Happy Birthday my Sweet Girl!

16 years ago today, my life forever changed when I became an aunt for the first time. At a little over 9 lbs, she looked like the incredible hulk in the nursery window. All it took was a first glimpse and I was madly in love with the sweet baby we called Paige. I was all of 14 years old – and I don’t think at 14 I even knew I was capable of the love I felt for that girl.  

I was with that child almost every day of her life for the first few years, and that’s no exaggeration. She stayed at our house during the day & into the night when my sister worked with my dad, so I raced off the bus each day to get in the house and get my Paige time in. On the days my sister wasn’t at our house, I was riding my bike in the winter to see my baby, and every Tuesday & Thursday, I spent the night at my sisters so they could go out. (Not to mention, she was all of 3 days old when my sister called me and said, “Do you want to come spend the night and watch Paige for me?”) 

All of this led to a bond I wouldn’t give up for the world. I wanted her attached to my hip growing up, and I got exactly what I wanted. I was more than the doting aunt, I made every attempt to be the best aunt she could ever ask for. She knew if Mom said “No” to a toy, Aunt Nicole was going to say “Yes!” – and she still knows that today. And not only did I want to spoil her, I wanted to be there for her. From first day of preschool to school programs –  I made every effort imaginable to be there. When I moved away super briefly, I ended right back here because at the end of the day, being away from the kids – especially during their formative years – wasn’t something I enjoyed.

I know people love to tell me “when you have your own children, it won’t be the same as your niece and nephew”. No, I don’t have kids. (And I think we’ve already established that I don’t want them.) So you can try to tell me this (but please don’t, I really hate your unrequested advice), but I promise you: There will never be two people in the world that I love more than these two kids. Period. These kids not only taught me how to love, they brought out the best in me. I excel every day because I’m an influence in their life, and I want them to reach their fullest potential.

Happy Sweet 16 Paige! I wouldn’t trade being your aunt for anything in the world!

Sunday Social!

I really wanted to brag on my sleeping in skills again, but....being up at 8:30 am isn't exactly sleeping in. Especially when we didn't get to sleep until 3 am. I need to get some client editing in today, but.... Sigh - I see a nap in my future. But that comes later - first is brunch with the girls, because there's nothing better than Hot Chicken & Waffles from Hattie B's! We know how to do brunch right in the south!

1. What is your favorite breakfast food?

I could eat breakfast food every day, all day. I love alllll breakfast food, but I'm a sucker for some really amazing waffles or french toast! I also have a mad love for hashbrown casserole, but I'm super allergic to onions, so I can't always have it :( As much as I love it, my throat closing up ranks pretty high on the "things I don't enjoy" list. 

2. What is the best way to spend a free day?

It depends on the weather ; ) If it's a nice day, I might want to go shoot some photos. But if I'm being lazy at home, it's usually going to be spent with my iPad & Netflix! 

3. If you had an airline ticket to anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?

Venice, Italy! 

4. You can only leave the house with one thing...what is it?

my iPhone. It's really ridiculous how obsessed I am with it. 

5. How do you take your coffee?

Latte style ;) I go to Starbucks usually every day and get a Soy Latte with 5 pumps of sugar free vanilla. (yeah, I'm one of those jerks that has specific amount of pumps & all that!) 

capturing moments....

Weekend, weekend! I've been so happy to sleep in - I may or may not have refused to get out of bed until almost noon today. Don't judge me, I earned being lazy. Next weekend will be super super busy, so this weekend I really needed some down time to get some client editing in.

This week, I shot a birth for a sweet family that I've been doing family portraits for for a few years. Shooting births is usually tricky - since babies typically come when they want to come. I'm on call for my birth sessions, but -- some babies come faster than others! Fortunately for us, Miss Lillie was stubborn, so they scheduled her birthday.

My favorite thing when I'm shooting is telling a story -- which isn't always possible when I'm doing portraits (but IS why outtakes wind up being my favorites!) -- so shooting things like births, weddings, events are such a rush for me. I have in my head what it would look like if I were to lay it out in a photo book. It's also amazing to be in the delivery room with Mom & Dad, to capture the biggest moment in their lives with them.

It's also a great moment for me to shoot B&W, which is one of my biggest loves.

A quiet morning it was!

10:43 a.m - the time little Lillian took her first breath. 

Welcome to the word, sweet Lillian Grace!

The important part of the day was getting big sister in the room to meet her little sister - she couldn't have been anymore smitten with that baby!

And she never let her baby sister out of her sight! 

