Back in December when Matilda Jane announced their yearly Photo Love contest I just *knew* even then it was something I was supposed to see. Instantly a picture flashed into my head that you guys now know and even more important who I would take as my +1 on the trip. See, I have had this amazing best friend since I was 15 years old. I am an only child and she is the sister I never had. Her name is Francis and she’s one of the most special people I have ever known. On October 27th, 2009 Francis was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Then she was diagnosed with spinal tumors up and down her spinal bones. And then 18 tumors attached to her thyroid. And then renal kidney failure. So completely unfair

So you see this was a contest so much more than me. Yeah I’d be lying to say I didn’t want to win it. But I really really REALLY wanted to win it for Frannie. To be able to give her this absolutely amazing girls trip. Really, how often do those sorts of opportunities come along? I was totally meant to see that contest that day And more fate, the collection was named You & Me.

As soon as we touched down in Colorado, we saw the MJC girls and Jamie and it was like seeing long lost girlfriends. I mean, who else could you have a pajama karoke party with on the very first day you’ve known them??

That’s Sam and Kelly, MJC girls who were the stars of the show that night! But let it be known, Frannie and I did a real mean Beyonce “Single Ladies”

We spent lots of time caravaning

Colorado was amazingly beautiful!

Saw adorable places like this

And had car problems…

When Frannie saved the day (I told ya she was amazing!)

We did a little shopping

And there were surprises

Of adorable bunny ears

But most important, this was a trip about friends. Life long friends that will always be dear to me.

I wish I took my camera out more to capture the pow wows in Jamie’s room lying all over the place talking about anything and everything, the amazing food Jamie cooked for us, our final dinner, the silly moments we had, the eyelashes! As Francis and I sat at the airport waiting to board the plane to go home, she shared a fb message she sent to Sam the night before. Francis has two adorable boys so she had never really been exposed to Matilda Jane other than seeing the cute stuff I would put on my kids. She talked of feeling alive and being useful. She said she found a bit of herself in finding Matilda Jane.

She found a bit of herself.

I still can’t say that without crying.

I am so incredibly thankful to have had this experience and to have these amazing people in my life. White Lily you will always have a piece of my heart <3

You & Me is an absolutely amazing collection! I petted them the entire time I was there, it is truly so beautiful! I am not quite sure how Denise and Sam do it. Really, they are so talented! This so far is my favorite collection and that’s really saying a lot. Gosh, I can’t wait for everyone to see how darling it is I will be hosting a virtual show and more information will be on my business page if you don’t have a trunk keeper and would like to order something.

It has been so fun seeing the pictures, here’s Jamie, me and Val. Love you girls!

Until next time…

The next two were two frames, one after the other. She twirled and twirled and was having so much fun doing it

And she is absolutely adorable too!

Can’t wait to share more from this session!

We started with a tea party, complete with yummy cupcakes

And had lots of fun with hats

The girls were so sweet with each other!

And were sweet with their parents too

With plenty of adorable posing

I told you they were gorgeous girls!! Thank you so much for such a fun evening- I had such a great time with you guys

There were sweet songs

And beautiful little girls

Who really adored each other

And one adorable ham of a little boy who is loved by all

I really enjoyed my time with your family and had such a wonderful morning with you guys!

We played with homemade bubble wands…

And there were lots of really sweet snuggles…

And our time ended searching for pirates and treasure

It was so wonderful meeting you and your family Danielle! I hope ya’ll have a wonderful vacation!

They are such a beautiful couple and it was even more special to watch, because he *really* adores her.

I loved watching them together!

Easy to see why, she is gorgeous!

The beach made such a gorgeous backdrop for our shoot

And they have this little boy

Who is a total Daddy’s boy

He went fishing

And showed off his catch of the day!

He adored the umbrella

And I adored him!

I hope you love your sneak peek! And to think these are only the tip of the iceberg on this session- such a gorgeous one! Thanks guys

On Thursday morning I woke up in Jami’s house to Val standing in the kitchen. Total full circle moment. Val is such a beautiful, sweet woman! I miss her already.

Thank you so much Emily for your giving heart. I absolutely loved meeting you, your family, and Megan and her family. You guys are fabulous There are so many great pictures from this session. I wanted to give you a peek of their adorable children

How cute is this little girl?? Of course she was outfitted in Matilda Jane

This cutie pie wasn’t so sure of having a photo session and I bet her mama will be so surprised I have this of her. So darn cute!

Such a beautiful little one!

This adorable little guy and his dad gave me so many great moments I had such a hard time picking which one to share!

This picture reminds me of Peter Pan ‎”Second star to the right and straight on ’til morning.”

And I had to show a picture of his face, he was so cute and such a good sport for me!

Thank you so much for such a great afternoon!

Things got a little crazy after my last blog post. I won the Matilda Jane photo love!! So insane and still hard for me to really believe. You know when you want something really really bad and then you get it? It’s surreal! I just can’t wrap my head around me winning with over 1,ooo photographers entering the contest. And everything went nuts afterwards. My personal email got hundreds of emails alone. Yeah… insane! THANK YOU to everyone for your votes and support. I wish I could show ya’ll my heart and see how grateful I am.

My BFF Francis and I board a plane on Wednesday to fly out to the Matilda Jane fall photo shoot in Colorado. And I have totally been fretting over what to wear What do you wear to something with such a fabulous little girl’s clothing designer? I have some Matilda Jane for me, is it too cheesy to wear that? Neither of us have ever really spent much time in Colorado so we are really excited to check it out. I can only imagine how beautiful it will all be! And then there is the flying part. I am not a very good flyer. At all. The last time I flew was when we came back to live in the states after being in Japan for 3 years. You would think with all the flying I did when I was younger it wouldn’t bother me. But it does. The take offs, the landings, and don’t even get me started on the turbulence. Thank goodness Frannie will be there with me!

I wish I wasn’t such a weenie.

This month is going to be a fun one! It starts off with a shoot today that is going to be super cute! I am so excited to shoot it and share it with everyone. It will be a beach session like you have never seen before Then there’s the Colorado trip and then another trip down to the Lake City area to shoot an up and coming country band that is about to go national. And also several more client shoots that are going to be fabulous! I have some great things to share, but it will probably have to wait till I get back from Colorado.

And so a blog post isn’t much without some pictures! I hope you love this little love story as much as I do.

These were taken a couple weeks back with my little girl Katie and Francis’s little boy Brock. There are 3 parts to the shoot, this was just the first one. Katie’s outfit is Matilda Jane and her headband, as well as the flower lapel/clippie on Brock’s shirt are from Sweetly Fallen. The rest of the shoot is darling, kites and sunshine

Once upon a time, Katie was doing girly and twirly things

When it suddenly hit her. “I have no flowers”, she said sadly

So she came up with a plan! If she posed…

And pranced!

Someone would surely be charmed by her cuteness and would have flowers for her!

A dashing young fellow showed up

Why, it was Brock!

And he had a surprise for Katie…

So he mustered up some courage and walked up to her.

And proudly handed them over!

“Do you like them Katie”????

And she did!!

It made Brock beam from ear to ear

The end!

Thank you again for your support and sweet words. I appreciate you!