Mar 24
0

spring twilight

By | Personal | 6 Comments

’tis the season for early morning yardsales, brunch on a patio and afternoons on the back deck, cocktail in hand, enjoying the honey sweet breeze and golden sunlight. this is the time of year when all things are new and my outlook can’t help but reflect that. i want to try new things, visit new places and learn something completely unexpected. i want my photography to grow. i want my images to be more elevated, singular and imaginative. clearly, spring has gotten to me!

back to where i started- spring is such a beautiful time to sit back and love the world around us. lucky for us, we recently seeded our yard which means a few weeks of twilight watering. which REALLY means chatting in the back yard swing while moving our little sprinkler six times so that it waters every corner of the yard. so, for around an hour, we’re pulled out of our little world of email, podcasts and editing and we just sit and watch the sparkling water fall around us. we talk about everything, or sometimes nothing. it’s such a great time for us- we may just stick to it even when the grass starts to grow!

lately, some nights, just before swing/sprinkler time, i make us a cocktail. i am hardly a recipe follower so usually i just combine what i like and hope for the best. then, i split it and add a little more sugar to matt’s and a little more bitterness to mine and we just sit and sip. on a really good night i’ll take down a little snack too but, honestly, i think that’s only happened once so far. ;) anyway, because a post is always better with a picture (and a recipe?), here is my latest favorite, let’s call it a rosemary old fashioned soda?

the recipe:
2 oz bourbon
2 dashes bitters
1 oz rosemary simple syrup
(1c sugar, 1c water, 2 sprigs rosemary, crushed, simmer, let cool)
1/2 of a caramelized lemon, juiced
(place lemon in a pan cut side down, cook at medium until warmed through & browned, let cool)
3 cherries
orange peel
rosemary sprig
soda
fill a tall glass with ice. throw in first 7 ingredients and swirl. top with soda. go sit outside. ;)

do you have a favorite back porch beverage? i’d love to hear about it! happy spring! :)

Mar 22
0

margaret & daniel are married!

By | Weddings | 9 Comments

there is something special about margaret & daniel that i cannot quite describe. i’ve been sitting here, sipping my coffee, trying to pinpoint exactly what makes them, them, and i just can’t find the right words. they are so respectful of one another- but respectful in a deeply romantic and loving way. margaret is quite reserved but so clearly full of happiness, contentment and love while daniel is a little more outgoing and seems to bring out the more playful side of their relationship. together, they are a wonderful couple and i’m sure their life together will be full of beauty and sweetness. it was such a joy to be part of their wedding day!

when matt & i arrived at villa christina to start shooting we walked into quite a relaxed atmosphere. daniel was surrounded by a small group of friends and family, making introductions, laughing and generally enjoying one another. the perfect way to start his wedding day:

…while the ladies were finishing up their makeup and double checking the decor in the reception space. margaret arrived just in time for a final dusting of powder and then it was off to meet daniel for a few portraits on the grounds. i love these next few shots of margaret; she is so naturally graceful and elegant! i wish when i put on makeup i looked like part of a beautiful dance.

 

after a few portraits it was time to relax before the ceremony. it was a time full of anticipation:

this next image might just be my favorite from their whole wedding celebration:

just after toasts, daniel surprised margaret by playing her favorite song. her reactions say everything:

while everyone really enjoyed the music, daniel & margaret’s reception was mostly a sweet time of catching up with friends and family and thanking them for sharing such a special day with them. however, margaret’s dad did get her mom (and quite a few others!) out on the dance floor eventually! i love this next set of margaret’s adorable mother as her husband is convincing her to dance:


margaret & daniel, thank you guys for allowing us to capture your beautiful wedding day! hope you’re relaxing and enjoying italy to the fullest. you guys are such a special couple; we wish you the very best!

Mar 14
0

an update!

By | Personal | 10 Comments

we are happy to report that there are little buds on our trees and daffodils peeking up randomly across our yard (WHY can’t they just stay put around the mailbox in pretty little bunches??) which means: spring wedding season is upon us! this past weekend we split out time between the lowe’s garden center and the absolutely beautiful wedding celebration of margaret & daniel- it could not have been a more excellent pairing! but we’ll talk all about that later, in their wedding post. ;) for now, just a scattered little update on the altmixes:

our website! over the past couple of months we’ve been slowly updating the site, re-writing some copy, uploading new images- just generally refining and cleaning things up. and, finally, for the first time since december of ’09, we took new images for our blog header! we’d love for you to click over and check out the new look- any and all stella compliments will be passed to her in the form of a treat, go!

in other news, the garden is about half planted and we’ve thrown down some clover seed in the yard. really all that means is that the lovely view from our kitchen is now of a somewhat organized mud pit. we’re crossing our fingers for a lush, green, delicious result! but for now:

other than that, we’re attempting to cut back on our coffee consumption so please bare with us as we whine and adjust. ;)

i’m noticing that this post is getting progressively more personal. i can feel the rambling starting in the recesses of my mind and if i let this continue i’ll end up telling you all about my current honey versus sugar dilemma and trust me, that would just be too much. so, instead! please do click over to the updated site– we’d love to hear your thoughts!