Annie Torrini Photography

Since Brandon and I recently had our own private photo shoot,

I decided to forgo the family pictures and go

with a shoot for the kiddos only.

I have never done an "urban" setting

and was excited to give that look a try.

I think the urban setting forces you to focus on the "pretty"

in the picture, your eye doesn't get distracted

by nature's beauty.

For this, I chose Annie Torrini Photography,

and my goodness did she deliver the look I was

looking for.

Feast your eyes, of course, I think they are just

the biggest cutie pies, but that's cuz they are mine.

Doesn't Annie do a great job?

Oh, and you should witness her while she works,

she was jumping all around, making funny faces and noises

and I just kept out of the way....maybe that's why

the pictures turned out so darn good!

Annie told me she likes to do urban photography, 

she had the ideas of where to go.  

It ended up that we just hopped out of the car in downtown Saint Paul.

Thanks Annie, for capturing my kiddos' personality!

Can you tell that Tatum has a sassy attitude and 

that Turner is the world's biggest flirt?!?!

Toodles....

Wedding Anniversary Photo Shoot

As our 5 year wedding anniversary was approaching I started to come up

with ideas to make it a fun one to remember.

I asked Brandon if he wanted to renew our vows,

he quickly replied "No".   Well, hmmmm...okay, I

will think of something else then!

When we got married, I hired a fab photographer

and I adore our wedding photos...they captured the day

perfectly.  However, if I could change one thing on my wedding

day, I would've delegated more, so I could enjoy the day and be more

relaxed.  I am sure most brides would say that though.

I never took the time to have my wedding dress cleaned and/or have it

preserved, so it always just hung in the spare closet.  This gave

me the opportunity to try it on from time to time.

And that's where my big idea came to me.

I then decided I was gonna put my wedding dress on, where my hair down,

with fun jewelry and get some pictures that are

 relaxed and not so wedding-y.

I wanted to relax enough that I could even sit in a field of grass.

What bride does that in her wedding dress?

So, last week, I put on my dress....it didn't zip the last inch or

two..but Nealy {my fab photographer} told me not to worry...she

wouldn't be photographing the back.  I picked up an elastic belt

from "Heartbreakers" for $1.97 that had some fun, faux,

flowers with sparkles {of course}.

Next, I borrowed some kick-butt, bold, Stella & Dot jewelry from

a couple of my favorite friends that rep it.

My parents came to watch the kiddos and my

mom brought me some hydrangeas from her garden.....

they are one of my favorite flowers and for some reason

I couldn't have them in my wedding bouquet. 

I did my own hair, and wore it down and my Mom

applied some fake eyelashes I had bought from CVS, 10 minutes

before they arrived.

Brandon picked up a fedora hat and donned his seersucker

jacket. 

I am telling you all of these details, to let you know....

you can do this too!  Dust off your dress, do your own hair,

switch up the jewelry to something more funky and bold,

and grab your man and tell him what he's gonna do with you!

I will say, I have to give my husband mad props for doing

this, to obliging my crazy whim, because it was so much fun and

we will have these pics for a lifetime.

The shoot, took all of 25 minutes and it was much cooler

than the temps on our wedding day.  We laughed a lot

and I didn't have one bit of stress! 

And if you live in the Minnesota/Iowa area,

you should have PhotographyByNealy be your

photographer too!  All I really had to do was smile,

she made us feel at ease, told us how to look our best and even brought

some cool props.

As you can tell from the pictures, she is a true artist

with a great eye, and she does all types of photography.

Nealy, thanks for making me look fab, for capturing

our love for each other and for creating memories

that we can share with others.

Go visit her www.photographybynealy.com site, you will be glad you did!

5 Year Anniversary

Tomorrow, Branmuffin and I celebrate 5 years of

blissful {sarcasm} marriage.

Brandon..I love you, madly.  Thanks for being "my man", and

the father of our children.  Thanks for putting up with my hair-brained

decor ideas and cooking me breakfast almost every single weekend.

Most of all, thanks for embracing who I am 

and inspiring me to keep on being me.

According to wikipedia, the modern gift for 5 years is silverware.

We have plenty of that, so I am gonna modify the gift and 

cook him more scrumptious meals in the upcoming years.

He loves my meatloaf and my beef enchiladas, 

and I figure I can add to the repertoire.

{Wikipedia says the 10 year gift is diamonds.....

fingers crossed, I cannot wait!!!!}

We plan to go to one of our favorite places for dinner

on Thursday night.  And we decided we have it all, so there will be no 

gifts exchanged.

However...last night we did the coolest thing....

and I can only give you a sneaky peaky because

I wanna reveal the results in the biggest way.

