Booo stomach flu!

Sooo, I have the stomach flu. And let me just say, this is the worst sickness I have ever had in my entire life. I'm usually a strep throat, sinus infection kind of girl. I think I was six the last time I got the stomach flu, and I don't remember it being this horrible. Sooo needless to say I'm pretty wiped out, and just trying to get better now. I have some soup that I'm going to attempt to eat in a minute, so this should be interesting. ;-)

If you sent me an email in the past couple of days and I haven't responded, I promise to get back to you by the end of the week! Thanks for your patience!!! :-)

Sabrina :-)

Here are a few photos I took of my brand new niece Sabrina the other week when I was up visiting my soon to be sister in law Marie! Isn't she adorable? I love her!

Mikey and I are going to be in North Jersey this weekend for Sabrina's Christening (Mikey is soooo excited he's the Godfather), and while we're up there I'm going to be shooting a totally awesome engagement session that I'm really excited about! Yay!

Have an awesome weekend everyone!! :-)





:-)

Get out and VOTE!

Today is PA Primary Day!! So just as a reminder for all you PA residents....


(Check out that AWESOME sign!)

I just got back from the polls myself and there was barely a line which was great! I'm so anxious to hear the outcome of the Democratic race here in PA. Any predictions?

What goes on?!

Something has happened. I used to pride myself on my pretty decent taste in music - favorites included Pink Floyd, Radiohead, pretty much any classic rock. Good music. But sometime in the past year or so something happened. I don't know when or how exactly, but my taste in music has become...questionable. And now my inner 14 year old seems to be in charge and I have to admit that my current favorite song is...




I looooove this song and I can't help it! What has happened to me?! Please tell me I'm not alone.

:-)

Katie & Jason: Portrait

Katie has been doing like theee most amazing job ever on the engagement sessions of Mikey and I for our "year of engagement" guest sign in book for our wedding, so I thought the least I could do is repay her with a photoshoot of her and Jason! :-) It's so much fun having one of my closest friends be such an amazing photographer because we get to talk photography all the time, which Jason and Mikey just LOVE (and by love, I mean not love). hehe. But they hang in there and that's why they're the best. :-)

So the other weekend Katie and Jason met me at the Wawa at the corner of 202 and 73, and we proceeded to drive around to some super cool spots for their super fun photoshoot. YAY! Here are a few from their shoot (with a slideshow of some more at end!)





I spied this super cool broken down van in a school parking lot. All the windows were shattered and there was a bit of a mold issue, but Katie and Jason were major troopers. :-)







OK, so the photo below has a fun little story. I had this vision in my mind of wanting to get a photo of Katie and Jason cuddling in a field with a plane flying above. So I found this park by Wings Field, a small local airport. So right when I was completely unprepared with the wrong lens on my camera and like way far away from Katie and Jason, the PERFECT low flying plane swooped over and I was soooo bummed! Well since it was kind of overcast, planes weren't really flying overhead too often, so I told Katie and Jason to be prepared to jump up and cuddle as soon as we heard a motor. Well the below photo is the result of me screaming "GET UP! GET UP, HURRY!!!!" at them (they were currently preparing to pose for the above photo - I completely scared them half to death!) and trying to capture my vision. Well....it didn't quite turn out as my vision and it was the only other plane to fly over us for the rest of the day. :-( I think it looks more like a large bird of prey circling above. haha :-)



Well I was bound and determined to get a shot with a plane in it so we went to Wings Field and befriended some helicopter pilots who let us take some shots really quickly. :-)



And I thought the perfect end to the shoot would be by a horse farm down the road since Katie loves horses. The horses were so beautiful and they came right up to the fence!





And here is a Slideshow of some more from our super fun day!!

Yay Katie and Jason! :-)

Ashley :-)

My cousin Ashley and I were driving around yesterday when we drove under a highway overpass and I suddenly turned to her and said, "so how do you feel about posing for a couple of shots??". Ashley is a photographer too, so she totally gets the whole sudden spying of a funky looking location and needing to do a photoshoot. :-) Neither of us was looking particularly "photo ready", but luckily Ashley is one of those people who barely needs a stitch of makeup to look great. So here are just a few shots from our impromptu photoshoot. :-)















:-)

Summertime :-)

I love summer sooo very much. And the weather today has just put me in the best mood ever! It's just beyond gorgeous outside! Even though there are a few building storm clouds, what is better than a storm when it's warm out? Love it.

I took the photo below as the ice was melting after an ice storm this past winter, and I liked it but just never got the chance to post it. So I thought it would be good to post today in my happy summertime mood to say, "See ya winter!".



