family photo shoot.

my dear friend kylie takes the most beautiful photos, and she was kind enough to take a quick family shoot before our move. in my mind, there's no backdrop more beautiful & memorable than the great central park. 

i love my family of three, and i love seeing harper's growth each day— it's so tangible. although it pains me to see her become more independent, it's true that children get even more fun as they get older. within the past week she learned to reciprocate peek-a-boo with anything she can grab. she also learned to wave, although it looks more like an arm spasm to those without mama's keen eye. luckily, she still has her daddy's calm temperament and is developing a quick wit and keen sense of emotion of those around her—she will cry when you cry and laugh when you laugh. 

oh, i love our little girl. i especially love seeing todd with our little girl. his face lights up every time he sees her. he such a great dad to harper and partner to me. life is definitely not perfect, but it feels pretty darn close when we're together. 

stripes & gingham.

top: old navy. skirt: madewell. shoes: steve madden. belt: j.crew {similar here}. clutch: chichwish. watch: michael kors. sunglasses: chanel. 

i love to mix my patterns—stripes, checks, florals, polka dots—you name it. 

if you like the idea of mixing prints but don't know how, start with stripes. 

you can {almost} never go wrong.

stay classy, neon.

blouse: ann taylor. blazer: elie tahari. jeans: gap. shoes: cole haan. purse: j. crew. watch: michael kors. jewelry: gerard yosca, ny street vendor, j. crew

i'm loving the neon trend this season,

but as you can read {here}, you want to be careful not to get

too carried away with this 80s classic. 

by pairing my neon blouse and accessories with a traditional white blazer, 

i inject a little funk and personality into my look while still keeping it classy.

chickens.

okay, have you ever seen pet chickens as adorable as these?

or maybe it's more appropriate to ask, have you ever seen pet chickens...period?

in utah, you don't have dogs or cats, you have chickens.

and ya know what? i think they're on to something—they don't need to be walked or potty trained, 

and apparently you can love them just as much as man's best friend. 

done!

every morning, my adorable niece would go out to the chicken coop,

scoop up one of her three chickens named sugar, 

and tote it around the yard in the crook of her arm the rest of the morning.

newborn photos.

i went back and forth as to whether i should have newborn photos taken, but once i finally came to my senses, i did and am so very happy to share them with you! 

falycia was kind to take a last-minute photo shoot of harper, and she did an incredible job. i have no other way to describe her except as a true baby whisperer. although harper was out of that sleepy newborn stage during the shoot, falycia knew exactly what to do to get her to sleep and keep her asleep. i need to hire that girl during nap time!! i am so thrilled with how these photos came out and will cherish them forever. i sure love my little baby. and as a side note, can we just talk about her bellybutton!? kills me. 

valentine's, photobooths, and friends.

hubs and i opted out of the typical valentine's date and

instead spent it with friends running in and out of photobooths.

The Smith

Otto's Shrunken Head

Lakeside Lounge

Vazac's Horseshoe

of course, leave it up to lindsay and her oozing creativity to yet again

came up with another brilliant plan: 

a photobooth crawl.

she spent the whole past week mapping out all the 

different bars & restaurants in the east village that had photobooths. 

we first met at the smith for dinner, which is quite delicious 

and which also, conveniently enough, has a photobooth. 

thus, where the crawl began. 

that booth was then followed by three others where we

kissed and ooo'd and aww'd at the camera in hopes of the wildest photos. 

it was such a fun night and i'm thankful for great friends

that make these sorts of things happen.

{because heaven knows i'm not creative enough to devise such ideas.}

for the whole story, pictures, and ideas for your own nyc photobooth crawl,

see lindsay's post {here!}

brit + greg

I recently went on a little photoshoot around the park with the most beautiful couple EVER!

 {Don't you agree?}

Brit and Greg are getting married in San Diego and wanted an NYC-themed 

guest sign-in book to take with them.

What a great idea, hey?! If you can't come to NYC, we'll bring NYC to you!

This was my first official photoshoot and the only reason my photos

came out good was because of my ultra-photogenic subjects.

battle of the cameras.

our wide array of props

 jordan took this contest very seriously

 the panel reviewing the photos...

and the winning shot...CANON! {let's not act too surprised people}

good game jordan, good game

after meeting someone with a nikon, 

i'm always curious as to why they chose that brand 

over canon and vice versa.

this time, jordan and i let the cameras do the talking.

the nikon vs. canon shoot off

chic grunge.

whoever said only pools and lawn chairs made cool rooftop accessories?

overrated. 

why, i think my roof is...endearing. 

{just be sure you've got your tetanus before coming up...}