another senior shoot last night.
these girls are so beautiful.

this is casey, shy but confident.
full academic and soccer scholarship to fiu next year.
her mama says she is calm and easy…nothing like the fiesty three-year-old she once was.

good to know. ha.

no, she’s not a cheerleader. she can just jump really high.

…and so our busy week continues. ~k

oh, hello joy.
hello beautiful girl.
hello hotel room full of scads of fun clothes.
and fabulous shoes. and vintage jewelry.
hello fun photo shoot times twenty billion.

and then, here’s the best part.
she let me put together…
every. single. outfit.
down to every last piece of jewelry.
every accessory.
i felt like rachel zoe.

fun like you cannot believe.
jackie…you rock, girl.
you are beautiful. and confident. and fun.
and so is your mama.

so, here you are, beauty queen…
a very, very big teaser…

oh, the shoes. for the love, for the love.

love this shot…

paying homage to her days as a swimmer….

senior shoots rock. my. world.

and speaking of worlds being earth-shattered…in the good way…
we have a busy week…the kind where i feel pressed and challenged, pushed and smooshed…until friday when, if all goes as planned…the rockstar emerges. because i will pull it off. i will finish all my editing. all my orders. i will knock the house into tip-top shape. i will run like the wind. i will catch up. clean up my e-mail box. (if i owe you a response, hang on…it’s comin’!) delete my voicemails. and, most importantly, in between all that…i will love this girl up.

i will close my eyes, kiss her cheeks and tell myself that it’s twenty years from now…and i’ve been granted my one wish…to come back to this moment and drink up this little tiny thing that’s grown so big over the years. ‘cuz she’s almost two, you know.

*shy smile* alert!

new trick. obsessed with dresses as of late, i’ve created the perfect little edge for her to give a little tug when she wants me to hold her. and she says ‘up.’ and it makes me want to wear a dress every single day for the rest of my life. and i think i shall.

oh…austyn made a bad call in the badminton game.

there shall be more deep ponderings from the heart of this mama before she turns two.

but, for now…all i have to say is…

mama likey.

no, mama love. mama love, baby.

…enjoying the two-beauties-in-one-post things. ~k

oh, wait!

giveaway winner!
sandals go to….
commenter #6!

wylie!!!
wylie, e-mail me leah’s size and color preferences, and i’ll whip ’em up with love!
sorry you didn’t get the sandals, dad.

they came.
all thirty-seven of ’em.
gathered at the beach with us to bid farewell to yet another sun.

and it all started with a whim.
at two o’clock.
a whim and a text message.

big crew meeting for sunset tonight. vanderbilt beach. 6:30.

of course, i lied. there was never a big crew. it was just us. but i didn’t think just us was enticing enough to lure the party i wanted, and lord knows no one wants to miss a party. so i lied. i lied and said big crew.

and they fell for it.
every one of ’em.
the masses came in droves.
dragging strollers and picnic baskets. smoothing beach blankets and plopping babies into heaps of sugary sand while little friends ran to welcome them. trails of cooler wheels zig-zagged across paths to lead to one big, beautiful circle of beach chairs and towels, pails and shovels, a healthy smattering of babies and a whole lotta mamas and dads i love dearly. thirty-seven bodies. thirty-seven sun-kissed smiling faces. thirty-seven blessed friends that find the beauty in sponteneity. in friends. in drinking in the fact that we live four miles from a coast where families save all year just to be able to spend one little week enjoying these kinds of nights.

and i know enjoying the small things has featured all sorts of sunsets. but this one? this one was special. everyone was there. and as that big pink ball o’ love we all share slipped slowly past the horizon while kids buried each other in the sand and us folks drank it all in, i couldn’t help but think…this here? this here is a moment i won’t forget. and yes, i kissed the universe. made out with it, in fact.

we stayed until after nine…well after the sun set. we danced in the hotel spotlights…

we welcomed the replacement to our pink sunny sky and found equal beauty in the magical darkness with its entrancing constellations and silvery moonlight.

we laughed.
a lot.

oh, to be blessed. to dance on the beach under a sea of stars, holding this amazing little, surrounded by souls you love.

i hope the high-on-life thing isn’t annoying. because i am not oblivious to the fact that life isn’t roses. it’s just that when the good comes along, it is so good. so delicious. and recognizing it and drinking it in…all those little, beautiful moments…is so fueling for the soul.

so it is that a sunset with friends filled any near-dry spots in my never ending quest for the most fabulous life possible.

i am happy. fulfilled. inspired. …just like that.