UPDATE* :: Christmas Cheer

Last week I wrote about our one lone Christmas decoration. This week I'm proud to say we've gone extra festive and brought ourselves home one fancy Douglas fir. In a completely impulsive moment of...complete impulsiveness, I decided I needed a Christmas tree. While we'll be spending our holiday in Oregon {insert ridiculous shriek of excitement here}, I realized it was nearly impossible to make a home feel warm and cozy without a fragrant living evergreen in the room. So here she is. Our first Christmas tree. I wanted to name her but Colton frowned upon the idea. He knew I'd come up with something {genius} like Beautiful or Perfect or Best Tree Ever.

Growing up my mom always managed to make our tree look like a Pottery Barn window display. This year our tree is adorned with, among other things, my childhood collection of ice skating ornaments. No joke, I collected everything...even figure skating tree decor.

Merry Christmas!

Michelle

Looking for Inspiration :: Photography

Lately I've been feeling a little frustrated with my lack of inspiration. When I'm not working on my own photos, my days are spent turning the proverbial pages of wedding style blogs and the websites of other photographers. While I could no doubt spend hours perusing online galleries of letterpress stationary, at a certain point everything begins to look the same. Wedding A looks identical to Wedding B which is an exact replica of Weddings X,Y, and Z. At times this can frustrating to a creative mind that so badly wants to capture photographs unique and specific to each beautifully special couple I have the honor of shooting. Yesterday I solved this mental road block with a two hour mid-morning walk on the beach, but today the walk wouldn't cut it. I returned to my desk and stared blankly at the computer at a complete loss for what to do. A few days ago I picked up a {wonderful} new bulletin board for my work space. It's made of woven tweed and bordered with brass upholstery nails. The board was still empty and desperately needed something stimulating to christen it. I spent thirty minutes jotting down my goals for the next six months before tacking the torn out piece of steno paper to the board. Instead of being a list of things I now must find a way to accomplish, it's a list of what my future holds. The brightness that, somehow, I'll give my everything to make happen.

Sometimes the only inspiration we need is our hope for the future.

{And on that note, is anyone up for a last minute trip to Capri? I'm feeling the urge to dive into these perfect blue waters. Asap}

Have a wonderful weekend,

Michelle

The Hasawaga General Store :: Life

I like love hearing people's stories. If you and I were to grab a cup of coffee I'd sit awkwardly close to you, lean in even more awkwardly close, and listen intently as you told me everything. I'd want to hear about your kindergarten crush, your best friend forever, and what you want to be when you grow up. I liken myself to a four year old who cannot help but ask why. And why. And why and why and why. The initial response will never be enough because I always want to know more. On our last day on the island we decided to take a drive up the road to Hana. We had heard of the infamous fifty mile drive complete with endless hairpin turns, mile high waterfalls, bamboo forests, and black sand beaches. Three hours into our adventure we stopped at the Hasawaga General Store and my world {and my heart} were rocked. Hasawaga has been in business for over one hundred years proudly serving the community of Hana on the island of Maui. The moment I walked through the rusted corrugated metal entry way, I knew this grocer had more than few good stories to tell. From the aged produce bins to the aisle of dried mango and fishing supply, something, somewhere, was begging me to stay. To walk awhile and explore the beauty that only a hundred year old general store could hold.

So naturally, I did. I'll admit that I'm probably the only person to ever get excited about taking pictures in a grocery store. And to the crowd of locals I most likely stood out like an Eskimo in Mexico. But with every aisle walked, another discovery was made and a new story told. While the waterfalls were stunning and the black sand beaches impressive, what really stole my heart on our Thursday afternoon drive was the Hasawaga general store. It is my hope that you are able to enjoy these pictures just as much as I enjoyed taking them. Our day was most certainly one to be remembered and our short but painfully sweet stop in Hana will be dear to my heart for quite some time. I can't help but think there is something truly wonderful about a company that keeps people coming back for over a century.

Enjoy!

I'm in awe of how much this image captures. Within a six foot radius we have dog food {both canned and dry}, milk, frozen chicken, Theraflu, and Windex. Amazing.

Happy Thursday!

Michelle