Kids are funny little things. She wanted to see my dogs SO BADLY. She kept asking for them, so during breaks, I would bring out Bebop. Typically chihuahua’s have a bad rep for not being good with kids–Bebop is the anomaly. She is GREAT with kids. Even friends who bring their newborns over, she will simply smother them with kisses. Now, Red on the other hand isn’t BAD with kids necessarily…he just doesn’t understand them. I think they freak him out a little. He gets very focused on them and trying to understand what this little human is doing walking around his house. So, I always feel more comfortable keeping Red away from kids. But NO! Ellie wanted to see the big dog! He was her favorite! However, she didn’t want to touch him. She just wanted to look at him. While being held by her mother.

As I mentioned, she also really wanted to see my refrigerator. No problem. There’s hardly anything in there anyway. I opened it up and showed her. Inside I had laughing cow cheese, half and half, some turkey, a pickle (yes, just one), and beer. She found this hilarious. “What do you eat!?” She asked with her shoulders raised to her ears.

“Do you want to see my recipe book?’

She nodded emphatically. From the top of the fridge, I pulled down 30 take-out menus. “This is the extent of my cooking.” She slapped her hand to her forehead and started laughing the deepest belly-laugh I ever heard from a 3 year old.

When I have one (someday many moons from now), I hope she’s just like Ellie.

But I digress. In regards to my hair resolution…Every morning, Sean wakes up with the alarm {early, might I add}, showers, dresses, has his coffee, watches 30 minutes of news and goes to his office for a solid 8-9 hour day of work. I, on the other hand, wake up whenever my body tells me the time is right (usually with cheetos stuck in my hair), and sluggishly start the day. I’ll meander out of bed, get a cup of coffee, brush my teeth, check my email…get another cup of coffee. At this point I usually start some sort of work–emailing clients back, etc. Typically, I shower around noonish. And my wet hair gets thrown in a messy bun after I put on another pair of pajamas or workout clothes. The wet bun was becoming my signature style–and let’s face it…a dripping pile of hair on top of your head is just not very cute.

So I decided to something about that. It doesn’t take long to blow dry quickly and then run a straightener through it–20 extra minutes. 15 if I wait until my hair air dries. It takes even less time to scrunch some mousse in my hair and fluff it around.  And I’ve always thought that as long as I was having a good hair day, I could wear anything, any amount of makeup or lack thereof and still be cute. So that’s been my goal. An extra 15-20 minutes of my day to be spent on my hair. A very vain resolution, I admit. But I feel more confident and on days that I’m working on writing my manuscript (and this is a very silly thing to admit, but here it goes…), I find that if I feel more put together–wearing clothes, hair done, a little mascara on–it’s easier for me to get inside of the brain of my character.

And so far so good. It’s been less than a month, I realize, but even still. I’ve been investing this time usually 4-5 days a week. Even if I put my hair in a ponytail or a bun–I just make sure it’s a styled ponytail or bun.

And what’s even better? Sean has taken notice of my effort and now he is making more of an effort to look good. Shaving more often, putting gel in his hair (which he is growing out, thank GOD!). It’s so much easier for boys, but still. I see it as a sign of respect that he appreciates me and vice versa.

Now if only I could get him to wear a nice polo shirt every now and then–I know my dad would be happier.

This is only one of the designs (there is another in square form and I think one other in a wreath form and one design even has the year engraved on it) that I ordered as a sample because I just loved the snowflake. Because me personally? I love snow.

The ornaments are priced at $64.99 (plus tax) or if you purchase my ‘Holiday Package’, you receive a one and a half hour shoot, editing and retouching of all the images, 15 of the high resolution digital images and all of your digital proofs (small, wallet-sized files) on CD, one ornament of your choice and 50 Holiday Cards (with your own unique design) for $499.

Her shoot came out stunning. Based on the chats I had with Isla’s parents, we used props that were meaningful and pointed…such as the Shel Silverstein books which were a gift to Isla from her grandmother. And her father’s fireman helmet (obviously, he is a firefighter here in the city and without being a cliche, I’ll say it just once, he’s a hero to many).

Here are a few of my favorites from the session–Isla, welcome to the world, beautiful girl. Your daddy is going to have his hands full once you’re old enough to date! Maybe I can introduce you to my nephew when the time comes. ;0)

That being said, we’ve all caught what I like to call the Comic Con Cold. It’s this nasty bug that Sean, me and all of our friends contract every year right after NYCC. So many people. So few of whom have showered. So many germs and mouth breathers and people touching and brushing against each other–it’s like a petri dish of germs in the Javits Center that weekend. And so–we’re all getting over our colds after a good two days of hacking up phlegm. FUN TIMES!

