The garden I planted with Ez is going nuts! And it is so much fun!First, the cherry tomatoes are the furthest along -- there are dozens on the vine and we're just waiting for them to ripen.
Also, we ate our first strawberry last week and it was divine! I should have planted so many more of these! But the squirrels made me nervous, so I stuck with only one plant. I love how those seeds look when the fruit is young.
And here are the (stinky) wonderful marigolds that I am crediting with keeping the squirrels at bay. The berries are nestled in a group of these babies.
The romaine isn't far enough along to eat yet... but soon!
Here we have radish starts!
And green beans!
And more of those tomatoes!
And lastly, the basil. Oh, I'm so excited to put this basil and those tomatoes together! Other things we are growing: cucumbers, leeks, beets and carrots.For your internet shares of the day:+ It only takes seven minutes to purchase an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle in Pennsylvania. Now think about how long it took to get your driver's license.+ Oh, and meanwhile, check out how long and expensive it was for this lady to have this healthcare procedure. It's long, but everyone should read through to the end. It's worth it.+ On a lighter note, here's how restaurants "trick" you into ordering a second glass of wine.
At the end of the wedding in St. Cloud last weekend, I snapped this shot of the golf course as we were preparing to leave. I loved the remaining colors of dusk and the moon so high in the sky. It was such a gorgeous evening!I wish I had more exciting updates around these parts, but it's just been a lot of work! Oh! One exciting tidbit is that my new summer intern, 
It was extremely steamy during Friday's wedding, but once that sun started going down, things got magical outside. This is one of my favorite shots from the day, but I'll be putting together more later this week.For your internet share of the day, 
It's almost the weekend! And it's gonna be a hot one up here in Minnesota.Today (Friday), I'm shooting a wedding out of town, so I'm blogging the day before because, let's face it, when I return from 9 hours of shooting more than an hour away, I'm gonna just want to take a hot shower and crawl into bed. Weddings slay me, and I am left a weak, crumpled lady who just wants her shoulders rubbed and a glass of wine. And I don't want to learn anyone else's name for a very long time.Anyway, I'll give you some wedding photos next week. Until then, please enjoy this lovely stormy lake that I photographed in Bloomington. Oh, how I love moody clouds.And for your internet share of the day, this is my favorite thing ever. 
I had a shoot for a high school senior out at a horse farm the other night. OMG, can I get more of these please? Horse farms are the BEST! And? This stable owner also breeds Australian Shepherds and has donkeys and barn cats and it was, frankly, like wonderland. It was a gorgeous night, right before sunset, and it was a wonderful place to step into after weeks in the city.Here are a few outtakes from my evening out there. Enjoy!
Baby horses can come out with curly tails!? Who knew?!
And just like Magda's, I love it when the fur swirls. Adorable.For your internet shares of the day:+ 
This week I had a meeting at 7:30 am (see? I rise super early for more than just sunrise photo shoots...), and we decided to try out the new Spyhouse in the North Loop. I truly love the decor of this place, and I could work here for hours. But it's also a great spot to go over details of the weekend's wedding with a new second shooter.The only piece of this place that clearly does not fit is that menu board by the cash register with all the neon writing. White chalk on a blackboard would be much more on brand. But seriously, that's a pretty small nitpick.For your internet shares of the day:+ I have been listening to 
The weather this past weekend was a bit nuts. It would rain one minute and then the sun would be pouring in the next minute and then it would rain while the sun was still out! I had a shoot that evening, but I didn't offer to cancel or postpone because I felt like we would get enough dry time with as weird as the weather was being. And I was right! While it wasn't *sunny,* it didn't rain the entire shoot and the clouds were fantastic. I snapped this image on the way back to the car because I love the slope of the hill and how green and lush Minnesota is right now. And it smelled delicious!And here are my internet shares to entertain you:+ Would you let 
As usual, we packed as much into this weekend as we possibly could. There was a big soil delivery, gardens planted, walks taken, slides conquered, multiple farmer's market visits, several shopping trips, a graduation party, dinner out for pizza and several photo shoots. And Jamie installed the last of the window air conditioner units so we are now set for summer! (The end of the week is supposed to reach the mid-90s.)
I should start by saying that on Friday, Ezra and I got donuts (National Donut Day), and he was smitten from the get go. So that evening, when we went to one of our favorite pizza joints and they placed raw dough sprinkled in flour in front of him (as they always do with the kids because it's like the most amazing play-dough ever), he dove in and tried to eat it. These were his reactions.
Yeah kid. A little different than the donut you had for breakfast.
On Saturday morning, a bunch of soil was delivered so I could plant raised beds in those two watering troughs right there. We thought Ezra would love seeing the truck dump the dirt. Instead he was terrified.
However, he is a boy after all, so the dirt itself was a huge hit. He helped us transfer it both with his new plastic sand shovel and bucket, and then he attempted to use the adult shovel. Good luck with that, kid.
For the record, we planted strawberries, basil, cilantro, chives, romaine, thyme and beets in one container (and some flowers that the nursery lady told me might help keep the squirrels away). And in the other we have cherry tomatoes, carrots, radishes, leeks and green beans. We had a cucumber plant left over, so we're trying that in the yard. Wish us luck.
Sunday morning began with another walk to a nearby playground. Another child was having a birthday party and Micky and Minnie mouse showed up. Ezra has never seen them before, so he had no associations other than "What the HELL is THAT?"
Sunday afternoon was spent at a graduation party for Shuttersmack's summer intern (!!!!) (more on that later), and a few people were playing guitar and singing and this boy here was far more interested in that than cupcakes, cookies or rice krispie treats.
And at the end of it all, he was conked out. What a weekend.