{editorial}

I photographed my first magazine cover story and I had a blast. I'm so happy with the photos creative director Frankie Butler chose (second one was used inside the magazine)! Grand Master Kaidanov was a total sweetie-pie (even if he looks hardcore on the cover), and it was fun watching him in action. Though I never did admit to him that I don't even know how the pieces move...

{this is not a food blog}

But I can't help myself. I need some loukoumadas right now. I crave them. Every culture has their version of fried dough and biased though I may be, I think loukoumades--light and fluffy puffs with sweet honey drizzled over and then sprinkled with nuts--takes the cake. Or the dough. Or whatever. So who wants to volunteer to make them for me?

{my foodie weekend}

So, not to make you jealous, or anything, but I had an awesome weekend. A weekend filled with food. Really good food. There was hamantaschen baking with the girls (photos later in the week), the devouring of a rich red velvet cake topped with about a pound of butter and baked by Matt Francsisco, an amazing candidate for Cold Spring trustee (learn about him here and vote for him on March 20th!) The best part? My friends over at Hudson Hil's invited me to a soft opening of their new bistro. You heard that right! My favorite brunch/lunch place is now offering dinner. And because I spend a ridiculous amount of time there (hi Laura!), they figured I was worthy of a sneak peak. It was amazing being there at night (sans kids!) enjoying new, flavorful food without pretension. I am a huge fan of appetizers--I often order a few instead of an entree--and the new offerings at HH definitely didn't disappoint! If there are artichokes on a menu, I will order them. Even better if they're fried. And the crostini had an awesome kick. The new dinner entrees are varied--stuffed trout, veggie strudel, steak frites--and they're still offering their lunch options for even more choices. And dessert...well, any fan of Top Chef knows that dessert is a chef's Achilles' heel. But Bob Hayes (and his new nightitme chef, Scott) did not fail me. Those strawberry beignets were bright pops of color in my mouth. The creme puffs had a chocolate sauce that I licked off of the plate. With my fingers. And I wasn't even embarrassed. (My husband, probably.) The evening was topped off by some amazing Riesling shared by good friends and the warmest atmosphere. Thank you Hilary and Bob!

a couch recovered

See that couch up there? That mammoth eight-thousand foot couch? It's been recovered twice now. Apparently, it started out a beautiful purple velvet, when my grandparents moved into this Florida condo back in the 60s. Then I came along and spilled a bottle of milk on it, causing irreparable harm and scarring my nona for life. It was recovered in some harmless (read: boring) fabric for the next few decades until my mom took charge and restored it to its original glory. This time, in a mysterious grey-blue velvet. I love it. It's an amazing piece of furniture and soooo fun to take photos on. (See, that's Amelia looking all deco glam and my thea Mary looking all... portraity.)

My mom spent a good part of last year gutting this Florida condo...a place I grew up in. It's a place where I learned how to bake tiropitas and turkish baklavah, a place I learned about my grandmother's adventurous escape from the nazis, about living under Italian occupation (not so bad) and German occupation (pretty darn bad), and about the terrible, enduring pain of a survivor. All while sitting at my nona's kitchen table, filling leaves of phyllo with feta cheese and rolling them into little flags. Surprisingly (to me, at least), I wasn't sad when my mom decided to gut the condo. I'm excited for my children to develop their own traditions and memories...which will not involve baking, because my mother does not bake. But she does like to read them books...on that amazing couch.

sunshine

It is, perhaps, a testiment to how far behind I am in my blogging that I am starting to pack for my Florida vacation...and am just blogging last year's shoot now. I woke the girls up early to do a sunrise shoot so I could play with some pretty sun. Sadly, enormous jelly fish meant no prancing in the water photos, but hey, there's always this year! Come back tomorrow for some cool design shots from the trip. And...a few more of the girls.

Yeah, neither do I. I'm not sure I can complain...I do not miss shoveling. But I feel a little for my kids, who like catching snowflakes on the tips of their tongues.

love & hugs & fairy wings • fairfield county, ct family photography

This was a fall session...and it was sweltering out. I swear the weather this year has been bonkers. But this little one was up for anything...playing with dolls, peak-a-boo, dipping her feet in the pool. And isn't her pout gorgeous? Almost as adorable as her smile. I love this kind of session: relaxed, laid back, full of hugs and love. I had so much fun with these guys...I can't wait to come back in February to meet the newest addition. Maybe I should apologize for the large share, but I just can't. Too many pretty photos; I couldn't resist.







Dogs are a family's first child, right?







how photogenic is this dog?

vassar is purrrrty • poughkeepsie family photographer

Okay, I'm kind of stating the obvious here, but when this dual-professor family asked me to photograph them, I was full-on giddy about the idea of shooting at Vassar. I grew up in Poughkeepsie...and grew up thinking all colleges were as pretty as Vassar. (I was really wrong, but thank goodness for Oberlin, which is equally pretty in a less traditional kind of way.) Mama Professor has an office in the library so we decided to start there. And man, I can't think of a prettier place to work. Take a look!