Seattle and Aislinn Designs

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Back in August my boyfriend, Chris and I had the pleasure of visiting Seattle for the first time.  It is a beautiful, laid back city.  Notorious for it's rainy days, we were lucky to have only one in the 8 days we were there.  We did a lot of touristy things like visit The Space Needle, Chihuly Glass Museum, Pike Place Market, and the Experience Music Project, but we spent most of our time exploring Seattle's unique neighborhoods.  Seattle has some of the best vintage shops I have visited.

A friend of mine, Gillian moved to Vashon Island right outside of Seattle from Cincinnati a few years ago.  I decided to give her a call to catch up while I was nearby. The island is about a 30 minute drive/Ferry ride from downtown.  I have never been on a full size ferry, so that in itself was an awesome adventure for me.  Gillian, who is a jewelry designer, lives in a house she and her fiance Nick are rehabbing on the island.  Nick built  her an amazing work studio surrounded by trees in the backyard.  It is a dreamy space.  The island is very secluded.  At one point it was so quiet it was scary.

I am absolutely in love with Gillian's jewelry.  Under her company name Aislinn Designs, she makes rings out of wood she finds on the island.   She showed me a little bit of her process while I visited.  Every piece is unique and made with Gillian's love.  She can personalize the rings by engraving the inside.  She also makes gorgeous sea glass necklaces and earrings.  Below are a few images I grabbed (with permission) from Gillian's Facebook page.

Visit Gillian's website Aislinn Designs and her Etsy store for more images and info about custom orders.

See more images I took while in Seattle over at Love and Wander where they are featured.

Gillian not only uses materials that are native to her surroundings, she also pulls inspiration from the island and water surrounding it.  Above are sea glass necklaces and below are her moon boat earrings. The inside of Gillian's work space.

A few images I captured of Nick and Gillian. 

This is our view from the Ferry.This was on the island.  It was late August, everything was so green and lush. We ended the day with a sunset picnic. More images of Seattle featured here .

iPhone Friday Chicago

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Last weekend I spent a couple of days in one of my favorite cities, Chicago.   My boyfriend Chris and I  took the 5 hour drive up Thursday and came back on Saturday.  Though many people think going to Chicago in the winter is crazy, I have to admit I kind of like it.  The snow wasn't too bad, it actually added a little excitement to the trip.  If you wear lots of layers walking around downtown is a lot of fun

We got a great deal at our favotrite hotel right in the middle of downtown.  We explored all of our favorite neighborhoods and stores and discovered some new ones we will visit again.  The main reason for the trip was to see comedians  Joe Rogan and Ari Shaffir at the beautiful Chicago Theatre.  The show was awesome.  We literally laughed for 2 hours straight.

I wanted to see Lake Michigan so bad, so we made a quick stop before we left.   I had been there in the summer, but only to Navy Pier.  This time we went to a private part of the lake and soaked in how beautiful it was before we left.  It was breathtaking!

Here is a list to some of our favorite places to visit if you ever make the trip to the windy city.

The Acme Hotel  We have stayed here 3 times.  It's a hip boutique hotel right on Ohio St. downtown.  The staff is very friendly and helpful.  There is a nice bar and bakery onsite.  The rooms are a little small, but you shouldn't be in your room anyway.  Parking is very affordable, and you can come and go as you please.  In the winter we drive to neighborhoods outside the city rather than taking the train.

Hash House A Go Go is a must visit!  The best Sage Chicken and Waffles I have ever had.  Get ready to have your mind blown when you see how monsterious the portions are.  Plenty to share!  We also tried  Weber Grill and it was also outstanding.  Tempo is a 24 hour diner that is a must visit,  their breakfast scramblers are so good.  They have a nice patio in the summer.

If you like vintage shopping, live music, good food, and art Wicker Park and Andersonville are neighborhoods you should visit.  Here are a few of my favorite stores Record Stores: Permanent Records and Reckless Records Vintage Shopping: The Brown Elephant, The Garage,   The Woolly Mammoth is a very cool oddoties store.  This place has everything.  Taxidermy, skulls, strange art, rare records, weird home decor, their stock always changes.

Here are some of my iPhone pictures from the trip.

2014 Portrait Project

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When I first started photography school over 15 years ago I would take my camera with me where ever I went.  Every birthday party, cookout, and visit to my mother's was documented in some way.  I would take long drives out Rt. 8 in Kentucky to take pictures.  I was learning and getting lots of practice,  I was discovering my passion for taking intimate pictures of the people and places around me.   Through the years as I turned photography into my main source of income and I started to notice something was slowly getting lost, my enthusiam for personal work was disappearing.  I stopped taking my camera to family functions, because my passion turned into work, in my head every picture I took would add more work to my growing heavy load.   I was warned by many people that this would happen, always claiming I wouldn't let it happen to me.  As I was looking back through my images from last year I noticed something was lacking, my life.  I had documented the lives of  my clients, but had no images of my own family and friends.  I document tidbits of my life everyday via my iPhone, so I'm not claiming to be a total slacker, but as much as I love that phone, my family and friends deserve nice professional images too.

On January 1 I decided to do what a lot of photographers do,  I started a daily photo project.  Since my favorite thing to photograph is people, I decided to start a portrait project.  At first,  I was only going to photograph people I know, then I decided to expand it to photographing strangers as well.  My goal is to shoot a new person everyday for as long as I can.  So far it has been an awesome experience.  My camera is with me a lot more, so I am not only photographing people, but also my surroundings, and the things I see.  I have been getting so much positive feedback, some people even telling me they cant wait to be part of the project.  It has been challenging at times, but I needed a good challenge.  I am excited to see where it takes me throughout the year.

 I posted some of the images on my Facebook page this month.  I think will also do a monthly post on my blog.

I want to thank everyone for participating so far.  Here are some of my images from January.          

Jon and Julie Key West Wedding Photographer

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  I am so grateful for the amazing opportunities being a photographer gives me.  Last year was by far one of my favorites.  I started and ended my 2013 wedding season in beautiful Key West, Florida with great friends photographing the love.

I flew into Key West for Jon and Julie's wedding on Thanksgiving.  When I arrived at the airport I was greeted by warm sunshine and smiles from Jon and his family.  This wedding was very special to me.  Jon has been a good friend of mine for many years.  We have had endless conversations about love, life, and relationships.  When he met Julie, who I adored from the first time we said hello, I watched him change from a man searching for happiness into a man full of satisfaction.

  Jon and Julie had an intimate wedding surrounded by their family.  It was a pleasure to be part of. We spent Thanksgiving at the Casa Marina Resort where we had an amazing dinner.  Who says you cant have eggs benedict for Thanksgiving?!  Anything goes in Key West. :) After dinner we headed back to Julie's families condo for wine and music.  I love this one of Jon.  This was right when they picked me up for the wedding.  He was so happy. Julie's bouquet was gorgeous.  Mama's Flowers in Key West did a fantastic job. Jon and Julie decided to see each other before the ceremony.  I love to photograph this moment.  I am able to capture so much emotion. The intimate ceremony was at the Ocean Key Resort.  After the ceremony we had a very nice sunset dinner on the terrace at Ocean Key.  The food and service was outstanding.  

I had a late flight home, so I spent some time riding around the island on a bike.  It was so relaxing.