A New Year Awaits! And Happy It Will Be For This Gal!

Yes, I know! I'm sorry...it's been way too long! I ended up just taking a break from blogging. It's been a challenging year, but one I'm glad I went through. One that has greatly contributed to who I am today and one I will treasure on my new journey going forward.

At last post, I was working on my photography. I've slacked off on that and mostly focused on my real job, and I'm not sure that I'll continue it in 2012, but I can promise I'll do some.

To finish the year (and to get a few extra bucks), I had a yard sale to get rid of junk I didn't need anymore. It went great! And it went much easier than I anticipated because of 2 reasons - 1. I have the best boyfriend in the world...meet Benjamin :).

(We are Steve Jobs and the Apple Logo for Halloween)

He is a blessing! He got up extra early with me to hang signs and fetch breakfast. Boy was he a life saver! And 2. I planned ahead and priced EVERYTHING! If there is anything I've learned from yard saling for so long, it's to make sure those 2 things are top priority when attempting to do your own. It makes the day go a lot smoother and helps the eliminate stress below.

It was a success and I was able to buy this guy:

I've been in need of a casual jacket and this seems perfect! I'm looking forward to it's arrival.

And finally, Christmas is over. I've taken the week off to relax and get ready for the new year and so far it's been great! I had a fabulous time with family and friends and as always, ate some scrumptious food. But like everyone else, it's exercise, exercise, exercise come January - these extra lbs have not been good for my closet :/.

That's probably enough for now. I am resolving to do better in 2012 with a lot of things and blogging is in the top 5. I promise. :)

But in the meantime, Happy New Year!

Love,

eb

family ties

Hi blogging friends! I'm back again after a long absence in posting, but I promise, I'm trying to get better :).

Anywho, to bring you up to speed - I've been a busy little bee in the photography department and really enjoying it! I've been working with a variety of subjects including moms -to-be and moms and their their fast growing little ones!

There is still a lot to learn as there are many things to consider when snapping shots of active young lads and since I'm still working with the original lens that came with my camera , my creative is limited. But, I'm working up to buying one or two new ones to help in getting some different shots. I'm thinking the fixed 55mm is a good step 2, then I'll need a stronger zoom.

Anyway, enough about the technical stuff. I wanted to share some of my work over the last couple of weeks. My subjects were both beautiful and handsome, as you will see, and it certainly makes my job easier when they make the shoots fun :).

Hope everyone's Summer is going great so far! Enjoy the McRoys and the Lyons :)

Meet Mason. A full of life, all boy cutie patootie. We had a great time at the river and boy was he excited about the water!

The Lyons were adorable! The mom-to-be was not far from her due date and her little boys seems super excited about meeting their new brother! We were able to get some great shots of all of them :).

Again, we had a wonderful time at the shoots and I'm so glad we were able to capture some great pictures.

I'm looking forward to seeing what my next project will be!

a long, long time ago.

Hi fellow bloggers! I apologize for being M.I.A. for the last couple of weeks, but I'm here to say I'm back in action. I've been busy moving into my new casa!

Unfortunately, with moving comes the list of "to-dos" like: transferring bills, setting up new accounts, getting cable and internet - which I have neither of at the moment. Thankfully I have a super nice downstairs neighbor allowing me to use his internet so I can do some work! It's amazing how much you rely on the simple things in life. It will drive you crazy!

Anywhoo, after a super tough weekend of hauling my massive amounts of stuff up a flight of stairs into my new digs, I finally have a place to call "home, sweet home." And let me just say, I LOVE IT! It's probably one of my favorite places I've ever lived (minus the stairs - i'm not a fan of those on grocery shopping days). But, stairs or no stairs, I was determined to make this place mine - and that I did. My momma was nice enough to help me and the end result is super fantabulous!

The before and afters are below.

Bedroom Before:

Le Bedroom After:

The Kitchen Before:

The cooking area after:

The hallway before:

And after:

The bar - a must:

The living room before:

And the after:

And that's the tour. Sans the bathroom - that will be taken at a later date as there are still some things needing to be done in there.

On the to-do list:

- paint the bathroom shelf

- hang the wine glass holder in the bar area

- finalize dining room

- decorate the porch (yep, it's got a cute porch, too!)

I'll be sure to keep you updated, just stay tuned. Oh and keep watching for some photo shoots - families and more families :).

