• communions,  personal,  travel

    our trip to Michigan

    February 3, 2012 /

    I have one Goddaughter, and she’s most likely the only one I’ll ever have.  (in NY they don’t let Jews be the godparents). Katie was celebrating her First communion a few weeks ago and we all flew up to help her celebrate. Plus, I’ve been waiting more than 6 years to watch Connor play hockey and was so excited to see him and Spencer play a game each!

    The big boys couldn’t have been more excited to see their best friend. I love that he’s still their best friend even after living in separate states for about 8 or so years now. They were nearly psychotic on the plane and driving to Connors from the airport- they couldn’t wait another second to get there. Jack & Patrick stayed at the Ziparo’s all weekend, while John, Timmy and I crashed at a hotel down the street.

    Of course it was snowing when we landed on Friday night and it continued to snow on the drive from the airport. That’s Michigan in January for ya. Crappy iphone shot from the plane upon landing. Snow on the window. On a plane. Um, no.

    A quick disclaimer- only brought the little camera so the photos aren’t the greatest ever, but they’re the best I could do.

    The Ziparo’s had a packed weekend planned for us which was awesome. Grandma Mary, Maureen and I took Katie to dance (ballet and jazz) Saturday morning. Omg, so cute!!I liked that her shorts matched my scarf. The place where Katie had dance was totally awesome. A huge facility with a full gym, a ton of studios for dance of all kinds, karate studios, a huge gymnastics center, a bunch of tennis courts, an olympic sized pool (with a bubble over it so that it’s an outdoor pool in the summer),a full ice arena, a little snack bar/food court area, and probably some other stuff that I didn’t get to see. It would be so cool to have something like that here but we totally don’t have the space for anything like that.

    A local photographer’s office/studio we passed on the way home. What a great house!Then Saturday afternoon Connor had a game. The first of the playoffs. They put that sign there especially for me since I was SO excited to see Connor play. The boys were all pretty psyched too!Connor’s on the far left (#13). The boys were disappointed that he didn’t acknowledge them at all during warm ups so we had to explain that he was in game mode and that if the Coach saw him doing that he’d be in HUGE trouble. We mostly hung out by the ice for the game- colder, but better for photos and viewing.Connor scored the first goal of the game! And then scored 2 more. Grandpa Tom, Grandma Mary and Timmy look on. Ya think Jack was a little happy to be there?!Connors team won something like 14-0. They stopped updating the score after a little while. Apparently the team all has to show up in their white dress shirts (w team logo on it), ties and khakis to every game. While it looks nice and all to me it seemed pretty ridiculous since they’re wearing it for like 20 minutes in total and it just makes more laundry. Wow, the stench coming out of that locker room was pretty much unbearable. It was so great to finally see Connor play- we all had a great time! He played so well- the level at which these teams play was amazing. I wasn’t expecting the game to be as good and the players to be so great on the ice- but they were!! Seriously knocked my socks off.Then after Connors game it was a quick dinner with most of the troops at Wendy’s (Uncle Peter and Spencer had to leave early to get to his game/warm ups) and onto Spencer’s game. Where Spencer scored a zillion goals. Holy crap, that kid was awesome!!Spencer does this little ‘row boat’ celebration after his first goal and I’m so bummed I missed getting a picture of it. Then bright and early on Sunday morning, it was Katie’s communion. She looked so pretty and was perfect during the mass. Went back to the Ziparo’s for a little brunch and then it was back to the airport for the trip home. There were tears (as always) but we had such a great time with our Michigan family! Katie, Maureen and I are trying to plan a date for next Christmas at the Nutcracker in NYC.

    And the highlight of the trip home? I think I might need a pair for me even though they are mens. They are so hideous, they’re cute!! And after looking these up online, they cost between $300-400!  Thanks for a great, fun filled trip!! Hope to see you guys soon!! (just someplace a little warmer would be good).

    see larger images
  • personal,  travel

    last from florida

    February 2, 2012 /

    The last of the pictures from our December/January vacation.

    As you can see, this is a very slow time of year here on the blog for photoshoots, (not a whole lot of people are running to get outside in January/February especially after having their holiday photos done so recently) but I will have a few sessions to blog coming up over the next few weeks. Lots of dates available on the calendar if you are interested in a session, and I am offering mini sessions (at your home or anywhere you’d like) thru the end of March. A mini session would make a great valentine gift. Just sayin.

