Brian + Laura :: Lincoln Square, Chicago

I met Laura when I was six or seven, I think. She was a curly-haired girl from down the block who appeared at our driveway gate and asked if I wanted to be friends. I said, "Sure." We played velcro paddle ball in the backyard, figured out each other's names, and then she went home. Voila. Instant friendship. For the years that we lived close to each other, we went to each other's birthday parties, made mud pies behind our garages together, and played Wheel of Fortune on the computer that she had... in her BEDROOM. (This was epic, my friends -- computers were rare back in the early 90's, and to be a pre-teen with a computer in your room was, well, absolutely legendary.)

When my family moved out of the neighborhood, Laura and I slowly lost touch. But then, the wonder that is Facebook reunited us via the internet, and I learned that she eventually went to Marquette University in Wisconsin... met a guy... got married... and moved back to Chicago! Laura's husband, Brian, is working toward his PhD. In Physics. (Yes. And Wow.) Laura works in public relations, and she's also starting her own photography business... so when she contacted me asking for some pictures of her and Brian in their cutsey neighborhood, plus a few shots of her and her camera... well, golly be, I got excited.

Laura and Brian live in Lincoln Square, a quiet, beautiful neighborhood on the north side of Chicago with lots of German heritage. Laura has strong family ties to the neighborhood, so it was fun to walk around and get introduced to their favorite places: boutiques, drugstores, delis, restaurants, and bookstores (where, right next to the books, they serve coffee, cupcakes, and wine. How is that not a combo we ever see in the suburbs?!). I -- fancy little suburbanite that I am -- had fun masquerading as a city girl for a morning, and what a treat it was to spend time with my long-lost friend and her sweet husband. 

P.S. Brian loves Laura a lot (just look at the way he looks at her), and as always, when I see one of my friends married to a really great guy... well, that just makes me happy :)

Here's Laura and her Nikon :)

Check out her photography blog here!

Now, remember what I said about how these two met in Wisconsin?

Football fans know what that means -- these two are Packer fans. Die hards.

Intense enough to fearlessly wear Packers jerseys in the middle of downtown Chicago.

(On our way to the park, a guy in a Bears jersey yelled, "GO BEARS" from his truck window.

It's not even football season. Sheesh.)

So, Laura?

Here's to reunited childhood neighbors... 

even if they can't agree on the world's greatest football team.

;-)

Check Brian and Laura's slideshow... (or click here to be redirected!)

Alicen :: lovely

Little sisters are usually much cooler than big sisters.

I think it's because they look at their older sister's unfortunate mistakes,

and resolve not to do the same.

This is my youngest sister, Alicen.

These are her eighth grade graduation pictures.

And, let me tell you,

my eighth grade pictures looked nothing like this.

{I'd show you pictures of what I looked like when I was in 8th grade,

but I burned all of them.

Just kidding.

But nope, you can't see them.}

This girl is amazing. She's hilarious, and beautiful, and she's really smart.

She's the best friend you could ever have. 

She loves babies, and doggies, and her family.

She's ridiculously great at the piano.

She's a soccer star.

She pretty much gets 1st place in everything she does. {I am not exaggerating.}

And -- most importantly -- she loves Jesus. A lot.

It's all over her face.

:)

Did I mention she's a killer dancer?

K-I-L-L-E-R 

D-A-N-C-E-R.

In summary,

my sister is awesome.

And,

 if you are a boy, and you're anywhere near her age, and you're reading this:

GO AWAY.

{you can come back in 30 years.}

truly scrumptious

If you're hungry, don't read this post. {I mean it. You'll want to raid your fridge for a tub of chocolate frosting, by the time I'm done showing you all this good stuff.}

You've been warned...

Last weekend, my dear friend Cathy asked me to come and take a few publicity shots of a sweet table she created for a fundraiser event. Cathy recently turned her passion for amazing food, tasty desserts, and stellar event planning into a brand-new business: Cathy Marie's Homestyle Catering & Sweet Table Designs.

Here's a peek at a few of the details:

{Oh. My. Yippers. Chocolate dipped pretzels. Does it get any better than that?}




You can't see all the sign lettering, but it says "Candy Bar." Hence, the chocolate-filled martini glasses, gummy citrus slices, and a foamy beer mug {see it, all the way on the left? genius!}.




Here's Cathy herself, putting the finishing touches on the to-die-for chocolate mousse.


True story: the people attending the event were d-y-i-n-g to get their hands on these goodies. This next shot was taken literally seconds after the MC gave the go-ahead that the sweet table was open for business.

{if you look hard enough, you can see the lady in orange sticking out her tongue, concentrating hard on piling her plate full of chocolate. hey, can you blame her? if I hadn't been taking pictures, I'd be right next to her, all elbows, grabbing platefuls of tartes, cheesecakes, brownies, and mousse.}

By the way... here's a close-up of the foamy beer mug I mentioned earlier {I grabbed this shot back in the kitchen}. Ingenius, right?


Interested in booking Cathy's catering or sweet table expertise for a wedding or event? E-mail her at cmarie.waters (at) gmail.com {your waistline might not thank you, but your guests definitely will!}

Kristen {lovely}

Introducing Kristen:









Kristen and I had fun exploring her Chicago neighborhood, and after the shoot, she treated me to a giant cheeseburger. {a.k.a. I will be visiting Kristen again very soon... *wink*} She's an aspiring actress {um, is that PC? Actor? eh?}--passionate, talented, beautiful, fun, hilarious! Plus, I am jealous of her city-girl life and her awesome boots. The end.

:)

Sunday evening musings

A few things I've learned, lately (in no particular order):

1) An old computer system and a brand spanking new monitor may or may not get along well (the latter is true for me at the moment. argh.).
2) Fact: when pregnant, most people stare at your belly instead of your face when you walk by them. This can be awkward.
3) I like being around newly-engaged couples. Fresh love is contagious.
4) The $2 latte sale at Caribou is killing my wallet (and my caffeine levels).
5) Don't ever doubt a client's suggested shooting location. I did a senior session yesterday at the most unlikely place... and the pictures are gorgeous.
6) Ten o'clock is my new self-enforced bedtime.
7) It is 10:05. Thus, I am not very good at anything that's self-enforced.

:)

Before I head to sleep, here's a sneak peek at a recent shoot we did downtown:

{See Kristen? I promise I'm working on them!}

Sugar and spice, and everything nice...

These little beauties make me giggle :)

Cayden : one year

Allow me to introduce to you a real looker:

This little guy just turned one, and it's safe to say that he's the very happiest one year old I know. His track record is smiles, smiles, and more smiles (seriously Lauren, does this child ever cry?!).

If my baby is half as good-natured as this little guy, I'll be a very happy mommy :)


For the shoot, we played around at the Morton Arboretum's children's garden. Once Cayden got his toesies in the little brook that meanders through the middle of the garden, he was in heaven:





Click here for the slideshow!