I will reveal soon and believe me....I am pretty much 

wetting my pants, every minute of the day until I do this 

"reveal".

Here's the hint.....

Toodles..

Two unbelievable events...in my life

 

{Image via Tumblr}

I don't know about your house, but at our 

house, sleep is often interrupted and we are up much earlier than

we would like to be, thanks to two kids whose names will go unmentioned.

{Was that the longest, run-on sentence ever?}

Turner has been the main culprit, up between 5:48 and 6:12 am

everyday for over 6 weeks.  I know that's not super

early but it wears on a girl.

Yesterday, he slept until 7:20 am!

I was so thrilled, I made Branmuffin go downstairs, grab

the camera and take a pic of my happiness.

{I think I have 10 pics total of me with my kids,

why do Moms never get in pictures when we do most of the work?}

Another event that had me "on the floor" in surprise?

I took the kids to the Mall of America on a rain
day last week and went to see the alligator there.

Turner thought the alligator was real, of course.

And he almost fell in trying to save me when I pretended

that the alligator was going to bite my hand.

This is unbelievable event #2....

....my child was worried about my well-being!

He was my tough protector!

And you know what?  That felt soooo good.

We spend so much time looking out for our

children, protecting them and caring for their every whim.

It was really nice to have the favor returned.

It's the little things...isn't it?

Don't forget, my bling sale is still on....go here to get some bling

at a great price.  Your husband called, he said buy whatever you want and need!
{I'm wearing my white bling earrings in the pictures above, I wear.them.every.darn.day.}

And, a give-away is right around the corner.

Toodles....

By Golly! I found it!

Remember last month when I posted about collections?

And I told the world how I was thinking about starting one of my own

but had no idea what to collect?

I found the perfect thing for me to collect, 

it makes me excited for the hunt and it fits

my personality so very, very well.

It all happened by accident, but the more

I think about it...it was right under my nose for a long time.

I am starting a collection of pillboxes.

The couple I came upon are so glam, fun and full of color.

They also fulfill my love of warm weather vacations.....take a look!

...a blingy octopus...

...and a blingy tropical fish...

They are functional as well, they open to hold pills...

of course I won't use them for that.

These babies are for looks only!

And because I used to be a drug dealer

{pharmaceutical sales rep} I think it's 

kind of a quirky idea for me to have a pillbox collection!

However, there is one problem.

I need to store them eventually in a proper glass case.

Because, when I was photographing them

I could forsee some problems.

Gotta keep em' away from the cutie pies!

What do you think of my collection?

Oh, btw, I found them at my favorite place ever,

HomeGoods, and they are very reasonably priced!

Let me know if you ever see them out there

or if you know a great place to find pillboxes,

on the cheap, of course.

Toodles!

She does diapers too..

After I got my kids breakfast, I turned

around for a minute to make myself some coffee.

Turner loves his big sister.

He loves her so much, he insists on her changing his diaper.

And then he's happy.

Toodles....

This will make you feel "Normal"

 

 

I hardly ever share videos.

Please take 3 minutes to view this,

whether you have kids or not.

{Your Mom will appreciate it.}

I love my kids, tons.

Sometimes, they wear me out and wear me

down...but I will save this video for those days.

And keep remembering.... they remember all you do for them.

Toodles....

A Royal Time

What a beautiful royal wedding!

Did you watch it too?

We anticipated it for weeks and had our own 

royal party....and what a great time we had.

I went to my parent's house last night with Tatum, our

own little princess.  I kind of figured that this could go many

different ways with being up so early {4:45 am}.

Last night, she actually asked to go to bed....

that has never happened.  She was excited as the rest of the world

for the festivities to begin.

We got a fairly good night's sleep...considering.

There has been much speculation about Kate and

her dress....I thought she looked breathtaking, and I would

love to arrive anywhere in a Phantom.  Her Dad was so sweet

by her side and I definitely had chills when she stepped out for her

big reveal.

Classic, stunning, and she looked so happy and poised 

throughout...didn't she?

Tatum and my Mom made popovers and coffee....

....I was glued to the t.v......

 She was the only one dressed for the wedding at our

party.  My Mom made her a tiny little veil with a crown and 

sparkles.

Stinkin' Cute huh?

Lastly, we noshed on Crack salad, popovers, 

and wedding cake, of course!

Our favorite part?

The two kisses on the balcony

and Kate whispering "oh wow".

Whew...lots of pictures huh?

It was so fun and I am so happy to have 

watched it live...with my two favorite girls, 

my Momma and my daughter.

What a beautiful day in history.

And now, I need to catch up on sleep............

Toodles!