princetonhouse

one little man

One little man...

One set of amazing blue eyes...

One talented hula-hooper...

One sweet shiner from a face-plant on the driveway...

And...

One sweet head of baby curls, that this Momma misses desperately...

One scary season of tests and studies...

One MRI scan of your brain...

One broken arm...

And one broken leg...

That one time he got ahold of a marker (ok, two times.)

One silly silly silly (and sometimes stubborn) personality...

One of my most favorite photographs ever...

One bigwheel he is now too big to ride on (sniff sniff), and that one time he was elected "Presudint."

One of the best homeruns I've ever seen hit...

 One of the luckiest Momma Bears on the planet...

Six wonderful years spent together.

Happy Birthday, my Keegan... The joy you have brought me is not easily put into words...  But when I scrolled through six years worth of photographs and memories, my eyes filled with tears, and my heart overflowed with pride... 

Simply put, you are one of the coolest dudes I know, and today we celebrate you! 

 

seeing stars

I get asked this question a lot, in person.   It's one that I never mind answering, so I thought I'd share it here too, incase anyone has ever wanted to ask, but been too shy to actually do so.

Every once-in-a-while, when I am photographing my hands doing something, or they just find their way into one of my "self-portraits" on instagram, you might catch a glimpse of my stars.

I have one star tattooed on the inside of each wrist.  They're identical, except that one is pink, and the other is blue.  And I absolutely love them...  They are not the only tattoos I have, but they are the two that are visible most of the time, so they are the ones people ask me about the most.  And, if I'm being honest, they are the most meaningful ones I have...

Five years ago, as I found my way back to the surface of my messy life, I often found myself focusing on the two little people I needed to stay strong for. My little supah-stars.  The saddest days through the divorce, for me, were the days I was without those two little faces.  I knew that the best thing for them was to spend time with both of their parents...  But man, my heart was so broken on the days I was without them... It really took me a long time to adjust to it.

So one day, I decided to get the stars.  Pink for her, and blue for him.  I wanted to put them somewhere that I could see them - first and foremost.  And then, I really wanted to put them somewhere "weak."  The bones of the human wrist are amongst the most commonly broken bones, and coincidentally the only bone I've personally ever broken (aside from a toe) in my lifetime.   Putting the two greatest sources of strength on my weakest body part, somehow felt symbolically satisfying to me. 

So when I miss my babies, I glance down at my hands and they are instantly with me.  An added bonus that I was not expecting, is how much the kids would love knowing that each star was "theirs."  Some of my favorite snuggly moments with Alyza involve her tracing the pink star with her finger over and over...  I like to believe she finds comfort in knowing her star will always be there, as well.

And that is the story of the stars.

pardon the interruption

During a girls weekend recently, we attempted a group shot in some BRIGHT sun, near a field of plumes (THE PLUMES!!  I DIED A THOUSAND DEATHS OVER HOW PRETTY THEY WERE!!!)  I'd been wanting to practice these hazey, full sun, almost hard-to-see-details kinds of images....I definitely did not quite nail the look I was going for.  But we had fun doing it, and got some stares from the locals...  I call that a success...

There were many many silly outtakes from that effort... But I wanted to share these two that I immediately fell in love with...


This one I love because, well...  it's so silly.  Jenn is wearing a ridiculous hat, and You can't even see all of Melyssa's face, but you can totally tell she is cracking up, and the hand-drawn picture of Dawn makes me giggle every time I think about it...  



I hope my friend Melyssa won't mind that I am putting her chest on the internet (ha!) but man, the way the light is literally sitting on her shoulder...  and the lens flare...  and the scarf...  and the backlighting around the edge of her arm...

This is my favorite image of 2012 so far, and it was shot by total accident.

I am sipping coffee, and enjoying Ingrid Michaelson's new CD (which is so far, really awesome - just sayin'.)  Happy Tuesday, everyone! 

 

A day in the life...

