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 YakTrax this year so that I didn't fall on my duff.)One of my favorite parts about winter lake ice is the texture of it. Some areas are smooth as glass, others chopped up by ice skates, others marked by creature tracks, and like the photo above, the ice sometimes freezes in "waves" or mounds. And sometimes you can see the bubbles frozen below! I love it all. I hope you do, as well.And finally, for your internet share of the day, I really enjoyed this piece about being a music fan as a woman. I could relate SO much -- I cannot tell you how often dudes at shows quiz me on my favorite songs or albums by bands.But on a lighter note, are you vowing to exercise more in 2016? I found these bad-ass exercise clothes that I'm coveting. Now... to win the lottery...And lastly, this video on how candy canes are made totally sucked me in. Who knew? 

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 this interview President Obama did with Jerry Seinfeld. Frankly, just the location of where they drank their coffee FASCINATED me. Let's discuss that more, eh?

It snowed a few inches yesterday, and it finally looks like winter around these parts! Instead of the dreamy wonderland look of a forest, I thought it would be fun to capture the urban aspect today with this bike abandoned in the snow.I snapped this image on a break while Jamie and I had our first annual Smack Attack planning session. We spent the day batting ideas for 2016's creative goals, financial goals, behind-the-scenes magic etc etc etc. We spent roughly four hours focusing on next year, and I'm pretty excited about all of our plans. It's so easy to get down in the trenches and just to focus on getting the day-to-day work done. It's another thing to figure out how to make more time for inspiration, preparation and to try to push yourself to improve.Wish me luck :)For your internet share of the day, I loved this story about where all the new slang ("on fleek, etc") is coming from and how it spreads. And if you are a music lover in the Twin Cities, I'm pretty dang excited about this opening.

Soooo, no Monday at the Madhouse today.Very sorry about that, but I've been stuck in bed sick for the last coupla days, and the rest of the weekend was spent taking care of a vomiting Ezra. Our holidays were not necessarily ideal, but at least we were not traveling when this monster of a stomach bug hit the family.To be honest, normally I would have just skipped a post today. Yes. I'm *that* sick. But! But today is the launch of my new pretty website! I've been working with the amazing Margaret on it for a few months now, and I'm so excited to show you around! So I had to blog something :)Alas, here is my Christmas tree. Nothing too special, but something shiny and new to go along with my beautiful new site. And hopefully, tomorrow, I'll have a few images from the holiday to show you. We'll see. I' gonna be honest, there was so much nursing of the ill going on, that my camera was not my top priority.

Hey guys! Are you winding things down? Ready for some R&R? I certainly hope so.We are staying put this holiday season, and we have no visitors planned. Just time with the family and our friends, and we are so excited for a quiet long weekend. The rush leading up to Christmas is so insane with all the shopping or wrapping or lunches or whatever, that the actual day where everything is closed and you are really just sleeping, eating, watching TV and taking walks is like magic to me. Oh, and fires in the fireplace! Let's not forget about that.Don't get me wrong, I love the pre-holiday hustle. But now? Now it's time to relax. And I am all on board with that idea.And in that spirit, I will be stepping away from the blog until after the long weekend. But trust me when I tell you I'll have a nice, juicy surprise for you when you return on Monday morning.And these photos here? They probably look familiar. These are a small sampling of my favorite shots from this year. To see my full edit (about 40 images or so), click on over here. And happy holidays!

   

This is Flint. He stole my heart this weekend.His mom is growing a human baby right now, and she wanted some photos of her favorite eldest child for the nursery. Oh, I had so much fun on this project. Here are a few of my favorite shots from our session.I also didn't take any live photos today because... because I *did* take live photos for the Star Tribune and I'm not allowed to share them. Yet. You'll see them later.And besides being out on assignment, I was finishing my holiday shopping. Which was insanely busy, but also insanely successful. You know what impulse item I got for myself Shuttersmack today? An awesome Santa suit!Now I only need to find someone to play santa, and we might have some fun holiday sessions next year... fingers crossed... And for your internet shares today, how about some amazing drink recipes for the holidays, eh? I'm thinking of trying some sort of punch this year. We'll see. I'm also including this peek into a beautiful NYC apartment. I love seeing how New Yorkers make the most of their space. This is lovely. And lastly, I'm loving this instagram feed.

Today, I feel like winter showed up. It's been in the 40s here in Minnesota for the last few weeks, and we have no snow on the ground at the moment. We have seen small flurries, but this is not a typical Minnesota winter.Which is sorta funny. Why, you ask? Because this fall, I was feeling super ... uninspired. While I was fortunate to make all of my financial goals in 2015 (yay!!), I was in a bit of a rut creatively. It happens to the best of us, and I was wracking my brain on what I could do to kick start my creativity and to take photos that I would love to hang in my home (that were not of my son or dog, that is).I realized that some of my favorite photos were of nature and the outdoors, and were mostly black and white. So I've been mulling the idea of starting a personal project for myself -- photos of winter. And then, wouldn't you know it, winter is refusing to show up! Ha! Joke's on me!But today, I was driving home from a presentation at the art museum (what a way to kick-start inspiration!) and I stopped at Lake Calhoun to watch the choppy water for a bit. There is something I love about watching a dark lake in motion as the weather changes -- the texture of it mesmerizes me. So I decided to shoot some photos. And then I noticed the ice buildup on the shore, and I thought, "Well! Let's start this project, shall we!?" And here we are!I don't really have any idea on how often I'll post images for this project, but I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. I think I'll also put them over in my fine art gallery in case any of you would like to order prints for your own homes.Now, for your internet share of the day! For other creatives who might like some inspiration, I am enjoying this blog done by wedding photographers. I know I shoot weddings, but I don't really consider that my main profession and the articles over there are still very enjoyable, so I hope you like it, too. And if that is too cerebral for you, this made me laugh and I might have to go see the film with a girlfriend. :) Happy weekend!