Andy & Julie - Maternity Portrait Session

Andy and Julie have been friends of ours for a few years. They helped us move into our house and whenever we always call "Handy Andy" to do things like hang the track lighting in my office and move furniture. He's good to us. We're glad for their friendship. 

They found out they are having a little boy, and he will be coming into the world in early December. I was so honored that they chose me to take some maternity portraits for them to celebrate and remember this special time in their life...the last few weeks before becoming parents. 

It was a brisk 19 degrees out on the Wednesday morning we'd scheduled the shoot. But they braved the cold and it was all made perfect when the sun came out for just the right amount of time. We took some pictures with their dog, Tank in their yard and then we went down to my favorite spot by Soap Lake. 

Their love for this baby and each other was unmistakable. I can't wait to meet their sweet little boy. 

The Hair Diaries - Copper Blonde

Now that the show is over, and I am no longer playing Poopsie I decided it was more than past time for a new hair style and color. I have been pinning ideas on my Beautiful Hair board forever, and a couple of my newest ones stood out to me. I fell in love with the idea of a coppery blonde color. 

These pins are a little darker than I ended up with (I mean, I was going from white hair to this, so...) but I love how it turned out. Hannah and I always have fun experimenting and we both are comfortable with the "wait and see how it turns out" style of processing. And this one turned out great! I love the dimension and body it has. Hannah has sweet skills. 

Here are my Before & After shots. 

I love changing my hair. It is an integral part of who I am. Platinum was an enjoyable season and surprisingly, my hair is still in great condition. Hannah helps me pick out the right products and I try really hard to not use too many hot tools on it, and let it air dry some days. I think I'm going to grow it out a little now... 

Here's to fresh hair and a new season of life. Hooray for copper blonde! 

The Pearl Family

I have known Lisa for almost as long as I've lived in Ephrata. She was always my go-to girl at our credit union, and we became friends during loans and transaction.  And then at her recommendation, we became co-workers. I started working at the credit union and we got even closer. We'd talked for a long time about getting together for family pictures for her, and this year we made it happen. 

It was a cold, but beautiful autumn day, and Lisa picked some great coordinating outfits for her family portraits. Her family glowed in the sun and they were a pleasure to work with...great smiles and fun interactions between siblings and parents. I'm so glad we made it happen. 

I love it when acquaintances become friends and then when I get the chance to give them the gift of photography. Capturing Lisa's family exactly as they are this year was a true pleasure. I hope these images help them remember 2014 with a smile. 

The Pajama Game - Becoming Poopsie

It has been quiet on the blog front, but not quiet in real life, that's for sure. The biggest thing that has filled my days has been local Masquer's Theater's production of The Pajama Game. I was cast as Poopsie in August, and we just finished up 5 weeks of shows. Friday and Saturday night and then a matinee on Sundays. Phew! It was a lot of work...but sooo rewarding. 

Becoming Poopsie was such a fun journey. She is a fun-loving flirt with a fondness for Monday mornings and a pep in her step that could make anyone smile. Poopsie works with her best friends at the Sleep Tite Pajama factory in Ohio, and they are all in a battle for a 7 and a half cent raise. The play is set in the 50's so we had a set full of vintage sewing machines, terrific bright colors, lots of polka dots and a cast wearing amazing, time period costumes. And I got my hair and white as possible, cuz that's how Poopsie would do it. 

I also had the privilege of doing the poster and program design for this production. And I got to be on the poster!! It was so neat seeing my work up all around town. I had a lot of fun working with 50's colors and fonts and vintage sewing ephemera to create the designs. Then I made little personal invitations for each character to share on Facebook and text to their friends to invite them to see the show. They were a big hit. 

I had 8 costume changes, including a pink pair of pajamas and some adorable houndstooth pants.  This play is full of amazing songs, great dance numbers, funny one-liners and characters you can't help but fall in love with. Another great part of this play was having Chris in the cast too. Our characters got to flirt a little and it made it extra special. 

Also I got to be in a special dance number called Steam Heat with 4 other girls. We wore fishnet stockings, black shorts, white button up shirts, bow ties and bowler hats. It was probably the most rehearsed musical number in Masquer's history, but it was so much fun. Glad I got to be a part of it. 

Here are some of my favorite images from the play. My friend Marta came to the show and took some of me so I would be able to have the memory of being Poopsie forever. I love these pictures. 

I am so grateful to my dear friend, and director Holli for casting me as Poopsie and believing that I could do her justice. It was a highlight of my year. I made some new great friends and loved sharing this journey with them.