This space is on hold for a bit. In the meantime, come visit me at curate the day for new posts!

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Oh, hello. I have been absent from life for the last few weeks. We have been working on our business plan and my head has been consumed by projections and spreadsheets. But no more! Officially finished.

Today is about catching up on everything that I have missed, including beauty. The collection this week reminds me that there is beauty in everything we see or do. Joslyn of Simple Lovely posted about a TED talk with Graham Hill in which he said that “Editing is the skill of the century.” Love it. It’s all about curation, friends. With so much out there, we need to curate the lovely.

Here are a few lovelies this week:

Being Here, Mark Garry.

1. This art installation by Mark Garry. I love how the thread illuminates as the light hits it.

2. This Mad Men-inspired wedding photographed by Christopher Currie. A good reminder that this weekend I need to finish the season of Mad Men. Wow, it’s good.

3. This home tour photographed by Dabito. Everything about his home is warm and eclectic.

4. Art and patterns by Sonia Delaunay. She was a gifted artist, who had a talent for creating whimsical, yet classic patterns and bold, innovative art.

5. This adorable photo by Shalonda Chaddock of Chubby Cheek Photography. It perfectly captures the spirit of children and their summertime art.

Hope you have a great weekend! I am off to spend the weekend with the lovelies in my home. xx

We had a great weekend with a pool full of kids celebrating preschool graduation. I haven’t had a moment to download the pictures, but it did get me thinking about photographing kids. Now that summer is here, it is the time when children spend long afternoons playing with friends and exploring their surroundings. These carefree days provide the perfect opportunity to photograph children in a candid way. So, forget the studios and backdrops and instead, choose to capture those perfectly imperfect moments that childhood is made of.

1. Choose an environment that allows for exploration. Your shots will be more candid if you let children roam around and play. After all, that is what children do best!

2. Relax. When you (the photographer) are calm and relaxed, your children will respond in a more natural way.

3. Shoot from different perspectives. Photograph them from above or behind to really get a sense of how they relate to their surroundings.

4. Use props or toys to provide comfort and encourage play. This is particularly effective if you are photographing shy children.

5. Get the parents involved. Nothing is more beautiful than the bond between children and their parents.

I’d love to see some of your favorite photos of your kids. Share a link here!

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Spending the week in Palm Springs is good for the soul. The desert warmth and light, rich colors and wood are inspiring to bring back home and add into life. Although taking the freeway is the most direct route to Palm Springs, I am a backroads kind of girl. I just can’t resist them. The smaller, the dirtier and more indirect, the better.

It was a light week of plugging in, but here are a few beauties collected.

1. I love these pillows from Pendleton’s Fall 2012 Portland Collection. I’ll take one of each, please!

2. At Your Leisure magazine by J3 Productions. Complete with great articles and photos, and stunning layouts, this publication is really a work of art.

3. The blog of photographer Heather Zweig. I can’t get enough of her beautiful photographs, and her blog has quickly become one of my favorite weekly reads.

4. This collection of serveware from Dwell Studio. I love the mix of simple patterns and natural materials.

5. This wedding photographed by Tec Petaja. The photography is gorgeous, and I love how that pop of yellow contrasts the rustic, earthy color palette.

Throwing a big party tomorrow and relaxing the rest of the weekend away! Any fun plans? Hope you enjoy!

The weekend started with Starry Night and ended dancing under the stars at one am, around a huge oak tree, with a group of my favorite women. So. Much. Fun.

The creativity began on Friday night with the long awaited, preschool art show. The kids and teachers worked so hard preparing for the show and were really excited. The class had studied different artists, techniques and styles of art and photography. The Warhol study was probably my favorite. The wall of pictures, each carefully hand painted by the kids was stunning. The teachers told us about all the time they spent working on each project with the kids and how much they loved it. Really, what is more inspiring than creating art with kids! Another favorite, we when studying Matisse’s paper collages towards the end of his life, the kids learned that he was bedridden and had assistants assembling each of his collages according to his directions. In order to properly study his work, the teachers had each child lay on a cot, with a beret and glasses on of course, and direct their “assistant” to place the cut piece where they wanted it on the paper. A fantastic experience for them and the pictures of each child during the process were adorable.

After the show, I was off to my annual women’s retreat which was a perfect combination of relaxed, energized, creative and moving. Our theme for the retreat was Dreamcatchers: Achieving Your Life Vision. We cooked, ate, drank, talked, made dreamcatchers, painted t-shirts, hiked and ran wildly through open fields. We discussed our reoccurring dreams, daydreams throughout our life and creating a life vision. And then we danced. Late into the night. There is something incredible about coming together with the same group of people year after year, that really anchors your life. It is a measure of time and allows you to have witnesses, a step back from your daily life, that really see you and watch your life and dreams unfold. Do you have a vision for your life? Is it something you have written down and refer to? Have you made one with your children? I haven’t yet, but I would love to write down their dreams for the future at each year of their life. Do you enjoy helping other people achieve their dreams? I would love to hear it all! xx