Today it is my turn to participate in *Blog It Forward* a blogging *mashup* by more than 300 bloggers started by Victoria at sfgirlbybay The topic is *what inspires me…*

For some one who normally lets my photos do the talking - today I am going to {mostly} try to WRITE about what inspires me…

…my son’s endless fascination with how things work; his weird sense of humor and how he cracks himself up; his love for nature and animals (and Bindi the Jungle Girl)…

…my daughter’s complete and utter fearlessness….and her giggles…and her fashion sense… (that last one is a joke!)

…when I catch the two of them snuggled up on the coach…or hiding in a *fort* made with blankets….or scheming together over some practical joke…

…that my hubby still brings me flowers…a LOT :) and chips and salsa :) (not saying which one i enjoy more!)

…the book “The Happiness Project”
by Gretchen Rubin which I just finished reading and can’t bring myself to loan out yet. ever had a book just *speak* to you?? that’s how i feel about this book - i am driving my friends bonkers with talking about ideas and theories….but I can unequivocally state that *I am HAPPIER* since reading it and starting to put bits and pieces into play in my own life…

….hiking *my mountain* - a local 2 mile hike that I’ve been doing recently (it makes me *happy*!) sunshine, clean air, and wildflowers blooming like crazy….

…dogs. especially mine. and the people who love them. dog people are just good people :) my *puppies* (i have 3) are all getting a bit older and I can’t bear to think about losing them someday…whenever i am sad snuggling with my pups makes me feel better. i know the non-dog people out there won’t understand…but that’s okay :)

…my friends. i am so very very lucky - i have funny friends :) they make me laugh - and they put up with me - and they accept me as i am :) yep, i am a lucky girl…

…auto-correct on the iPhone - it is good for endless fits of giggles because I never read any texts before hitting *send* so some of the texts i send are just meaningless rambling - cracks me up! - and while we are talking iPhone, might I also mention the Hipstamatic app? and ShakeItPhoto? oh, oh, oh - and if you have kids, you must try *SmackTalk*!

…the cast each season of *the Biggest Loser*. at the finale each season I cry like a baby - i am so happy for them knowing they have transformed their lives, not just their bodies. Kind of like I felt when Eliza Doolittle comes down the stairs dressed for the ball in *My Fair Lady*. So proud. Silly, I know….but proud anyway…

…too many photographers to name inspire me (that’s a whole ‘nother BLOG in the works!) but for right now - I will say that I am inspired by those photographers who put their gifts into action…like my friend Nichol Krupp who just started returned from Haiti and started an organization Hey! Tee to help with the disater relief there….and Jeremy Cowart, who in adddition to being a brilliant photographer, started Help-Portrait where photographers can come togther and give back…and my friend Jessie Baldwin who is in Africa right now documenting an adoption but also helping an orphanage…these people are a TRUE INSPIRATION…

…this clip from the movie “Rocky Balboa”. Why, yes, i am a giant dork and I love the Rocky movies and I love the message Rocky gives his son in this clip. I **heart** Rocky. :)

and lastly - i have been recently inspired to take on a BIG challenge for an AMAZING cause. I have just started training for a TRIATHLON with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training program to raise money to help fight leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and other blood cancers. You can read more about my endeavor by visiting my page (linked in the box) including information about the 7 year old boy I am doing this in honor of - his name is Tyler and he will be featured here on the blog in the next few weeks (as soon as he is feeling up to it!) Please visit my page, donate if you can and send me lots of good wishes and positive energy - I will need it!

Thanks for checking out my site! You can read more about the Blog It Forward mashup and see a list of everyone participating at this list at sfgirlbybay and visit the other bloggers participating today: Audzipan Design , Oh So Beautiful Paper, Clementine, Reading my Tea Leaves, Enhabiten, Sonya Mac Designs, The Fairly Constant Reader, Make Something, Where Women Create

I travelled down south to San Clemente and met up with this lovely mommy and her adorable family. It was one of those so rare rain-pouring-down-in-southern-California days - I was a little concerned that we wouldn’t be able to shoot - but I’m so happy we went ahead and tried! Little miss *K* is such a sweet and friendly little girl - she took me by the hand and showed me her treasures, her room and the new baby’s room (baby is due any moment now and they still don’t know the sex - I think that is so cool!)