All in all, NYCC was fun. I’m beginning to get to know Sean’s fans and even remember names and faces (and colleagues) from years before (Hi Alex! Hi Dan! Hi George! Hi Trip! Hi Guy Who Toured with the Glenn Miller Band Whose Name I Can’t Remember!). And I have to admit, though I might be slightly biased, I think the people who like Sean’s work tend to be a pretty rad bunch. They’re the more edgy and thoughtful readers in my experience at least.

That being said, I’m gonna go slug down some Nyquil and get a good night’s sleep before my crazy weekend of photo shoots! Seriously, it’s a busy one.

In any case, Sean used to have this fabulously retro 70s mug with a silhouette of palm trees and a couple walking on the beach and it was from the infamous “Better in the Bahamas” collection. His mom accidentally threw it out a few years ago and we’ve been searching tirelessly for it ever since.

While at my parents house last Christmas, we were making coffee and found this mug:

It’s not from the Better in Bahamas collection–BUT it has a very similar 70s beach vibe and Sean and I fell in love with it right away. My parents stared at us as though we were weird–especially since they had gotten us a hand painted collection of glassware that we were thankful for, but not nearly as excited about as their old, used, stained mug. They happily gave it to us and every morning we fight over who can get to this mug first. Usually I lose since Sean wakes up at an ungodly hour daily.

But every now and then, I’ll come out of the bedroom rubbing my eyes and there waiting for me on the counter is this mug with steaming coffee and a post-it note with a heart. Ok, so I lied about the post-it note…that’s so not Sean’s style. But I like to think that there’s a figurative post-it note that we both know might as well be there.

The other super fun thing about Jen’s shoot is that she was getting married (is married now)! So we themed her shoot to be retro bride chic. We also played around and had her dress like the “groom” a little bit, too. How cute are these???

To book your own Pin-Up Party, all you need is a few of your friends (minimum 4 girls, maximum 10) and a deposit to secure your date. For only $125 per girl, you receive a 20-minute boudoir shoot in one location, one high resolution digital image and an 8×12 wall print.  Or for $195 you receive two 20-minute boudoir sessions in two locations and two high resolution digital images and one 12×18 wall print.

It’s a weird feeling–switching from elated to melancholy in the course of minutes. Uncle Pete was a great man. He was hilariously funny, snarky and witty all the while still being very compassionate and loving. He would bend over backwards for friends and family. His health had been on the decline over the past couple of years, so while this wasn’t completely unexpected, it was still somewhat of a shock since we were told he was in rehab and getting better. The funeral lasted two days and I was glad to have had the chance to say good-bye to such an amazing man. RIP Uncle Pete.

Two days later, I met my godson, Harrison. He does very well in the daytime–but then when about 4pm hits, something in his brain switches and he unleashes what I call ‘the monster’. Every day at 4pm, he decides that he hates this world and everyone in it and makes this fact known by screaming his little head off. Poor little man. Then we discovered the formula the hospital had given us was expired–BY THREE MONTHS. I think we found the culprit.

Big sister, Adelynn is adjusting slowly but surely. She definitely doesn’t love not being the center of attention anymore, but she seems to be growing more and more ok with this idea. For the first week, she refused to touch Harrison or come near any of us who were holding him. After a night at home with them, Adelynn decided to start playing chase with me. I took Harrison from his pack ‘n play and without missing a beat, continued chasing Adelynn. I kept saying “Harrison got you!” as I would run up to her. Including him in playtime seemed to work really well and within minutes she was kissing him and wanted to hold him. SCORE FOR AUNT COLLEEN! Aunt Melanie might have the better toys and the bigger house, but remember Addy–I GOT YOU TO LOVE YOUR BROTHER.

Here is Harrison’s first photoshoot with a few at the end of Adelynn’s first encounter holding Harrison (The ones of Adelynn and Harrison were taken at 8pm sort of impromptu, so they’re a little dark!). We ran the gamut in terms of costumes and props and stuff, but the little hats were just too cute to not use!!

And just for fun before I headed back to NYC, we passed the camera around and got a few of me and the other adults…well, all except my bro-in-law. Poor schmo had to go to work that morning. Bummer!

If you decide you want to add a roll of film onto your photo session, they are priced per roll! Be sure to ask about it during your initial consultation.

Her handsome boyfriend came along as well and was the perfect assistant–holding hangers and hangers of dresses and a makeup kit, his hands busy with lipstick and mascara–that poor guy. But he was awesome and supportive through the whole shoot. And as it turned out, he was also a huge comic book fan. After the shoot, he and Sean had a blast talking about all sorts of geeky things while Kaitlin and I chatted about how awesome our men are (sarcasm? what?).

Here are a few of my absolute favorites from her shoot–my ‘favorites’ were practically IMPOSSIBLE to narrow down, by the way! Congratulations Kaitlin–can’t wait to see you in Miss America next year!