Happy Birthday Sweet Lillie! Mom & Dad already have her signed up for 5 sessions for the next year, so I'll be getting lots of time with this sweet face. I can't wait to watch her grow!

"What I like about photographs is that they capture a moment that's gone forever, impossible to reproduce." - Karl Lagerfeld

"None of your business" category...

It's been a "lets dodge tornados!" kind of night in Nashville. Which basically translates into Nicole spent an hour in her closet tonight painting her nails to the glow of an iPad because the power was out while sipping on vodka watching "Scandal" while the sirens went off. Just another night in the south....

So, in todays ramblings....

On Facebook recently,  I saw a status from a friend that said she was going to post a gross pregnancy fact for the rest of the duration of her pregnancy just to piss off her “self-absorbed child-hating hipster friends”. (and every bit of that is verbatim) In more comments, she connected “child-less” people with “self-absorbed child-hating” people, and was extremely agitated that anyone that “could bear children would choose not to”, asking me 20 questions about if I could have kids, why wouldn't I want to have them, and every thing under the sun you can imagine. She concluded it with “Let the un-friending begin!” Um, no problem, I'm gonna help you out with that. 

Look: I love babies and kids. I wasn’t a Nanny & a Preschool Teacher previously for no reason – I LOVED every moment with those babies. I’m great with kids. And to this day, I still see some of those kids I had in my class, I love seeing them grow up.  But real talk here: I’ve been SUPER adamant for YEARS about not wanting children. I love my friends kids. I love my niece & nephew more than life itself. But I do not need, nor do I want, my own kids. Contrary to what folks think- women are not obligated to have children.

Also, when the hell did it become okay to ask women about their reproductive system? I mean, am I supposed to be flattered that you spend so much time caring what I do with my body? I don’t know when manners flew completely out the window, but this stuff is not cool. The fact is: I don’t want kids because I don’t want them & the fact that anyone thinks I owe them an explanation is mind-boggling. And then there’s the “OHH you’re going to change your mind. Just you wait, you’ll change your mind!”. Actually, no I won’t, but thanks for putting your nose into business that doesn’t concern you! 

 

Weekend Shenanigans

It has been a whirlwind of a weekend! I'm finally having some down time, so obviously I'm using that time to watch one of my all-time fave movies - "Beaches". I'm really not in the mood to cry, so I don't know why I'm watching...sigh.

I hope everyone had a fabulous Valentines....I'm pretty sure I had the two cutest Valentines dates ever!

The kids & I went to see the Lego Movie & dinner - and then because Aunt Nicole is such a sucker, in their Valentines bags this year I put Target gift cards, sooooo we wound up at Target at the end of the night to let them shop. Love, Love, Love these kids - it doesn't get any better than having a night out with them.

Kadin LOVED The Lego Movie - Paige & I thought it was kind of lame. It's getting such rave reviews, I was really surprised we didn't like it! It had a few funny spots, but it just didn't hold my attention, which was such a bummer, I really wanted it to. Great cast, and a great concept - at one point Paige leaned over and said "This is the most bored I've ever been in the movies before!". Kadin, meanwhile, was in total HEAVEN. 

Saturday was all about celebrating! Larry's oldest son turned the big 1-4 this weekend! I'm so glad he's able to come out with all of us often. I've watched him grow up into such a wonderful young man - full of so much talent & potential! I just know his future is going to be bright, and so glad I'll be able to tell everyone I knew him way back when ;) 

Christian picked dinner & a movie, so it was deja vu -- but I'm pretty much at the movies every weekend, right!? He picked Vampire Academy, which is definitely a good movie for his age group.

All these kids are growing up way too fast....I really need to stop time! (And I say this right after we scheduled the appointment for Paige to get her license. Sigh. Aunt Nicole isn't ready for this!)

Clothes, Clothes, Clothes...

It's only Tuesday, and I'm already so ready for the end of the week to get here. I've got a hot date Friday night with the little man....is there anything cuter then the nephew being my Valentine? No, there isn't. LOVE.THAT.BOY.

My day looked something like this:

Mom had surgery this morning, so it was a morning of getting up at 3am. Yuck, Yuck, Yuck.  The horrors of getting up that early means Starbucks is not open yet! As I drove past the one closest to my mom's as I picked her up, I was so so sad it was only 4:30. However, my mom & I are pretty awesome - and she was ready when I arrived early, which means we had time to go by the one closest to the hospital. The first customers, I was oh so happy to pull up to the window....until I heard "Our registers are not functioning properly quite yet".  The barista must have sensed my desperation & said "So I'm just going to let you have your latte, I hope you have a great day!" 

yes folks, my Starbucks addiction is ridiculous. I choose vanilla soy lattes over food sometimes. Don't judge me. 

