City Story Photography | Alicia Sturdy www.b87.b5d.myftpupload.com

Inspiration. Mine never comes when I want it to. It comes in the most inconvenient moments where I'm not sitting at my computer, or with a pen in my hand.

It comes though. And to stop and recognize that inspiration is an ingredient of joy has been a big lesson in my life.

So many pieces have played together to become the inspiration for my new niche in my art.

If you read my post from Monday you know that shooting weddings led me to realize I didn't want to shoot wedding days, but deeply loved documenting the relationship and connection between the bride and groom outside the wedding day.

My chapter of life in Chicago and my two years living in quaint Middletown brought me to the place to recognize I am a city soul - I live breath and eat city living with all it's flaws.

The love and support I feel from my husband, and the love that radiates from the marriages in my life have led me to a place where I want to celebrate relationships just as they are. 

My fundamental need to document everything (I must have spent a mint on disposable cameras in high school) led me to photography.

My talkative nature (can you say excessive talking marked on my report card every year of my life) has led me to focus that energy into blogging and telling stories.

And all this poured together creates this twirling, beautiful thing that when I stepped back I saw what I had to do. That in my bones I am a creative, and this is what I am meant to create in this season.

To be an artist. To speak through photographs. To embrace those who love city. To celebrate connection & relationship.

Here in that lies my beliefs.

I believe in the spark first ignited by love.

I believe in fanning the flame of love can make it brighter and stronger.

I believe in preserving this journey to draw back on as these moments get farther from us.

There is always a spark at the beginning of any journey, and it creates something more than just a flash of light, it created a flame of fire. That when coaxed, becomes brighter than in those first few moments of inception. The the fan to this flame is remembering the journey. And that each moment shapes who we are, and to preserve this sacred moment in the journey is worthy of our attention. Is worthy to be captured in a way that creates more than just a pretty photograph on the wall, but to create a marker in the journey. To look back on in any time after now and be reminded of the love that existed in the beginning, the existed in that moment, and that exists even now.

I believe that the power of a city can shape who you are.

I believe in the magnetism of a city, and the energy and peace that it can give.

I believe in the story that that the city creates between two people

I believe this because I know it to be true. I know how a place can create a story line in your life that becomes part of who you are, not just where you live. How alive I feel with miles of sidewalk and buildings are around me soaring up and away. And that my mind clears amongst the honking horns and flurry of people in a way that no silence or stillness can. That this is my place of stillness. This is my place of peace. That this love affair with the city, is one of the greatest storylines in my life.

This. Is City Story.

'Why' is one of my least favorite questions. I had a job once where almost weekly, I felt like I was being put on the spot to defend my decisions or explain my behaviors behind my actions. Not in a bad way, but just always being asked - why - was draining. Thinking on the spot and coming up with a solidified answer is hard for me. I'm an external processor (who is married to an internal processor....try that one on for size!). So for me, talking something out is the way I process. I can talk, and talk, and talk and talk. Until finally some little lightbulb in my head has talked it out enough to where it makes sense to me and I'm done.

Last October I sat across from Tiffany Farley. I had booked one of her mentoring sessions (which I highly recommend!), and while doing the prep work for my session I made a discovery.  At that time, I had eleven weddings under my belt. Three of my own, and eight with other photographers. I had an amazing year last year shooting with Maria, Mike, Alicia & Rachel, Erica, Carri, Ute, Justin & Mary - grateful doesn't even begin to describe how I feel to work with these fellow artists. But at the end of it, I sat across from Tiffany saying these words.

I don't want to photograph weddings right now.

That's not to say that I may never photograph another wedding in my life. There were things I absolutely loved about weddings, and things not so much. And the not so much, outweighed the things I loved about it in this season of my life. This, and honestly I have so many of my friends in this business shoot weddings. And they are doing so well at it. They are producing exciting, beautiful, iconic images. And I am thankful they are there to tell that part of someones story.

But really, that's not the the stories I want to tell.

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I want to tell the stories a year after the wedding. A time where you've started to settle down, nest, make a home. A time when the novelty of that new last name has worn off.

