STuFF - Sara's Totally Fantastic Finds (Episode 2)

In today's second episode, "episode" (kinda like a comic book, or for those more advanced, a graphic novel), I have two Finds to share.

The first I found by way of one of the many photography blogs I read, Anna Kuperberg's. She posted a link to this fantastic website that sells really cool baby, toddler, kids and mommy clothes. Everything from organic onesies to maternity shirts to cool diaper bags for dad. Check out this adorable infant t-shirt!

Can't you see trying to adjust that knob at 3am while your adorable baby keeps you awake?!

It's called www.babywit.com and if you're like me, you'll spend way too much time looking through the online catalog. But it's really fun!

Ok, the second Find I have to share is The Children's Boutique Warehouse Sale Friday and Saturday, February 20th and 21st. It's a month away so you have some time to get the girls together for a fun afternoon of boutique shopping at ridiculously low prices. A portion of the entrance fee goes to a local charity. The location has changed this year, so be sure to visit the website for directions.

Have a great weekend!

Announcing Portraits in Baltimore

For all our mid-atlantic and northeast US clients and friends, we're heading your way this summer!

We're scheduling sessions now for

May 30 - June 3
Baltimore, MD

Packages are available for baby, kids and family portraits. All portraits are done on-location at your home, at a park, at the Harbor, etc. These "day-in-the-life" portraits sessions last 2 hours and capture natural moments with little posing.

To RSVP, email us here.

STuFF - Sara's Totally Fantastic Findings (Episode 1)

It's a new year and so I thought a perfect time to start something new. I am always finding things, places and activities that I think are cool, fun, meaningful, useful, or otherwise just interesting. I keep thinking," this would be fun to share on the blog," so I'll be sharing those things with you and I'd love to get your thoughts about them. (Just click on Comments at the bottom of the post.) Hopefully I can do this once a week, but don't kill me if I can't maintain that. It is kinda busy around here.

So, being a recent Mac convert, I no longer have all the error messages, blue screen of death, or the irritating - no sound when surfing the web. (Yes, it was really time to upgrade.) This little discovery has been around for quite a while, so don't kill me for just experiencing it because work preempted any fun on the error-filled computer.

AOL Internet Radio is so awesome! Free radio from any CBS station across the country. My personal favorite station of the day is Boston's 80's Channel. They seriously play all of my favorite songs from the 80's, including the first song I ever bought on 45 vinyl, "Rock Me Amadeus" by Falco. Seriously, I haven't heard that song in SO long. I have another preset to the local Atlanta station DaveFM. So when I don't feel like getting up to turn on the radio (yeah, sometimes I feel lazy!), I can still hear Mara rant about something during the lunch hour.

So if you haven't tried it out, take a spin. You can listen to any genre of music or talk radio you can imagine.

(wow, I'm listening now and you won't believe what just came on....."Joy and Pain" by Rob Base. Hello memories from junior high!)

The Very Best of 2008

2008 was both an amazing and trying year. The economy, the housing market and the growing unemployment rate has been felt by everyone, but instead of dwelling on that negative, I prefer to stay positive and note all of the wonderful things that happened this year. [Cause when I stay positive, good things happen. :)]

For one, I got married! On a beautiful October Sunday, I uttered my vows through tears to my best friend, Nick. The entire weekend was better than I ever imagined.

And the year was filled was so many memorable moments with my clients. So many cute faces, hugs and kisses, and tears. Ok, many of the tears were mine. I don't know what it is, but just about every time I meet with clients for the Viewing appointment, I tear up looking through the images with them and seeing their responses. Whether they are laughing or tearing up themselves, it means so much to me that my images can illicit that kind of feeling. I think of what my favorite childhood pictures remind me of, the feelings I had at those moments, the security and love I felt from my family, the memories of reading Goodnight Moon with my parents, the thrill at the moment that my brother and I were caught red-handed sneaking Oreo cookies while we thought mom and dad were still asleep upstairs, sitting on my grandfather's lap..... The thought that I am helping kids (and parents) keep memories of their childhoods is both powerful and humbling.

I've heard from clients and friends that they teared up looking at other clients' slideshows, so now I have proof that I'm not just a softy. Just brings tears to my eyes thinking about it.

Ok, I've wiped away the tears and I'm ready to move on to my favorite images from the year. I'm liking this idea as an annual ritual so let me know what you think. Be prepared - this is going to be my longest post ever. Enjoy!

Thanks for looking through all these images. Have an amazing 2009!

Jack is ONE!

Wow, it seems like a really long time since I last posted. I've been busy doing a lot of planning and reorganizing for 2009. It's going to be a fantastic year and I am so excited about some of the changes taking place. To round out 2008, I'll be posting my favorite images from the year soon. But if you're a fan on Facebook, you can already view the pictures.

Last week I had the honor of photographing a portrait session for my friends, Jenny and Pete. I photographed their wedding, only my 4th wedding ever, back in 2004. Here is Jenny looking stunning in her gown and veil at Frogtown Winery in Dahlonega, GA.

So photographing a storytelling portrait session for them with their one year old son, Jack, was a real thrill. I just love having an opportunity to document families at such special moments. Plus, the fact that Jenny and Pete are so wonderful makes it even more enjoyable. Here's Jack's slideshow... Click the image to view the show.

As always, the slideshow is available for purchase on DVD or digital download. Simply click the DVD icon in the menu bar of the show.

My New Year's

Hope you had a great new year's. Here are a few pictures from our time in Dahlonega, GA. The cozy Blue Ridge Mountain town is a great escape from Atlanta and not far away either. Just 1 hour away, we found ourselves surrounded by Christmas lights covering all the trees on the square, homemade maple syrup with Georgia pecans, an awesome jacuzzi in our hotel room, strange and funny items at the local antique stores and some very parched rivers and lakes :(

But first, Nick's birthday was on Monday. Here he is blowing out all the candles on his ice cream cake from Bruster's. Yum!

Nick performing at The Crimson Moon. Love the ambiance and the food at this place and the music isn't half bad either. :)


the countdown to midnight ... love my iphone!


On New Year's Day, we went to a park to take a short hike around the lake, only to find that the lake had been abducted.


But we were still happy because it's 2009. So happy, we felt like jumping for joy.


And I am happy it's my birthday!


The end.

Happy New Year!

Happy 2009! I'm in Dahlonega, GA enjoying some time with Nick. He
played last night at The Crimson Moon and when the clock struck 12, we
celebrated the new year AND my birthday, January 1, 197... You didn't
think I was actually going to tell you age, did you?! So enough
blogging for now. We're off to enjoy brunch and the cool, clean
mountain air.

Hope you have a happy, loving, healthy, inspiring, productive,
rewarding, laughter-filled year! May 2009 be the year you look back
on without any regrets.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!