Heart-Shaped Pizza and Just Being There

One day out of the year, chocolate, flowers, and jewelry are our nationally recognized symbols of romance and love. But my hubby and I have been different since the beginning. Neither of us were ever huge fans of reserving romance for one particularly dictated day, nor were we big fans of the usual spoils of February 14th. Instead, we decided to celebrate in our own way. The steakhouse dinner? Nah. A dozen red roses? Nah. My husband's staged living room performance of "Truly Madly Deeply"? Nah. Recreating some of our favorite dishes from our Indonesian honeymoon for dinner? YES, PLEASE! But that's just us. Seeing images friends have posted throughout the day...heart-shaped pizzas, pink pancakes, dancing to favorite songs with sweet babies, great seats at a basketball game, pink tutus, naked babies covered in cake, and scanned photos from decades ago...make me smile...everyone does V Day their own way. One friend mentioned that just returning home to see her very-busy-always-on-call-doctor husband there unexpectedly for the evening was a gift all in itself. Just like her, I hope you and your valentines (spouses, boyfriends/girlfriends, children, best friends) spend time appreciating every little moment that adds up to this crazy good life. Although, I could go for an impromptu living room a capella rendition of Hall and Oates' "You Make My Dreams"...or "Maneater"...hmmm...something to think about for next year.

My valentine and me on our honeymoon!
Bali, Indonesia

Aliza

The B Family

An unseasonably warm and sunny day greeted us for the B family session. Throw in three generations, a bucketful of smiles, and two cute little peaches with blond hair and bright eyes, and you've got a recipe for some great photo memories. It's always a treat when the wee ones ham it up for the camera...so innocently adorable. A few favorites from our morning session...

The B Family | Glendale, Wisconsin

Aliza

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like...Chanukah?

The holiday season goes a little like this vignette from the Werner household:

(Setting: Werner living and dining rooms. The scene begins as Aliza and Nick walk in. Aliza places the Chanukah menorah on the table and sets up the candles. The room smells strongly of pine. Nick turns on the satellite radio...)

Radio: It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...Everywhere you go...

(Aliza strikes a match and lights the middle shamash candle.)

Radio: Take a look in the five and ten glistening once again...With candy canes and silver lanes aglow...

(With the Christmas tune playing on the radio in the background, A&N huddle around the menorah.)

A&N: Baruch atah adonai elohainu melech ha'olam asher kiddishanu b'mitzvotav v'tzivanu l'hadlik nar shel Chanukah.

(As Aliza lights the first night candle...)

Radio: It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...Toys in every store...

(With the menorah's candles flickering a cozy orange glow...)

A or N: Now that the menorah is lit...let's go decorate the tree!

(A&N head to the Christmas tree ten feet away to begin the annual detangling of lights, search for escaped metal hooks, and discovery of memories represented in the collection of ornaments. As each bauble and trinket is hung on the branches, Aliza sees one last shiny item at the bottom of the box. It's a delicate menorah ornament...a gift last year from her mother-in-law. On the tree is goes.)

Radio: It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas; Soon the bells will start...And the thing that will make them ring is the carol that you sing...Right within your heart.

Annnnnnd...scene.

The Eighth Night of Chanukah
The lit menorah glows brightly in front of the Christmas tree.

Aliza

These Boots Are So Cute!

I have buckets full of beautiful babies and families and weddings and travel and news to blog...but the spots dancing in front of my eyes are nature's way of saying, "Peel yourself away from the computer!" Those little guys need a rest from the screen tonight. So, just a shot from our weekend away. Our friends N&M invited us along for our annual trek to Green Bay for a Packer game. We. Were. FREEZING! Over the years, I have acquired many fancy pieces of outdoor gear to help get me through the torture that is a Wisconsin winter. This year, my purchase was a new pair of boots! Not just any boots. Not anything like the boots the little girls in the Gap commercial sang about last holiday season ("These boots are so cute! These boots are so cute!"...has anyone gotten that out of their head yet, a year later?!) These are the kind of boots that people see and say, "Hey, killer boots, man!" (to quote my husband quoting an awful Jim Carrey movie). We are talking, learn how to walk again while wearing these boots. Soles several inches thick. Fleece. Fur. Squishy padding on the bottom. Despite ambling along looking like a penguin with bricks strapped to my feet, they were totally worth it. Not a single toe got cold during those hours out on the tundra. They were probably my best purchase of the year, as sad as that sounds.

So bring on the snow and windchill! I'll shuffle into my boots and seventeen layers on top and finally laugh in the face of Old Man Winter. Ha! I can't wait to rock them again!

Hubby and me | Lambeau Field | Green Bay, Wisconsin
December 2010

Oh, and the Packers won! GO PACK!

Aliza

Sneak Peek: Lorenz Family

Searching for the perfect stone...

...mission accomplished.

Just a quick peek...a beautiful family session of a mama and her two lovable boys on the beach.

Aliza

The McDevitt Family

The weather was threatening to make a turn for the worse, but the girls were ready to head straight for the beach. Three girls with piercing, bright eyes, a sprinkling of freckles, and mile-wide smiles, will win every time. The family of five meandered their way down the tall wooden staircase to the lakefront at Klode Park, one of my favorite parks in the city. Large boulders stretch from the shore and small waves lap at the sand. Between hugs for mom and dad, the little girls wandered the beach, making mini sand castles, tossing rocks to the waves, and dipping their toes in the water. The forewarning breezes ruffled their dresses and wisps of hair. The storm did not catch us...we danced between the raindrops as we arrived back at our cars.

McDevitt Family | Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin

Aliza

Three Girls in Dark Glasses in Indiana

We ran down hills through tall grasses and reeds. Leaves of gold, rust, and fire, cooled only by droplets of green. An earnest sun. A motionless spider. A cold marble slab covered in carmelized sweets. Bright blue eyes and a ride in a minivan. Holding a day, a moment in time before it races on. Two girls in dark glasses. Racing down the hill. One girl in dark glasses. Click the camera quickly. It looks like they were flying. Click the camera quickly to keep the day. And hold it still.

The day. It flew.

Bloomington, Indiana | October 2010

Aliza