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I want to tell the story of the city you've grown to love, together - after the cake has been cut, and the bouquet has been tossed.

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I want to tell the story of us, with the backdrop of city lights, the flurry of people, and the honking of horns.

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I want to tell the part of the story you'll look back on and say, 'this is the place where you and me became us'.

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I want to photograph the two of you. In the city you love.

The place where storylines meet skylines.

I'll meet you there.

City Story Chicago North Park University Vintage Photograph Sturdy

In all the world, there is no heart for me like yours. In all the world, there is no love for you like me. - Maya Angelou

Today in the car I was listening to NPR, and they quoted a remark that Ms. Angelou said about when people pass away. That when a person dies, a library of unwritten stories goes with them. I know this all too well as Andrew's Grandma Kathy passed away earlier this month. Andrews Aunt Sandy had created a slideshow of photographs from Kathy's life. The day after the burial and service, we all sat in Auntie Bonnie's living room, pausing each photograph on the slideshow to hear the story behind it. This photograph, taken while Andrew's grandparents were at North Park (where we both also attended university) - is stunning. My favorite. Pulls at so many heart strings for me - Chicago, soulmates, connection, love. I only wish I knew the story of this photograph, but for the mean time I will have to assume my own.

And while I wish I could have known Kathy longer, before her Alzheimers took her stories with her slowly, I know in my soul that our family will cherish all the photographs that we have of Kathy and and my husbands beloved grandpa, Dick. And now, it's our job to write the volumes of our families legacy alongside each image captured for our children to know and love us through when we're gone. And then I'm reminded.

This is the story I want to tell in every photograph I take - romance, nostalgia, and connection.

It's only fitting that Ms Angelou's words found me earlier this week, as she passed away yesterday. At times when I'm inspired by a verse I find, I often create a little piece of art to float out into the universe that is Instagram or use as my phone background. If you'd like to share in the art with me, give me a follow at @aliciasturdy.

photo by Erica Rose Photography

I love coffee. I love to get it in any way, shape, method, or form. Pour over, Nespresso, Slow Drip, Percolator, french press, VIA even!

I especially love going out for coffee (we even had a photoshoot AT Intelligensia with Erica Rose back in 2011...ya, that's coffee dedication)All the steps that go into making that perfect pot of coffee have to be done in order, and with some methods, even timed just right. You can't boil the water after you've mixed it with the grounds, and you can't put in the filter after you've turned on the machine.Now, is this post about coffee...or about something else?Ya, something else.I have been brewing something for the past SEVEN MONTHS with amazing people like Tiffany Farley and Lyndsay Rush - as well as my bounce team of wonderful folks like my friends Erica, Mabrie, and Carri Lyn. Now, I have yes talked about it here and there...but this time, all the steps have almost finished and I'm ready to push "ON".

I'll be sharing more in the coming weeks leading up to my big JULY launch!

We had nothing, we had not much. We had enough, we had everything. This was, our city story. - Rob Ryan

20. The year I met you. I had already fallen in love with those tall buildings, sparkling skyline, and had officially had my heart stolen by our city. It really hadn't taken that long (two years) for the city love to take hold. It seemed like every El stop, I had written my own little love story with that part of the city. Diversey. Chicago. Wabash. All mine with secrets and places where my heart could rest in the beat of the city.

That anonymous peace found at that crowded coffee shop on Madison. Miles of pavement walked to pound out ideas, thoughts, and dreams up Michigan. A sparkling skyline view between Armitage & Sedgwick that always swept me off my feet for the city.

But the stop you became my city story on was Western.

That first time, your hand in mine as the snow fell in the streetlight. We had nothing, just a couple of dollars for coffee & our el fare. But we had enough, we had everything.

And now you were my city story.

My darling little bird, Stella; Even though February is the shortest month, your arrival and all consuming love in our life have made it go by even faster. Every Tuesday evening as we've cuddled up in our cozy living room, each glance at the clock has brought back thoughts from the day you were born.  Although I knew you in a different way from 9 months of us sharing a body, your entire labor - all 37 hours - has given me even more of an understanding of you - before I even knew you were our Stella.

