Hi there!Yup, those are my feet. Why, you ask? Because today, for the first time in ... 9 months, I painted my toenails.See, I caught this cold of Ezra's. And I'm congested and exhausted and I'm trying to "take it easy." Let me tell you a secret: I am terrible at "taking it easy." So today I decided, after dealing with email for the first 2 hours of the day, that I would shower and shave and attempt to at least look better if I did not necessarily *feel* better. And then after my shower, I was drying off my feet and thought of how nice it would be to get a pedicure.But let's be clear, there will be no leaving the house today. Even though I suck at "taking it easy," I do realize my limitations. So I set out to find some polish, and here we are.And I think that's about the most I'll accomplish today, as I'm now heading back to bed. Hopefully I can breathe through my nose tomorrow as I'm back to shooting again. Wish me luck.For your internet share today, I squealed when I saw the photos of Matka in the paper, and I think you'll enjoy the video. Because who knew Magda had doppelgänger with such a similar name and apparently superhero powers? Also, I totally think I could train Magda to serve as Matka's backup. For real. (And oh how I would love to get photos of that Matka!)
Hello lovelies!Today I'm going to post some of my favorite wedding photos as I tell you about a special deal I'm offering this year. In case you haven't picked up on it, I am just really in love with black and white photography these days. Sure, sure, sure, I love color as well. But something about restricting myself to black and white is just so inspiring, and as I've mentioned before, one of my huge goals for 2016 is to be more inspired and to really up my game creatively.So one goal I have is to photograph an entire wedding in black and white.No color. At all. (Deep breaths.)I know that it would take a very special bride and groom to hop on this crazy train with me, so I'm offering an incentive. You'll get $500 off an 8-hour wedding package if you say you want the whole shebang in black and white.Yup. Five hundred smackaroos. See? I want to do this thing baaaaaad.So! If you are getting married or you know anyone who is (who appreciates the classic look of old photography), please spread the word! I think the photos would be stunning and classic and besides, you have your entire guestlist there with their cell phones, so who needs color anyway?!But really. Wouldn't this be awesome?
Wow, winter has officially arrived. When I woke up this morning, it was -19 outside my kitchen window.I am gonna be honest, it arrived on Sunday. But I didn't leave the house on Sunday, or on Monday because 1) Why on earth would I? and 2) Ezra was home sick yesterday and we stayed inside (obviously). Today, Jamie worked from home for several hours so I could get some work done, and when I finished a little early, I used my time to head over to the Mississippi River. I wanted to see if I could capture some images that visually communicated the cold. Honestly, I think I failed a little.I mean, these look cold. Maybe chilly. But not as cold as it was when I shot them (-3 degrees and windy).
I also wanted to head over to the water falls to capture some of the ice, but I just didn't have time. So I'll have to save that one for later :)Anyway, I know many of my readers are from Minnesota / Wisconsin, but I also know many of you are not (hello Californians!). So I wanted to try to tell you what it's like to live in weather this cold. Now, I want to be clear. I am not complaining.These frigid temperatures are what keep my housing prices down and let me live in this amazing city at a fabulous lifestyle. But. That said, there are some weird things that happen when the temps dip this low that maybe you haven't thought about. Like:• All your nose hairs freeze when you step outside• The garage door stops working sometimes. Sometimes not. You never know.• We can't use our dishwasher (the plumbing is on an exterior wall) until 3 pm or so, when we hit a "warm spell" above 5 degrees ensuring the pipes aren't close to freezing.• The dog begins standing on 3 legs when she pees (rotating which paws have to touch the ground).• Windows near the humidifiers (a must in these winters) get frost on the inside.• Your sunglasses get foggy from your breath when you're bundled up to your nose, but then the frost freezes.• Same thing with the camera. When shooting those images up there, my breath frosted the viewfinder on my camera which then froze. Had to scrape it free to see.• My car stereo starts sounding "tinny." This goes away when it warms up. I have no idea what causes it.Do you also live here in the tundra? What are some things that the cold changes for you? Tell me in the comments -- this stuff fascinates me!
For your internet shares of the day, Jamie and I binge watched 
Today I was shooting all over the city for a fun commercial project that I can't talk about too much now (but that I will talk about a lot once it goes live). One of the locations had me shooting on A HORSE FARM. Can you even imagine how much I loved this part of the assignment? Eeeegads!I wanted to show you guys something from the day, but obviously it needs to be an image that the client would never choose to use. So I picked this image. I was photographing one horse when I felt a tapping on my shoulder. I turned around and this guy here was RIGHT IN MY FACE. So I snapped a photo. I like how you can see the farm, woods, pen, etc reflected in his big eye.For your internet shares of the day, I give you the following:I want 
This girl gets a LOT of nap time during my workdays. Until about noon. Then, it's all, "Can we go for a walk? How about now? NOW? How about right NOW?" Until I take her for a quick walk.But when she's all curled up like this? Holy cow is she cute.For your internet shares of the day today, I enjoyed 
I have found my new winter snack.So I was thumbing through Bon Apétit last weekend, and I gotta be honest, I get the magazine for the food photography. Sure the recipes look AMAZING. But they also look like they take about 3 hours to make, contain about 75 ingredients, and the dishwashing when done would be a nightmare. I'm far too simple to actually cook a recipe from that publication.Until now.I found this dish and saw that, believe it or not, it only needed a few ingredients. And took 20 minutes to make. And sounded wonderful.So I tried it and fell in love. Now of course, because I'm me, I changed a few things up. Below is my take on the best way to make these delicious, warm, salty, flavorful chickpeas. Also? Don't just eat them warm from the pan (although that's totally acceptable). Put them in the fridge overnight where they get even more flavorful. Eat them cold. Eat them at room temperature. Add them to salads. Or eggs. Or whatever. Just ENJOY.You're welcome.** Also, check out how I now have fancy recipe cards on my new, shiny website! Isn't that exciting!?!
[kindred-recipe id="12310" title="savory chickpeas with fresh herbs"]
Holy cow am I glad I'm working on this winter project! I am having a BLAST!This morning, right after the boys left for work/school, I threw on a coat and jeans and headed down to Lake Harriet. I knew the lake was (finally) frozen -- and actually there was still one area of open water! -- and I knew it was supposed to snow tomorrow and we are in this really amazing window right now where you can see the clear ice on the lake because of the lack of snow. And you can walk on it. (!!!)First, you should know that I have a few basic fears. They include 1. Ax Murderers 2. Heights and 3. Falling through ice.So I was a touch nervous stepping out onto the lake when nobody else was out there, but I could see other's tracks, so I gave it a go. And I'm so glad I did! (Also, mad props to my amazing husband for gifting me some 
And finally, for your internet share of the day, I really enjoyed 
Happy New Year, you guys! Tonight we had two of our favorite people over for a casual dinner to ring in 2016. I rarely get to decorate the table, so I had fun setting it all up for... chili and cornbread. Yeah. This table setting was by far the fanciest thing about our evening, but we had a wonderful time!I'm taking the rest of the weekend off from blogging before I return in 2016. You guys, I am so excited for the next year. 2015 was so great in some ways and so hard in others -- I really see each year as a fresh start. I find it truly inspiring.I hope you have a fantastic long weekend, and I hope 2016 is filled with wonderful adventures in your own lives as well.Until then, please enjoy