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Taking Your Own Newborn Photos At Home
In these strange times, I’ve been trying to think of ways that I can help with my unique skillset. I’ve been a professional newborn photographer in Calgary for almost 15 years, and I’ve done my own newborn photos for 3 of my 4 kids. (I’ve also hired photographers too, but I
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Mother’s Day Mini Sessions
If you are looking for a sweet memento of motherhood this year, I’m offering quick and simple portraits in honour of Mother’s Day. Only 15 minutes and $100, these mini sessions are a fantastic way to showcase the love you have for your children – without the stress normally associated
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How We Did Disney’s Aulani on a Budget
We just returned from a week in Hawaii at Aulani, A Disney Resort and Spa, and I thought I’d write a quick post while everything is still fresh in my mind. We really, really tried to do this trip on the cheap because after our debacle of a vacation in December, we were kind of behind the
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Fries Before Guys
As I’m preparing images for the new website, I found these cute ones of baby Amelia last year. Since Valentine’s day is just a few days away I just had to post them – she was so cute and chunky back then! (Unlike the cute and chunky she is now, lol) The tutu is from one
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Not Her Daughter
Not Her Daughter by Rea Frey took me awhile to get into because I was so torn. I didn’t know what side to be on – which made it a very interesting read. The writing was solid and I felt like I could understand the main characters. While the plot felt far-fetched and some main things weren’t
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Three Dark Crowns
I loved this novel by Kendare Blake, I think it was a great addition to the YA Fantasy genre, plenty of interesting characters, and a really rich and satisfying world. I know that a few reviewers have found the pacing slow but I really enjoyed learning about each queen and her allies separately
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Foe
Foe by Iain Reid is a beautifully crafted story. I absolutely loved how the characters and plot developed and how intense such a simple premise could be. I tore through this novel, and the ending was satisfying and thought-provoking. A fantastic psychological thriller, I didn’t want it to end! I
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#murdertrending
This was not my typical read, as I’d say it’s more in the YA horror vein, but it was really fast-paced and a lot of fun to read. Characters and backstory were a little underwhelming but the speed and interesting premise made up for it. Some of it was pretty cheesy but I couldn’t put it down so it
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She Was The Quiet One
I really enjoyed the story and setting of this one, although I felt at times that the teenage characters spoke like how an adult would write a teenager. The mystery was solid and and I was guessing until the end. I was given this arc for my honest review. 3.5 stars.
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Hits and Misses
Hits and Misses is out today! I enjoyed the humour and writing in the collection of short stories, although sometimes I wonder if I was smart enough to truly appreciate them. There definitely seemed to be a slant to those in the entertainment industry, with several winks in their direction. I did
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Charlotte Walsh Likes To Win
Charlotte Walsh Likes To Win was an interesting novel about being a woman, mother and wife in politics in current America and what it takes to have it all. The book started off pretty slowly for me, it had too much scene setting and background before getting to the actual story, but once there it
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Girls’ Night Out
Girls’ Night Out by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke was a solid psychological thriller, well-paced and interesting. I found the main characters mostly unlikeable – it was as if the authors’ could only see their bad sides. There was a lot of immaturity and selfishness between the
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Her Pretty Face
Her Pretty Face by Robyn Harding was the perfect summer thriller. It was very Big Little Lies – a suburban mystery where the reader doesn’t know who to trust. I raced through the book, I found it very fast-paced and easy to read. 4 stars. This book took me 3.5 hours to read. I was given this
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In The Vines
I love thrillers and wanted to give this book a chance after a bumpy start, but I feel it never got better. The writing was incredibly choppy, the characters all seemed absolutely insane, it was so hard to follow and actually disturbing at some points. So much of this book didn’t make sense, there
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All These Beautiful Strangers
Very much Gossip Girl meets Pretty Little Liars. I found it to be a really enjoyable YA read, solid storytelling, fairly believable teen characters (albeit a little one dimensional) and plot that hooks. The multiple viewpoints actually worked for me, as long as I didn’t dwell too hard on how I was
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And I Darken
I was a big fan of this book, I loved being lost in an era that I knew very little about, with characters very flawed but likeable. @authorkierstenwhite did an incredible job immersing the reader in the Ottoman Empire, following the story of Lada Dragwyla, a strong, unorthodox heroine. Lada
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All Your Fault
All Your Fault by JC Lewin was a quick read, it held my attention really well. There were several plausible suspects, and the characters and dialogue were written believably. I thought there were a couple of weaker points to the story, the mother of the missing girl seemed really deatached and I
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The Date