From those hours of pacing the halls at the hospital - 11pm, 2am, 4am, 6am. When would you come, why were you taking your time? Did you understand the doctors might make you come out before you were ready? But you kept your cool each time they checked you - a steady beat that only varied slightly at each check. You were fine. You were doing things in your own way. We've come to know even more, that's just who you are.

You'll learn soon that I love to tell stories. And I love to tell them though photographs. I love to relive the stories of our family almost every day, flipping through the photos on my phone. And the past month all I can consume beyond just being with you is photos of you. Even when you're in the room (which I know is so weird). This is the language that I speak - a way I can begin to grasp at a tangible way to be able to tell you how much I love you, your dad, our life together. And someday I hope you'll be able to understand a deeper part of how I love you when you look at images like this.

And this.

And this.

And this.

I love you sweet girl. One month of every second of every day has already been not enough time with you. Here is to one thousand more.

 Photos by my amazingly sweet friend (who yes, stayed up all night with us) Alicia Ann Photographers - http://aliciaannphotographers.com/

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I was thinking the other day - I haven't talked much about the photo above. In fact, I've been on quite a hiatus from the blogging world.

I'll talk more about all the other things I've been doing with Alicia Sturdy, getting is ready for a new skin and the progress I've made this year. But in terms of 'non photo related blog breaks' - this one takes the cake.

The weekend before this photo I had just second shot a gorgeous wedding with the fab Justin & Mary, moved into our dream apartment, and was on my way to shoot another beautiful wedding in New Haven when it was almost like my brain stopped dead in it's tracks. You know how the story goes - a missed date on the calendar, excuses that it could be XY or Z - and that box collecting dust under your bathroom sink. All seems innocent enough until two little lines show up instead of one and it's like the sound of an atom bomb going off.

I immediately ran into the living room where Andrew was sitting in the one chair we had set up in front of the TV (and for subsequent weeks, due to morning sickness - our living room looked like we were living in a storage unit).

"Oh I'm sure it's a false positive" he reassured me, Mr. Half-Glass-Full. "Just take another one in the morning, I'm sure it'll be fine".

Ya. Right. I marched to the back of the house to seem like I was distracting myself 'unpacking' when really I was tearing open another one of those little sticks, sitting, and praying. 'God - whatever you have laid before me I'm ready to walk' - 'No seriously, God, this can't be right, right?' My little brain argued back and forth as it came out from it's daze.

20 minutes later I emerged from the bathroom in tears with the second test. Positive. Andrew hugged me and could have, I think, flown to the moon and back he was so happy. I'm pretty sure we have a photo of us somewhere - mascara dripped cheeks on me and the goofiest happiest smile on him.

Don't get me wrong. Please hear me. I feel like one of those yellow "ATTENTION" cones should be posted before you get all 'shame on you - a baby is a blessing' on me.

I was thrilled, somewhere inside. Elated. Wide eyed in anticipation, excitement, and butterflies from the first second.

But also truly terrified. And here is why.

My mind first went to my friends. For some reason, I have many friends walking the infertility path right now. I immediately imagined daggers beaming from each of their innocent subconscious. I was immediately grieving with them in advance of them ever knowing I was expecting.

Second, my mind went to my work. It was like I was screaming 'I don't want to quit my jobs!'. My business. I already had a little baby - kind of. I had just done my first Showit Live on 'starting a business', was picking up for wedding season, had just booked my first wedding on my own. My plan was to have a business at the 'right place' so when the flesh and blood Baby Sturdy came along I could be at a place where it would 'make sense'.

I had it all planned. I was in control. And with two little lines. I wasn't.

It's been 8 months of a diet of Popsicles, Italian food, nothing at all, and pizza non stop, getting sick from a couple sips of water, the smell of Degree deodorant making me want to hurl, chiropractor visits, rib pain, and a steadily built relationship with Buy Buy Baby. But that's just the small stuff. What these past 8 months have given me is not more of a reason to panic, or a 'get out of jail free card' to close my business before it even began. No.

