Another new family and their little baby boy! He made his entrance several weeks early, but just in time for his first holiday card.
Tag Archives: Chicago
Kids + Fall Leaves
Fall and kids—my two favorite things. As a fall baby, I think I naturally gravitate towards the season. I was a big fan of orange and yellow (and still am), I used to love and still like the idea of collecting acorns for no reason other than to feel like a squirrel, and I chose this time of year for my wedding date. That and because the venue we liked had an opening. But there’s also the rainbow of leaves that paints the blue skies and carpets the ground, the warm sun and the crisp morning air, the apples and pumpkins and all the cliches that make an easier transition from summer to cooler weather.
As tradition, we started to take annual photographs at our wedding site (Woodend) for its rainbow of foliage. As small people appeared in our lives, the pictures shifted from being of us to just being of them—because once you become parents, you pretty much disappear into an anonymous existence. Here are a few assortments that I took this year, at Woodend and then at my in-laws’ in Chicago.
Chicago babies!
(Baby boy toes, Chicago)
I jetted to Chicago a couple weekends ago to meet some totally teeny-tiny, completely adorable and helpless little new humans. After you’ve had two of your own, you completely forget just how small they start off (although mine began in the 8-pound range, so they were never this small). Here you’ll meet my sister-in-law Lexi’s and Gregg’s baby girl, and Brandon’s and Stef’s baby boy (baby girl and baby boy are second cousins!) complete with sausage toes, yawns, cries, sleepy eyes, and doting parents.
*YES! I come to Chicago often and would be more than happy to be your family/ engagement/ newborn/ etc. photographer when I’m in town. Please contact me for details on my upcoming trips!*
Chicago child
I spent a little time with an old friend and her newly expanded family out on a crisp fall day in Chicago. They asked me to take a few shots of them, which I happily obliged. Here is their little girl, an adorable petite perfect mix of both mom and dad, with giant curious eyes and doting new parents.
Married: Lexi and Gregg!
In Chicago this August, my little sister-in-law, Lexi, married Gregg, a hilarious, movie-quoting lawyer who showed us numerous videos on YouTube of people trying to swallow spoonfuls of cinnamon (which cannot be done). We liked him immediately. Since I was honored with the position of bridesmaid, I didn’t get to take any pictures of the wedding itself, but was asked to take some of the pre-wedding preparation in the bridal suite and groom’s room. The bridal suite had couches, a patio, bagel tray, mimosas and bridesmaids in matching robes painting their nails and having their hair and makeup done. The groom’s room was a standard hotel room with bottles of whiskey and the groomsmen still lying in bed in their underwear filling out a football pool 15 minutes before they were due for photos. I finally got around to putting these pics on the blog. Congrats you two!
Engaged: Emily and Dave!
Emily and Dave met at Second City in Chicago, and were later engaged at Second City, which is very appropriate because Dave is a funny guy, and Emily has the biggest smile, so the two of them together just perpetuate infectious happiness. I first met them when I was photographing Dave’s brother’s wedding, when he and Emily coordinated some dance moves in such a way that you figured they often spontaneously burst into dance routines at home. Emily is very urban-chic and picked out many of the spots where we took their engagement pictures, all along Chicago’s Belmont Harbor and the green space surrounding it. Their puppy Calvin makes a few cameos as well. Congratulations you guys!
A snapshot: Emily and Dave, engaged!
In a garden of wildflowers, Belmont Harbor, Chicago.
Zipporah and Jeff: married!
Let them eat cake!
Zipporah and Jeff were married last Sunday on a gloriously sunny day at the South Shore Cultural Center in Chicago, despite tornado threats dangling overhead from the night before. The South Shore Cultural Center – where I do believe President and First Lady Obama were married – was an amazing lakefront site with windows galore and old-style architecture. It felt like you were outside even though you were safely enclosed inside.
To say that Zipporah and Jeff are *obsessed* with Illini basketball is an understatement (Illini = University of Illinois at Champaign/ Urbana, for those of you not versed in college athletics). It does explain the many accents of orange throughout the wedding. However, the orange was also a nice, happy, dressy color complimented with greens in the flowers and tablecloths and bridesmaids’ dresses that made for a perfectly beautiful spring-summer wedding. It’s all very appropriate, considering the two met on an Illini basketball forum – online, that is – before they both moved to Chicago, became basketball-watching buddies at local bars, and the rest is history.
I was happy to spend some time with the bride as she was all made-up and her hair done in curls, and I even had a key role in the wedding as the ceremony pianist. For that reason it was difficult to shoot pictures and play the piano simultaneously, but I was able to get many shots of the happy couple afterwards. And look at the huge smile on Zipporah’s face – in every picture! – you can tell the months and months of hard work and planning paid off. Congrats Zip and Jeff!
I just love this photo of Zip passing the torch – er – bouquet – to the next bride-to-be.
A snapshot: Zipporah’s & Jeff’s wedding!
Zipporah passes the torch (South Shore Cultural Center, Chicago)
More pictures to follow!
new beginnings.
Liying and Kit welcomed their first baby boy early last week! He was nine days after his due date, but just in time for me to meet him during my weekend in Chicago. He slept through most of my visit. He’s so little and so brand-new that you just want to protect and shield him from the big bad world, and tell him to watch out for strangers, dangerous weapons, Corporate America and people who text while driving. Liying and Kit are exhausted new parents, but oh-so-excited, super happy and positively beaming.
My kind of town! Chicago is.
Oh, Chicago! I had a love-hate relationship with this city when I was living there, getting my master’s degree at Northwestern. Chicago tried to trick me into believing its lake was an ocean. It tried to compensate for an exceedingly cold, windy winter with an exceedingly hot, humid summer. However, it does have amazing architecture, excellent food and it raised someone who became my future husband.
I was back in Chicago this past weekend for a wedding and managed to squeeze in a couple of kiddo photo shoots. Here are some Chicago highlights I caught en route to various wedding activities. Stops include the Chicago River, this round sculpture by the NBC building (yes, that’s me and my sister, who was also in Chicago for a meeting!), an arts/ crafts fair, and most notable, the souvenir section of the Walgreens on Michigan Avenue .
Red Kite Studios 