My pal Katie had an adorable baby boy three weeks ago, and today I finally got to meet the cutie! You guys, he was so light! It is so crazy when I get to meet babies that are smaller than Ezra was when he was born. They seem soooo much tinier (and easier to carry). Plus, I really enjoyed how this little munchkin wasn't trying to pull out my hair or earrings when I held him (despite his lovely, long fingers!). And word on the street is that he's sleeping in large chunks already. Think he could come over to my house and teach the smallest Plesser a trick or two? Hmm?But honestly, while it's super fun to meet new babies, it was more fun to catch up with my friend and see how she's holding up as a mother of two. Not only is Katie just an amazing, hardworking lady (she was on the phone working when I arrived!), but she manages to make it all seem easy and glamorous while doing it (no easy feat, I tell you). It was a nice break in my work-filled afternoon.And? I finally managed to whip up some Internet shares for you :) First, how about the teaser trailer for the new Bond movie? I know it's a few weeks old, but that doesn't make it any less fun.Also? Jeni's ice cream (THE BEST IN THE WORLD) has a new line of flavors inspired by art! I LOVE THIS! And lastly, it's national letter writing month, which I am ALL for. Here are some pretty notecards for the occasion!
Well hi there. This week was super busy, but great. I tell you what, after the previous week, just getting healthy took us to the next level of happy. And? On top of that? It was Record Store Day! And we had a fantastic weekend.
First, Ezra took some monster naps this week, and I finally snapped a shot of the kid sleeping. Oh, my heart.
We stopped at the Electric Fetus on Saturday for Record Store Day and also got some Nate Dogs. Did Ezra want to try some hot dog? No. That's the face I got. C'mon kid! Trust your mama!
How handsome are these two?
Ezra was in a bit of a mood on Saturday, but Stacy cheered him up a bit :)
Coupla hipsters.
Then we went to a birthday party for my buddy Gigi's little boy. Some of us ate guacamole. Ezra ate his teething necklace.
And then he got happier because who isn't crazy about being thrown in the air?
And then he got to snuggle with Gigi! Life is pretty great for this kid.
Sunday we walked to brunch.
Nyberg met us, and Ezra got to try pancakes for the first time! Big hit. Especially since they came with blueberries.
Overall, a much better week.
I get asked all the time how I get such great photos of pets. And to be honest? It's not that tough! It requires a little patience, a little training and, most importantly, GOOD LIGHT. Are you seeing a theme in these posts? I hope so.So today, I'm going to break down the easiest way to get great shots of your pets. You don't need a studio or anything fancy, you just need a large window and some stinky cheese. Here we go.1. Get your animal in the room with the best light. For a refresher on lighting, 
This was Magda looking all sassy on my messy bed. So my first step was to (somewhat) make the bed and shoot it from an angle where you couldn't see my messy hampers/background. The middle photo is a little better, but by no means does my bed look like it's straight outta Pottery Barn (even though it is, ahem), so I changed up the angle in the last photo to really make the focus my dear, sweet girl. Much better, eh?4. If your animal is pretty good at sitting/staying, then you'll need a high value treat (bleu cheese is Magda's favorite) to draw their attention. You want to hold the cheese right below (or above) your camera lens. They will hold their gaze wherever the food is.5. If your dog will not stay and is instead lunging at you for the treat, maybe 
This is Millie, and she turned one year old today! It was so fun to have her in the studio -- you can't see in this photo, but she's SUPER smiley and man, did she dive into her birthday cake for the camera. It became super helpful to have a shower in the studio, which I never anticipated before! Ha!So if Millie is so dang fun, why did I choose this photo? It fit my mood better today. It's been a rough one because, well, I miss my dog. Since I was having a small child around today (that was not my own), I sent Magda off to doggie daycare. What I didn't anticipate was how weird it would be to be so alone in my house.I counted back, and I haven't been the only creature at home since 1997. Yeah. That's a long time. And while Merlin wasn't the most active of pups, it became painfully obvious how much I paid attention to his trips to the water bowl, his raspy bark when the mail was delivered or just how often I would stop by to give him a good scratch between my work projects.I'm also hyper aware of all of this because the old man's ashes arrived yesterday. It is so sad to think a soul that large comes down to a box that tiny in the end. Sigh. I know grief takes time... but today was tough.OK. Enough of that. Jamie called to try to cheer me up with 
Today was set aside as a scouting day. I have a lot of clients who already live in the west suburbs or who are moving there, and when I'm trying to come up with locations to photograph them in, I'm at a bit of a loss. And frankly, I get lost every time I visit this part of the metro area (including today -- I think I got lost about six times). So it seemed smart to take this 67-degree weather and hit the road, amIright?I threw the vizsla in the car and off we went to explore forests and dog parks. Sadly, the 
Today I visited the new Star Tribune building (if you remember, they moved out of 
This last week kinda sucked.When it began, I was sick with a head cold. Then we had to put my dear sweet Merlin to sleep. Then I got the flu ... the barfy flu. With a fever. And then the next day Ezra got pink eye.So yeah. Can we get on to a better week pretty please?
The bright spot of this week was a visit from my mother-in-law from Kansas City. Oh, how these two adore each other.
One thing Ezra tried this week, besides pink eye, was thai food.
Yeah. He's a fan of massaman curry.
Here are a few more shots of Merlin on his last day. These are super hard for me to look at right now, but I know I'll love them later. It's so fucking hard to realize he's not with us anymore. I miss him like crazy.
One last shot of my boy.Here's hoping next week is better and that this guy is in a happier place.
Last night Ezra slept through the night. The entire night. This hasn't happened since Christmas Eve, and I have been longing for it so badly so that I might catch up on some rest.But while he was sleeping the night away, I was up vomiting with the flu and a fever. Yeah. Awesome.This morning I thought I had gotten it all out of my system, so I went to my morning shoot... but it almost killed me. So I cancelled the rest of my meetings and shoots for the day and have been pretty much in bed all day with the view up above. I know it's out of focus, but that's how my mind feels today. Hazy.For your internet share of the day, here is the