Mom is doing great & her surgery went fabulously - thanks to all my amazing friends who called, emailed, text to check on her & see if we needed anything. I came home a bit ago to try & get some sleep (and thaw out, I'm pretty sure it was 2 degrees in her room), and her boyfriend will be with her for the night, while my sister gets Mama duty tomorrow. 

This meant I had a LOT of time on my hands this morning in waiting rooms. Which translates into after I watched shows - I did a lot of pinterest perusing, namely for clothes. Why, you ask? Because what finally happened last week? George Strait tickets, that's what! My excitement for this show is through the roof -- I am so so so excited we get to see his final tour! The bestie & I are always into getting new outfits, but we decided it was imperative for this! Enter pinterest...(thanks to the twin cousin.."Maybe we should pin some options, I feel like I need to be involved in this decision" - what would I do without the bestie & the twin cousin?!)

Anyway, I'm digging these inspirations or color schemes, now it's time to go do a little shopping!

....except I'm 99% sure I won't be rocking heels this show....I DO want to see Strait, not kill myself walking into the show. We do remember how accident prone I am! 

Sunday Social time....

I worried about the snow forecast, and what do we have on the ground? Nooooothing. Everyone is so disappointed - except me, that is! I think I might be the only person in town that is thrilled that Nashville is always "on the line" & rarely gets the white stuff? This let me do my session this morning with zero problems -- except freezing my ass off!

This weeks Sunday Social is sooo right up my alley....it's all about TV/Movies!

1. What is your favorite thing to watch on a girls night?It really depends on what we're in the mood for! However, a big hit on girls night with my bestie is Dolly's "Straight Talk"! 

2. What is your favorite thing to watch on your day off?It depends on if something is on or not! My shows are on hiatus right now, so I've been re-watching Once Upon a Time & Scandal earlier seasons or re-watching Army Wives on most of my days off right now! BUT....if I happen to catch Snapped on or turn on the ID channel - it's all over, that's all I'm going to watch all day....

3. What is your favorite thing to watch when you're sick?
Friends or Golden Girls - forever the greatest show ever made. I know it drives my brother in law NUTS that my sister & I constantly quote them verbatim. I watch them at some point every day!

4. What is the last movie you saw in the theater?Dallas Buyers Club, absolutely fabulous!!

5. What are your top three favorite movies or tv shows?
Movies: Steel Magnolias, Beaches, Something Borrowed
TV Shows on now: Once Upon a Time, Scandal, Downton Abbey

Step right up....come on in...

Happy Friday! I'm so happy to have a low-key weekend ahead....save for a session on Sunday morning, I have a nice weekend in. Considering I just bought a big stack of more vinyl, I fully intend on spending my Saturday with my record player.

It's Five on Friday time, and I'm totally theme-ing it this week. I had to pick out 5 songs for a friend this week to add to a playlist, and quite frankly: picking 5 of my favorite songs was a lot harder than I thought it would be! It should be no surprise to anyone that the 5 I picked were all "real" Country Music, and were mostly from artists I rave about daily. With that said....5 songs I can't live without, by 5 artists I can't live without:

one. The Grand Tour - George Jones 

Not only is this my fave Jones song, this is my all time favorite song by anyone.  This song is breathtaking. If this song doesn't hit you or bring tears to your eyes, I'm not sure you have a soul. "As you leave, you'll see the nursery, oh she left me without mercy..." I promise you no one but George Jones can deliver that line with that pain. Sigh. I'm so fortunate I had the chance to hear him do this live multiple times before his passing.


two. Till I Can Make it On My Own - Tammy Wynette I say it was hard to rank a top 5 songs, but it certainly isn't hard to rank my top 2. This vies sooo close to my #1 spot for favorite song. I love Tammy. I still cite getting the chance to see her live as one of the highlights of my life. I was eleven years old when she came to my hometown of Sebastian, Florida. My mother refused to buy me tickets, so thank goodness the DJ's at our local station took pity on the kid who so desperately wanted to go & handed me two tickets. Bless her heart, a rough life she led - she was pretty frail by the time I had the chance to see her. But boy was it magical - and I can still remember every single moment of that show. Hearing this live was one of the greatest moments of my life.
three. Jeannie's Afraid of the Dark - Dolly Parton/Porter Wagoner
Jeannie's Afraid of the Dark has always been my favorite Dolly song....and goodness knows it's hard to pick one, because that girl knows how to write a good song. I could have thought of 100 songs off the top of my head that she wrote that I can't live without. Anyway, I love this one --- I miss the days of Country Music songs telling a story. I almost miss the days of a good duet!


