Monday, October 24, 2011

The Silver Spoon

I'm sure that you have heard of the Midas touch... a person has that special quality where everything he/she touches turns to gold. When it comes to children's clothing, I have the anti-Midas touch. It has happened to me twice now. First, I fell head-over-heels in love with Peek... Aren't You Curious. They had a store in Roseville which was just the cutest place ever. I went there not only for the clothes, but to hang out with Rachelle and Michelle... two of the nicest people I have ever met in a mall. But, since I have the anti-Midas touch, the store closed it's doors (although the company still sells online and at Nordstrom). Devastated, I was forced to find a new place to outfit my girls with adorable, unique clothing.

Enter The Silver Spoon in Roseville. This store carries gorgeous lines of clothing that you won't find just anywhere. Designers like Eliane et Lena, Deux par Deux, Isobella and Chloe, Mayoral, Blu Pony Vintage... the list goes on and on. Don't get me wrong, I am all about the Target clothes for play (since my girls are about as messy as boys and can wreck clothes before I can screech "noooooooo!"). But when I want my girls to look nice (or when I just wanted to hear strangers say "oh my goodness... look at how CUTE those girls are!"), I shop at The Silver Spoon.

About the time I reached fanatic status, The Silver Spoon announced they were closing their doors. I was devastated. And I blamed my anti-Midas touch for the closure. Surely it was my fault, and only my fault.

Fortunately, The Silver Spoon is maintaining an online store complete with all of the gorgeous clothes that I know and love. And as the icing on the cake, Barbara and Kathy have asked me to shoot some of these clothes for their website. For the past couple of months, I have been like a kid in a candy store... photographing my adorable girls in some of the cutest children's clothes out there.

Our first shoot was with some gorgeous fall clothes by Mayoral Chic, who hails from Spain.

Chloe will not take this shirt off.
She doesn't care if it is 105 degrees outside, she will wear it.

I love this dress.
Love, love, love it.

And this outfit, too.

Our next shoot was at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco. Gary and I took the girls to the Exploratorium and I thought that the neighboring Palace would be a fabulous backdrop for some tutus.


And who knew that the back of the Exploratorium would be an awesome set for this 
fabulous animal print coat by Lipstik Girls?
Shhhhh, don't tell anyone but I want this coat for myself.

Our third shoot was at the Old Schoolhouse in Old Sacramento. I thought it would be the perfect setting for some classic and vintage inspired clothing. And it was the first time my little one would help out in the modeling department. I think she did pretty well, even if she refused to wear shoes...




And then we headed across the street to get a few shots of this ridiculously fabulous 
Lipstik Girls ensemble.
A gold leather biker jacket with sequined hood complete with ivory ruffled skirt?
Yes please.



For our most recent shoot, I thought it would be fun to bring some other kids into the mix. I had met an awesome woman at a Silver Spoon event a few months earlier, and I recalled that she had two young children. Barbara set us up and we got some great shots at her family's vineyard. Not only was the place gorgeous, but her kids were just the nicest, sweetest kids ever (I'm thinking of trading mine in). And Krista was a fabulous hostess, putting up with me and my camera through tons of wardrobe changes in the unseasonable heat.

Kiley giving us a twirl in a Isobella and Chloe dress

Yes, Silver Spoon has boy clothes.
Thank you Cole, you cutie patootie in a train t-shirt.

Chloe and Kiley in Eliane et Lena dresses.
I took this one home with me. Chloe is wearing it in her school pictures.

Kiley, have you been watching ANTM?

I love this t-shirt.
In fact, I am contemplating buying it for my girls.

Chloe in Lemon Loves Lime dress

Kiley in a Lipstik Girls shirt.
I love this shot.


And last, but not least, my favorite shots of the day.
Kiley the princess.

I wasn't able to shoot all of the adorable clothes the Silver Spoon loaned to me to photograph. There are tons and tons more... Please go to their website and check it out. The holidays are rapidly approaching... I know there are a few things on my list that I can check off here...


Friday, October 21, 2011

My Happy Place

I have been sooooooo bad about blogging. Not for lack of material. In fact, I have so much stuff to write about, I don't know where to begin. As each day passes, I feel a little more guilty for not writing and to avoid the guilt, I put blogging off for a better time. Ah, the trappings of a procrastinator.

Today is the day that I have decided to get back to my poor, neglected blog. I am starting with some photos that I took last winter in January. I think I posted one image from my trip (thank goodness I did, because I think I accidentally deleted the original file). I had meant to blog more photos, but... inevitably... I put it off.

I am supposed to be in Yosemite right now. It has been a tradition that Gary and I have, to go every year. It is our happy place. It is the first "vacation" we took together, the place where he asked me to marry him. It is the place where we are at peace with everything which, at times, seems like an impossible feat. We were going to go this weekend (after rescheduling our trip twice). But, life got busy and we rescheduled again.


Rather than be sad, I am going to use this opportunity to post some photos and to kick start a blogging avalanche (or so I can hope).

I will start with the smallest waterfall in Yosemite, Fern Springs. I think that I may actually be taller than this adorable little spout. It is my understanding that the water is cold, refreshing and absolutely safe to drink. But I abstained as I couldn't shake the fear of contracting giardia, Baylisascaris or some other parasite I learned about in school.


El Capitan. 
The first morning I shot this monolith from the valley floor.  


And the second morning, from Tunnel Bridge.


Sunset at Tunnel Bridge.


The colors and cloud formations that night were outrageous.
It was as though the sky was on fire.


And my final sunset in Yosemite.
While millions of people were watching the Superbowl,
I was watching this:


This is the image I posted on my FB page.
And subsequently deleted.
*sigh*

I hope that Yosemite is having fun this weekend without my family and me. I know that we will be missing you. Until we meet again...