It gave me the gift of slowing down.It gave me the gift of humility towards the capacity of my body, life and schedule. It gave me the gift of true anticipation.

I wish I could come out with pomp and circumstance in 2014. I wish I had confetti canons and a huge marketing plan, and 365 giveaways and surprises.

But I'm being led on a different path. A quieter one. And I invite you to shuffle along with me. Don't worry, I still make good time. But my walk, has slowed more to a stroll. Too fast and I'm in pain, too slow and I'm going backwards. But I'm telling you that 2014 will be a year of two births....one of my own flesh and blood...and one of my own sweat and tears. Stay with me on the journey.

Michael & Christina are two very special people to me, as in they were friends turned clients! Christina is a youth pastor in Boston, and also was at North Park around the same time Andrew & I were. The first time we really 'hung out' was one rainy April night when Andrew and I got a flat tire in Cambridge on our way home from vacation. Sitting on Harvards campus, I was racking my brain for people I knew in Boston that we could possibly shack up with for the night so our car could go to the shop in the morning (figures that on a rainy Sunday night there are no tire shops open!). Andrew texted Christina, got her address and after we got the spare on we zoomed to her cute little studio where we ended the night on her futon. Seriously - it felt like the best of college sleepovers! Right before we went to sleep, she was telling us about this guy she had gone on a date with - Michael. We chit chatted about him before falling asleep - and 6 months later we saw on Facebook she was in a relationship...with Michael!

We met up in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston where both of them live and love their neighborhood - on the last of the warm evenings in October we grabbed an early dinner (at seriously one of the places I dream about eating almost daily - Ula Cafe) and headed to the park to capture a few moments of these two together a month before the big day.

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I woke up at 4am this morning (as I have been tending to the past few weeks either to shuffle my way to the bathroom, or lay awake feeling this little person punch and kick inside me) with this immediate rush of memories from the past five years. Things we said we'd do, things we always wanted to do, things that mattered in the beginning and don't seem to matter anymore. I laid awake for a good hour, mind swishing and swashing like one of those machines at the laundromat; full of why didn't we's and found myself beginning to creep into that side of subconscious where you start making up answers. This was probably my minds effort to gently lull me back to sleep, but this time it wasn't working. I rolled over and snuggled up to Andrew, hoping being close to him and away from all the should haves would make it all okay.

And then he started to snore.

"Stop snoring" I whispered - usually that works and he mumbles his way back to a silent sleep. But I could tell he wasn't asleep now either, and we both laid in the silence until some guy came walking by our apartment on a cell phone (usually this provides some middle of the night entertainment, but I couldn't make out his words).

"Whats wrong?" he asked in his middle of the night gravelly low voice. Immediately all that had been sloshing in my head the past hour spilled out (never ask an external processor what they're thinking about in the middle of the night). At the end I said "I just feel this need to wipe the board clean of all the things we wished we'd done the past five years - so that in five years from now we aren't laying remembering again all the things we haven't done. That today, our day one of the next five years - we can start again"

Because even though five years isn't fifty - today we'll celebrate all the things we have and haven't done well. That three years of grad school, one masters degree, a cross country move and a baby on the way has shaped us into two people with just a little more experience than on day one of one.

That all the hugs, snuggles, prayers whispered, tears shed, blanket stealing, arguments over the dishes and dinners cooked together have created more than a marriage, it has created a connection that is stronger - and keeps getting stronger.

What I have learned in my past year of photographing couples is that connection is always there, even if you can't feel it or see it in the every day of your relationship. Honestly, it's what makes me want to keep clicking the shutter to make sure it's captured for you to see.

That even if you wear your heart on your sleeve or if the connection seems lost in the mess of life - what once created that spark, however small - is still deep down in there.

Can't wait to show you more of the beautiful images from Laura & Chad's wedding last weekend in Boston...here is a little teaser to tie you over because I can't resist spreading the love.

