As I'm dashing off here and there today, I wanted to take a quick second to thank La Tavola and Donna Romani for featuring my images recently from Donna's recent San Ysidro Ranch soiree...check out the post here!
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Remember in elementary school, before they handed out A's and B's and so on...when teachers would mark your skills as Very Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory? I've always had the drive to do well, so I would usually receive Satisfactory remarks...except in penmanship. I would always rip open my quarterly report card so I could silently gloat about the usual nice remarks from my teachers: "pleasant, quiet and hard worker," "highly motivated," until my eye would roam and stop on a check mark, next to, gasp, an Unsatisfactory mark.
I never understood it. I always got my point across and I thought I had wonderful handwriting. So what if the teacher thought my "W" was an "L"? (don't ask). After admitting that fact, I guess it is possible that my handwriting is unattractive. OK, actually it's horrible. So horrible in fact, if you've ever received a handwritten note from me, I'm willing to wager I had to tear up the first version and rewrite again, maybe even a third time (somewhere Mike is cringing at the thought of me wasting paper). Sometimes I leave Mike cute sticky notes around the house and half the time he'll smile and wonder "what on Earth did she mean this time?" Both my sisters have very pretty handwriting, so much nicer than mine, that they actually addressed my wedding invitations for me because, let's face it, if I had written them the guests wouldn't have made it to the ceremony.
But, after all these years, I've stopped caring about it. Everyone types these days...texts, facebooks, blogs...you can practically go an entire lifetime without actually seeing someone's handwriting. Unless you have a penpal.
I always loved the idea of penpals. A few times during elementary school, our classroom would be chosen to have a penpal from another local school or sometimes from a different state. One year I had a penpal from Japan...I thought I was so cool. I even told people on the playground that I could speak Japanese. Anyway, I digress. I even convinced my Nana to be my penpal. Even though she lived just 15 minutes away, I loved getting letters in the mail from her. She would always type her letters on a fancy, old fashioned type writer and I would illegibly scrawl something back to her and usually include a newspaper clipping about how bad the Atlanta Braves played against the New York Yankees (with the former being her favorite team).
Paula has been my "grownup" penpal since we graduated high school (you know, before facebook was invented and blogging was in vogue). I would always look forward to checking my dorm mailbox for letters from Paula, to see what was going on at her college and her dorm and what her major was like. And now we still write letters back and forth and I love it because in the midst of the texting, the blogging and the facebooking, it's nice to know people still take time out of their day to think about you. :)
Happy Groundhog's Day! I love little Punxsutawney Phil...and his irony of declaring an early spring in the midst of a blizzard.
Carol says:
Awesome blog post Whitney!! So sad that the "written" word is falling by the wayside..........you have inspired me to pick up my pen and paper and write a note to someone special!!
(02.03.11 @ 09:06 AM)
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I recently posted a sneak peek of Cody and Anna's engagement session, so today I'm sharing the entire session and maybe a little back-story :)
Every couple, every session, every shoot is special to me in its own little way and this particular couple, this particular session, this particular shoot is no less. Cody, Mike and I all went to college together (insert embarrassing photos here for another time and blog post! ;) ). I met Mike and Cody during our first week at school together and from the start they both became very close friends to me. Maybe because they were the "other major" crashing our honors Econ class or maybe because they had a balcony at their apartment and I didn't or maybe because they are the kind of people you meet in life that you count yourself fortunate to know. Cody and I became even closer over Christmas one year (the pivotal Christmas that Mike and I became "an item," but I'm not going to hijack Anna and Cody's post!), chatting on AIM (how 2002 do I sound?!) as we talked about the crushes we had and how hard our classes were.
Fast forward a few years later and Cody starts talking about this girl, Anna. And he was talking very differently about this particular girl. Mike and I would just smile because we knew, even though we hadn't met Anna yet, we knew this was it.
And that was it. Everything since then has become a blur. Mike and I got married, we moved but I begged to be kept in the loop. Every trip home to Charlotte, I would meet up with Cody and we would talk about the future, more pointedly, his future with Anna.
