Right!?!I was lucky enough to have this handsome boy in the studio this weekend, and OMG I could have died from the cuteness.Way before Shuttersmack was ever started, I had a sheltie myself, named Maudee. I didn't give her that name, I adopted her when she was six, and I felt like it was too late in the game to change it on the poor thing. Her parents were giving her up because their GRANDKIDS didn't like the dog. Ahem. You better believe I have opinions about that.Anyway, trust me when I tell you she landed in a better place. However, I must admit, she was a bit... nuts. 1) She hated men. All men. Even Jamie. 2) Better not move to fast. If the phone rang and you jumped up off the couch to answer, she would begin barking like mad and circling you to get you back where you belonged. 3) Wow, did this dog hate blimps. Yes, blimps. In her heyday, I lived in Los Angeles, and I would let her sit out on the fire escape. But when a blimp came by? The entire neighborhood knew about it. They were her mortal enemy. And in Long Beach, CA, blimps are more frequent than you think.She was a weird dog, but we loved her nonetheless. She was a perfect companion to a single lady living in such a huge city. I'm including a photo of a photo of her from back in the (film!) days. Excuse the quality -- an iPhone photo of an old print can only look so good.But back to this guy, Cody! He was an amazingly sweet, non-neurotic Sheltie who even played fetch. It was a blast to take his photo.Ok! For your internet share of the day, I loved this mom's advice to her son. Because I think it holds true to all of us every day -- not just kids. And if you don't make a gazillion photo calendars like I do, you should look at all these pretty ones. Great gifts (even for yourself!)

Things are getting a bit better! Ezra's fourth tooth broke through last week, and he instantly got sweeter and began sleeping better. Whew! We needed that!We had a fantastic weekend having our own holiday photos taken, posing with Santa (below), cooking a ton of delicious food, long walks outside in the unseasonably warm weather, a Saturday night dinner out along with time by the Christmas tree. Oh! And the Hanukkah candles.Obviously, Santa was terrifying. I was still thrilled to get the photo though :)I like this photo because you can see the new teeth (or nubs) as they are coming in. In this photo, I'm saying, "Hiiiii," and he's waving and saying "Hi!" back. It's my new favorite thing with him.Ezra also started a phase this week where he wants to do everything on his own. He wants to walk on his own and he wants to push the stroller and he wants to eat everything on his own etc etc etc. This means things are slower going for us, but we're just enjoying the the journey.Also, on Sunday we were leaving for another long walk and my camera fell off the strap I had carrying it. Oh, the noise it made when it hit the cement. I lifted it off the ground and I took this photo of Jamie to test if all was still working.Yup. Jamie was pretty stunned. (I love the expression on his face up there.)In answer, the camera is fine. The lens has lost its ability to auto focus, so I'll need to send that in for repair. But it still works as a manual focus, so not all is lost.And Sunday night, we lit the Menorah with Ez after dinner.Pretty rad week.

Mmmmm... fall cooking. Am I right?Last night, I had my good buddy Margaret over for dinner and a business meeting. You see, she's redesign my website, and I cannot wait to show you what it looks like! It should be ready to go right around the new year (fingers crossed!). If you've ever designed (or redesigned) a website, you know this is a big deal. It's so much more work than anyone anticipates... especially when it involves things like a daily blog, many portfolio galleries and archives of old galleries and posts. I'm sortof a pain-in-the-ass that way.However, my web guru just rolls with it, proving again how great it is to have her on my team.Aaaaanyway, back to the food! I wanted to offer the lady a hearty meal, so I roasted up three pans of winter veggies (butter and thyme were used generously) and then we used them in a hearty and delicious salad which I will share the recipe to later, I promise. I know it's been awhile since I had any recipes on here, and I'm gonna fix that. But it's gonna have to wait until next week because I want to take a photo of dressing being poured onto the salad, and I don't have anyone to do that while I shoot during daylight hours.Complications! I know!And you know what else? Tonight I'm gonna get to photograph a rap show! I KNOW! IT'S LIKE MY OLD LIFE IS COMING BACK TO ME! I am super excited :) You'll get to see those photos next week as well (or tomorrow morning in the Star Tribune, if you so desire).For your internet share of the day, I liked this post on things you should do at least once a year for yourself. Happy weekend, everybody!

Yesterday, Leah up there geared up for the weather and drove an hour away with me to search for my phone in the woods. That right there is a true friend, people.We had so much fun chatting and catching up on the drive, and then we got there and I told her where I thought the phone might be. We hiked out to the area and I turned to her and said something like, "So this is where I did a lot of the shooting -- " and she interrupted me, pointed at the ground under a nearby tree and said, "Look! There it is!" Just like that. We were there for like 10 minutes max (and 9 of those minutes were spent hiking from the car).I could have kissed her, I was so thrilled! We all need good luck charms like Leah in our lives.To celebrate, we then went to Kramarczuk's for lunch (yum!).Also, after much testing and watching and waiting, I determined that our Christmas tree stand is not, in fact leaking! Yay! It turns out that my sleep deprived husband or myself (who is obviously sleep deprived as well), must have just poured an entire pitcher of water into the space between the tree skirt and the tree holder instead of, um, in the holder where the water belongs. See? I am not exaggerating when I talk about our exhaustion. Dear Ezra: YOU NEED TO SLEEP THROUGH THE NIGHT NOW.Ok! Now for your internet share of the day! I love photo contests and gazing at the winners, but I really loved these because No. 4 was taken with an iPhone out an airplane window. Amazing! Also, I loved this artwork made from typewriters.

You guys, I am having one hell of a week.On Monday, after only about 3-4 hours of sleep the night before, I slipped down the stairs, landing on my back and head pretty hard. Nothing serious was hurt or broken (thank God!), but I am black and blue and sore all over. And cranky about it.Also? While I have been working very hard to slowly lose weight after Ezra's first birthday (now that I'm not starving all the time from nursing), I gained 3.5 pounds over Thanksgiving weekend. Damn my weakness for pie.Then, on Tuesday, I had this amazing photo shoot out in the woods with a family choosing their Christmas tree. I was so excited for this one! We had fantastic weather and it was so gorgeous out there! And then when the shoot wrapped up, as the sky was darkening, I realized I had lost my phone. In the snow in the woods.I stayed there for 40 minutes retracing all of my steps, but no luck.I got home, used "Find My Phone" and the software located it... as a blip in the woods. Not exactly helpful.I'm heading back out there in an hour or so with a wonderful and dear friend to search some more. Not only is it my phone, but I carry my driver's license and all my credit cards in the case. So this is a Big Deal. Please keep your fingers crossed that I find it.Then, this morning, I went to water the Christmas tree and found the floor and tree skirt (and surrounding presents) soaked through with water. I am now testing to see if I have a leaky Christmas tree stand or not. And if so, won't it be fun to get the fully decorated tree out of it to replace? Ugh.To say we are exhausted around these parts is a huge understatement. We really need some solid sleep so we can a) fight these colds b) stop being clumsy and c) keep our electronic devices in check. Also so we can be more patient with the very demanding toddler and dog. Please send us warm wishes and patience.For your internet share of the day, I enjoyed this gift guide for things to buy yourself under $50. And I also love looking at the most popular baby names -- I have three friends who are knocked up right now, and there are some gems in here!