Monthly Archives: August 2012

08.31.12

Of Pumpkin Spice Lattes and Giving Up Coffee

I read a book on our trip two weeks ago that inspired me. So I decided to go through the 7 journey myself. 7 months tackling 7 areas of excess. Tomorrow is the first day of the first month. Food. In the book, Jen (the author) picks only 7 foods to eat for the month. My goal for going through this is to create habits that hopefully flow into my normal life after these 7 months are over. Things that once I start will hopefully be sustainable (ish).

So I’ve decided to do my own thing and make a mix of adding and eliminating a total of 7 things for the month. First on my cut list is coffee. I walk to Starbucks twice a day. It’s not cheap. I say that I do it to get up and take a walk….so there’s no harm in just getting up and taking a walk right?! Here’s the huge dilemma though…the Pumpkin Spice Latte (my most favorite of all the coffee drinks) officially launches next week. In September. Writing this now I realize how dumb it sounds that I hated the idea of waiting an extra month until October for this latte…but I swear it’s special! Thankfully my sweet sweet barista totally broke the rules yesterday and gave me the Pumpkin Spice early. I could have kissed her.

Alright so here we go! I’m going to need your help keeping me accountable.

I am cutting: 1. coffee 2. alcohol (except the occasional glass of red wine) 3. Coke/soda/pop. So my goal for this month is to drink 99% water and tea.

Food wise I’m cutting 4. anything with high fructose corn syrup & 5. anything at the grocer with more than 7 ingredients (I find that after 7 they’re typically unreadable…whyyyy am I intentionally ingesting chemicals?!)

I really wanted to add a couple healthy habits too! So 6. is making my own bread. (I used to do this but I stopped when Wil cut carbs before the wedding and have somehow never picked it back up) and 7. is to not let food in our house go bad for this month. (Yes this is a real issue for me, it’s embarrassing.)

I asked for 6 women to partner with me and I am completely in awe that 23 women are IN and joining me for various months of this journey. We had the first Google+ hangout last night so everyone could meet. We have women from California to New Jersey, and even one in Canada! I am so honored to go through this journey with such incredible women! And I can’t wait to update you more along the way :-)

I hope you have a fantastic long weekend! I have Mallory & Matthew‘s wedding today, and Lauren & Stefan‘s wedding on Sunday. Monday we’re relaxing with friends! What are you up to?? :-D

XXOO

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Categories: 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess, All things Emilia Jane

08.30.12

My Wedding Day Goals

When I first started shooting weddings I really just wanted to get as many pretty pictures as I could during the day. I didn’t have any defined goals per se, but really I just tried to keep up during the day, help direct traffic, and stay afloat. Now I can say my goals are pretty much three-fold. In order of importance to me:

1. To capture the love as it is in those moments on that day. To show the true emotion. The heads thrown back in laughter, and each tear shed. As you (and your family) look through these images in the years to come, I want them to bring you back to those moments. I want anyone who wasn’t able to attend the wedding to be able to look through your album and feel like they were there with you.

2. To create art for you for your home. I want to give you pictures you can hang proudly on the walls. Or put in silver frames on the mantle for generations to come.

3. I want to document the details and all the little things that brought the day together. How the day looked.

I know this post only has 9 images…and that they’re completely out of order. But are you beginning to feel like you understand their day? Do you see their love? This is what I want to give all of my couples. These are the stories I want to tell. I want my telling of the day to be true to the day itself.

There’s more to it than this, so much more. But if you boil everything down…this is the heart of what it comes to.

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Categories: All things Emilia Jane, Weddings

08.29.12

Milwaukee Engagement Photos»Taylor & Luke

I took the train up to Milwaukee on Friday to meet Taylor & Luke for their engagement pictures. I had such an amazing experience I think there might be another blog post coming about how much I love Amtrak now…but for today can we talk about how beautiful these two are?! I had SUCH a blast running around Marquette and Milwaukee with them. We found some really gorgeous spots and only just now did I realize that almost their whole post is green… I am totally 100% cool with that. Taylor & Luke are one of my rad 2013 couples. She’s going to be one of my 7 women!! Their joy is palpable and I am so happy to call them friends and not just clients.

