1 Day, 2 Birthdays, 3 Suprises!

I ran for 2 whole hours on Saturday morning. Not a bad way to start off your birthday (wha??) My friends Kari and Jen made me do the whole thing. It was actually pretty awesome when I was done. It was the first time I felt like I could possibly run the Mini and finish it without keeling over! See before and after pictures below.
BEFORE:


AFTER:


Not only was it my birthday but it was also Xavier's! Yup, I gave birth on my birthday a couple of years ago. He was a pretty great present. Below he has on his birthday crown from school...and he's very happy about it. Don't ask about the pants...


Then best part of the day was that my hot husband totally surprised me all day. We went out to lunch, saw a movie (kid free...thanks Mom!), then my Mindy (yes, she's my Mindy) picked me up right when we got home and took me to a spa! Josh had it all secretly taken care of. Manicure, pedicure and massage! Holla. As if that wasn't enough, he then planned a girls' night out for me. My friend Anne, joined me and Mindy (the people I spend most of my time with)for dinner at The Capital Grill. This is a big deal. We spend so much time together, but rarely ever finish a complete sentence. It was fun to just be girls together and not Mommies. The restaurant took such good care of us. They had amazing service and just went above and beyond with everything. And the food was delicious! We ended up at Nicky Blaine's for a couple of martinis afterwards. I highly recommend the blueberry Pomegranate martini. Mmmm...yummy. What a day! I was pretty tired Sunday, but it was worth it. Joshy did good.

OSP Indy...Out of the Office

I just "got back" from a photography conference here in Indianapolis. I was really only about a half a mile from my house...but it seemed like a different world! All adults (for the most part). All adult conversation. No body asked me to blow their nose. People actually liked talking about lenses and cameras and albums and brides and apertures and shutter speeds and shiny new things! I met some new AMAZING people and hung out with friends that I could spend hours upon hours with but rarely get the chance to. If any of you OSPers (I just said pee-ers) are out there and want to share some pics, please send them my way. I'll try to post some within a week or so. Now...I'm off to answer emails and return phone calls. Thanks for you patience!

PS. OSP stands for opensourcephoto. It's amazing.

Finnegan + Fitzgerald + St. Patty's Day + Wedding = FUN!

I just did my first total Irish wedding! It was fabulous. Complete with Guinness, blue eyes, Jameson, Irish Stew, some jigs and lots of family. Megan's parents and grandparents were both married at the same church. It was beautiful. A wee bit of drizzle didn't bother this crew...it's in their blood! They even had a bagpiper...just like me!

I have a slideshow at the end with an all-time classic song (I even let it run twice to throughly enjoy the pics). But there are so many stories that go along with certain pictures that I just had to add a few of my favorites.


Because we all feel like this some days :o)


The Mavris was such a cool venue. I have a few more weddings there this year and can't wait to go back. These railroad tracks were in the backyard!


I was so excited to go to Fountain Square and take pictures. Of course, this is when the rain came! No bother though...we just took umbrellas with us! I love the vintage feel of the this one. I did realize that everyone was freezing and so I told them to yell at me. You'll have to find the next picture in the slideshow to see their faces!


One of the best parts of the day was when we got out of the limo bus to take pics. We were looking for an overhang so we wouldn't get wet. Deano's Vino was our only option. Thank goodness! After taking a few pictures and causing a ruckus, the owner actually came out and gave Megan and Sean champagne and glasses...and told some Irish jokes naturally. It was so gracious and fun!



Because Megan is a bada**!


Do I not get the most beautiful brides!? Look at these eyes!


I found this room at the church up in the choir loft. I LOVED it the moment I set my eyes on it. Lots of fun pics taken here!


Brave men. They pulled it off too!


These earrings need their own zip code...they were SOOOO amazing.


The couch at The Mavris. Gorgeous!


I could have taken a million pictures of these girls. They were twirling all night!



The groomsmen were cracking us up the whole time we were trying to take Sean's pictures. Although, I must say, every smile was definitely genuine!





Megan and Sean, thank you so much for taking care of us and letting us have so much fun with you.

Picture Parties! Wahoooo!!!

