Going along with my small streak of favoring anti-establishment norms, I have never really been one for gift registries. When invited to a shower or wedding I often find myself creating something personal and artistic, like a photography album, or purchasing a fun gift from one of my favorite boutiques. So once it came time for John and I to register, I tried entering into the 'normal' registry locations and found myself a little uncertain about following the normal registry tradition.

See... John and I are not your 20-something just-got-a-new-house-and-need-to fill-it-with-Tupperware couple. We both lived lives pretty independently of one another and over time have purchased what we needed for our respective homes. Despite this, we still thought it would be best to have a few things on a registry where people can have fun browsing gift items.

So we went to a few of our favorite stores, mostly small businesses, and asked them to create a registry for us. I had so much fun going to the New York Market with my friend Lindsay Lowry of Sanity and choosing things to artistically enhance our home. A lot of items that we chose are artisan, handmade products that are environmentally friendly so we know that the purchases are helping people who we want to support. I love that Lindsay has a little boutique and is customizing a registry just for John and I.

How cute are these lamps from Stray Dog Designs:

as well as these mirrors

John and I also registered at Simon Pearce, which is probably the biggest store we visited in terms of company volume, but they have such beautiful unique handblown Irish glassware and handmade pottery.

Check out this great stemware that I just adore

And finally, Fosters Urban Homeware is a local small business in Philadelphia that specializes in very cool kitchen and home items - very different than what you would find in your normal everyday mall store.

I mean... who doesn't love a bright orange lasanga pan?

So there are our great registry finds, which are hopefully useful to others who find themselves in the same predicament as John and I. I am not a fine china type of person (my favorite motto is 'if it can't go in the dishwasher, it can't go in my house'), but if I was I would go to Springhouse Antiques on Route One in Chadds Ford, PA and get a set of Astier de Villatte place settings. It's a lightweight, thin, handmade French porcelain that just feels amazing to the touch.

Happy shopping!

I would like to give kudos to Design Aglow, a web based design magazine for photographers. Their newest issue, volume 3, features a 12-page article on my studio here along with the thoughts and planning behind it. I also loved the other articles including one about my own wedding photographer Anna Kuperberg and my friend and workshop co-host Christa Hoffarth.

If you are a photographer and have not already checked out Design Alow, I highly recommend it. I always feel rejuvenated and refreshed after reading the beautifully written articles.

The extended summer that we have been having here in the Northeast is not so great for agriculture, I'm sure - but has proven to be extremely useful to wedding photographers. Tara & Patrick's wedding last month at the Saucon Valley Country Club in Bethlehem, PA had the most beautiful weather with wonderful details which were pulled together seamlessly by wedding coordinator Melody Appel of Innove Event Design. I simple adore Tara's antique inspired Monique Lhuillier dress which is so different from many I have seen over the last few years.

I just loved getting to know Tara and Patrick, along with their families, and feel very grateful that they decided to include me in their marriage celebration.

and an inspiration board for an elegant country fall celebration with antique inspired details

Many people often write to me asking "how do you get such great photos of kids?!" My first answer, always - is that I act like a total an absolute goofball. Kids always bring out my inner kid, and I think they apprecate that so much. I never try to control children or make them act the way I think they *should* I just let them be themselves in a fun enviornment.

Sometimes, children just really need to be around man's best friend to feel most comfortable. Being the dog person I am, I love including doggies in photos and quite honestly I think they love to be included as well.

I guess being sort of funny helps as well. I really can't quite remember what I said here but it must have been pretty good.

And who doesn't love a good game of peek-a-boo? Sometimes I just hide behind a tree a make myself 'easily found.' Seems to go over pretty well.

When the kids are too old for peek-a-boo (or a little too cool) a boombox with the soundtrack to High School Musical is always a big hit. Check out this super creative dance move!

and sometimes adults will just do their own thing and that's ok too...

(I'm kidding about that last piece, this little guy LOVES it when mom and dad kiss. What a sweetie!)

I am looking SO forward to spending time with more families throughout the fall and learning about what makes them laugh, dance, hug and love.

This comic I found in Glamour magazine last week tens to summarize the relationship I share with many of my photographer friends.

so it's always fantastic to be able to spend time with other photographers in person! Last week I visited the Bebb Studios as a guest speaker at their very first photo workshop (dubbed the Bebbinar) in Vancouver. I met so many fantastic up-and-coming Canandian photographers and I am looking forward to hearing about all their successes in the upcoming year.

On the way to the Bebbinar I found the very talented Mark Adams of Lacour hanging around Salt Lake City airport, so we joined up and spend some time chatting about our weddings, life as a photographer, and of course our dogs on the way to Vancouver. Mark wrote a nice post about it, along with some photos of me teaching, on his blog.

On a more personal note, I found a fantasic jeweler online who I ordered some wedding related gifts from called Saylor Sage. Being that her website colors are black, white and pink I simply figured it must be fate.

If you visit her site, be sure to check out the amazing accessories and clutches she has as well!

Now that I'm back to the states, and it's about three and half months until the wedding, I've been on to-do-list overdrive looking to complete all those final aspects to wedding planning that tend to happen as the wedding becomes closer and closer. Online shoe shopping, finalizing guest lists and meeting with the decorator are on the list for this week, so far none of it has been done yet but I'll be sure to keep you updated on my progress and share with you all my fantastic finds!

After photographing the wedding of Adrienne and Jeff last summer (Adrienne shown below in the Elegant Bride feature), I had the pleasure of working with her Adrienne's family again by photographing Andrea and Phillip's wedding. The wedding encompassed a small, intimate crowd of Andrea and Phillip's closest friends and family at the very beautiful Cosmos Club in Washington, D.C.

Tomorrow I'm leaving for Vancouver and will be gone until the end of the week as I'm heading west to join my fabulous friends, The Bebbs, to speak at one of their seminar series. Since there won't be any more blog posts until Monday, I thought you might want something pretty to look at while I'm gone - here are two brides, Jillian and Adrienne who are currently featured in this fall's Elegant Bride Magazine. The photos were printed so beautifully, and I loved each of the articles written next to them detailing what inspired their wedding ensambles.

Be sure to check back next week as I'll be posting sharing from Adrienne's sister's wedding at the Cosmos Club in Washington D.C., a very beautiful country wedding in Buck's County, PA and a post some fun ideas to get kids to loosen up during a photo session (hint: it includes bringing a boombox with the soundtrack from High School Musical 2 in it).

About a year ago, I discovered the joy of taking the train into New York City and I now love everything about traveling there. I love that I can get there 10 minutes before the train departs, I love that I don't have to finagle my liquids into a 3 oz. container in a ziplock bag in the security line and I love traveling the entire state of New Jersey all while reading a book.

Yesterday I traveled into the city for both business and pleasure - seeing friends, getting some wedding tasks accomplished, a few meetings and one fun photo session.

My first stop was to see the fabulous Leah C. for a veil consultation. Loved her, loved the shop - I am so excited about the fabulous piece I chose, and there now may be a few extra suprises for my bridesmaids!

And the last stop was to visit Sherri Williams-Sossen in Central Park for a little photo shoot of her beautiful baby, Story. There were SO many more that I love - but I grabbed just these few for the blog.

It was such a wonderful day, with great inspiring ideas for both my wedding and photography - and I loved meeting Sherri's beautiful family. And on my ride home I marveled at how quickly I can come in and out of the city via my newfound love for the train, and still be home by dinner.