A group of New Hampshire photographers have gotten together to take on a blog project where we will focus on a particular theme each month...  I love projects like this!!  This month's theme was "a day in the life."

No two days are alike at Princeton House.  Living here is an evolution unlike any other I've been part of, and just when you think you've got the routine down, it changes.  BUT - around here - we love that!  We live for it.  It keeps us moving.  It keeps us on our toes. 

This particular day that I photographed was just any old Thursday.  Nothing fancy.  It started out with Jeff popping awake to realize that he'd forgotten to set our alarm...  So a late, and frantic start to the day it was...

He was a bit stressed...  The rest of us took it in stride...

After scrambling to make up lost time, and ship kids off to school (which was so frenzied I didn't get any pictures...) I began my long voyage to work.  A whole 2.5 minute commute.  Armed with my favorite travel coffee mug, off I went.  I was too lazy to even scrape the frost off my winshield...

Arriving at work, one of the very first things I do (every single day), is admire how pretty the light looks on the top level of the parking garage...

Then begins the 145 mile walk from the garage to my office.  No joke.  I suppose it is more important to let the patients park closer to the building than the employees, so I can live with that.  



Mid morning, my office-mate (hi, Steff!) and I go wandering through the gift shop for some coffee or tea, or a mid-morning snack...  And on Thursday's in-particular, around 10:30am I am visited by Keegan and my Dad, as that is their day to spend together...  

There are a lot of people who read this blog who probably think photography is my only job.  But the truth is, I spend M-F at Concord Hospital, working as a computer nerd in the Medical Lab, and it's where I've been for the past 10+ years now.  It's almost as much my home as Princeton House is.  Every now & then I'll wander off to an important meeting, or jet off to fix someone's computer problem...  But, for the most part, my HQ is right here at my messy little desk...  This particular day, I was working on some Quality Assurance reporting for 4th Quarter of 2011...  Fun stuff.  Highly exciting.

Every once-in-a-while I stop to see what's happening in my world...  My iPhone keeps me connected while I'm at work....

SNACK TIME...  Nom nom nom...

As I wind down the day, you might find me stealing a glance at these adorable faces that stare at me from the wall behind my desk...

Sometime around 4:30 or 5pm, it's quittin' time!  WOOHOO!  Different days mean different things...  Sometimes I have to swing around town to three different schools to pick up several different combinations of kiddos...  This particular day, 2 kids needed picking up, and one kid was being dropped off at Princeton House...  



Here's one of the kids...  Looking moderately happy to be going home....  HA!  And hey, sistah...  check out those fancy earrings...  I didn't know we were going out on the town tonight...  

 

This right here is Echo's favorite part of my day...  Well, at least his favorite part until his Dad gets home...

This particular evening, Jeff was working late, and Jacob had an away game for basketball.  My friend Stacy came over to grab some girl time, which quickly turned into Keegan showing her all his new games on his iPod.  Meanwhile, on the other side of the kitchen, I cracked open a bottle of our favorite sweet wine....  Yum.

Cooking dinner while chatting with a friend and sipping a glass of wine is a pretty great end to the day.  Later that evening, the little kids were tucked into bed, and the older kids were off studying for midterms, and playing video games...  Jeff came home sometime around 9pm after his meeting, and Princeton House for this Thursday came slowly to an end.

Ya know...  The funny thing is...  These pictures actually seem to make a normally very crazy and chaotic life look very peaceful and even a bit, umm, well... Serene...  I promise you, it is not like that at all... (HA!!) But in all honesty...  This crazy life is one that I love very much...  And I wouldn't trade it for the world...

And now, please continue along the blog party, and visit Kristen Reimold's blog to see a day in her life...  And leave some comment love along the way!    

lipstick love.

I love origins.  I really do.  Sometimes when I run out of one of my staple products, I will order something splurgy to make the minimum for free shipping...  This time it was this lipstick, in the daisy color.   