I am beyond excited for your wedding next summer! And probably as excited about the next time we’ll get together (or at least close to it) :-D XXOO

 

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Categories: Engagements

08.28.12

Enjoying Every Moment

It’s always the little things.
Small bits of joy sprinkled through the day.
Stepping outside and feeling crisp air.
Pretty light shining through the trees.
Walking in my neighborhood.
Hearing my mother’s voice on the phone.
That first sip of coffee.
Kissing Wil and saying “see you tonight.”
Today is a beautiful day, I will rejoice and be glad in it!

picture from my iPhone

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Categories: All things Emilia Jane

08.27.12

Schlitz Audubon Nature Center Wedding » Soren & Kelly

Soren & Kelly’s wedding was so uniquely beautiful, I’m not sure my words could do it justice. These two science-minded, driven individuals have clearly met their match in each other. I am so happy for you two, and I feel truly honored to have documented your wedding.  I hope your honeymoon was wonderful and I wish you two all the happiness <3

 

 

All my love! XXOO

 

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Categories: Weddings

08.24.12

Milwaukee Engagement Pictures Preview» Taylor & Luke!

Yesterday I had the pleasure of spending time with this gorgeous couple.

I cannot wait for their June 2013 wedding!More from these two love birds next week! I’m off to Louisville for a wedding tomorrow <3 Happy weekending all! XXOO

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Categories: Engagements

08.23.12

Miami Vacation Pictures!

Last week we went to Miami on vacation! We had a lot of fun, de-stressed (for the most part), and I learned a big lesson in vacationing.

we seriously had THE prettiest clouds during take-off

it took me a solid 30 seconds to figure out why my images were looking like this ^^^ until I realized it was so hot and humid my lens had fogged up. literally every time we walked outside.

So. Big lesson in vacationing. If you’re going to be staying at a hotel, call before you make a reservation and ask if they’re doing any renovations. Ask what those renovations affect. We had selected to stay at the Mandarin Oriental because it had great reviews on Trip Advisor and because I had not done enough research or realized how big Miami is….and how far the downtown is from the fun beach area. We were informed at check-in that their pool was under renovation (we could use a neighboring condo building’s — which did not have a food or bar) and that the beach was no water access. WHAT?! So we decided to move, since those were pretty much the only two things we were on vacation to do. Wil’s choice was the Perry in South Beach. (You’d think I would have learned my lesson already, but no.) The cab driver on our way to the Perry informed us that they were also going through renovations. These were renovations of the jack-hammering on your balcony at 9am sort. Awesome. I say this not to complain, but as a heads up! I didn’t grow up going on lots of vacations so I had no idea this is something one should do. Now I know :-)

they did have sharks in the lobby fish tank though!

and a bright blue front door and rave music and lights in the elevators! PAAAAARTY!!! hahahaha

Thursday night we went to Casa Tua for dinner. Best meal of the trip. Such a gorgeous venue….I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to shoot a wedding there.

this is the rooftop pool where we spent pretty much the rest of the trip :-) We did a lot of getting sunburnt, reading awesome books that change your life, and sipping mango freeze cocktails.

then it was time to go home! we had such a pretty sunset flying back into Chicago!

home sweet home :-)

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Categories: All things Emilia Jane

08.22.12

7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess

I read this book on vacation last week. It changed my life. Jen Hatmaker, the author of 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess, speaks to so many things that I struggle with. I’ve tried to write a blog post about feeling overwhelmed and oversaturated and wanting a media diet no less than four times. I just couldn’t write a plan that I liked well enough to do it (what a lame excuse right?). She spends one month purging the crap from her life in each of  seven different areas.

