Four Years

"A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person." 

-Mignon McLaughlin

2015 // Love Well

Oh, hey. Happy New Year! I hope you've got your feet curled up under something nice and cozy. I'm trudging along in my usual January slump. I know everyone is all "Rock on, January!  Resolutions! Fresh starts!"

I'm side-eyeing those people something fierce. This month is most definitely not my fave.

Anyway, now that you've been sufficiently greeted by grumpy mcgrumperston, how about a little fun?

Pictured above (next to the gratuitous self-portrait) is this year's happy-maker, presented to Tiho on Christmas day. I planned a year of dates, one for each month of 2015. We're pretty good about romancing each other, but we're also pretty good at being complete homebodies and never leaving our couch. I'm super stoked to bring back date night and celebrate our love all year long.

I tried to plan seasonal dates based on our individual and common interests. Tiho is a total adrenaline junkie and loves outdoorsy and sporty activities, so the rock climbing, trapeze class, kayaking and pro-football game were specifically picked for him (I'm pumped too!). A hot air balloon ride has been on my bucket list forever, so I figured that will be the splurge for our 4-year wedding anniversary in September. We just booked the "sexy" cooking class for Valentine's Day (woop woop!) and will kick off this whole shebang with a jazz show & dinner at the end of the month. We may choose to amend a plan or two depending on our interests and circumstances each month, but we're both fully committed to following through with twelve monthly dates.

"Loving well" in 2015. That's my only resolution this year.

Three Years

"For you wake one day, 

Look around and say, 

Somebody wonderful married me." 

-Fred Ebb

Happy three, my love. There are sunflowers on the table today in honor of us.

My Heart

Excuse the cheese, but I love him (and these pictures) so much, especially because he indulged my request for twenty minutes of portraits in yummy golden hour light. All things considering, this is a major feat, since getting in front of the camera ranks right up there in his top five least favorite things ever.
 

After All This Time

My sister and her man came over for dinner on Saturday. The weather was so gorgeous, it seemed a shame not to spend as much time as possible outside. We walked the scenic route to the harbor and arrived just as day gave way to dusk. We climbed the rocks, did a little soul dancing, and watched the moon ascend higher and higher in the sky.

I was reminded of this old favorite by Persian poet Hafiz:

"Even after all this time the sun never says to the earth, 'you owe me.'

Look what happens with a love like that: it lights up the whole sky."

The Two of Us

This photo, taken by Alice outside of the Manhattan courthouse on our wedding day, is one of my favorites. Probably because I look tall.

Tiho and I decided to splurge on a European vacation this coming June. So far, the plan is this: two weeks split between London, Paris & Barcelona. (We just booked this beautiful hotel in Le Marais district of Paris!) A three-years-after-the-fact honeymoon.  I honestly have no idea how our life will look in three, six, twelve months from now, so we're focusing on this trip as a celebration of the two of us.

I hesitate to discuss marriage here, because #1). I'm no expert, and #2). it's my marriage, and frankly, why is that of interest or importance to anyone else?

But (of course there's a but, duh), I really love being married. In my opinion, I married young (twenty-five). In New York, that's not really typical. A lot of people I know spend their twenties building a career and wait to get married until their thirties. I think that's great. But, for me, marrying at twenty-five was the right decision. I have never been as sure about anything as I was on the day Tiho and I committed to love and support each other unconditionally as husband and wife.

I'm really glad we married when we did, because it gave us a few years together to build a solid foundation for the rest of our lives before bringing children into the picture.

We aren't perfect. We make mistakes and argue and have bad days and leave piles of dirty dishes in the sink and drive each other nuts sometimes. But, at the end of the day, we are genuinely happy to be with one another. I'm certainly not qualified to offer advice on building and sustaining a happy marriage. All I know to be true is this: My marriage is the most important thing. 

So far, that's the only insight I've needed.

Hiking (Or Thoughts On Marriage, Life, Intention, Etc.)

To celebrate our second wedding anniversary on Sunday, we decided to unplug and spend the day outside. We packed lunch in our trusty yellow backpack (veggie wraps, granola bars, apples, chips, water), laced up our sneakers, and headed out for a fall hike and picnic in the reservation.

We followed a different trail than usual, which turned out to be completely unpopulated for the better part of two hours. At one point, Tiho stopped because he was convinced he heard the tell-tale rattle of a snake nearby. I turned white as a sheet and promptly took off to "outrun the chance of a bite."After several miles of hiking, we reached the scenic overlook and settled in for a picnic in the sun.

We joked about the symbolism of our choice of activity (upwards! forward! ) relative to the next year of marriage. When I got home, I found this article and decided that trail metaphors really are top-notch life metaphors. An except:

"The trail can be a great teacher if we allow ourselves to reflect on the nature of our experience. In fact, the trail is a perfect metaphor for life itself. Like life, the trail has its forks in the road which present us with decision points, its obstacles that slow our journey and test our resolve, its ever-changing terrain which demands that we adapt, its inclines and descents which draw on different strengths, and its fellow travelers whose relationships enrich our experience. Sometimes the trail is hidden and worn, but it is always there waiting to be rediscovered. And, like life, the trail always leads somewhere. As we set aside our trail gear and resume our normal daily routines, the trail experience can easily translate into lessons that lead us to a better understanding of our lives lived each day."

P.S. Hiking the reservation last fall: part one & part two.

(Photos: iPhone 5 // September 2013)

Mutual Weirdness

"We are all a little weird and life's a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love."
-Robert Fulghum

Celebrating two years of marriage this weekend with the best weirdo I've ever known.

Elizabeth & Grant // Married

 

There was a time I said I would never photograph a wedding.

And then I photographed a few weddings.

Elizabeth is one of my closest friends. We met almost six years ago when we had both been accepted to Teach For America in NYC. Two years after that, we lived together in the east village before both moving out to live with our respective significant others. Now, we are married to them.

When Elizabeth and Grant first approached me about shooting their wedding, I was hesitant. I shot their elopement at city hall in March (which was easy and similar to a typical portrait session I am used to shooting on a regular basis). By the time their July ceremony and reception came around, I had already photographed a handful of weddings and felt more confident in my ability to document their big day in a meaningful (and technically sound!) way. However, it wasn't until after the day was fully finished that I really felt like I had come into my own.

I am proud of these images and grateful to have been given the opportunity to capture them. Elizabeth worked hard to make her wedding day personal, homespun, and absolutely filled with joy. How lucky I was to be a part of it.

This also serves to introduce my foray into wedding photography! My main focus moving forward will continue to be children & family portraiture, though I am now thrilled to add wedding photography to my repertoire. Please feel free to check out the newest section of my portfolio entitled Love & Marriage. It makes me smile to see all that luuurve in one place.

Venue: Private residence in Erie, PA

Bride's Dress: Ann Taylor

Bride's Shoes: Madewell

Groom's Suit: Suit Supply

Catering: The Concourse

Tent & Furniture Rental: South Shore Rentals

Floral Design: Mrs. Bigwood

Coordinator: Lynne Grychowski

Cake(s): Baked with love by bride's mother, Ann Carmichael

Stationery: Designed & printed by bride

Ceremony Musicians: Abby Badach (violin) & Patrick Doyle (guitar)

*And special thanks to my second shooter/handsome hubby, Tiho