Ladies, I am in love.  It's sheer with a hint of color, it sparkles (no really), and it smells so incredibly yummy!  At the risk of sounding insane (which is a regular occurrence for this gal) I'd kinda like to smooch myself.

I love a good impulse buy.  I especially love when it pays off! 

Happy Monday!

 

 

What a Crafty Weekend Looks Like, Minus the PJ's

Just a few snaps from a recent crafty-girls-weekend down on the Cape, with some of my favorite girls.  It was a bit of an off weekend for all of us I think.  I am blaming it on post-holiday "blah's" but overall, I still love these girls, and this little escape.  Already looking forward to our next gathering in March... 

XO!  Thank you Jenn for hosting us once again!  As always, the island is one of my favorite places on earth. 

nature got the memo...

Often times, I will get to a session early and scope out the surroundings, see where the best light, and the prettiest backdrops are and just spend 20 - 30 minutes wandering and gathering ideas in my head...  I always enjoy the challenge of a new location.

But this time around, we were just down the street at Rollins Park, right here in Concord.  A place I spend many spring evenings watching my soon-to-be step-son's baseball games.  Rollins Park is familiar, I've shot there many times in the past, as well as spent summer days pushing my kids on the swings, and just generally running around or hanging out on the grass...  I know where the light will be.  I know where the prettiest trees are.  I know exactly what to expect when shooting there, which makes my job easy and comfortable, like my favorite pair of slippers.

What I wasn't expecting, as I walked up to greet the Rain family, was that nature definitely got the memo on what they'd be wearing to the shoot, and nature went ahead and coordinated the backgrounds PERFECTLY.  I am not sure the scenery could have been more perfect for this session if Bob Ross had painted it himself...

And how cute are these two?  Not only are they cute, but man-oh-man they were so sweet to each other!  There was a lot of hugging and playing and laughing during this session - and my personal favorite part was when they both shared with me their ideas for some creative posing...  LOVE when kids are so into it! 
 

My cup is literally overflowing with adorable...

Big thank you to the Rain family for spending the afternoon with me at one of my favorite little parks!  This is definitely one of my favorite sessions to date!

  

Relax

So there's this idea out in the world, about choosing a word in January, and letting that word guide you through the year.  It's called "One Little Word" and you can read more about it here if you are interested.  I haven't decided if I will join the class, or just do my own thing with my word yet...  Time will tell.

So obviously, I chose relax as my word.  It might sound like a pretty lame word to be focusing on for the year, but, friends, I NEED THIS WORD.   

Not just in the sense of kicking up my feet and chilling out, though that's good too... But I need to relax in the sense that sometimes I get so high strung about things, if I don't relax, my head will literally pop off my body and roll away faster than I can catch it.  I am not kidding.  I need relax in my life to help me remember that it is OK if my sugar cookies are not perfectly frosted.  I need relax in my life to help me remember that it's NOT A BIG DEAL that I am cleaning dried milk off the counter for the 45th time in one day.  I need relax in my life to keep me from FAH-REAKING OUT when the dog chews my favorite pen, and gets ink on the carpet...   

I need relax in my life to remind me that - yes, things can get frustrating - but they sure are awesome too.

There is a LOT going on at Princeton House on a daily basis.  We are a busy busy busy family with places to go and people to see and things to do and messes to make...  And my hope is that this word will help me to be a little more present in the midst of it all. 

Take a breath.  Slow it down.  Shake it off. 

Relax.

sweet & sleepy...

Remember that gorgeous Momma-to-be (and let's not leave out the handsome Dad, or the adorable puppy as well) from last summer's maternity session?  Well, shortly after that day at the apple orchard, a sweet little pumpkin was born, and I got to meet him too...

Newborns are absolutely becoming one of my FAVORITE things in the whole world to photograph.  It really doesn't get better than this.....

There are so many parts of this "job" that I love, but I especially love that through the beauty of photography, and facebook, I become personally vested in these families I work with... I don't know how I have managed to be so lucky, but I've truly had some of the best families out there through the first year of my business...  And right now I'm really looking forward to seeing this particular family again soon for another session...

