Bald and Beautiful

Accessorize an adorable baby with a decorative headband or "hair pretty" as Miss Addi prefers them to be called. After seeing multiple photos of baby girls in adorable headbands, I visited the fabric store (four times this past week) and bought the supplies to create some of my own. Next up was to find a model, and as I was long overdue for a visit with Miss Maddy, I headed over to the Johnson's and enjoyed a fabulous dinner and had quite the photo session.

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope everyone has a safe and blissful Thanksgiving day. This year, along with most years, I am thankful for the love that I receive everyday from my family, my fiance, my soon-to-be in-laws and my friends. Today, I will remind myself (as I do often) of how lucky I am to lead the life that I do.

The Charlie Brown Thanksgiving movie reminds me of celebrating Thanksgiving as a child and even though I'm no longer a kid, I still enjoy wathing it at least once a year.

The Peters Family

On this past (beautiful) Sunday morning I met up with Billy, Nadine and Will at O.O. Denny Park in Juanita to take some fall photos. Will is such a cute and fun little boy with the most beautiful blue eyes. Despite the chilly temperatures, he was a trooper. Nadine - thank you for contacting me, I had a great time with you guys.

Congratulations to the Peters, who are expecting baby #2 in April!

Little Miss Addison Claire

As I've mentioned plenty of times before, I LOVE this little girl and I think she might love me a bit too as she was a perfect little angel/model during our shoot on Saturday. As always, it was great to catch up with Megan and to watch her in action with her beautiful little girl. It was so cute how she could get Addi to smile just by saying a word i.e. cookie monster or elmo.

May the better of the worst two win...

GO COUGS!

Seattle Tourists for an Afternoon

After the birthday party we decided to venture out on a tour of Seattle.

First stop, the Seattle Public Libray: Central Library (almost 400,000-square-feet and 11 floors!). The library opened in May 2004, but I had yet to go inside to check it out. I have never imagined a library to be a the perfect place for photos, but it made for an awesome photography session. Surprisingly, there were quite a few people taking photos throughout the building. The architecture is one-of-a-kind and quite spectacular.

Second stop, a drive through the Pike Place Market. Being that it was a Saturday and beautiful weather, there was no parking to be had so we settled for a quick drive by.

Third stop, Easy Street Records where we purchased the Eisley album. We saw them perform a couple of weeks ago at a Children's Hospital benefit event at Beneroya where they played with the Seattle Symphony - very talented musicians and beautiful voices.

Final stop, Kerry Park on Queen Anne. Picturesque night of the Seattle skyline, Puget Sound, Mt. Rainier and the Olympic Mountains. We were joined by about fifty other people attempting to capture the perfect Seattle shot.

The Martin Family

On Saturday we went to the Leschi Yacht Club for baby Tristan's first birthday party. It was so fun to catch up with people we hadn't seen in a while, but also quite enjoyable to capture the party. We hadn't really planned on doing any family shots, but it was too beautiful of a day to pass up a few photos outside.

Tristan is probably the most relaxed child I've ever met - I'm sure it's due to his mild-mannered parents. He had such a great time playing with his friends and was still smiling despite a missed afternoon nap.

Thanks Lauren and Rich for allowing me to take a few photos.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Last year, Stacie passed along this recipe for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies that she had found in the Boston Globe. I love most things with pumpkin, so this recipe immediately had me intrigued. That night I made a batch, brought them to work the next day and shared with my office. One co-worker later shared with me that he thinks he may have indulged in half the batch and said they were the best cookies he had ever had (I wouldn't go that far, but they are pretty darn good). Last night I made my first batch of the holiday season and set aside a personal cookie bag for my friend so he doesn't have to share with anyone else.



Makes about 2 1/2 dozen.

2-1/2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1-1/2 cups sugar

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 package (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips or chunks


Instructions
1. Set the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Set aside.

3. In an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until fluffy. Add the pumpkin, egg, and vanilla and beat just until blended.

4. Mix in the dry ingredients.

5. Remove the bowl from the mixer stand. With a rubber spatula, stir in the chocolate chips or chunks and nuts, if using.

6. Drop the batter by heaping tablespoons 1 inch apart on the baking sheets.

7. Bake the cookies for 13 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Rotate the sheets halfway through baking to ensure even baking. Let the cookies cool on the sheets for a few minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

*Steve was my taste-tester and decided that a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream on top of the cookie was the best way to enjoy this treat.