We were sitting in traffic on the Cross County Parkway and I was drumming my fingers on the steering wheel while WNYC drown out the honking horns of the the thing I hate the most - waiting. I'm no stranger to rush hour traffic, as a person who has lived probably a quarter of her Chicago life sitting on Lake Shore Drive at about 5:15pm with the rest of the city. But once we got moving, and merged onto the Henry Hudson I started to mentally reengage from the traffic and let my creative juices soak my brain for an engagement session I had been waiting for weeks to shoot! As we magically found parking for a measly $10 for the evening (seriously, bestparking.com - you can thank me later) Andrew and I dodged cars as we speed walked down 10th Avenue towards Chelsea Market where we were meeting Ronnie and Amy. As we turned the corner, my eyes looking for Amy - they went instead to a person wearing the most amazing sequin dress. EVER. And then I saw Amy's red hair and her face and I knew instantly this session was worth the wait.

If you have never been to Highline Park - next time you're in New York take a stroll through. It is the most beautiful combination of architecture, gardens, and views of the Hudson that make you stop to realize this is no ordinary park.

And I honestly think engagement sessions are no ordinary photo sessions. I see them as a chance for us to get to know each other even more than we have already over coffee or email - just with a camera between us. On a wedding day, I get no greater joy than just to sit back and let the bride & groom relax and soak in every minute. Without the thought of 'there is a camera pointing at me', or 'everyone it watching'! So a session before the wedding is our chance to take a breath in and out, look straight into the camera, and let each click of the shutter document you - your story - your emotion - your love.

Take a scroll through some of my favorites here on the blog - or hop over to the PASS Gallery to see the entire collection from our shoot.Amy and Ronnie - Andrew and I have found two new friends to laugh with over cheeseburgers, bread pudding, (and a milkshake) and I am so looking forward to your beautiful October day!

Happy Friday everyone!

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Inspired by one of my favorite bloggers Hannah Brencher's posts a few Fridays back - she said there should be no rules about posting meaningful content on a Friday. And that really sat with me - I love my lists, and yes, they've all been silly, wishlist, latergrams. But after this week, I couldn't find one ounce of inspiration for a Pinterest wishlist or typing up a post about the recipe I just made for delicious strawberry shortcakes I just made (it's Martha's recipe). But I could find the inspiration to compile this list.

A collection of other people's words that I have found hitting me deep this week.

A collection of women who are wells of wisdom. That I have dipped my cup in and found relief in their words.

A collection of truths. That I have read with tired eyes and a weary spirit, and came away with a sparkle of hope to look to the sky for.

And I want to share them with you because I have heard, and want you to hear, that you are enough. That you can keep going. That you give and give - and need to stop and be poured back up...overflowing.

Just take a few minutes today and read each of these posts - because I need you hear these words 10,000 times over and over and over so you can understand, you are treasured by someone in this world.

Of Light & Darkness by Mary Marantz

A Prayer for the Brokenhearted by Ann Voskamp

We Cannot Stay Here Any Longer by Hannah Brencher

Your Truest Self by Tiffany Farley

Enough by Rachel Held Evens

Take these words, carry them with you, fill up your overheated, overrun, overworked soul with the sweetness of encouragement and knowledge that you are loved.

Do you have a post you'd like to add to the list? Leave it in the comments section and I'll post them here as they come in.

I was rifling through some old emails and found this one staring back at me.

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A year ago I purchased my first professional camera. And that $500 turned my year on it's head...and it's been wonderful. I have drank deeply - gulping as much knowledge as I can get down, hiccuped after taking too big of a drink, and today I'm breathing in and out as I look back on all I have taken in. About how to run a business. How to love on people. How to love on myself. How easy I can get down on myself. How graciously I have been reminded to keep going. How I can't believe how much faith others have had in me. How it feels to have that dream worth walking towards. How things happen in their own time. Some slowly and some overnight.

And how I need to sit back, take it all in - and keep walking forward.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!! (and Suz Frazier and Hannah Brencher, other birthday twins of mine I know of).

In honor of my birthday, a small wishlist. (Can't a girl dream? Compliments of Pinterest.)

