Hurricane Irene

So its 5:30am on Sunday, August 28th and Im bright eyed and bushy-tailed.  Nervous about this blasted storm.  Im hearing major wind and trees blowing violently, thinking about everyone who needed to be evacuated and I suppose the intensity of it all is starting to sink in now.  And as bad as this weather is right now, the actual hurricane is still about 5 hours away.  :-(
New 'Yawkaz' are generally tough and resilient...   Well THIS New York native is just nervous and the light at the end of this tunnel is that hurricanes are temporary.   I cannot imagine, however, what the clean up effort is going to be in the low lying areas...

More to report as the hours progress...

August 30th...
So...  we survived!  WHEW!  It was a scary night, but all is well.  I'm praying for the folks who suffered loss within this storm, went without power and food for days, etc...  Irene was one wicked bitch - but she's gone now!

As EYE See Them... Anika and Sidney

WORDS!   I'm going to attempt to describe Anika and Sid and everything about them in single words...

Anika and I first made contact when I responded to an inquiry for a photographer for her wedding.   When I read her email the word that came to mind was ELOQUENT.  Our email exchanges were lengthy but we felt like we knew each other by the time we would meet.  When we met for brunch and I saw her for the first time, I thought RADIANT.  What a beautiful smile and sunny personality to match!  I've decided that I'm allergic to Bridezillas - there would be no worries about my allergies with Anika!   I remember thinking what a great guy Sidney must be to have such a special lady in his corner in addition to the way her face lit up when she spoke of him.

In May, I had the privelege of meeting Sidney and their children at their engagement shoot.   The next word that came to mind was PRECIOUS - the dynamic between the members of this blended family was lovingly evident.

Their journey began when they met at Sidney's older sister's engagement party, but the relationship started to really take on a life of it's own when Sidney's younger brother married Anika's younger sister (awesome, right!?!)

I love Anika and Sidney as if they were family.  You cannot possibly spend any time with them and NOT feel that way.  They've got to be the warmest, sweetest, most genuine and most loving people I've come across in a long time. 

There are so many descriptors for these two and the love they share, but the word that will stay with me - a word that Sidney used in his beautifully-written vows - is PERFECT.  I am an emotional being so yes, I cry at the very weddings that I shoot.  And I was just fine at this wedding until the reading of those vows...  whoa!

Anika and Sidney - best wishes to you in this new phase of your life journey together. 

(Now if my sinister plot to photographically take over the world is working, I'll be doing some maternity and newborn shots within the near future!  ☺)

♥