A little personal post... my family spends a lot of time at Lake Tahoe in the Sierras. This is one of my favorite peaceful places in the world. We've enjoyed some time there this summer exploring. My sister-in-law stumbled on this gorgeous field of lupine flowers, and I could not resist taking some casual photos.
Home Winemaker - Secondo Vento
I'm too excited not to share here, even though this has nothing to do with babies. My husband was in the wine business years ago and now he is a just hobbyist winemaker. We crushed a Napa Carneros Cabernet Sauvignon back in October 2013. The day he brought a trailer full of grapes to our driveway was an eventful day. He has a business trip planned, and had just hours to crush 1 ton of grapes in our driveway, while I was at the studio shooting a newborn session. He finished the crush, into a very large macro bin in the garage, and left the mess on the driveway for me to clean up. It's ok honey, I forgive you! The kids and I spent the next week checking the grapes twice a day and "punching down the cap", or the dry grapes that make their way to the top of the bin during the fermentation process. We added the yeast a few days into the process, and checked on them religiously those first few weeks. Today, after 14 months on French oak in our garage, the wine went into bottles today. It has been a family affair, and will result in about 25 cases of a beautiful wine. We still need to order the final labels, and put a silver foil on the bottle, but we're almost done! I will create a blog post once all of that is done, but I had to share what we've done so far. I created the artwork for the label and we're getting them printed this week. A few of these pictures show some vintage barrel staves from original barrels that my husband's Great Grandfather coopered. We still have them, what a treasure.
Its been very rewarding and fun. And it tastes amazing too. We're looking forward to our 2015 vintage starting in the Fall. No babies today - Secondo Vento (Second Wind in Italian - husband's heritage).
Chevron Shark Birthday Party - Oh My!
Just a personal share... I'm totally behind on blogging, but I had to put this post together to share from my son's 8th birthday party this past weekend. He is into sharks in a major way right now. I love putting on a themed party, and I try to do it for each of my kids for their birthday each year. I grew up not celebrating birthdays, so I think I overcompensate with my own kids. Crazy, I know... but I have so much fun doing it! I design stationery in addition to being a photographer (www.babycardexpressions.com is my stationery site). So I created the invites first... and then went to work on the rest. I worked with my friend Christy, from Celestial Bites in Roseville, to design the cake. I wanted the cake to be ombre in his party colors, with a cute little shark atop. (You can find her at www.celestialbites.com). I had the frame at home, and the chevron fabric at home to put on the table. Added my "toilet paper" backdrop (that's what my husband calls the pretty ivory and white garland in the back) and we were good to go! He had a great time at his party, surrounded by his family and friends. That's what its all about, right?! Happy Birthday A!! XOXO.
Carnival Themed Birthday Party - Aiden turns Seven
My son turned seven this last weekend... I cannot believe it! I did a carnival themed party for him, and went all out this year! It was a fun party at Funderland and he and his friends had a great time. I created all of the invitations and party decorations. I love party planning. I think if I was not doing photography, I would be planning fun and festive parties! I do sell the invitations at www.babycardexpressions.com.
Sacramento Photographer - Apple Hill Photos
A bit of a personal post this evening... what a great day it was for our family! We decided last minute to make a little trip to Apple Hill. Can I just say how much I LOVE Apple Hill?! If you have not visited, and you are local to the area, all I can say is make a trip! We visited a grower called "Denver Dan" and picked a whole 4 lbs of beautiful apples. I just have to say that Denver Dan's was a little more off the beaten path and not one of the most popular growers. The owner and his wife were SO so sweet. They gave each of the kids a peeled, cored apple to munch on... and they gave us a family sampling of FRESH apple juice... nothing like apple juice you buy at the market. And they even gave us a cobbler and ice cream. They were the sweetest. most generous people! So if you visit, stop by their orchard. AND, if I have any clients who are interested in a photo shoot in the Apple Hill region, please let me know. I love visiting this place, and I think that a morning, or evening shoot would be SO fun... and beautiful, as you can see below. Hope you had a great weekend!
Family Vacation - Spindrift in Monterey
Sorry if anyone has tried to reach me this week. I'm on vacation in Monterey with my family, and we are having a great time! Here are images from earlier in the week. I will probably post the rest after I return home this weekend. We are staying at the home of a family friend and all I can say is that it is AMAZING and beautiful. We have an incredible view, you can see the ocean and the bay. The home is windows floor to ceiling, and its so bright and gorgeous. We went whale watching on Tuesday. To the Monterey Bay Aquiarium on Wednesday. And we're heading out to explore the tide pools this afternoon. Its been SO relaxing.
Yes, we saw whales! The whale watching trip was about three hours long, and we saw a few humpbacks, and we saw blue whales - which are the LARGEST whale in the world. They were amazing! I got some great shots...
I took a ton of photos at the aquarium, and I can't wait to edit and post those. The Seahorse display was just incredible. We are having a blast!!
