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

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

Friday Thoughts: The Quiet Season and Sparkle

As the last leaves spiral to the ground, the photo season lulls into its own hibernation. Besides the brand new babes born this winter, I am already looking forward to next year's babies, family shoots, and weddings.

This incredibly beautiful wedding, and many more to share with you as 2010 draws to a close. Images from spring and summer should keep us all warm as the first frozen flakes begin to dance on the chilly wintry winds. So much to still blog, so faithful followers, visit often. If you're new, thanks for stopping by and get ready for more!

Lush and dreamy and accentuated with sparkle.

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

Baby Beluga in the Deep Blue....Aquarium Tank

I don't know what it is about this photo, but I just keep staring at it. A baby beluga (cue the Raffi music) followed its mother, swimming through the murkiness of the deep salt water tank at the aquarium. As we watched from the viewing deck, many feet under water, mother and newborn traced circles around the depths of the tank. I couldn't help but wonder if the mother was purposefully teaching her child to swim and glide through the water, or inadvertently demonstrating patterns of boredom in captivity. The circular swim was mesmerizing. Each time their bulbous white bodies darted gracefully (yes, gracefully) past us, I aimed to freeze a moment with my camera, but with the very low light and surprising speed with which they sailed by, the images were nothing but a blur. So, I timed it differently. To get them as they swam towards us. Far enough away. Zoomed in. I love that the moment is so dark. So quiet, almost haunting. Hardly discernible. Just the curve of their bellies-up bodies, a hint of light from above. Just mama and baby, circling their own private ocean.



Aliza

"My Kind of Town, Chicago is..."

We boarded the early crack-o-dawn train, and sat next to passengers on their way to work. Home. Anywhere but here. The red-head in frizzy braids and sweatpants next to us conducted a loud private conversation on her phone. After hearing about her hangover aftermath at her third shift waitressing job due to five too many Red Bull and vodkas the previous evening, I was thankful that I had toasted my own bagel that morning. Newspapers whipped open. Used college textbooks were highlighted. Lipstick was applied. iPhone apps were downloaded. We watched the farm fields and small towns blur past us. And it was no time before we got there. We stepped outside and immediately looked up at the buildings, and the sun streaming through the few cotton ball clouds.

Our bitter rivals in all games athletic, their pride resting on their ketchup-less hotdogs and thick-crusted pizza, chewing gum and wind, gangsters and Oprah. Big buildings. Big airport. Big history. And all that jazz. Chicago. We spent the day 103 floors up, and under the sea before a sleepy, and quiet, ride home on the rails.

Chicago, Illinois
(Willis Tower Skydeck, Shedd Aquarium)

Aliza

Something Blue...and Green

My mind is racing today.
I am so super excited.
I feel so super lucky.
I know I am so super blessed.
Because...
Something big is about to happen.
Something inspiring, humbling, sacred...

I thought I should let you know that the blog is going to take a snooze for a couple weeks as an incredible opportunity has come my way. I'm gathering, packing, checking, double-checking, and triple-checking all my photo equipment as I prepare to shoot the wedding of a lifetime. All details to be sliced and diced on the blog soon...I'm zipping my lips and throwing away the key until my return to the blog-o-sphere!

To get specifically into this wedding's spirit..."something old (10 years ago)" and...

..."something blue (and green...(yup that's me on the coast!))"...


Aliza

Friday Thoughts: Up Nort' Wisconsin

Every year my husband's family travels "up nort' Wisconsin" with fifty of our closest family and friends. We rent out the same resort (I use this term verrrry loosely) and bum around for a week. I only took along my little Sony Cybershot point-&-shoot, because, believe it or not, I like to actually just stretch out face down on my pink South Beach Miami towel (talk about a cheap & useful souvenir!) and get my tan on. There's nothing like arriving at this resort (which could be marketed as a "diamond in the rough" or "an antique") after our four-hour drive with full bladders and finding our cottage's toilet sitting in the shower while the owner was crawling around trying to fix the plumbing. Welcome to vacation! At some point in between watching my nine-month old nephew eat half of the beach, mixing up enough bloody marys to quench the thirst of the entire population of a small African country, whacking my 10,000th skeeter, recording an acapella version of "Single Ladies" with my three year old niece on my hubby's iPhone (hours, literally hours of entertainment), building campfires that would make Smokey the Bear quit his job in frustration, having a "tea and crumpets" (read: "cran-apple juice and Cheez-Its") party on the beach with enough children to compose a decent-sized pre-school classroom, making my mother-in-law a salami sandwich so good that when it accidentally dropped in the sand, she shook it off and still ate it, and marveling that the "quaint" and "cozy" cottages have defeated all laws of physics and are still standing...I managed to grab this shot of friends both young, and, um, younger...ahhhh, vacation...nothing like it...

Rhinelander, Wisconsin | August 2010

Aliza

How Many Hearts Do You Count?

Sometimes a girl from the city needs to surround herself with the opposite. The crowded space filled with buildings, deadlines, meetings, emails, appointments, and housework fades away. The space fills up with hikes in the park, wine tastings, crossword puzzles, bookstore browsing, and mugs of hot coffee. Just a few hours in the car and we're there. Door County. Our getaway at times when Italy's not an option.

This is what we saw.
Do you see the hearts? How many do you count?

















Aliza