The Date is a quick reading thriller about a woman who wakes up the morning after her date with no recollection of the night before. She has also lost the ability to recognize faces, which makes it extremely difficult for her to know who to trust. I enjoyed the book, it was fast-paced and had a
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Leah on the Offbeat
Oh, it was so much fun to be back in Simon’s world again! This time seeing their senior year through Leah’s perspective. Becky Albertalli writes with such an honest teenage voice it’s hard to believe she’s not a teenager herself. Such a fun quick read, if you read Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda
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The Color of Bee Larkham’s Murder
The Color of Bee Larkham’s Murder has been compared to The Curious Incident of The Dog in the Nighttime, one of my most favourite books, ever. I can see why, as this novel is also a mystery with a boy with autism, although instead of Asperger’s, the main character has synesthesia, a condition
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The Book of M
I was so impressed with this dystopian/post-apocalyptic novel. The concept was so intriguing, people losing their shadows and then their memories. The story follows husband and wife Ory and Max, and what happens when Max loses her shadow. I think what impressed me the most about the book is that
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Pachinko
I finished this beautiful, sweeping historical novel last night and I feel so satisfied yet also sad that my time with these characters has come to a close. This was another #bigbookbuddyread and I am so happy that I joined these other readers to tackle books I may have never read otherwise. I
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The Goldfinch
I read The Goldfinch as part of a #bigbookbuddyread and it helped me tackle something that’s been sitting unread on my shelf for a few years. This novel was so rich and vivid, the characters felt incredibly real – frustratingly so sometimes. While The Goldfinch was a thick one, it never
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The Death of Mrs. Westaway
I absolutely love Ruth Ware and was thrilled to receive an advance reader’s copy of her latest before it hit shelves on Tuesday! I think all of her books have such an easy readability, they always hook me immediately. The Death of Mrs. Westaway was a quick and clever mystery/thriller. While I
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The Favorite Sister
I so enjoyed Jessica Knoll’s first novel, I thought it was original and had a great twist, so I was exceptionally thrilled to receive an advance copy of her latest novel from #netgalley. Unfortunately, I didn’t love the book, it felt like it took forever to read. There wasn’t much thrill or
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Furyborn
I’ve started to really dive into the fantasy YA genre, and Furyborn was a solid fit. The premise was fascinating to me, one queen tasked to seven trials, and one a tough bounty hunter. Which queen will save the world and which queen will destroy it? I very much wanted to know more about how
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FALL MINIS ARE BACK – September 13th and 20th
It’s that time of year again! I’m so excited that this is my 10th year of offering mini sessions, and to celebrate I have created never-before seen pricing for these exclusive sessions! A 15 minute session and 10 digital files are just $250! There are only a handful of spots
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Baby Donut
I’ve gotten so behind on blogging, somehow it works out that I only blog my gorgeous niece Delaney, who Max has affectionately nicknamed “Donut” because he cant say Delaney. Delaney’s mom Liz and Auntie Rachel came to visit us in Canada a few weeks ago and I got to
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2016 Calgary Mini Sessions
I’m so excited that the timing of this new baby worked out that I can still do mini sessions this year! Because first pick always goes to previous clients and newsletter subscribers, there are limited sessions available now, but I will still do my best to squeeze everyone in! The mini
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Delaney Charlotte
We were so very lucky to be in Connecticut before Josh’s sister Liz gave birth to our little niece! She ended up coming 10 days late, which was awesome for us but maybe not so great for poor Liz, lol! We got to visit them in the hospital and then again three times more, and she is just the
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Actor Headshots
It was so much fun meeting this young lady – she has such personality and poise! She’s an actor and needed new headshots and I’m so glad she was referred to me! She’s performing this summer at Storybook Theatre in Grease – so grab some tickets and be sure to check it
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Whoa Baby!
This is one of the biggest maternity galleries I think I’ve ever done! I couldn’t stop taking pictures of this stunner and her handsome husband. I had so much fun during the session, they are both so in love and excited to be parents, it’s infectious. Thanks so much to come and
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Mr. and Mrs. Smith
Last week we traveled to Connecticut for Josh’s sister’s baby shower. While we were there, I had the wonderful opportunity to photograph her maternity session and it was so much fun! Liz and Ben got married two summers ago at Aria in Las Vegas and now Baby Smith is due to make her
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Coming This October!
Guys, I feel so crazy. I know so many of you are looking at me like “DANG, THAT GIRL IS CRAZY”. Two under two. AT 41 YEARS OLD. I blame Josh convincing me to have another at juuuuuuust the right time – my hormones must have been off whack that day. But decide to try we did, and
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That Was A Long Break!
Does anyone else get haunted by horrible guilt when you don’t do the things you are supposed to do? I usually try to bury the guilt down by completely ignoring my to-do list and pretending nothing is wrong. As you can imagine, it usually goes pretty sideways. I have a lot of big ideas but I