    We always hit the beach (which is right downstairs and across A1A from the apartment) for at least one day.

    John took the boys golfing when the weather wasn’t poolish or beachish.We went to see the Jets v. Dolphins at SunLife Stadium where we sat on the sun’s surface about 12 rows from the top where it was boiling hot with the sun directly on us. Timmy and I left at halftime, walked around for 30 min looking for the stupid rental car and went back to the apartment.There was a lot of Lego building at the apartment this year. The Lego version of Harrod’s built by Patrick (with a little help from me, but not much!) He got all 3 floors done before we left to come home. And from one extreme to the other- we went to the Orange Bowl again this year (also at SunLife Stadium) but it was probably in the high 40’s that night and it was cooooooold. Stayed thru the third quarter but the game was such a blowout we headed home. The flyover with the parachuters was pretty cool. 

    see larger images
  • personal,  travel

    florida vacation- by the pool

    January 27, 2012 /

    Since it’s so quiet here on the blog, I figured it was more than time that I edited the pictures from our Christmas vacation to Florida. Especially since we’ve been home for almost a month. Just a few snaps of life by the pool (which was how we pretty much spent every day until the last few days of the trip when it was too cold for the pool). How I wish I was back again…

    Photographic proof that my mother actually made it down to the pool (reading on her Kindle). And then she went in the pool. And under the water. Miracles never cease.When Timmy dives into the pool, he looks like a cartoon character. Just suspended in mid air, flat…until he drops straight down into the water. It’s hysterical!One of the gorgeous sunsets from the 20th floor. That’s A-1A on the left with the ocean, and the intercostal on the right. I wish that was my view all the time!Omg, I’m freezing. And yes, I’m aware that it’s not really even all that cold here for January. But it’s not Florida.

    see larger images
  • bsquared business,  travel

    ch ch ch ch changes…

    January 3, 2012 /

    I’m back from my brief blog hiatus with LOTS of changes. Just the start of things to come for 2012 and I’m so excited to have you along for the ride!

    I worked with an amazing graphic designer (Madilu Designs) for an updated logo (just a bit of a color change) and all new packaging materials. Love my new ‘tiffany blue’ background pattern!! When you book a session for 2012, you’ll be getting a pretty awesome ‘welcome packet’ with all kinds of fun things to read, a contract to sign and a little questionaire to fill out to help me learn more about you. The photo packaging will be amazing and I hope to have everything together to post a picture for you soon. Still have some samples to create and order.

    For my blog stalkers, I’m sure you’ll find a few changes to the blog itself. A new background, a new layout and lots of new scrolling images on the masthead. I’ve added a new FAQ section on the menu bar and have the brand new bsquared packages up as well (you can find the packages under b2 pricing in the menu bar above). There are some changes in the packages and offerings for 2012 and I will be scheduling fewer sessions this year in order to ensure that all my clients receive the utmost in customer service and attention. I’d love to hear what you think of the new blog design- let me know in the comments below or on the bsquared Facebook page.

    A little peek at some of the new stuff:

    The bsquared calendar is now open for January-April 2012. I also have some dates for communions in May and June already booked up, so if you are interested in a communion or other event after April, please let me know. If it’s a regular session you are looking for after April, that calendar should be available in March. You can find the calendar on the menu bar at the top of the blog.

    I will be running a few specials in February and March so be on the lookout for those. And also some Communion specials for May. I’ll announce those later this month.

    I will also announce the winners from the two bsquared giveaways that are still going on by the end of this weekend. Giveaway one is to post or email a picture of your 2011 Christmas card that you created from images I took (but that I didn’t make the card). The best one wins a little something. And giveaway Two: guess how many sessions I shot in 2011. The guess closest to the actual # wins a little something too. You can post your guess here in the comments section or on the bsquared Facebook page. There’s still time to enter both.

    And because I hate blogging without a photo (not to mention that I still have Christmas to edit and all my vacation photos, and a few sessions and some other stuff from late 2011. Oh boy!) here’s one from my vacation that I’m still on. Don’t hate- I worked really hard this year!

    Hope that you are enjoying all the bsquared changes and that you’ll all be in front of my camera this year-I can’t wait to start shooting again!!

     

     

    see larger images