We had an hour or two to work with before our flight out of Boston {remember, we were there shooting this beauuutiful wedding?}, so we met downtown and played around in the commons. It was such a beautiful day {hurricane Earl was long gone by then}... we were seriously blessed with some gorgeous weather!

I'm pretty sure Matt and Liz invented a language that only the two of them speak... these two are tight. They just get each other, and they're really, really cute about it :) They met at the University of Illinois; Matt's an engineer, and Liz is getting her master's in psychology {read = good looking and really smart}. The first time I met Liz, she was wearing the cutest pair of black flats that I'd ever seen {and of course, I liked her instantaneously *wink*}.

Matt is really savvy, a huge thinker, and a total gentleman. And Liz is classy, smart, and has one of the best smiles I've ever seen {not exaggerating}. If you watch the slideshow at the bottom of this post, you'll notice a Cubs/Cards rivalry {haha! competition is good for marriage, for sure!}, jumping shots {they were really good sports, especially when I got all scatter-brained on them and started telling lame jokes}, and football jerseys {I won't even start about how die-hard these two are when it comes to U of I}.

Alright. It's late, and I'm starting to ramble. {Marty's sitting next to me, playing Angry Birds on my iPhone, and the squawking is getting to my brain.}

Bottom line? I really love my brother, and his wife-to-be!! They're a lovely match, and Liz has killer shoes. The end :)



****Click here for the slideshow!****

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!!

morning shoot

sunrise. coffee. love.

perfect :)