Well hello there! And welcome to the heat of July. Today I was *thrilled* to have a job shooting portraits in an air-conditioned office building all day. Also? check out that view! Not bad, eh? After my shoot, I sped home just in time to beat rush-hour traffic, had an amazing dinner with my man, and took Magda to obedience class. All-in-all, a pretty boring day.But I have a great internet find of the day for you! Check out these amazing dog photos. I might have to bring a light or two up to the lake this summer to try some of these out on my own -- truly inspiring.

So last week in dog training, we taught Magda to "leave it." The idea is that you can put food in front of her, tell her to leave it, and she'll wait for permission to eat it. We've only worked at this with dog kibble so far, but I would like to extend it to human food because... well... it could make for some fun photos, no?With this in mind, tonight we tried her first human food, and I opted for bananas because even if she failed and bolted toward the fruit, she'd have to open it from the skin first. But look! She did so great. She sat and watched them and me, just begging for the fruit. In the end, we didn't give her a banana, but she got some great dog treats. What a good girl!

How adorable are these two? I snapped this after the groom first saw the bride all done up, and I had given them a moment to chat with each other and just have some quiet time alone... well, with the photographer lurking nearby, I guess. I love how relaxed and happy these two were today -- an amazingly fun and chill wedding (with some of the BEST FOOD EVER).

This morning we slowly rose and had a big breakfast (pie alongside sweet-potato hash, anyone?) before mosying down to the dock for a few hours. As I told the girls stories of why I would never live in Florida again (or visit) they created a band name based on my tales (SpiderEyes) and even a few song titles (Alligator Ate My Dog would be the first hit single). I soaked my feet in the water while perusing fashion magazines, and a persistent fish nibbled on my toes.As I write this, the girls headed into town for ice cream, candy and antiquing. I opted to stay at the cabin and read murder mysteries -- the ultimate form of relaxation in my life. Overall? Pretty great day. I'm heading back to the city tonight so I can shoot a wedding tomorrow, but this weekend getaway has really gotten me excited for our annual trek up north, which is just around the corner. And man, I cannot wait to experience this with the new pup.

I left the city today with my girlfriends to celebrate Stacy's upcoming wedding at a cabin in the woods. We may have gotten a touch lost on our way... but no worries. We still had way more food and drink than was necessary, and we had a lovely night at the cabin. Steaks, turkey burgers, frozen grapes, sweet potato chips and tequila. Happy girl over here, y'all. Now I'mma go read my book and kill some bugs with a crazy insect-zapping tennis racquet that Andrea brought (and yes, I will be buying my own soon enough).

I was going to post a photo of the BEAUTIFUL Great Dane from the dog park. His name was Kingsley and his birthday was today -- he is three now. But as I was going through my images, I found this one of Magda, and it made me laugh so hard. I love how she's protecting her business through all of the rough play. I also REALLY love it that when she gets excited her fur spikes into a mohawk, and it is going all the way down her tail here. CUTIE PIE.Tomorrow I'm heading up north with some girlfriends for a weekend in the woods. There's not cell service or internet, so I won't be able to blog until Sunday. I'll still take daily photos -- you'll just have to be patient :)

What a Wednesday! I had three shoots, a long, important phone call and an event tonight! Whew! I woke up at 3:40 a.m., and trust me when I tell you it is time to hit the hay. This image was from my third session today -- I love shooting in this spot as the lines are interesting, and my subject today wasn't too bad either ;) Cutie, no? Tomorrow I think I'll work in my jammies all day... So please no surprise visits...

In reality, this has been done for at least a week or two. The issue with getting the photos posted was that I wanted to get the knob on the vanity and the curtains hung before I shot it, and look, the curtains didn't even make it into the shot! Ah well.So remember the before shot? Wow, what an improvement, eh? It's amazing what a little more room and some lovely tile will do for a place. Anyway, I am *thrilled* with how it all turned out. And? Our contractor finished on time and on budget. Can you even believe that? I have heard SO MANY horror stories, but these guys always showed up when they said they would and they did an amazing job. And OF COURSE I'm going to give you his name! Because I want the entire world to hire him! His name is Bill Goetter and his company is Strait Edge Co. You guys? He's fantastic.