So, i said *let’s all pile up on the bed for a family shot* - and look who wanted to take center stage!

beautiful belly in bright baby’s bedroom (try saying that 5 times fast!)

miss*k*’s new room - fit for a princess!

one hot mama!

she was so proud of the *big sister* t-shirt!

seriously? are you supposed to be this gorgeous and glowing? look at that smile - she just lights up a room!

I started designing a gorgeous coffee table book for one of my favorite clients today (on their BOAT!! can’t wait to show you!) when I realized I had somehow never posted their last session. As a *storytelling* photographer, I think there is no better way to show off your session than with a custom designed coffee table book. Just think, there are moments that are captured that you may not want to blow up huge and hang on your wall - but sometimes those are the moments that you will treasure most when you look back….

I wish I had photographed this lovely family’s book before I delivered it (it was STUNNING!) but will share a few spreads of the book here :)

Twenty years ago today - I waded out into the Atlantic Ocean and scattered my dad’s ashes into the waves. My father LOVED the beach so much - it gives me comfort to this day when I look at the ocean and think of him…

I didn’t grow up with my Dad, my parents got divorced when I was 4 years old and my Mom and I moved away. I would spend summers and holidays with my Dad in New York -but since he had a true *bachelor pad* ( let’s just say I come by my *messiness* honestly! ) I would stay with my grandparents. My Dad got to be the *fun dad* and pick me up to go to the beach, to go roller skating or to head out for fun adventures. We always had a great time… he would sit through me playing “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” over and over and over again for hours without complaint…but we didn’t have the typical father/daughter relationship. I always loved my Dad, and I knew that he loved me….but it wasn’t something we would SAY very much. That would feel awkward.(I know that sounds sad, but it wasn’t - it was just the way it was)

Anyway, I grew up and became a pain-in-the-ass teenager and would much rather hang out with my friends in the summer - so my times with my dad became shorter and shorter. I missed him, but I was busy having fun. Then, the year before he died, I saw this card that *spoke to me* and I bought it for him for Father’s Day. It was one of those Blue Mountain Arts mushy-gushy cards - and it was able to PERFECTLY express all the things I would never have been able to say myself. Something along the lines of *Dad, I know we don’t say *I Love you* very much*, but that’s okay. I always know that you love me and I love you too* only it was way longer and gushier than that….

Father’s Day rolled around and you know what I did?

Nothing.
I didn’t mail it.
I was too *embarrassed*.

Fast forward to October that year (1989) and I had just been hired to be a flight attendant with USAir. I was headed off to Pittsburgh for my training and I ran across the card. I quickly addressed the envelope, threw a stamp on it and mailed it before I could have second thoughts.

February 8, 1990 my Dad died suddenly. He played racquetball that morning, went for a walk on the beach, got back to his girlfriend’s house and said “I don’t feel so good” - then was gone. Just like that. I have always been thankful that someone who was so vibrant, so full of life, such a *life of the party* man - didn’t have to suffer through a prolonged illness. But going suddenly can leave things unsaid.

I flew to New York and headed to his disaster zoneapartment. There, in the midst of all his stuff - there it was.

On his bedside table.
The card that I had bought, the card that said the *perfect thing*, the card I ALMOST did not mail.
I could never explain how much peace that brought me. For although we didn’t *talk about stuff like that* much….

He knew.

This is how I remember my Dad. Might have something to do with the fact that he had gazillions of these headshots scattered all the place!

My Dad was quite a bit older than my Mom. He fought in World War 2 - in this photo he is 18 and in the army serving in Germany and France.

This is one of the VERY FEW photos I have of me and my Dad. Although we spent ever summer together, I guess no one ever had a camera. Photos really are priceless (that’s why I always try to *force* reluctant moms and dads into getting in some of the shots!)

A wild and crazy guy, his motto and favorite song was *Don’t Worry, Be Happy* by Bobby McFerrin.

This is probably the last photo I have of my Dad before he passed away. I do have quite a collection of him through the years holding big fish :)

Looking for something in last year’s folder, saw this snapshot again and it made me smile :) hmmmm- wonder where they got their fashion sense???

