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?

Before we head into the weekend, I will leave you with this beautiful family I’ve been photographing for over 5 years. They always greet me with great energy, stylishly dressed. What more can you ask for?

Mom and dad are two of our closest friends from college. My husband and Dave also grew up together, so it’s safe to say we have history. It’s also safe to say, I love them dearly. Especially little little Luca. Could he be any cuter?

This is one of the many shoots I’ve been meaning to blog from 2011, one of my last from 2011. It was the perfect way to wrap up a wonderful season, in the MPD and on the High line, with a family I love.

We are on day 3 of 2012 and I’ve already turned a year older. My birthday was yesterday. What a way to start the new year, right? This was the first year I actually felt older and was a little bummed about it but hey, atleast I got it out of the way. Bren and the boys gave me a pair of new Uggs which have already come in handy since it’s 25 degrees here today.

I’m dragging my new-boot clad feet over here after nearly two weeks of vacation. I’ve been procrastinating with organizing my home and office, catching up on a few of my favorite blogs, signing Conner up for his extra curricular classes, shopping on westelm.com and now I might even go get a manicure. I’ve returned emails and cleaned out my mailbox, made myself a long list of things to do for both personal and work and plan to keep organized with these two recent purchases, a new desktop calendar and chalkboard for our kitchen. I use my Iphone calendar but this will help keep my babysitter and husband on board. I like to write down reminders and have our schedule on display to make sure our days go smoothly.

And now, a few photos from our New Year’s Eve. We spent the evening with friends making pizzas for the kids, pasta bolognese for the adults and of course drinking a few cocktails. To view more pics like this, don’t forget to follow me on Instagram. If you haven’t joined yet, add downloading the app to your 2012 to-do list. You won’t be sorry.

The year is almost over. I can hardly believe the holiday madness is nearly behind me. This year was different. Different in many good ways. I hired a new assistant who made my life so much easier, I don’t know how I functioned with out her. I ironed out a few kinks, learned from past experiences and made changes. I bought a new camera, new software and things just went smoother. When I look back at this time last year, I remember feeling as if I was barely keeping my head above water. I nearly missed this magical time of year. I’m so thankful that’s not the case for 2011. This is my last day in the office and I’m almost done with all of my shopping. Over the next two weeks we have our anniversary (8 years , two family birthdays, Christmas, New Years and my birthday to celebrate. I plan to soak it all in with my family and am really looking forward to just “being” with my boys. We plan to make paella, will exchange Secret Santa gifts, bake for teachers, travel to the city so Conner can see Peter Pan on Broadway, go to brunch with high school girlfriends, and will ring in the New Year with college friends who are coming to spend the night. I might be back to post, I might not, but I will definitely be on Instagram. Follow me. Privacy is so Nineties.

I will leave you with a few photos from a Fall shoot. One of my favorite shoots I’ve had in Central Park. A large handful of shoots from 2011 will make an appearance here in 2012. Until then, I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season.

Do you Instragram? It’s my latest obsession and I’m head over heals. For a photographer this is a little like crack. It’s basically twitter for photos. Instant photo gratification, at your finger tips, on your Iphone. What’s better? If you don’t Instagram you should. Join the masses, download the App, and follow me here or by clicking on the new top right button on my header.

A little taste (compliments of Instagram) of what our Christmas countdown has been like over here in Chappaqua. Our days and nights have been filled with mint chocolate chip and candy cane milkshakes, poinsettia picking, cutting down and decorating out tree, dinner in NYC, visits from “Rusty,” our version of the elf-on-the-shelf, cooking a few of our favorite winter meals and mailing out our cards. Lovin’ this time of year.