Amy Fit NYC

NYC Portrait Photographer

A few weekends ago, I happily captured some headshots and portraits of Amy, who recently left her job to pursue her true passion - fitness! I met Amy through our gym and am blown away by her strength and speed every time we are in the same class or I watch her finish a workout. She will soon be taking her exams to become a certified personal trainer, but it is already easy to see what a fantastic teacher and role model she will be for her clients!

These photos were shot in Brooklyn, some overlooking the Manhattan skyline, some in her friend's building gym, and a few especially awesome photos were shot on a very colorful graffiti wall! Enjoy the photos and be sure to check out Amy's blog!

Mint Juleps

New Recipe on Dolcetto Confections

Tomorrow is Derby Day! And since you cannot (absolutely cannot!) celebrate the day without a proper Mint Julep, you'll find my recipe for it on Dolcetto Confections today!

Our Wedding Invitation Suite

Wedding Wednesday

I hope it isn't bad luck to share your wedding invitation suite before the big day, because I just know I can't wait much longer to share it with you! I did manage to control myself from posting until after our guests had actually received their invites!

As you might remember from our Save the Dates, this was one area of our wedding budget that we decided to cut back on a little bit. And in all honesty, as a lover of beautiful paper products, I just wasn't finding exactly what I wanted through sources with pre-made designs. So I was more than happy to take full control of our invitations!

I designed both our wedding ceremony and welcome dinner invitations. Our wedding ceremony invitations were printed on the paper I am currently in love with – Crane's 110# Lettra – which is cushy, soft, and off-white. I designed the border to mimic the brick pathways that run through the campus of William & Mary, where we are getting married. We are putting on a welcome dinner, instead of a rehearsal dinner, for our guests at our favorite BBQ place in Williamsburg, so I designed a really fun, low-key invitation for that evening! Because our wedding reception is more casual – at our favorite college bar – than our ceremony, I also decided to include a separate invitation for that portion of the day. I found really cute postcards from Girl in Gear Studio on Etsy and we had them customized (tri-corner hat included!).

But I couldn't just stop there! The belly bands were one of my most difficult choices, but in the end I just loved the way Lindsay Letters designed this sentiment from the Book of Common Prayer, through which I ran a beautiful green a white striped ribbon – to mimic a summery bow tie!

The envelopes were a HUGE project – I hand lettered every single one of them! - but I just loved the way they came together. I kept the envelope liners simple with a shimmery, ivory paper (thanks Mike for lining all of the envelopes!) and closed each with a small stripe of white and gold striped washi tape. As a former stamp collecting nerd, just any old stamps weren't going to cut it! I purchased stamps commemorating Williamsburg from 1988 and stamps of Thomas Jefferson (a W&M alum!) on eBay and paired them with a series of herb stamps.

So what do you think?!

Staten Island Ferry

New York City

A few weekends ago, Mike and I traveled to Staten Island to celebrate his grandmother's 90th (!) birthday. With our move to North Carolina just a few weeks away, we have both been trying to soak in as much of this city as we still can. Mike suggested we take the ferry, which I had never taken and he hadn't been on for many years. It was one of the first spring days, so we were able to stand on the decks without a cold wind freezing us to our core.

We actually very rarely travel all the way to lower Manhattan, but I always love seeing that portion of the skyline, especially with the Statue of Liberty in the distance and Freedom Tower standing tall. I joined the throngs of tourists to snap a few photos of our trip - enjoy!

My New York Bridal Shower

Wedding Wednesday

I’ve been a very terrible blogger lately, unable to find any time to carve out of an insane schedule to plan, photograph, sit, and write posts for this little space. Perhaps I wouldn’t feel so guilty about it if it wasn’t for the fact that I really love the process of blogging. I love planning each post, sharing my thoughts and photos with you, creating recipes that I think you might enjoy creating. I miss the creative process.

I wish there was a better solution, but this is just one of those times that I just need to keep pushing through. There is nothing I can take off my plate – my job, our wedding, the move, my business, all of these things require my attention. But July is on the horizon, the month when I suspect the pace of life will begin to slow a bit. That month seems so close as we are trying to piece together so many pieces of our move and new life in North Carolina; yet each morning when I wake up with circles under my eyes, darker than the day before, it seems too far in the distance to grasp.

On another note, a few weekends ago, Mike’s mother and aunts hosted a bridal shower for family in New York. There was delicious food and wine, great conversation, and beautiful flowers! Unfortunately, I only arrived equipped with my iPhone (so please do excuse the lower quality of these images!), but I managed to snap a few photos before the afternoon began!