Hi everyone! Let's get organized!I know a lot of my clients (and my friends) talk to me about how hard it is to FIND photos once they take them! The great thing about digital is that you can take so many pictures and it's so cheap, but holy moly is photo storage and organization a real problem.So I created a free guide for you! I detail how I keep everything organized and I tell you about some online services that will help. Sound good? Great.If you want the guide go here. And that's it! Cheers!

post by leslie | photos by ezra

As I showed you yesterday, Ezra decided to bring his camera to the dog park last weekend, and I'm gonna show you some of his pictures!I think his favorite dogs at the park (besides his own) were the Great Dane above (we both have a true soft spot for these giants) and Gracie (the other collie, pictured below).It's really been fun now that he's old enough to understand Dog Park Rules and how to act around the pups so we don't have to worry about him. And he loves coming with us because *some* dogs (not ours) love to play fetch with him, which he finds delightful!Besides our frequent trips to the dog park, life has been a little mundane lately. Lots of doctor appointments (check ups! eye exams! dental emergencies!) and lots of meal planning and cooking. I did just finish Small Fry, which was startling, eye opening and a great read. I can't wait to discuss that one at book club! And I've had the Into the Spider-Verse soundtrack on repeat all week while I work.What have you been reading and enjoying lately?

post by leslie

Can you hear my heart squealing with joy where ever you are? That's my kid up there, who wanted to bring HIS camera to the dog park so he could take some dog photos. I mean... just ask me for anything you want right now kiddo, because it's yours.Anyway, maybe tomorrow I'll do a post on his photos that he took! That might be fun! but for now, here are a few I caught. We are spending loads of time at the dog park these days, which is so fun now that Ezra understands the rules of hanging out with big dogs.Also, the lower photo of the two collies below has Hazel as the little collie -- they look so much alike!

post by leslie

As you can imagine, we're (I'm) not huge on sports other than basketball. Sure I love a Twins game every once in awhile. Hockey can be fun. But football? Never really enjoyed it.Oh but now the Chiefs are in the Super Bowl. Am I a fan now? Absolutely not (those chants drive me nuts). But I do understand why Jamie, who was raised in KC and has never cheered for a successful football team, is excited. So I guess we'll be watching the game now!I have made it a goal to take more photos of my own family just hanging out this year, and these images were shot during Sunday's game. Nothing spectacular, but I love seeing the boys snuggling up to watch, so I'm including the shots.We also watched Into the Spider-Verse with Ezra (the freezing temps are keeping us indoors with more screen time than normal), which was SUPER fun and way more my speed! Beyond that, we cooked a ton, cleaned a ton, read a ton, worked a puzzle, nagged the child to practice his piano, took the dogs to the dog park and I got to have dinner with a bunch of girl friends. Nothing spectacular, but a nice, slow holiday weekend. Just what I needed.

post by leslie

Last weekend, while in Lawrence, Kansas was hit with a winter storm -- which for them is just as much ice as it is snow.As I type this, we are being walloped with a winter storm in Minnesota, and we're expecting just under a foot of snow. So I'm gonna make this brief, get outta the studio and on to the grocery store before settling into my cozy home for the weekend.I hope you and yours stay warm this weekend, and my goal is to have more blog posts next week than this week!

post by leslie

Sorry for the delay in posts! Keeping up with Intagram and Facebook and my client load sometimes leads me to forget about this little space over here! But I finally had time for updates tonight.Last weekend, Jamie and I took The Kid to his first game at Allen Field House, which is a sort of Mecca for the two of us. It required an 8 hr drive and loads of planning and expensive tickets and the team played like garbage and lost. Since the team only loses THIRTEEN PERCENT of their home games (in the team's ENTIRE HISTORY), you can see why this was unusual and amazingly frustrating.But we tried to still have fun with the cheers, traditions and ALL the food the kid wanted (which is a LOT), not to mention shirts, hats, tattoos, posters etc etc etc. Here are a few photos from our time at the game. As I type this, the team is losing again on TV. So yeah.

post by leslie

Back in November, I had the complete honor to travel to Texas and document a dear friend's family on her birthday weekend. Her husband gifted her a Day in the Life photo session (what a guy!) and I gifted her a film of her family at the beach. We all love her dearly, and this is her last year in Texas before returning to Minnesota (thank goodness!).Anyway, it was a blast to work on this because I adore everyone in this film from the bottom of my heart, and because I wanted to capture memories of Sunday at the beach for these kids who might not remember it all when they grow up.Also, it was this trip that made me decide to waive travel fees on all films filmed within the continental US before July. So if you want one of your own family vacation, get at me!

post by leslie

So, how's it going having two dogs, you ask? Well, it's going as good as can be expected? I think?Magda was pissed off for about 3 days, and then resigned herself to sharing her space (see photo below). But don't let her fool you -- she loves her tug of war with Hazel each day, and nothing has really changed in her life except a new play partner and a little more training. Also, she adores Hazel as long as they are outside. She *tolerates* Hazel if they are inside Magda's kingdom that she happens to let the rest of us sleep in.Hazel appears to be happy and snuggly... but she won't pee in our yard. Sure, she's great at going to the bathroom on walks or at the dog park... but not in our yard. We are working hard on this problem because I don't want to deal with that when the temperatures hit zero soon, and hopefully this resolves itself in the next few days. Also, Hazel is slowly warming up to cars and garbage trucks. Cross country skiers though? Straight from satan in her eyes. So I suspect she won't like cyclists when summer hits -- another issue we're training on.It's always fun to have two dogs because you see more of their characteristics come out. For instance, we realize how amazingly smart (annoyingly so, at times) Magda is. She has opinions and she's not afraid to share them. However, she follows the rules and in general, is a fantastic dog whose largest fault is over-enthusiasm when greeting guests at the door.Hazel is... not as smart. I mean, have you seen that collie head? It's tiny. We suspect her brain is the size of a walnut. But what she lacks in smarts, she makes up for in sweetness. She follows me from room to room, always sleeping at my feet. She loves to snuggle, and really wants to make us happy (not a strong suit of Magda's). Overall, we are happy that we added to the pack. But it sure would be nice if they both peed in the back yard.In this photo, Hazel is screaming at some cross country skiers at Theo Wirth Park. How dare they.