I'd wake up to bright sunshine and flowers at my bedside.

I'd have this for breakfast. Because, why not - it's my birthday.

And then I'd open some gifts after breakfast.

Everything would be put away, and so I'd have plenty of time to...

Hang out with my closest friends and family (who'd magically be in town).

And we'd eat this.

Then Andrew would say "Let's Go!"

And he'd have a place in the city all ready for us to spend the weekend in (New York, Chicago, Paris, who knows!)

We'd walk around after dinner and maybe go into a kitchen store (because it's my birthday).

And then we'd walk home after the perfect day.

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As you remember, a few months ago I did a workshop with Justin & Mary Marantz in New Haven - and one of the biggest things I walked away with wasn't beautiful photos, or the ability to keep my wits about me on a wedding day (I mean - I did learn those things too!), but it was something Mary said to me in the first 20 minutes of shooting. Forget expectations.

Funny she should say that as that was our theme for the year in 2011 - we were preparing to move to wherever God was calling Andrew in his ministry, and while we had both lived our entire lives in the Midwest we had to be realistic that God could call us to wherever He wanted. Thus - no expectations became our mantra. Having no expectations helped us go from frantic 'what-if-god-calls-us-to-the-middle-of-who-knows-where' to being able to truly center ourselves on the fact that when we have expectations, where are not having open eyes and ears to where we are being led in life.

So for Mary to say those two words to me as I am boiling over in frantic 'what-if-people-say-i-have-the-wrong-camera-wrong-lenses-wrong-website-or-don't-do-what-everyone-else-is-doing" jabber, all I could think was "are you kidding me?".

Maybe God sends us reoccuring messages in different ways so we can be reminded that He created us individually. That He created us with gifts and abilities different from each other. So that we listen and watch closely for those moments where He is especially talking to us. So that we aren't looking at what others have, what paths others are walking and think that there is a one size fits all standard to life.

Maybe you need to hear this today too - to leave your expectations of what things should be and accept them as they are. That things as they are might be better than what you expected.

Another week come and gone, and PHEW it was a hot one here in Hartford. And our new place doesn't have central air (ya....our last place did...we were spoiled). So it's back to fans, fans, fans, and sleeping with the window WIDE open which is one of the reasons I love being on the 2nd floor.

Folkies. (Yes, folkies - a super awesome word coined by Mr. Jackson Crum, one of my former pastors).

Thank you for tuning in to Showit LIVE on Wednesday! I couldn't stop smiling as I saw familiar names in the chat, and it meant the world to me. And can I just say (because I feel like when I talk to my blog, aka - you, you're leaning in over a cup of coffee) - I wasn't nervous. Maybe for like five seconds (and when I watch the rebroadcast I can tell when my voice is a little nervous-y). I truly felt like I was saying things I was suppose to say. And that makes me want to praise GOD when I think about Wednesdays show because trust me, I could have said really stupid stuff (I do ALL THE TIME). I rewatched it - no slip-ups of what I wanted to say, no "well I said this, but meant to say this". It all makes sense. Truly, it's the Lord. I swear. That little prayer before, God - help me be your mouthpiece - full of clear thoughts, and what I am suppose to say is what will come out.

Phew. Good. Yay. So glad I've got that under my belt.

On to the real reason why you're there - I LOVE LISTS FRIDAY.

Today, I was driving to the post office at lunch and a song came on the radio, that is also in one of my favorite movies. And I felt like I wanted to be one of those people out the top of a limo or a convertible, wind in my hair, absorbing life to the rhythm of this song.

And I have moments like that too much to not talk about them.

So here is my list, songs that I want to live my life to, from movies. Hit it.

1. Dreams - by the Cranberries // You've got Mail

You know you've walked down the street, pumping that song from your iPod and thought - I am Kathleen Kelly, I am walking down the street, I am buying a pumpkin, drinking Starbucks with my Zabar's tote, and I am awesome. Don't worry, I have too.

