Before we head off into the weekend I’ll post another shoot from last year of my dear friend Sloane and her fam. We were neighbors in the city and coincidentally we are neighbors here in Chappaqua as well. Crazy. They were just finishing up renovations on their house when we had our shoot, hence the dumpster. We had to take advantage! This was the chosen photo for their holiday card which read “Happy Holidays. Keep It Clean.” I can take no credit, it was all Sloane’s idea. Clever, right?

I recently switched gears and photographed food. Say what? Yes, carrot soup, chocolate espresso biscuits and sea-salted bourbon vanilla caramels were my new eager subjects. At first I felt a little out of my element not chasing around a toddler or trying to get my subject to look at my camera, but I got used to it very quickly. Although it was very nice not having to pull tricks out of my back pocket to provoke a smile, food photography sure isn’t easy. You need a whole new bag of tricks, good light and props, props and more pretty props. I quickly learned pretty props are key. Props and multiples. Can you tell we liked multiples?

I got together with my dear friend Lisa Nicklin, who recently graduated from the Institute of Culinary Education in NYC, for a little shoot in her newly renovated house. She offers private catering as well as private cooking and baking lessons to individuals and small groups, either in your home or hers. These photos are for her first newsletter, which of course I will share here. In the meantime you can reach her by email:  lisa@lisabillarddesign.com.

To celebrate Valentine’s Day this year with my boys, I’ve pulled together a few items below that I know they will love.

I came across these adorable Valentines for Conner and Tyler’s classmates on Dandee-Design’s blog, and knew they would be a big hit. We made them yesterday, pairing them with candy and wrapping them in cellophane bags sealed with bug stickers.

Brendan picked up strawberry frosted donuts last tonight for their breakfast today. They are my absolute favorite. I know, not so healthy but when else can you eat a pink sugary donut?

I spotted these foam pirate sets in the toy store while picking up the plastic bugs for their valentines. They are obsessed with pirates right now so I figure these will be a big hit too. And the colors were perfect for Valentine’s Day.

And for the husband? I’m surprising him for lunch in the city with one of these in hand.

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!

This was a beautiful birthday party held at Del Posto in New York City. An elegant evening filled with alot of love and laughter. A performance by the Princeton University Tigertones topped things off. Jessica and her husband Bryan both attended Princeton and Bryan used to sing with the Tigertones. So sweet.

Since it’s a cold and very grey day here in New York, I decided it would be a good time to post some of our photos from our vacation this past August in the Hamptons. These photos brightened my day. Hopefully they will do the same for you.

This was taken the night before the hurricane arrived. Available for sale in my new Etsy store.

One of my favorite gifts this Christmas was a book my husband gave me, Vivian Maier’s Street Photography. Inside he inscribed a sweet note, saying her photography reminded him of mine. Sigh. While my photography is not quite on par with Maier’s, I sure was inspired to dig out my Hasslebald and shoot black and white medium format film again, just as she did. The book blew me away.

This past Friday I picked the boys up from school and headed into the city. We met Brendan at the last day of the Vivian Maier’s exhibit which was everything I expected and more. I soaked in her rich black and white fiber prints, ranging in price from $1800-$8000, and was so inspired and reminded why I am a photographer. You never know who will look at and appreciate your work one day when you’re not around. To leave something behind, is often why I take out my camera. To inspire someone like myself, in a small museum in midtown Manhattan is more than a dream for most photographers. Maier passed away in 2009 and I can only imagine how she feels looking down from heaven today.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Maier’s story, she was a nanny for close to 50 years in Chicago and New York, all the while taking photos with her Rolleiflex. Her lack of self esteem held her back from ever pursuing photography as something more than a hobby. Luckily John Maloof purchased many of her negatives through a local auction house and has since collected many of her negatives, prints and videos, making it possible for us all to be inspired be her amazing body of work.

What impressed me the most was when I read Maier often took only one frame of each photo. To be that quick with your focus, framing and exposure and for all that to align on the first try is truly impressive. Especially with street photography. To be able to seize the moment with a Rolleiflex, in my mind, is pure talent. Remember, this is not the day of the automatic focus digital camera with a zoom lens and a little work in Photoshop afterwards.

Next we took the boys to FAO Schwartz and then moved onto to PJ Clarkes for my favorite burger on the planet. I’ve decided we are heading into NYC, Fridays after school once every few weeks. I miss it there.

A few of my favorite Maier photos…

A few nights ago I was doing one of my favorite night time activities, browsing Pinterest, when I came across this amazingly simple and delicious recipe for chicken tacos. I made it last night for all of us and was so surprised how not only easy it was, but how good it tasted, and knew I had to share with you asap.

3 Ingredients:

6 boneless chicken breasts

1 jar of salsa – I bought homemade from our market in town

1 packet of taco or fajita seasoning, low sodium if possible

3 Steps:

Get out your crockpot or slow cooker

Throw in all the ingredients

Turn on low for approximately 6 hours, or high for approximately 4 hours.

The chicken shreds very easily and tastes great piled into a tortilla with guacamole, black beans, sour cream and cheese. I didn’t take a photo myself because the light in my kitchen during the winter is pretty awful so I will borrow one from Chocolate Therapy, which is where the recipe was featured. The best part is it leaves plenty of leftovers for tortilla soup. My favorite recipe can be found on bakedbree.com.

Can you believe this monkey is 2 weeks old. He was over 9 LBs at birth. Such a big guy with the rolls to prove it. Love those arms.

For those of you who don’t receive my newsletter, the January issue is out. You can email me or click the top right “newsletter” button to sign up. To view the newsletter in full, simply click on the newsletter. Enjoy!

I was recently reading The Creative Mama and was overcome with motivation to tackle a photo project for 2012. A photo a day for the next year, starting yesterday, Saturday, January 21st, 2012. Eeeek. I’m a little nervous putting this in writing, but hopefully writing it here will only help me stick to the challenge. Last year I was so disappointed with my personal photography. I took less personal photos in 2011 than most years since Conner was born. I’m hoping this will kick that for 2012.

I was so blown away by Amy Bader’s results from this challenge last year. The shadows on her floor, piles of folded laundry, silly smiles and her self portraits. The ins-and-outs of her family. I love them all. I couldn’t stop thinking about what an amazing book this would be for my boys, for our family and thought, I have to do this. I’m not the best at keeping my camera handy lately. I also struggle with putting down my phone, not checking email, etc. so I’m hoping this will help me knock out those distractions. I’m also hoping this will help me stay present, positive and focus on all the little things I love most about us and our lives together as a family. This is my new year’s resolution.

Care to join me?