Scenes from a Birthday Celebration Part II - The Birthday Girl

I wanted to highlight some of my favorite pictures of the beautiful birthday girl. Not only is she beautiful on the outside but also on the inside. She has that type of charisma that just attracts people from all walks of life to her. What I love about her is she is warm, funny, genuine, plucky and nervy. (Not words you see to often but fit her to a "T").

Plus she is excellent with animals and was a life saver when our little guy got a case of fleas a couple of years back. (Which is one of the most horrific experiences of my life. I shutter to think back on it.)

Oh and did I tell you that she has her own pet sitting business.  She is also our pet sitter whenever we go out of town and her little reports she leaves about our baby are hilarious. Somehow in every report Donnie keeps requesting my famous apple muffins. Hmmmm wonder where that comes from?

Just because

Just because I had my camera last night and felt like taking pictures of you while working.

You were so focused and intent on your work that you paid me no attention.

I just had to capture the moment.

Scenes from a Birthday Celebration

I had the pleasure this weekend to take pictures at the birthday party of a close friend of mine. Not only is she one of the most wonderful and generous spirits I know, but she is a model to boot so of course she is beautiful subject to photograph. The camera just loves her.

The party was originally planned as a ladies potluck brunch celebration but it turned into an all day event that went into the wee hours of the morning the next day. But that is what happens when you have a bunch of wonderful funny dynamic ladies come together with fabulous food and free flowing drink. 

All the food was delicious and I definitely have to follow up with some of the ladies for recipes.

One of the ladies in attendance Cassandra has a newly established event planning business Cerulean Blue Events. She did all the beautiful florals and even set a up a candy buffet.

The Birthday Girl. I told you she was gorgeous ;)

The only man at the party.

Even the cat was a girl!

Valentine should be everyday

Love the animals, love the plants, love everything. If you love everything, you will perceive the divine mystery in things. Once you perceive it, you will begin to comprehend it better every day. And you will come at last to love the whole world with an all-embracing love. 

Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Pointe Shoe Graveyard

I dance. I go to ballet class at least twice a week and have done so for the past 11 years.  I came to dance late in life, and I was and still am very passionate about it. When I started ballet I was determined to get to the point where I could begin pointe work. How happy and overjoyed I was when my teacher deemed me ready. Little did I know how hard pointe would be for me both physically as well as mentally. Being physically challenging is obvious, but to have the determination and will to continue with something while muscles and parts of your body are screaming in pain "NOOOOOO what are you doing to us?" is a bigger challenge. But I kept at it for a year and half until my body just couldn't take it anymore.

Over that time I was never able to find a shoe I completely felt comfortable in. And while I don't do pointe work now, I just don't have the heart to throw them out. They are too lovely. And they are a badge of my achievement though short lived.

So here is my pointe shoe graveyard.

Meet Donnie

Donnie is our little shadow. He follows us all around the house either waiting for a crumb to fall or for a warm lap to become available. He is also my nap buddy. Upon awakening from a nap I always find him curled up next to me.

Here are some pics I was able to snap after a recent nap time.

Snow Day turns into Snow Days

So yet another snow day here in the Mid-Atlantic and no relief in site given the amount we got.

I guess we are going to need these for a while.

Snow Day

So this is what Snow Day looks like in our house.

Wake up to a winter wonderland.  Snow makes even the dead branches of the butterfly bushes look pretty.

We are slow to start the day and we just lounge in bed with our little buddy.

Time to get to work clearing out all this snow and digging out Minnie (my Mini Cooper).

Ahhh warm tea and a nice little treat

My Kodak Duaflex

I guess it's appropriate that around the same time I got my new Nikon digital DSLR, my mother passed along to me my grandfather's Kodak camera. This was the camera he used to take all the childhood pictures of my mother and her siblings. It now is proudly displayed in our living room with our picture collection. And an added plus is that it still works! I just need to take it out for a spin.