2. Home - by Michael Buble // The Wedding Date

Michael Buble is all over this soundtrack, but it's this song that makes me think - sure why not, I want to be flying to London for my sister Amy Adam's wedding with a devilishly handsome stranger as my date, and we fall in love while dancing to Michael Buble with my beautiful, flowy Tiffany blue dress on.

3. A Little Party - by Fergie AND Bang Bang - by Wil.I.Am // The Great Gatsby

Official song duo of dancing around the house while cleaning and pretending I'm a flapper while Jay Gatsby is all cool in his cool shirts in the corner.

4. Got to be Real - by Cheryl Lynn // SATC Season 4 Episode 2, The Real Me

Yes, I just got real specific. And yea yea, this isn't a movie. BUT I LOVE THIS SONG. I love working out while listening to it, and I think of Carri face planting on the catwalk in her jeweled undies and then later dancing in her own apartment in her old granny panties.

5. Bad Girls - by Donna Summer // Picture Perfect

This is one of the first movies that I ever saw with a friend, I believe circa 1997. And I absolutely loved that scene where they are sunning themselves on the roof of a Manhattan highrise being silly planning Jennifer Anistons fake relationship to make none other than Kevin Bacon jealous (please tell me you've seen this movie). I love this song - I will blast it from my car, my office, my headphones while running. Toot toot, beep beep.

6. Sweet Disposition - by Temper Trap // (500) Days of Summer

This is the song that I want to listen to with the windows down, cruising the country side with my man. We love this song. :)

Oh my gosh I could go on. But I'll save that for another I LOVE LISTS Friday.

What's YOUR favorite song that makes you dance in your seat (or through the house?) Leave a comment below and I'll pick one lucky person to win a $10 Spotify or iTunes giftcard!

Happy weekend! Monday I'm blogging Chad & Laura's gorgeous, misty, and beautiful Cape Cod engagement shoot...make sure to circle back up for that!

Today you will have the privilege of subjecting yourself to the voice behind my blog, photography and design in the flesh for thirty whole minutes on a little show called Showit Live.

Showit is the amazing amazing platform that I have built my website on, and as a designer, can I please just say "swwoooooon". It has been the building blocks of giving me the ability to take what is in my head, and make it into the part of my business I like to call "my virtual handshake". But beyond that, Showit has an amazing community that I am extremely blessed to be a part of - and if 30 minutes is what I can give back today to that community, then give me (two) espresso, a comfy couch, and let's do this thing!

I'll be talking about my first year in business today, how being a graphic designer has helped me, and also dubunking the myths of what the first year should look like.

But truly, I'd be honored if you tuned in, and participated in the chat so I can answer any of your questions - from how I juggle a full time job and my business to how many espressos I really drink in a day.

Can't wait! Tune in, today, 1:00pm Eastern Time. www.showitfast.com/live

http://showitfast.com/live/show.php

I love lists. Seriously - any time those "25 questions about you" went viral on Facebook (or Xanga - let's be honest here) I always took 5 minutes to do them.So why not - a good portion of my college blogging days were list and picture based, so here we go.

1. Last Thursday I went to Great Gatsby with my sweet friend Mabrie who was in town visiting for the day - and then I went back with Andrew on Saturday to see it AGAIN. And I am trying to figure out a way to go see it....again. Any takers?

2. We got these super cool new lights in our dining room (we're calling it our "dinner lighting" and I am so excited to have folks over once our new place is in order to try them out!

3. My bike finally made it over to the new place! Just needs a little TLC and a walk to the air pump so I can cruise all over town.

4. Officially obsessed with my Nespresso machine. Want to be in ignorant bliss about how many espresso I have every day. La la la laaaa la laaa (<--ignorant bliss)

5. Andrew and I moved our mattress to the new place on Wednesday and seriously I had to repress my urge to yell PIVOT....PIVOT....PIVOT.

6. Driving to and from Hartford afterwork lugging our stuff from Middletown the other day, the most beautiful sunset on the city. Ahhh.