So, today is the day I *relinquish my title* - the awards ceremony for our state convention is tonight and the lovely *Children’s Photographer of the Year* moniker will be bestowed on some other fine photographer! I am sure whoever (whomever?) it is will be worthy….but can’t help but daydream… it would be fanFREAKINtastic if the awards were kind of like the Miss America pageant (just go with me here…)

Just picture - there I am, dressed to the nines in some sparkly little number - I have my sash and my tiara and my fake tan and an armful of fragrant flowers - and before they call out the name of the new winner a song begins and I get to slowly walk around the stage with a big smile and teary eyes while my voiceover tells all about the things I’ve learned and the experiences I have had over the past year….the song slowly fades out….I take one last look at the crowd…blow a few more kisses…and just smile and wave….

Yeah, well….it was a nice little fantasy.

Instead, here I am in my jammies (pink flannel with Rudolph - MUCH cozier than the sparkly little fantasy dress- you DID want to know, didn’t you?) I am not even AT this years awards banquet (and how am I so sure I didn’t win?, you ask?)

“YOU WILL ALWAYS MISS 100% OF THE SHOTS YOU DON’T TAKE” ~~Wayne Gretzky

Yep - I am a slacker and couldn’t get it together to even enter this year! Instead, I have decided to relive past glory, one last time….smile and wave….

Here is the lovely Miss Alex. Last year *Best of Show* winner and the entry that earned me *Children’s Photographer of the Year* Be looking for her lovely face to be on my blog again SOON (can’t wait to see her!)

Now, normally I wouldn’t consider posting my other two merit prints, but since they are my own kids and I am a proud mommy, I will :)

See you next year!

*Happiest Place on Earth* + really cute kids (redheads!!) = super fun session!!

This gorgeous little man is the newest addition to one of my favorite families! His Mom has such a lovely sense of style, I was so happy to travel to Las Vegas and shoot in their beautiful home (normally I see them on the beach here in LA!) - here’s a link to their last beach session
one of my all-time FAVORITE beach sessions!

Baby *E*’s mom got this vintage cap on a trip to Paris - isn’t he just the cutest?

PS - the GORGEOUS paintings (that I drooled over all over her home!) are from an amazing French artist laurence-amelie.com-
CLICK HERE to visit laurence-amelie.com website
Her work is featured in Rachel Ashwell’s stores in Santa Monica, NYC and London - her paintings are just exquisite!

~~~ahem~~~It has been brough to my attention (umm - numerous times!) that I have been rather *inconsistent* wih my blog posting these last few months. Inconsistent, in this instance, means “what the heck have you been doing since OCTOBER? Why haven’t you BLOGGED??” I guess it would be too easy for me to say that I’ve been BUSY - so I will resist the urge to make lame-o excuses and just start posting photos like a crazy person!! This should be a busy week - here we go….

First up- let me introduce the beautiful family of an amazing photographer- Lisa Thomas from Tennessee (check out her site at Kiralisa Photography) I was so excited to meet her and her STUNNINGLY gorgeous family - are they not just beautiful???

Am I weird that I always love the *wacky* family shots so much more than the *normal* ones??

My little friend Ava was in need of a new comp card to launch her into fame and fortune! With her gorgeous wild locks and contagious smile - she is sure to go far….and I’ll be able to say “I knew her when…”

Meet baby *R* -just 10 days old, this little man is such a precious little bundle of love. Pretty darned cute, isn’t he? BUT, if you want to see more, first you have to look at some of the layouts from the AWESOME maternity session I had with his beautiful mommy-to-be! (and you too Daddy!)

Now, when you walk in a home and see a gazillion guitars and totally rad posters on the wall - you know its not going to be your *ordinary, run-of-the-mill* maternity session - and it certainly wasn’t! These two were so fun, so *think-outside-of-the box* and best of all, SO in love with one another and looking forward to the birth of their first baby. I knew I had stumbled into something special! Here are a few of the two-page spreads I designed for them…..

Okay, okay, not that you’ve had your fill of rock-star-maternity eye candy - I’ll let you peek a little more at this beautiful little man!

A little fun with mirrors…

So flawless…

Dontcha just love how *baby #1* stands guard while mommy breastfeeds? I love this pup!