I've had this idea to do a Picture Party for quite some time now. Basically, someone hosts at their home and invites 3 or 4 friends with kids. I set up something very simple yet fun and have a mini photo shoot of each family. I set up an online viewing gallery for each family and they each receive a gift certificate to use towards the photo shoot. That's it. Something simple. Something fun. No obligations (I don't like feeling that either!). I enjoy it because I'm meeting new Mommies and kiddies, and I get to take fun pictures. The Mommies enjoy it because it's a play date and they get some pics. And the host really likes it because I give her lots of special things for hosting. It's a win-win-win situation.

This Friday was no exception! After much encouragement from some of my friends, I went for it! It was awesome! My great friend Lori hosted the event. She even made muffins and had snacks out for the kiddies. It all worked out so perfectly. She invited 3 amazing and talented (more to come on this) girlfriends that each had 2 kids. The kids just played together and then casually came over to me for some pictures! Lori had the idea to make it an Easter Party theme (she's full of good ideas). I brought some props...IE baskets, pink boas, eggs etc. And the Mommies brought the kids dressed up in Easter outfits. It was about 2 hours total.

I think I may do this a few times a year, unless the demand is more. If you are interested in knowing more or hosting a party, please contact me and we can set something up! If you have any theme ideas let me know. It's first come, first serve. Yay!

It was so hard to just pick a few to show, so here's a little slide show of everyone together. Enjoy :o)

This song's for you Allie!

Happy St. Patty's Day

I know it's a bit belated, but it still counts cause he's cute. You know I'm totally going to bust this out when he's 16 :o)



Thanks to all those who came out to the Rathskeller! I took my camera, but I'm not too sure I want to post the self portraits of myself just yet...great fun had by all!

This week's preview

Okay, I have lots to blog about this week, so here is a sneak peek to temp you to come back and see more! Oh, by the way...I totally ran 90 minutes without stopping today (thanks Jen and Kim!) Holla!

Megan and Sean's Irish Wedding



Picture Party Fun!!!



Guess the 2007 Bride?

Kara and Thuan's Slideshow

Thanks for your patience on this! I'm so excited to add on some more pictures to the ones below! Things to watch for as you view this slideshow:

First and foremost...this song's for you Thuan!
The flower girls sprinted down the aisle...possibly the fastest I've ever seen.
Love ALL the ones of Kara...especially the outside ones (thanks for sticking out in the cold!)
Notice in the dancing pictures that Kara and Thuan are singing to each other (awwww)
Kara's sorority sisters are hot!
Thuan's "west siders" are hot too!
I definitely ended on my favorite one of the day.

Enjoy!

Kara and Thuan

Get ready...cause here are some of the bluest eyes you'll ever see! Kara and Thuan were my first wedding of the year...and what a way to start 2008! We were downtown at the Omni the whole time. Apparently everyone else in the Midwest was downtown too! Let's just say Kara was showered with lots of honks and whistles. It was such a wonderful experience to be a part of two cultures coming together! There were so many unique touches that Kara and Thuan thought about. I picked a few of my favorites from the day. I just learned how to make my images bigger...so enjoy those blue eyes up close!



Cara had the happiest colors as part of her day. Yellow and Blue! Her shoes matched perfectly.

See what I mean!

Thuan and all the guys wore converse...even the dads! Love that!





















Okay, these two have a tradition to take a picture of themselves at special occasions. I asked if I could take it for them...but the rule is that they take it by themselves.




The Omni was so beautiful! Each table was named after a special event their lives.




Instead of lighting unity candle, Kara and Thuan did a "sand ceremony". Their moms each brought down a vase full of sand (one blue and one yellow :o) Then the bride and groom poured the sand into one vase.









LOVE this one!










These faces cracked me up!





This one cracked me up just as much so I had to add it too!




This one might just be my fav!




Hands down, best garter ever!




It's even better on your head!




These last two are "accident" pictures. As I edited through all the pics these seemed like a definite NO, but then as I looked at them some more I LOVED them.










Kara and Thuan, thank you so much for allowing us to a part of your special day. We'll see you soon!