Since most of the mommies of my clients are near the same age as me, many of you may understand my excitement today, while others may roll your eyes and laugh.  Growing up in the late 80’s and early 90’s you could not avoid New Kids on the Block.  Loved them or hated them, they were everywhere.  I was one of those tweens/teens in absolute love with them.  I was also unbelievably lucky in that my parents always got me tickets for every show they did in Detroit.  And often after the show, my dad would try and stalk them for us, LOL!

A few years back my sister and I made a pack, WHEN New Kids reunite we will be there.  Well this summer that pact came true.  Initially  we bought tickets for the Chicago show, but when Detroit was announced, we changed plans, and decided to use the money we would have used on travel and lodging to go 5 Star VIP!  Not only would we be going to the show, not only somewhere in the first 10 rows, but we’d be meeting them too!  Now everyone has their “splurge” item.  For some it’s purses, some it’s shoes, for some it’s portraits 😉  For me, it’s concert tickets!  As a parrothead, prior to Madeline, my husband and I often spent the summer traveling the midwest to see Jimmy Buffett.  This summer after buying row 26 center tickets, I went on to buy a 2nd row center ticket for the concert at Pine Knob, LOL!

So today is icing on the cake.  My sister and I get to fulfill our childhood dreams.  I get to meet Joe in real life, who plastered the walls of my room for so many years!  My hope is that I somehow keep my cool 😉  And in true geeky photographer fashion, I went out a bought a new camera for this concert, LOL!  I can bring in my beast   So I had to snap up a new P&S that will hopefully capture the memorable night to come.

So look for photos from tonight soon on my blog 😉  Bring out your hidden blockhead…..”Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, OH….the right stuff”.

My final mini session was J and A. I got to photograph them last fall and I had a blast. And as much as J tried to avoid me and the camera this year, I managed to get some stunning shots of him 😉 This year A was more then eager to get his photos done. A change from last year when he was hesitant and camera shy 😉

After Miss A’s session I got to meet L and A, who are actually friends of Miss A’s mom!  L and A were a blast.  I just love twins!  And who doesn’t love some brotherly love?

About a week ago (okay more like 1.5 weeks ago) I did a round of mini sessions at Mill Race in Northville.  Miss A was ready to get down with some fall fashion in her FABU Matilda Jane.  Yes, A’s mom is an MJ addict like myself.  Infact the dress Miss A was wearing, well Mads owns it too 😉  Miss A was so adorable and a great trooper walking through wet dewy morning grass.

My good friend Kelly’s daughter was dedicated last week and I had the privilege to attend (maybe it’s because Mads is dating her son, LOL).  R was wearing the same outfit Kelly wore, her sister wore and her mom wore for their baptisms.  Such an heirloom had to be photographed!  Now the debate of the evening was whether she looked Amish or like a Pilgrim.  Either way she was adorable!

I debated putting this up here worried if it would cause more pain for me then it’s worth. But I can’t shake the sickness I have in my stomach about what happened. As you might remember, I used to have a blog hosted on blogger. When I moved over to this new blog. I all but forgot about it. I used to get nasty comments on that blog (that luckily I was able to delete before most of you saw). When I left I turned off the ability for people to post comments and figured I was safe. I was WRONG!

It seems earlier this month I was hacked and a very inappropriate post was left. Since I never check that blog I had NO IDEA! It was actually a fellow photographer that came upon my old blog and that post. I immediately logged in, deleted the post and my entire old blog! I was so ashamed this post was out there! I was able to look at the stats for those that had recently viewed my site. I seemed to be getting a lot of hits from the same IP address in California, so I suspect that may be where I was hacked from

I want to apologize to any and all that saw that post! It was NOT from me!!! And I am just sickened at the length of time it was posted on my site! Second, I want to share that security is why I switched over to a blog on my own site. You would not believe the spam that comes to my blog, but luckily my new blog has better filtering and security! Third, I want to caution you out there in Cyberspace. I try to protect your children by not posting names and avoiding locations. You should see some of the things people are searching for when they find my site. There are a lot of sick people out there!

Please know, especially as a mom, my concern is for your children and their safety. All of your galleries are password protected and removed from my hosting server when they expire! And if you prefer I will avoid posting your sneak peeks on the blog all together!

I want to thank those out there that knew immediately the post on my old site was a hack and attempted to notify me! It’s nice to know there are people out there looking out for each other.

I thought I should update my blog with the results of my mom and sister’s 3 Day Journey.  First off my sister managed to raise over $2500 and my mom raised over $3100.  The Detroit walk raised over $7 million total!

My sister made the entire walk, all three days.  My mom fell victim to a horrible blister and had to sit out the first half of Sunday’s walk, but all told made it about 53 miles.  I’m so proud of both of them for doing this!  Madeline and I got the chance to cheer them on Saturday as they walked through Plymouth and again Livonia.  It’s truley amazing to see all the walkers and the supporters!

I want to thank those who ordered throughout the summer (remember 5% of your sales total went to the walk) and those that took advantage of my digital collection offer.  THANK YOU!

My Mom and Sister

My Sister got to carry the “My Mother” banner for awhile on Sunday.

My mom, sister and their BFF’s (Breast Friends Forever) MaryAnn and Shirley.

The rules:
1. Post the rules on your blog.
2. Write 7 random things about yourself.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post.
4. Pass on the tag.

I was tagged by Kim 😉

1. I’m a parrothead (Jimmy Buffett fan) and a Blockhead (New Kids on the Block) and I’ll have seen BOTH up close and personal this year (2nd row for Jimmy and somewhere in the first 10 rows for New Kids at the end of the month)

2. I collect Elmos. Yes, the red monster from Sesame Street. I’ve probably got 1,000’s of them. Kevin Clash (the muppeteer for Elmo) called me once and sent me an autographed Elmo

3. I love chocolate. I’ve made my husband love chocolate and now my daughter.

4. I can not function without my iPhone. I dropped it in the toilet once (it died) and I about hyperventilated the 4 hours I was without (until I could get to the apple store and buy my replacement).

5. My absolute favorite foods; my mom’s au gratin potatoes and my mom’s french toast!

6. My current happiest place on Earth is Chicago! I just love the city!

7. Most people don’t know, I only got my Mrs. from U of M. My BS is from UNLV (yes, as in University of Nevada Las Vegas) and my MA is from Ball State. So on paper I’m a Rebel and a Cardinal, but I am a card carrying Wolverine Alumni 😉 On a side note, I find it hilarious that all the alumni stuff from UM comes in my name and not my husband’s. He has the degree, I have 2 years of classes there, LOL!

Okay, now after my lame revelations….. onto those I’m tagging……Mandy, Lindsey, Chris and Michelle, Sarah, Jen ,Rebecca, and Ann.