Have a fantastic day everyone!! :-)

Jen & Tore: Portrait

Holy hot couple Batman! Jen and Tore totally worked it for our photoshoot the other weekend and I was loving every minute! They were AMAZING! We decided to do the portrait session down around Penn's Landing and had such a blast walking all around and exploring all the little side streets that connect to it.

Jen is my cousin, so that automatically makes her way cool (yay Jen!). But what's super cool about Tore is not just that he brought many outfit options to the session, but that he is also from Australia! I LOOOVED his accent. You don't know how hard it was to resist the temptation to ask him to say "vegemite" and "Foster's, Australian for beer". But thank God I didn't because how embarrassing! But really, what is vegemite anyway??

Here are a few images from my portrait session with Jen and Tore. :-)



I was totally digging this escalator.















Jen has always been so gorgeous. Growing up I always wanted to have her beautiful blue eyes and blonde hair. What the heck? Darn genetics.





I think this one below has to be my favorite. How hot are they?!





To view more from our session, check out the Slideshow! :-)

Jen and Tore, it was an absolute pleasure!!! You two completely rock. Muaaah!

***And just a note to all other couples and prospective clients, I am taking bookings now for engagement sessions and portrait sessions over the summer months! So be sure contact me to set up your personal photoshoot! :-)

Bill & Emily: Wedding

Bill and Emily are two of the most genuine and sweet people I've ever met. They met as students at Temple University, and have been inseparable ever since. You can tell how much in love they are just by how they look at each other. They were made for each other.

I had the opportunity to shoot their wedding this past December right before Christmas with Katie and just never got a chance to blog their wedding! So here are just a few of my favorites from their wedding day. :-)





Doesn't Emily just look like a princess?









Bill and Emily knew their priest personally which makes for the most fun ceremonies. :-)







Emily was really excited to get to the reception. :-)





Bill and Emily, it was so wonderful to share in your amazing day! I wish you both all the love and happiness in the world. :-)

Public Speaking 101

Yesterday afternoon I had the honor of speaking at my alma mater, Muhlenberg College! This year the college is celebrating 50 years of co-education. How cool is that?



I received a phone call about a month ago asking if I would be a panelist for their "Women Entrepreneur's" Panel, and I of course immediately said yes! I was beyond flattered. What I hadn't considered was my complete and total fear of public speaking. Like, I'm not even kidding. This one time I froze during a presentation in college and just stood there in front of a class of 30 other students and didn't say anything for 5 whole minutes. It was HORRIBLE! But I had agreed and so I was determined!

So on my drive yesterday I practiced over and over and over again what I was going to say. I had it memorized word for word. And when I was introduced (the first one to go! I always pick the worst seat!) I all of a sudden forgot EVERYTHING I had prepared. Panic spread throughout my entire body, and I could feel the heat rising in my face. But then I just started talking. And talking and talking and talking. And I probably should have stopped talking sooner than I did, but I really started to have fun! It was great having so many students interested in what I am doing and how I got here. So while I probably came off pretty nervous at the beginning, I like to think that I ended strong, and that's what matters, isn't it? ;-)

Thanks to everyone who came to the panel! It was so awesome getting to speak with some of you one on one afterwards! :-)

And yes, the m&ms are already gone. Bad Lauri. ;-)

Nicky

This is Nicky, Sandra and Carlos. They are the most amazing family I have ever met. In 2001, Nicky was diagnosed with Metachromatic Leukodystrophy (MLD). This past weekend I had the honor of photographing Nicky and his parents through The American Child Photographers Charity Guild with Katie (of Katie McMenamin Photography. Be sure to check out her blog for even more photos.). Words cannot express how deeply touched I was by Nicky and his family, and I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to meet them and hear their story.



Nicky's parents are beyond inspiring. They have such a deeply rooted faith in God and His plan for them. Carlos explained that they don't like to ask God, "Why?" but instead ask, "What is the purpose? What can they do to turn Nicky's illness into a positive to help other children?". And that is Nicky's Mission.







You can check out Nicky's website, caringbridge.org/visit/nicky to find out more about him and ways you can help.











Nicky was such a trooper through all the photos, but definitely started to get sleepy towards the end. :-)



Nicky, Sandra and Carlos, it was such an honor to be invited into your home. You are truly angels. I keep you all in my thoughts and prayers every single day and hope that anyone who reads this will take the time to stop by Nicky's site.

Click Here for a slideshow of a few more of Nicky and his family :-)