7. First night in the new place. Having to bring back my ability to sleep with trucks, fire engines, and randoms roaming about in the middle of the night. When I lived on Addison St in Chicago my mom could never sleep when she visited because she said I lived on a truck route....I never noticed how loud it was until she said it. Now i need to regain those skills so I can sleep like a baby.

8. I was pulling up to our building yesterday and realized I haven't posted a picture of the outside. Here she is. My sister said it looks like a Boarding House. A mexican one. I think it's cute. Our bedroom is right above the door on the left.

Happy Friday!

I'm so excited to show you these photos and give you a little tour of our new place...and even more excited to show you it as we begin to get our hands on some paint, brushes and I did just buy a new ceiling rosette for the living room (this apartment bought to you by Pinterest...seriously).

Welcome! Front door into the entry way.

Opens up into the living room - those double doors lead to my office/studio.

My office/studio - going to be perfect with my desk overlooking the street and enough room for a chair, some equipment, even my one light setup for home shoots.

The office/studio is right off the living room and has double doors that lead into the guestroom/den (or Andrew's mancave).

This room is enormous...and in the shape of the state of Utah, except backwards. It'll be perfect for entertaining, maxing and relaxing, or a place for you to come visit for the weekend!

When you come out of the top of the Utah shaped bedroom, you're back at the beginning by the front door.

And the door on the right is going to (hopefully!) be our bedroom (if our bed fits).

It gets lots and lots of sunshine and looks over the Harriet Beatrice Stowe & Mark Twain Historical Homes across the street!

View from the bedroom back into the hallway, second doorway on the right is this nice bathroom. Definitely needs some sprucing (thinking about Martha Stewart's Bakery Box White, little hints of blue and white, to liven the place up!), but I am loving the floor tile pattern...just needs a good scrubbing.

Further down the hall is our dining room, which is much much larger than our dining room now, and includes a beautiful built in. And we got a new dining room table from Craigslist that has a leaf that can seat 10 people...can't wait to see faces of people I love around it for dinner! Also, check out those ceilings!

Walk in pantry off the dining room - say no more. Sold. A little creepy looking, but it's a walk in pantry.Big kitchen (well bigger than the two galley kitchen's I've had in Chicago and our current place).Window opens up to the large sunroom off the backdoor...perfect for early morning reading, a cup of coffee, cozy blanket, and Andrew is putting up bike racks for our new wheels to scoot around town on!

I think this is going to be a good place.

I have been reading the Young House Love & Alaina Kaczmarski's "Live Creating Yourself" blogs to gain home improvement/beautifying tips  - I love that they each show a before and after, and that they also are kind enough to give specific paint colors, tools, and furniture links that I have been using as inspiration. Do you have a favorite home improvement blog?

When we lived in Chicago, I ever so often cruised the Craigslist apartment ads searching for that dream apartment, low cost, bigger than what we're in now, hardwood floors, interesting architecture, and of course, blocks from my closest friends or favorite restaurant. Apartment real estate is an interesting concept to me - everyone is searching for that perfect place, and who knows, it may even be just down the street. So when we found the perfect first floor, fire place bearing, french door boasting, hardwood floored apartment in a historic home just a block from a quaint New England main street, we thought we'd never leave. But ever since we moved to Connecticut, Hartford, the city just 15 miles up the road, intrigued us. We had heard the good the bad and the ugly about the city, but even so, every time we drove down Farmington Avenue we had the same conversation, what would it be like to live here?

This January we began seriously talking about moving - even though our quaint house seems perfect, the lack of storage, space for guests, distance from friends, and talk of expanding our family someday didn't seem to fit in our 2 bedroom. We talked it over with our closest friends here in Connecticut and they all agreed, relocating to Hartford seemed like a great move.

I called my mom last week, "We found the place we had been looking for all those years in Chicago". Bigger, cheaper (what?!), space for guests, space for future little Sturdys, an office/studio for my business, closets everywhere and walking distance to multiple Hartford pals, parks and restaurants - as of June 1st we will be Hartford residents!

I am so excited to show you our new place - whether it be in person or through my blog...so stay tuned, tomorrow: pictures of our new place on the way!