If you happen to be in Kent, WA anytime soon

You should definitely consider purchasing your gasoline during this visit. Here's a snap-shot of the price Steve paid last night. Granted, this price is with the $0.10 discount with the Safeway Club Card, but it may just be worth it.

During this (possibly rare, for some of you) trip to Kent, you should also check out Fondi at Kent Station and enjoy the BEST pizza outside of Italy. I realize BEST is a bold statement when it comes to pizza, but it's the truth. With the group I was with, we shared a couple bottles of wine, the Tuscan White Bean Spread, the Bella Chopped Salad, the Gustoso pizza, the Prosciutto & Argula pizza and pistachio gelato. Delectable meal and excellent service - I will definitely be back soon!

Wedding Dress Part II

Just in case I fall out of love with my current wedding dress, I have found a back-up via craigslist. Of course, the title immediately caught my eye "Stevie Nicks Style Wedding Dress". I'm attempting to type this in all seriousness and can't stop laughing. A most of you know (or may not know) I am a devout Stevie fan, but as much as I LOVE her music, I would not be caught dead modeling any of her style (unless it was for Michelle's birthday party - just because she is that good of a friend).

Also, the wedding dreams have begun - last nights dream was a hint to myself that I need to take it up a notch at the gym.

If you get the chance...

...anytime in your life, you should see Jason Mraz live. Last night Steve and I went down to the Paramount and enjoyed one of the best concerts I've ever seen. I know I have a lot of favorites, but this is definitely one of my top favorite performances. His energy and enthusiasm with the crowd was awesome. Extra perks of the night included best seats in the house (in my mind), free parking and entrance into the Paramount Club (food, drinks and private restroom) - thanks to my former boss. I have to admit that I got a bit teary eyed when he performed our wedding song. Now I'm just trying to figure out how to get Jason to Maui to perform the song live for us.

FYI - if you don't have plans, he's performing an acoustic show tonight at the Paramount.

Lisa Hannigan from Ireland (previously a member of Damien Rice's band) was the opening act and I loved her voice - I will be downloading some of her music in the near future.

Taking the advice of Bob Barker...

...to "help control the pet population," Steve and I are having Boots With the Fur Rinakitty neutered today through the Seattle Humane Society - Feline Fix program. Beware that if you are considering pet adoption you may give in to your temptation by visiting the humane society site.

*I promise, I have not become a crazy cat lady

I Voted...Did You??

I normally have a tough time getting out of bed, but this morning was different because I was excited about voting. I was worried it was going to be packed, but I was able to walk right up to one of the electronic machines and VOTE! No stickers available at my locations - bogus! After voting I went to Starbucks and got my FREE drip coffee for voting. I've never ordered drip coffee from anywhere in my life, so this was a new experience for me. I find it kind of crazy that we are rewarded for voting when there are people in other countries that would give just about anything for the ability to vote.

GET OUT THERE AND VOTE!!

P.S. I was a bit shocked to see the red holiday Starbucks cups already out - here's my first (of many) of the holiday season!

It's only 9:30 and I feel like I've already accomplished so much.

This just in...I was just talking to a co-worker that said Starbucks can not legally "bribe" people to vote by giving away free coffee. Therefore, even if you choose not to vote (in my opinion, I don't understand why you wouldn't) you will get a free starbucks.

From Starbucks: IMPORTANT: To ensure that we are in compliance with election law, we are extending our offer to all customers who request a tall brewed drip

Our Wedding Website(s) Is Complete

So, to make a long story short, I started to create our first wedding website a few months ago using the (free) Google application called GooglePages. However, since I started that site and with the constant upgrading going on over at Google, they no longer offer GooglePages (to people that want to create a new site) and instead offer their latest website-creator application called GoogleSites (free as well). Therefore, I went ahead and created a site on both - maybe I have too much free time - yeah right! Below are the links to our two pages - hope you enjoy!

http://erinandsteve.rinabarger.googlepages.com/

http://sites.google.com/site/erinandsteveweddingsite/

Invitations were sent out this morning and I could not be more relieved that they're finished. Special thank you to Jenny and Kristi for your help on Saturday morning. I'll post photos of the final DIY (do-it-yourself) invitation project in the next few days.