four.  It's Only Make Believe - Conway Twitty Oh how I love, love, love this man. Talk about a huge loss -- waaaay too soon for Country Music. I was 9 years old when Conway died....I still remember where & when I was when my Mom told me he was gone. I often think about what an even bigger impact he would have made on Country Music if he had lived a little longer. This song is incredible live..

five. My Old Friend the Blues - Patty Loveless You didn't think I'd actually leave P out of this list, did you? Goodness knows my top fave songs are peppered with probably almost every song P has ever cut. This song absolutely slays me. (And even more so live) Multiple artists have cut this, and not a damn one of them has put an ounce of the emotion that P has in her version. 

'Till things are brighter, I'm the Man In Black....

As a 18 year resident, I'm not one for all the touristy stuff in Nashville anymore. However, country music is one of my first loves -- and not that crap that's on radio today, the classic stuff that  will break your heart. So, I'm a frequent visitor to places like the Country Music Hall of Fame....places that help preserve the history of Country Music.

One of the new attractions that has been added to my frequently visited list is the Johnny Cash museum. Today, after a particularly stressful day, I decided to head back to the Cash museum to explore a little more. I know I've mentioned it before briefly, but this place is so so well put together. I swear I find something new every time I visit. It's seriously one of the greatest gems we have in town, and I could probably go every day if I had the time!

The memorabilia is really amazing. I know I've posted the big stuff like photos of his Grammy's or CMA's, but there is so much more than that at the museum.

This greets you when you walk in the museum, and I cannot think of anything more fitting.

The vinyl nerd in me goes crazy over the two walls of records they have up. It's incredible. What I wouldn't give to be able to listen to every single one of those.

And in my infamous "Where I Stand...." -- under one of my fave Cash records! Not only do I have this one hanging in my kitchen & listen to it frequently - PL has this record on the cover of Sleepless Nights!

These posters are all so amazing -- all this stuff from way before my time that I'd never have been able to see if it weren't for the museum.

Serious Country Music history right here....I read every line like I didn't know the lyrics to the song. 

And if this doesn't break your heart, I don't know what will...what Cash wrote after June's burial.

By the time I left, I forgot what I was stressed out about when I walked in.... I love Nashville.

Dallas Buyers Club

I really should have some sort of stock in a movie theater....I don't think we've gone a week without going to see a new movie in a loooong time.

Friday night, the girls & I went out to see "Labor Day" with Josh Brolin & Kate Winslet. I'm such a sucker for sappy love movies, but this one didn't do it for me. It was good - but it moved so slow. I wanted it to be better than it was.

Saturday after taking advantage of a GORGEOUS day -- 61 degrees meant I was able to have an amazing session in the morning & a nice jog at the park -- Larry, Christian & I decided to go grab dinner & a movie.

Oh, and because I'm, you know, a Starbucks addict, Christian and I also made a quick stop....and snuck in all the important stuff into the movies.

(By the way, fellow photos, the Kelly Moore Mimi bag not only successfully carries my gear & every day stuff -- it carries a Venti Starbucks!) 

We went to see "Dallas Buyers Club" with Matthew McConaughey & Jared Leto. Wow. If you haven't seen this movie - you MUST. This movie is brilliant work, by all involved.

I went into the movie knowing they had dropped a significant amount of weight to play AIDS patients, and that was really it. What a story they told. McConaughey plays Ron Woodruff, a guy who is beyond homophobic & contracts HIV - and of course doesn't believe it, since he insists he only has sex with women. It's not until he does a little research and flashes back to having unprotected sex with a woman, a drug addict sharing needles, that he truly believes that his diagnosis is true. His 30 days to live diagnosis immediately prompts him to take matters into his own hands, and not trust what doctors tell him - or try to treat him with.  The intro to the situation really makes him look like a total ass you don't want to root for. 

The story delves into his desire to get his hands on un-approved drugs claimed to help those diagnosed with HIV. This launches him to start a business to help others with HIV - including Jared Leto, a cross dresser who was utterly & completely unrecognizable -- not only because of the cross dressing, but because of the significant amount of weight he lost for the role.

I can usually tell how good a movie was based on how much we talk about it in the car on the way home -- we could not stop discussing this one.  It's out on DVD on Tuesday, and it's worth the trip to your Redbox to see it!