DISCO INFERNO

Do any of you remember when the fabulous band Disco Inferno used to perform at Storman's, and later The Venue? Well, they are still around, and this Saturday night (23rd) they will be performing at Gasoline Alley, which is now located at 14042 66th Street N in Largo. Pinellas County seems to lack good nightlife, and since Bricktown 54 closed I've been craving a disco fix, so I'm super excited about Saturday! AND if there is a good turn out, it may become a regular thing! CLICK HERE for more details on the event, and HERE to see more of what's happening around town. All of our good friends from Arthur Murray Clearwater will be there doin' the hustle and I would love to see more familiar faces there!

My assistant

This beautiful girl is my new assistant! If you have a holiday session scheduled you'll probably get to meet her. She is a high school student currently taking a photography class, so I'm excited to have her as my sidekick! We went scouting for new locations a few weeks ago, and these spots are what we found.

Back to School Issue

This is why we did some school related shots of Julianna from this session - FOR THE COVER of Tampa Bay Parenting's Back to School issue, the biggest issue of the year! It's full of great information including where to buy fun and functional school supplies, packing healthful lunches, and a calendar of events for Pinellas, Hillsborough and Pasco counties. There is also information for the back to school fair on August 15th at MOSI (I'll blog about it in a few days), and many ads for after school activities. Check it out - easily found at Publix and Sweetbay.

In other exciting news the magazine is running a Cover Kid Search! You can visit tbparenting.com for more details. If there is an image I've taken that you'd like to submit, call or email me.

Tough as Nails

UPDATE 6/17 - HE'S OUT!! Finally! He's finally home and doing well. Still has a good bit of pain and lots of antibiotics to take, but he's so much happier to be dealing with it at home. Me too! :) It's funny how much I missed him even though I spent tons of time with him at the hospital. Soooo, now I just need to get caught up on all my work! Thank you, thank you, thank you for all your patience. I have a little something special up my sleeve for all my wonderfully understanding clients who have been waiting on their images. I'm working as fast as I can and I'll contact each of you when I have your proofs.

UPDATE 6/12 - Well it's been 9 days and he's still in the hospital. They want to make sure they get all that nasty infection out of there before sending him home. Today they said it would be a couple of days, but he's thought he was getting out a couple of times now, so we'll see. Thank you to everyone who has called to check on him, and to all my understanding clients. I'm lucky to have you.

I'm not going to lie, I enjoy giving my husband a hard time about his quirks and strange ways. Our home is not short on sarcasm. One of his quirks is (or used to be...he'll correct me as soon as he reads this) that when he stubs a toe or bangs a knuckle, he exclaims "Ow! I think I broke my toe/finger/other body part!" I used to chalk it up to a low pain tolerance and chuckle or mock him. Well, those days are gone, here's why:

Last Tuesday he developed a stomach ache. It got worse the rest of the week, then better on Sunday and Monday, then worse on Tuesday. Yesterday I convinced him to see a doctor, so we scheduled an appointment for today, but by the time I got home from work yesterday, he needed to go to the hospital. The diagnosis? A ruptured appendix. The solution? Emergency surgery. Ummmm, what??? Not what we were expecting. So when the surgeon comes to see me after the surgery, the first thing he said was "He must be tough!" Apparently it looked like an M-80 went off in his abdomen (doc's words, not mine) and the abscess was quite large. I don't know when it ruptured, and I really don't know how he was functioning through the pain. I do know that he has to stay in the hospital for about five days, so that's where I'll be all weekend...with my Superman.

Here's my tough guy looking rather pitiful today.
I was going to take a picture of the battle wound, but I thought that might be a bit of an overshare. ;)

Love you bunches, babe.

Another Cover!!

Grab the latest Tampa Bay Parenting Magazine at your local Publix or SweetBay (and other locations as well), or check out the online version HERE. This month's issue has some great information on throwing fun birthday parties, lots of ads for summer camp options, ideas for short get-aways, and...a cover photo by...me! This is one of my all-time favorite beach images, so I was thrilled when it was chosen for the cover.

Cute Curls and BIG News!!

First, I wanted to share this session from February (I'm a little behind in my posting). I can't get over this cutie pie's curls! I wish my hair did half that! Of course, those big brown eyes contribute to the melting-heart factor. Her mom did such a great job with the different outfits and props. I love the variety we got. And I loved the lollipop images so much that...(scroll down for the BIG news part)







...I used one for an ad in the Tampa Bay Parenting Magazine, and they contacted me to use it on THE COVER!!! You should've seen the happy dance I did! Hopefully I'll be a regular on the cover. It's a great FREE magazine with interesting articles, tons of info on local happenings, and all things kids. The easiest place to find it is your local Publix.

FROST!!!!

This is what most of Central Florida woke up to Thursday morning!! Finally, a little bit of cold weather. I'm definitely a Southern girl, I like my balmy days and mild winters, but sometimes we need a good chill in the air. December had some cold days, which was exciting. Of course Christmas day was warm, but I guess beggers can't be choosers. So I'll be happy with our cute little January frost.

Sad news

I will be out of town for the next few days. My Uncle Randy, who got married in August, lost his battle with cancer this week. He was one of four children, and my mom's "baby brother". He will be greatly missed. I want to remind all of you, especially at this time of year, to hold your loved ones close, enjoy the little things, and as I said before, say what you need to say.

Randy on the right, with his mom and siblings (my mom upper left):

My mom and Randy:

Randy and his new bride, Mary Jo, on their wedding day:

Out of town

I will be out of town Thursday through Sunday, and unable to check my email. I'm going on my annual girls trip with two of my favorite friends, Sarah (middle)...who, by the way, is my fabulous card designer, and Stefanie...and she's fabulous too! ;) I will return all emails and phone calls on Monday. Have a great weekend!!