Weekend Wrap Up – Fun Monday

Happy Monday! It’s been a few weeks since you’ve heard from me here on the blog (I’ve still been pretty active on Insta Stores (here) in case you ever miss me!), but it’s another Fun Monday and I’m back at it today with a weekend wrap up! I had a pretty fun and productive weekend and I hope you did as well. Keep reading for my weekend wrap up…

Friday night I headed out for an impromptu happy hour with some folks from my BNI chapter. We were poised for a pretty standard Friday night out but someone mentioned the MGM Grand in passing and before I knew it, we were heading over there! We had so much fun wandering around the casino, enjoying (way too) expensive cocktails, and watching people gamble. I literally felt like a country mouse in the city – my mouth wide open in awe at everything we passed! haha

Saturday I lazied around until it was time to prepare for my photo session that evening. This was my first family session of the new year so I was a wee bit nervous (yep, still get nervous after almost three years in business). I was a little more nervous when I showed up to my favorite spot for family photos to see there was practically no greenery around anywhere. All the grass was dead! It worked out totally fine though – we just stuck to the side walk, boardwalk, and stairs, and popped over to the grass sparingly. I ended up loving how the photos turned out! Looks like dead grass, sidewalks, and cement stairs are perfect for accomplishing my signature light and bright style 🙂

Later that evening I finally worked up the nerve to open a package my dad brought up last week. It was a package of old photos my old friend dropped by his house for me. My friend’s mom used to babysit me from the time I was a baby until I was in middle school, and the photos are ones she took throughout that time. Unfortunately, my babysitter – Phyllis – battled Leukemia for years until she ended up passing away in 2009 at just 51 years old. We all miss her terribly and it’s always a sensitive subject for me, so I was nervous to look at the photos. But I’m so glad I did! There are photos from when I was around 4 or 5 until I was 14, including one with my dad when he was so young, my grandmother (who has since passed away), and there’s even one of Phyllis with all of us as well. Here are a few of my favs:

Quite the snow outfit! BTW that green mound of snow beside me is a turtle –  we colored it with food coloring!

The story that goes along with this photo is that my dad came to pick me up after work and found me covered in mud!

First day of school! First grade, I think?

First day of school, third grade I think. Look at those outfits! Bahahaha!

There are so many reasons why I love these photos. It’s great to be able to reminisce on the things we did together, giggle at our dated outfits, and remember those times. But the truly special thing about these images for me is that someone I love and miss took them. When I look at these pictures, I see not only those of us in the actual photo, but I see her in them as well <3

Sunday I did some work and then went location scouting in Fairfax City. I’d never been to Fairfax City before and can’t believe how cute it is! And it’s so close! I found the perfect park for my family session tomorrow but definitely want to do a different kind of session there at some of the historic buildings and walkways. If anyone’s interested – let me know!

And that’s it for my weekend wrap up! Check back later this week for a post with photos from my recent trip to California 🙂 Have a great week everyone!