How lady gaga changed my life...

(I'm just gonna go ahead and let you have a moment to giggle at that title as I'm having a hard time taking it seriously myself, but I promise there is a point to this story.)

When Lady Gaga first hit the scene, I was baffled.  I DID NOT GET IT!  Why do I want to ride someone's disco stick, exactly?  And even if I did, why are we singing about it??  What's the deal with my pa-pa-pa-poker face?  Why am I arriving to awards shows wearing meat dresses?  I just don't understand… She sort-of made my skin crawl - and I will admit, I still do not understand a lot of it…  But back in late 2010 she was on the Ellen Degeneres show, doing an interview that I just so happened to catch, and for the first time I saw a human side of her that made me stop dead in my tracks…

A portion of the interview turned to a conversation about "self worth" and opened up a dialogue where she shared a quick piece of information about how for five minutes a day she thinks compassionate thoughts about herself…  For whatever reason this idea struck a nerve deep within, and so I let it roll around in my mind for several days.  The idea of spending five minutes every day being nice to myself seemed so crazy.  Maybe that sounds silly to some of you, but the real honest and raw truth is, I am someone who is very mean to myself.  For the most part, I've never really been a big fan of this girl I am stuck with every single day.  She's irritating.  She's irrational.   She is horribly horribly shy and awkward and quiet (and it makes me SO ANGRY sometimes.) She's all over the place, and more than anything she frustrates me beyond all possible ends... There are times I wish she were someone else entirely... 

(And now she's talking about herself in the third person...  See how irritating she is?!!)

And because I don't like her, I am mean to her.  Meaner than the meanest bully you could ever possibly imagine...  I will spare you the details, because I know I am not the only person in the world who does this.  Just know that it's not exactly easy to admit it, so go easy on me.  

So last year, on January 1st, I decided to try Lady Gaga's method.  Five minutes a day - nothing but compassionate thoughts.  It was hard at first, and a bit ridiculous - five minutes is a long time - but I forced my way through it.  I started out being very superficial and for every nice thought, there was always a mean one ("You're having a good hair day, too bad your nose is so ugly") but eventually the forcing subsided, and the mean thoughts faded away, and those five minutes just became part of my routine…  And as the weeks and months ticked by, a transformation started to take place.  I stopped hating the girl in the mirror.  I started being more able to forgive her for being so annoying (she still is sometimes, but it's OK).  And sometimes now when the bully resurfaces, I'm quick to stick up for her, when in the past I'd just continue kicking her.

I'm not perfect (you're shocked, I know) so we still have work to do, she and I.  Old habits are hard to break…  And I will admit that humorous self-loathing is still my "go-to" in an awkward situation.  But we're getting there.  I can see clearly now that becoming the person I wish to be starts on the inside, and it's been my personal, private, and very difficult journey to help her heal.  To lead her to that place.  To help her overcome the sad parts, the angry parts, and the confusing parts of her life…   To be able to let a lot of it go.  Because what I've come to realize is that hanging onto all of that is making it hard to fully love and be present in this amazing life I've built around me...  And more than anything, that is what I want.

So that's what I'm focusing on for 2012, letting some of it go, and I might share some of that journey here along the way…  At least (for now) it is my goal for the new year, so I'll give it all I've got, and we'll see where I'm at next December.  I'd like to embrace that I am not a perfect person but to continue on this path to becoming a whole person, and to recognize that I am worth respecting, be-friending, and loving no matter how imperfect I might be…  I especially hope I can convince myself that those words are true, if nothing else...

So that's it.  Thanks for reading.  We'll get back to sharing photos around here soon, I promise…  This tends to be the time of year that brings along some reflection, some purging, and some redefining.  And, I tend to be the type of person that does that kinda stuff...  A recap of Christmas is coming soon, but for now....