Happy Birthday, Mom!

Last weekend we headed south to Atlantic Beach, off the coast of North Carolina, to celebrate my mom's birthday. The weather was amazing! Warm and sunny with a cool breeze. It couldn't have been a more beautiful day!  Here is a picture of her on the beach with all her grand babies. So precious! 

Oh, Baby!

Look at this gorgeous momma! Isn't she glowing?! Kristen is anxiously awaiting the birth of her baby girl. I had so much fun hanging out at Silver Lake with this sweet family. And little Owen knew exactly how to work the camera! I love them and this session so much! 

Hey, guys!

After a crazy busy Fall (thank you clients!), and a crazier Winter and Spring, I'm back to give this poor neglected blog a little attention.

We've now offically lived in the NOVA area for a year! And I have been loving it! The scenery, the weather, the people! I'm so happy to call this place my home! And on that note, our big news and source of most of the crazy.  We bought a house and moved... again! Our plan was to live in the area for a year while we were house hunting and deciding where we wanted to be.  Haymarket was the clear winner! We've been in the new house for about two months and have fallen in love with our neighborhood! This is our forever house, and I just can't wait to unpack the last few boxes and start our forever!

I swapped all my business info from Ashburn to Haymarket, since it's my base. But I will happily drive up to Loudoun for sessions. Anywhere around the NOVA area is fair game! If you're familiar with Burnside Farms, I have some exciting news.

It's almost SUNFLOWER TIME! The window for sunflower sessions is small since they only bloom for a short time. I am now booking sunflower sessions, so make sure to reserve your spot before they fill up.  I shoot them "after hours". Which means there are maybe a couple other people there with photographers, or we may have it to ourselves.  Either way, it's ah-mazing!

Here are a few photos I took at Burnside last year, along with session details.

Hailey Bree is one!

One of the best things about moving to the East coast is being close to family! I had the honor of photographing my sweet niece's cake smash in Franklinton, N.C.  

Isn't she the cutest? She was so dainty with her cake. A true little lady! Happy birthday, baby girl!  

Sunflower Photo Session at Burnside Farms

Hey, friends! 

I have exciting news! I had my very first client, here in Virginia! The Simpson family was as sweet as they are adorable! We decided to meet at Burnside Farms and shoot in their sunflower field. It was beautiful! We had so much fun playing in the flowers and dodging the buzzing bees. It was a great evening spent with great new friends! 

Open For Business!

Hey, Friends!
After a couple long months of moving cross-country with three little boys and unpacking a few hundred boxes, we are finally feeling settled in our new home in Ashburn, Virginia! And. We. Love. It.
It's beautiful, the people have been so friendly and there is so much to do and see.  It's even better than I expected- and I had some high expectations.  I absolutely can not wait to start up the biz, and take advantage of this beautiful scenery!
I am excited to announce that Mellow Daisy is now open for business! I hope to get to know you and help you preserve your sweet moments.  The best way I can think to say 'hello' to the community is with a special Summer discount. So please take advantage of this deal and call me to set up a consultaion. Coffee's on me!

Beachy Beginnings

If you have read my previous posts, you know we are getting ready to move.  What you may not know, is how many times we've done this before. My husband is in the Air Force which means we move and we move often.  We started in AZ, then moved to GA, TX, SD, CA, AZ and now we prepare for VA. That's 6 different states in 13 years of marriage. Whew!

But this move is different.  Hubbs will be able to retire from VA, and if we like it and the kids are settled… we can stay put! This just might be the last move, you guys!  Just maybe.  It's exciting on a personal level, for sure.  To be able to make friends that we don't have to say goodbye to is a foreign concept for us. And to think we can put down roots while the kids are still young? Craziness. But it's almost more exciting professionally. I've had to start this photography business over with each move. Each time I say goodbye to friends, I also say goodbye to my clients (who always seem to become friends too!).  This time, however, I can really focus on growing this business without knowing in the back of my mind that I'll be leaving soon, and having to start from scratch yet again.

Don't get me wrong, though! I have loved moving around and getting to experience so many different parts of our country. We literally have friends scattered across the globe. I wouldn't change it for anything.  Of all the places we were stationed, California is my very favorite. We lived in Los Angeles, on a hill overlooking the ocean.  Our kids were babies there (one was born there).  We spent many evenings and even some playdates with friends at Disneyland.  The beach was 5 minutes away.  There was always something fun to do, and we had the greatest friends to do it with.  I began my photography business there.  My first clients were my friends who were nice enough to let me practice on them!  I quickly fell in love with beach photography… right before they moved us to the desert!  Typical, right?! ;)
So today, as I reminisce, I'd like to share some of my favorite beach photos with you. Can you tell why I loved it so much?