I knew from the introduction that I was going to have to do this myself. Jen wrote a plan for exactly what I’ve been wanting to do but couldn’t find the right way to execute on my own. Because you see, I’m overwhelmed. And the 19 tabs I have open in my browser right now aren’t helping. Neither is the huge latte I just gulped down. It took me 8 minutes to get dressed this morning because I didn’t like any of my shoes (even though I have over 20 pair). This is just ridiculous.

I want peace and clarity in my life. I want less crap. I want to bless others. I don’t want facebook and twitter and google reader to have such a prominent placement in my habits and thought patterns. So I’m going to start next Saturday on the 1st of September. I’m going to eliminate seven types of foods that I regularly eat that I’d be better without (whether they’re bad for me or just represent excess in my life). I’m not going to do exactly what Jen did. I’m going to use her book as a guide.

 

Month 1: Food (September)

Month 2: Clothes (October)

Month 3: Possessions (November)

Month 4: Media (December)

Month 5: Waste (January)

Month 6: Spending (February)

Month 7: Stress (March)

I don’t want to do this alone though. I probably can’t do it alone. I need other women to go through this with me and guide me. I don’t expect everyone to have the same issues and want to purge in the same areas, so if you’re interested, please don’t feel like you’ll have to do every month. Ultimately I’d love to have a council of 7 women who each want to participate in at least two months and want to offer guidance and encouragement to the rest of the group even in the months where they aren’t participating.

So! Let me know what you think…and if you’re interested. I promise I’ll regularly update the blog with my progress! And if you want to do this with me, I will send a copy of the book to you either straight to your kindle or iDevice or two-day ship the paperback to you :-)

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Categories: 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess, All things Emilia Jane

08.21.12

Cuneo Mansion Wedding Photographer

I’m honestly not sure how to best introduce this gorgeous wedding. I was literally gasping at the beauty driving through the meadows on the property leading up to the Cuneo Mansion. The joy in this day was undeniable and I hope I can share just a glimpse of that with you!

And to all a good night! Thank you so much Erica for having me along to second shoot with you. This celebration was just too stunning not to share. A million happy wishes to the couple! And cheers to to the many years to come <3 XXOO

 

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Categories: Weddings

08.20.12

Jacob Henry Mansion Wedding Photographer » Happy Anniversary Remy & Alex!

Remy and I were in a women’s small group together way before her wedding. It’s so fun to not only attend friend’s weddings, but be able to capture that day for them! She and her husband Alex are so sweet together and it makes my heart happy to see her Facebook updates about their renovations and house projects. This year has literally flown by! In her words… “I don’t know where a whole year went. We almost forgot about our anniversary.It feels like it should still be a few months away!” :-)

Jacob Henry Mansion Wedding

What has been the most fun thing for you to do as a couple this year? We manage to have fun doing ridiculous things. Like the other night I saw Alex walking home from the train while I was driving home, so I stuck my head out the window and whistled and cat-called him as loud as I could. Now all our neighbors probably think we’re nuts. Can I get a serious AWWWWW?! I feel like I should go catcall my hubby now ;-)

We’re doing a lot of work on our old house this summer, maybe not what you had in mind for fun, but we’ve enjoyed it. It’s a good challenge to work side by side – it builds our teamwork capacity. And it’s so rewarding when we finish something, like when we sprawled out on our freshly polished marble floor and knew we accomplished the task together. Also, we noticed that our next task should be repainting the ceiling.

 Do you have any advice for couples getting married soon? I think our best advice is: marriage is what you make it. The more you invest in it, the more it will grow. The whole “becoming one” bit doesn’t happen overnight. You have to work at it, and that means being the first to give, the first to forgive, and the first to let go of your expectations. The first year might not be the easiest (we will have to keep you posted – we have nothing to compare it to!), but it seems like the best time to lay a good foundation for the future of your marriage.

Okay YES! I don’t think I could possibly agree any more. Happy First Anniversary you two lovebirds! And cheers to many more years cooking together. XXOO

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Categories: All things Emilia Jane