mommy love.

So I have been wanting to get the ball re-rolling on my blog, but was sort of waiting for the re-launch of my website. Unfortunately I have run into some icky technical issues that I have yet to resolve with that(I am not a super techy gal), but I just HAD to post this session. These images are so full of love it's crazy. I actually get all warm and teary eyed when looking at them. We have all heard it before, but there is something to be said for a mother's love. The gooey, messy, silly, unconditional love of a mother is what makes the world go round, and just melts my heart.

I can't even begin to express how grateful I am that I was lucky enough to photograph these three on the beach last week. The love and laughter that they share with one another is incredible and I hope that these images will always bring them back to this time in their lives.

Kristina, may you and your boys always be as silly, crazy, and loving as you were this day. Thank you for sharing this time with me.

xo Jennifer

when the waters shift

I haven't posted on here in quite some time. And it's not because I have had nothing to say or share. In fact, it is just the opposite. I have had so much to say that I wasn't even able to sit down and write.

Something in me has changed in the last two months. I'm not sure exactly why or how. I mean, perhaps it has something to do with discovering that we had a hugely serious problem in our home in Québec and we haven't been able to live there in 2 months, and it's going to cost us a shit-load of money to fix, money that we don't have. Ugh.

Maybe it's because I have been been back in CT with the girls for this time, away from Mathieu and I am not entirely sure when we will be able to go back.

Maybe it was the asshole who stole a third of Mathieu's skis out of his trailer a few weeks ago.

Or maybe it was getting the call from Mathieu last sunday night after he had left CT and driven back up over the border, that he was on the side of the highway after a deer jumped out directly in front of his car at 70 miles per hour and left him pulled over at midnight waiting for someone to come tow it away. And it may be totaled.. we still don't know..

It must have been that deer.

That moment when you feel that the Universe is caving in on you.

You are drowning.

You have no idea how any of it will ever get better or make sense again.

When I picked up the phone that night as Mathieu was calling me, I was deep in sleep, but I knew something was wrong. He told me. And all I could think was, "Thank god he is ok. Thank god we are ok. Nothing else matters."

And then it just hit me. Like a ton of bricks. None of this shit matters. The house, the car, the skis. I mean, of course they are still things we will have to deal with, but at the end of the day, when all of that stuff is stripped from us, what is left?

WE ARE.

The waters have shifted for me. I am working so hard on building the happiest life I can possibly create for myself, my husband and my two children.

I have so many projects and plans on the horizon and I can feel my focus changing. I am so so so beyond sure of what's happening in my heart right now, and I have to say it feels damn good. For it has been some since I have felt like this.

Life tests us. Constantly. But is ALWAYS in our power to either let the waters drown us, or to ride them out, belly up to the sky until it all just makes sense again.

And this little face always helps too.

For those of you who follow me on this blog, I am announcing my newly redesigned website and blog very very soon, and I will no longer be posting here. I would hate to miss you, so please sign up here for my mailing list for all of the updates and the link to my site as well as some other awesome stuff.

I believe in myself. I believe in you.

much love always.

Jennifer

behind the bridal scenes.

This is the part of a wedding day that not everyone gets to see, or even experience. This is my favorite part. It is intimate, exciting, stressful, and fun. It is emotional. It is a bonding time between friends before the big moment. It is mom's last few moments with her daughter before she watches her walk down the aisle. It is the girl time. It is hair and makeup and nails and princess dresses and flowers and champagne and chocolate covered strawberries. It is the recount of embarrassing college memories that only these girls will ever know about. These are the last moments before the BIG moment. This part is important, and I am so grateful to have been able to share in so many of these moments with so many brides over the years. Jennifer Casserino-Misciagno and I had the honor of dressing all of the hair for this gorgeous wedding at the end of August in Hartford, CT. I brought my camera along to document the hair for our personal portfolios, and just couldn't help myself in-between styling girls.. I had to sneak a few shots of everyone. This group of ladies had such a positive energy about them, (not to mention that they were all adorable). And my multi-talented friend Meaghan Ryan picked up the camera for me at the very end to grab a few shots of me styling the bride, which was amazing!

These are the kinds of images I love the most; the ones that feel like there was never even a camera in the room. These are the images that tell the best, most truthful stories.

hair: Jennifer Marcuson: the artist and Jennifer Casserino-Misciagno of Strand Salon CT

makeup: Laura Clement of Naomi's Studio and Salon in West Hartford, CT

laughter is the best medicine for the soul

We were laughing hysterically during this shoot. I mean, tears pouring from our eyes. It was an hour of pure silliness, joy, and soul-therapy. There is something to be said for just letting go.. re-connecting with our inner-child, making silly fish faces just because it makes us laugh! Since having children, I have found myself able to do this more easily. A child can bring this out of almost anyone. But to be able to do this, as just two grown women in a park with a camera, not a single child in sight, well... I think that is special.

Amber is a beautiful old friend of mine whom I have always found to be a happy, glowing person with a contagious smile and laugh. As I was working on this set of images, I was literally transported back to that afternoon in Elizabeth Park; laughing out loud at the sheer silliness, smiling at the joy, and breath-taken by the beauty of this woman.

Amber is a Holistic Health Coach, Registered Nurse, and founder of Whole and Vibrant Living.

the first beach day.

It has been months. I mean months since you have been on the glorious beach. But today is the day. It's the beginning of May, and the sun has decided to give you a sneak peek at what's to come in the summer months. You pull up into the empty parking lot, and step out onto the asphalt. A brisk ocean breeze hits your exposed skin, which has been comfortably hidden under jeans and sweaters all winter long. But this feels good. It is waking you up. You can feel the life seeping back into your hibernating veins. You get the kids out of the car, and grab the cooler and towels and you throw everything into the oversized bike stroller(which doubles as the beach cart). You begin walking toward the dunes where, just on the other side, lies the big, blue, beautiful Atlantic Ocean.

Your reach the sand, and the kids are running now, as fast as they can to get to the top of the dune. The wind has picked up, and you can actually feel the sea-salt hitting your face. You have arrived. And at this very moment, life is just the way it should be.

I came across these images today while working on my website, and I was reminded of what a special day this was. So I had to share. AND, the fact that I am in some of them(thanks to my lovely and talented husband) was a plus.