Not too long ago, Mike and I were in Monterey (you know, only my favorite little town ever) eating at my favorite cafe when Cody called. Mike and I usually don't take phone calls over dinner but when Mike said it was Cody, I impulsively said "pick up the phone!" As we're sitting at our corner table, Mike's eyes become wider and wider, until he finally yells, "Duuuude, no way. Duuuude, how exciting." I snatched the phone out of Mike's hand..."tell me everything Cody!"
Cody had called to tell us that he had bought the ring and was proposing in the next few weeks on their Caribbean cruise. Oh.the.excitement!!! I thought I was going to burst I was so excited. And I texted/called/emailed/annoyed Cody no less than 45 times over the next two weeks before their cruise.
So, what happened next? Well, she said YES!
To view more images from Anna and Cody's Dairy Barn engagement session, please CLICK HERE for a slideshow!
I'm so excited for y'all...for your wedding and everything that's in store in your future :) Can't wait til July!
dottie says:
Whitney, with your usual superior talent, these are wonderful pictures! Miss you !!
(02.01.11 @ 04:18 AM)
Carol says:
Whitney - these images are undoubtably some of your most beautiful photography to date! Really stunning and Cody and Anna look so happy - Congratulations Cody and Anna!
(02.02.11 @ 03:04 PM)
Anonymous says:
Whitney, I love these photos... and her red shoes!
Love,
Natalie
Batemans Bay restaurants says:
Amazing photography… I really like it. Loves it- you can just see their happiness! You can tell they are really great dancers! What a lovely couple you look so pretty. I love One Lovely Day. It always has such gorgeous photos…. Congratulations to both of you. Couple! My feeling is for you that you are made for each other. , I love it! It’s a true resource for wedding inspiration. Thanks for sharing.
(02.25.11 @ 02:19 AM)
runa says:
Wow,what gorgeous pics these are!!!Couple is so beautiful.Best wishes for them!!!!!!!!
(07.13.11 @ 01:51 AM)
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around the neighborhood...
Such a great exercise for a 100+lb lab with copious amounts of energy :) Happy Weekend!
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When Mike and I moved to Santa Barbara, we knew absolutely no one. I mean, absolutely no one. The only person I knew for the first two months of living in California was our mailman and I'm pretty sure he got tired of me loitering around the mailbox asking him how his day was going while I complained about unpacking and $5 gas prices.
Some of our friends who had recently experienced the same events in life: graduate college, get married, go on a blissful honeymoon, sadly return to the everyday norms of life (I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure I could live in the Caribbean full time) and move thousands of miles away from all family and friends...all within a matter of a month, or two, told us, "Oh, it's so great for your relationship, to be alone and depend on each other."
Yes, yes, that was all fine and dandy but after a few months I started to go a little stir-crazy...I had to get out and meet people!
Enter the Greenside family. This super-sweet family has become like a second family to us...our California family, if you will. When those random little holidays pop up or it seems like everyone else is hanging out with their family and we're 2700 miles away from our family, they always invite us over :)
So I was pretty excited to do something, such as, return the favor (without all the home cooked meals and board games!) so Nicky and Cara accompanied me to Firestone Winery for a fun shoot...Nicky started his own business when he was, like, a teenager and Cara is a talented equestrian and instructor :)
Thanks guys!! Happy Tuesday :)
Toni Greenside says:
Whitney, these are so Beautiful! You are an amazing photographer! Aaaaaaaannnnnnd, how Blessed we are to be your "California Family"! We Love You and Mike!
Love, Toni
dottie says:
Hi Whitney...these are superb pictures!
(01.19.11 @ 10:19 AM)
Heidi says:
As your sister, I'm glad that you found "family" to help you through the lonely times and celebrate the fun times with. I wish we were closer, but it makes my heart smile to know you have a wonderful support group. Love you! :)
(01.23.11 @ 05:39 PM)
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Absolutely beautiful photography Whitney! You captured each detail to make us feel like we were there too!!
(02.08.11 @ 02:44 PM)