Giving Back
Good Deed / Connecticut Wedding Photographer
To the Starbuck’s employee in Milford:
Thank you for finding my iPad, planner and notebook and putting it safely aside. You could have just as easily left it sitting on the couch or stolen it. Really. I can’t believe how much kindness and concern you took to make sure it was held safely until I realized I was a moron and had left it behind. Who leaves an iPad on the couch of Starbucks? I mean, c’mon Brooke!
I won’t forget your generosity and hope that others reading this will try and do a gesture of kindness today, too.
XOXO
B
Gratitude, twenty-eight and a giveaway/ Connecticut and Boston Wedding Photographer
I spent this past weekend celebrating one of my best friend’s (and college roommate of 4 years!) bridal shower and bachelorette party. It was such a fun weekend celebrating and catching up with friends from the past. As I dropped her off I hugged her tight and on cue … cried. Cried? I cannot believe I cried saying goodbye to her. I mean, I am seeing her tonight for dinner so there was really no need for the tears. But I couldn’t help it. I was just so happy and felt like my soul had been filled up and recharged after such a fun weekend with my college friends. Not an hour before the tearful goodbye, we were shopping and I had come across this gorgeous notebook with the word GRATITUDE on the cover. It got me thinking why I don’t keep a gratitude journal? Just one little precious thought each day of something you are grateful for puts things in perspective and goes a long way. So I’m starting today and figured I’d share the few things I’m feeling grateful for:
1. it was not cold today when I drove Jeremy to the train. I hate climbing out of a warm bed and into the freezing cold. Giant old lady bathrobe was not needed today. Yay.
2. i woke up to tons of happy birthday messages on FB. As silly as that sounds, they make me smile. And I always hear from old HS friends which is awesome.
3. my coffee tasted extra perfect today. Priceless.
Today’s the big ‘ole 2-8. EEK. I have a poor attitude about birthdays since the big 2-5 passed. For me, they remind me that I’m quickly getting old and not moving as fast as I had hoped. They remind me that I’m rapidly approaching 3-0 and the thought of babies still freaks me out. Big time. But today, in light of my whole gratitude speech, I’m going to be bright and cheery about the big 28. I’m going to be grateful for an amazing past year (the last 12 months have literally been life changing) and dive into 28 with the expectations that it will blow my mind. Because really, we should all be grateful each morning when we open our eyes and realize we get another day to make memories, smile more, do good things and get pedicures. Another thing I am grateful for – ha!
So because it’s my birthday and I am sure to get some presents, I am going to give a present away myself. If you are a 2011 bride of mine, convince your friends to go and “like” my facebook page and then leave a comment that they came from YOU. The bride with the MOST new fans on my page will get $100 print credit! Contest starts NOW and ends Thursday, April 14 at 6 p.m.
Me and the gorgeous bride-to-be from this past weekend – xoxo nora! (gotta love those iPhone pics!)
Scuff Marks / Connecticut and Boston Child Photographer
This morning I willingly got up at 6 am. I jumped up, fed the dogs and started cleaning behind the couches. You know, the cleaning where you move out all the furniture and see the horrors that are hiding in all the little nooks. This cleaning followed up on some late night cleaning that happened yesterday. You know, the late night cleaning where you get a wet rag and wipe down all the baseboards. The cleaning where you take a Mr. Clean Magic eraser and walk room to room, searching for little scuff marks on the wall to wipe off. You know, good ‘ole Friday night fun.
It’s funny because I never once stopped to think that maybe my incessant cleaning (which is NOT normal) was a sign that I was coping with something. Actually, that thought didn’t hit me once. What did cross my mind the past 24 hours is that there are a lot of scuff marks on the walls. And dust bunnies in places I could have sworn didn’t even exist. And that my dogs shed more than a dog farm. For real.
Yesterday morning I shadowed a photographer in a Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep request. I went along, asked questions, thought in my head about how I would handle things when I wasn’t shadowing (but actually shooting) and just plain took it all in. I didn’t cry once. Not even on the ride home … ok, there was one tiny tear on the ride home. A teeny one. J greeted me nervously at the door and I proclaimed, “I’m fine, I’m totally fine. See?” I could see him breathe a massive sigh of relief.
But then last night the crazy scuff mark cleaning began and this morning, those darn couches got moved out. So it’s hitting me. Flat in the face, hurts in my heart, hitting me. And my coping mechanism is cleaning behind the couches and eliminating scuff marks. I’m furiously cleaning for the family going home this week without their baby. Because it’s the only way I know how to let out all the sadness and try to remember that beneath all the “why’s” and “this just isn’t fair”, a gorgeous little life was here for just a short time and she touched so many people. She even touched strangers who only got to spend a few moments with her. Her life had purpose. So for any of you who didn’t understand why I joined this organization, or for anyone who just doesn’t get how photographers can show up and take photos, this is why: to have heirloom photographs that serve as a reminder that these children had a purpose. Their life did matter.
Now, it’s back to the scuff marks.
Thanks&Giving / Connecticut and Boston Photographer
Well, I typed this huge post and had all this dramatic talking in it and then my computer crashed … and I lost it all. Ugh. So instead of retyping a huge post and telling everyone that I cry big, wet tears every week because my life is so insanely joyful, I will just show you a slideshow of photos from this year. Photos of clients who are just a small representation of amazing people who bring me insane joy. People who make my realize that I am living the most incredible life and have so much to be thankful for.
The spirit of thanksgiving and being thankful comes with the idea that we all should not only give thanks, but give back. So send me someone you think deserves a portrait shoot or an organization that needs a raffle prize. I’ll give away one shoot to one lucky person or organization.
Happy Thanksgiving all.
Calling all destination weddings / Connecticut and Boston wedding photographer
So you know how much I love a giveaway. As I prepare for the launch of my new website this summer, I’ve done a lot of thinking about what type of business I want to be and what I am hoping for in the future. I’ve focused on areas that I want to expand and that leads me to the giveaway …
I’ve never shot a destination wedding. Sure, a wedding is a wedding so a destination wedding must be like a local wedding. Not exactly. Destination weddings often tend to be intimate (because they are often smaller) and offer a different sort of vibe that I want to experience.
SO – if you are a bride having a destination wedding and want me to shoot it for free – email me! I’m offering ONE full day wedding photography package on.the.house. The only catch is that you have to pay my travel expenses to the wedding. And that does not mean seven nights in a hotel and first class tickets. It means hotel stay for the night before and night of the wedding and airfare – in a regular coach seat.
Tell your friends and spread the word. Good luck to all destination wedding brides!
