Shadows - Part 3

My fascination with shadows continues.

Birthday Bliss

Last week was McKenzie's birthday, so I kept the day open in my schedule. She planned out a great day, and I tagged along for the ride.

I suggested that we ride the ferry over to the French Quarter because I thought it would be fun, and it was something she had never done. We got a fairly early start and after the ferry, we strolled several big blocks over to Croissant D'or for brunch.

Afterward, we made our way to Anthropologie. Ahhhhh! Then we hit up the movie "Life As We Know It." The movie was better than I expected, so we had a grand time watching it while devouring a boatload of popcorn. I really love that stuff, even though I'm sure it's doing something bad to my body.

We finished up the day with Bible study and then dinner at Tracy's on Magazine. The food was fantastic, but make sure to bring cash if you plan to eat there. As usual, I wasn't prepared.

It was a very full day filled with friendship, fun, and laughter. I'm so thankful to have such a great friend who keeps me in stitches.

Oh How I Love Thee...

...let me count the ways.

I have one word for you.

Anthropologie. It is my absolute favorite store on earth. The great news is that we have one in New Orleans now. I was there last Thursday and was reminded of how extraordinary it is. Their clothes make me want to squeal with delight. McKenzie can vouch for me; I kept walking around, exhaling with an, "ahhhh" of shear contentment. I would live there if they'd allow me.

The store combines old & vintage with industrial and chic. It is super cool, so you should definitely check it out. I promise you'll want to spend some time there. The only down side is that most everything is pricey. Anthropologie is terrific, so save your dollars and head over. If you know my number, call me. I'd love to join you.

Oops!

This week kinda got away from me. I promise there will be posts next week. Have a great weekend!

Sign Up for a Mini Photo Session

The holidays are approaching at a rapid pace, so this year I'm offering fall mini sessions. If you're planning to use a photograph in your upcoming holiday card or been thinking of how fast your children have been growing, this is a great opportunity for you. Space is limited; sign up by emailing me at info@katiehodas.com.

Chest Bump!

There's this phenomenon of dance moves, humping the air, chest bumping, and major rejoicing that happens during football games. It happens for the smallest things sometimes, and I wonder why they're so excited that they actual did their job correctly?

I would like to propose that the rest of the world begin to employ these techniques at their jobs; I think it would really spice up the workplace, don't you? The next time you finish teaching a lesson to students, writing a brief, delivering a baby, answering a phone call, cleaning your house, taking care of your kids, mowing the lawn, or anything else that you constitute as work, I hope you'll act like a football player and give a chest bump to someone nearby. The thought of my friend Maggie doing a happy dance in her law office makes me laugh a lot. I'm telling you; this could change our lives. :)

The next time I complete a design project or photo editing, I'm going to jump up and scream, do a happy dance, and then run to the living room to chest bump my mom. What do you think? Can we make this happen? I'm in!

I'd love to hear what type of good news would make you act this way?

Kristin

It has been awhile since Joe and I have been out photographing together. The weather got unbearably hot, so we took a break for the summer. There was a brief reprieve from the heat, so I suggested we head out for a shoot. Kristin was nice enough to model for us.

She's interesting and was a great sport for these photos; she really couldn't say, "No," since she's dating Joe. :) Well, she could have, but that just wouldn't have been any fun. I think if you ever hang around either of us; you should prepare to be photographed!

Then we enjoyed a great dinner at Cafe Freret. It was yummy goodness in a great, outside atmosphere.

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy

It's the little things in life that make me happy, so I thought I'd share a few with you today. These are in no particular order.

  1.  cool New Orleans weather

  2. Kleenex hand towels

  3. air popped popcorn

  4. driving with the windows down & music loud

  5. making my own schedule

  6. great friends

  7. pedicures

  8. diet coke

  9. boots

10. funky hats

11. photography in the great weather (obviously)

12. humorous people

13. newborn babies (you can't be sad when you hold one)

14. Bon Jovi

15. nostalgic music

16. quiet

17. traveling

18. sleeping late

19 staying up late

20. eating out

21. izzo's

22. most things vintage

23. crafts

24. friendship bracelets

25. the unexpected

To complete this minimal list, here's a photo that makes me happy. I'd love to hear the top five small things that make you happy.

Braniff

Even though I'm single, I attend a lot of birthday parties for children. One, because I'm usually the photographer, and two, because I have some really awesome married friends with children. Braniff's third birthday was a combination of the two. His mom and I are really great friends, and I also took some photographs of the festivities.

As always, there a spacewalk, which is my enemy as a photographer. You can't shoot through the mesh, and you can't take a clean shot inside because of all the jumping toddlers. :) They had the LSU game on that day, and Juliet felt the need to wear her Florida shirt. What was she thinking?

Choo Choo!

As I mentioned yesterday, Megan is cooler than cool. She scoped out a really sweet location for some additional portraits of H.

It was this old abandoned train. We had to trudge through some overgrown grass to get to this rusted, mustard yellow train car, but it was worth the effort. It wasn't an ideal time of day because the sun was super bright, but we managed to find a little bit of shade. H was very excited to be on a train, even if it wasn't going anywhere.

After that, we went to an old barn and dairy.

Alphabet Bathroom Project

My friend Megan is many things. She's a terrific mom and a working woman at the same time. She's smart, loves the Lord, and all things historic and vintage. In addition, she is the ultimate crafter.

She and her husband recently moved to a new city where they have a house to decorate. I'm totally jealous that she has so much space, and she has done an amazing job decorating it so far. I should have documented all the greatness to share with you here, but alas, I did not.

During my visit, we worked on one of her projects. We (meaning mostly her) made the entire alphabet for H's bathroom. I was there for moral support and great at handing her nails for hanging each letter. I wasn't able to capture the entire bathroom in one shot, but I hope you appreciate the idea all the same.