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!

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…

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?

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.

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.

We are in California for the week. We stepped off the plane yesterday and were greeted by a bright blue sky, a flood of sunshine and nice cool breeze. Ahhh… Such a nice change of pace after our spastic weather in the northeast over the past few months.

Both Brendan’s and my family will unite on Thursday and prepare a grand meal for a party of 15. We’ll cook while watching the parade on TV and I’ll think back to when my dad and step-mom used to drag us into the city at the crack of dawn on Thanksgiving morning, to watch a parade that we couldn’t even see, being 4′ tall. All I remember are the tops of the floats dancing by the sea of winter coats I was sandwiched in. We would freeze our tails off while relentlessly whining until the folks finally caved, deciding it was time to head back to Westchester. It would take the entire ride home to defrost.

I can make one promise to Conner and Ty. I will never drag them into the city for a parade they are too short to see, while they freeze their butts off. Instead we will take them to Cali where there is guaranteed sunshine and they can watch the parade on TV, in front of a fire, even though it’s 55 degrees out.

Our menu consists of the following items; turkey, Italian fig and prosciutto stuffing, green beans and radicchio, roasted carrots and parsnips, brussels sprouts, mashed and sweet potatoes, wheatberry and quinoa salad, cranberry sauce and 3 pies, one of which is flown in from Texas. We’ll top it off with a viewing of Planes, Trains and Automobiles. I’ll be back with all the links and details. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

This past weekend we went to friends for a little dinner soiree. The head chef Lisa, just completed the Institute of Culinary Education’s program so dinner was very tasty, to say the least. Baked from scratch bread with garlic, ricotta, lemon zest and honey kicked things off. Next up was a celery, red onion and olive salad with homemade pasta and bolognese sauce. And then, out came the panna cotta which was pure heaven. After dinner drinks consisted of this and this, while listening to this, which you must listen to. She rocks. Cheers.

To say this Halloween has been an adventure, is an understatement. Due to this lovely October snow storm, we have been with out power since Saturday and aren’t expected to get it back until Wednesday the earliest, Friday the latest. When we heard the temperatures were dipping into the twenties on Sunday evening, we decided to pack up and head into NYC to stay at a hotel. It was the perfect excuse for a little adventure.

Our little excursion has made me think about living here again, and what it would have been like if we stayed here. There is alot to be said for living in NYC. It’s been nice to hop outside in the morning to a neighborhood park, coffee in hand, and meet up with a best friend from college. Such a nice change of pace. I love our house and the burbs, but NYC sure does make things easy, in some ways.

Tonight we went trick-or-treating in our friend’s building next door to our hotel. The boys dressed as Captain Hook and Peter Pan and ate gobs of candy. We ordered really good pizza and it was just like 3 years ago when we were NYC residents. Sigh.

It’s supposed to warm up today so we are heading home. I’ll be back to post more of our adventures when we get power, internet and our lives back on track.