Happy Tuesday and GOOOOO COCKS! We better win this thing!

horseshoeing around and going forward

Things are a-changing for this little lady and I'm embracing the future!

I'm moving this weekend and I'm super excited about being able to decorate from scratch again! It's always so exciting to be able to have a clean slate to start with and I'm blog searching and pinterest-ing to the MAX! I've got a lot of cute things that I hope will all fit together, but of course you never know until you get it in the space.

I've decided that yellow and gray are going to be the bedroom colors and the rest will be pretty neutral. I want a fun, bright relaxing space and I want it to inspire me. I especially like the color combo in the below pic:

delicouslyorganized.blogspot.com

I'm super excited about the canvas art I found at goodwill and hope it fits well in the room. I'll be sure to take pics so stay tuned!!

It's most important to me that my new space inspire me to more creative. Of course one of the things I hope to perfect even more is my photography. I recently had to opportunity to photog some of the most adorable kids at the Horseshoe on the the USC campus and I got some great shots. I'm clearly still a work in progress, but I'm getting there! Here are a few that are my favorites:

I've got another family on my agenda for next week, so I hope we get some good ones! Well, I'm off to bed! Got a pretty busy moving weekend ahead of me and I need to be up bright and early in the morning! TGI almost Friday everyone and have a wonderful weekend!!

baby carter.

As many of you know, my beautiful sister is getting marriage in the fall. To start off the wedding planning, we made an appointment with Bella Vista Bridal in Columbia - the same place I got my gown. My sister tried on a few dresses and there was no doubt that when she put on the right one, it was the right one. It is gorgeous!

Once we all said "Yes!" to the dress :). We had a celebratory dinner and then dessert at Nonnah's in the Vista. It. Was. Incredible! We ordered a "Flaming Dessert for 2" and boy was it a production! No only was it definitely flaming....

It was DELICIOUS! Made with butter, brown sugar and rum, the pineapple and pound cake combo was out of this world. Probably one of the best desserts I've ever had! It was my first experience and I will most definetely be back.

I'm back tracking a little (the dessert/dress date was last week), but this weekend has been just as successful. You've already seen my jackpot that I found at Goodwill on Friday, but you haven't seen the cutie that I brought home with me Saturday :)...

Carter is his name and he is the handsome son of one of my best friends. I've been practicing my photography on him since he was born and he is just the most adorable subject. Not to mention PLEASANT! He only got fussy a couple times. But, we were able to get some great shots!

Isn't he the cutest? Love him!

I'm going to continue practicing so be sure to come back! Oh and btw, HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY! Night all!!

the goodwill motherload, a storms a brewin' and bohemian rhapsody

Happy Memorial Day weekend everyone! Hope everyone has become fishes this wonderful holiday weekend. It's always a fun day in my book when there is sun and water involved:). And of course I always like to take a little time during this celebratory time to think about those who have fought and are fighting for our freedom. Without their sacrifice, none of us would be able to do what we do (love it or hate it) every day of our lives. Thank you to all the soldiers and veterans for all that you do - we are truly blessed to have people like you willing to fight the good fight.

And by saying they allow us to do what we do everyday, I mean go to goodwill and find awesome deals :). That's right! I love a productive goodwill trip! Normally, I walk out with one or two items, but yesterday was the absolute bomb.com goodwill score. I'll be moving into a new apartment in the next couple of weeks and there are few things I need to get. Any other time I would usually just go to Target or Tuesday Morning or something, because when I'm usually looking for something specific, I end up NEVER being able to find it a yard sales or thrift stores. But, I figured what the hay. I'm not in any hurry to find a new rug or artwork, so I'll just run by the goodwill and see what they have. Weeellll, I'm pretty sure I was there all of about 25 seconds when WHALA! A jute rug with my name written ALL over it! Yep, a gorgeous little 6x9 number that was just waiting for a ride in my car! I quickly (and by quickly I mean like lightening McQueen fast) I snatched up that scratchy textile and into the buggy it went.

Now, I'm not want for snatching things out of people's hands, but I'm almost positive I would have beat a punk up should they had tried to wrestle me for that rug. I mean finding a decent rug for a good price is like trying to find the perfect swimsuit or jeans; almost impossible! But with a pricetag of only $25.50, that baby was mine!

I walked around about 3 minutes later and BAM! an adorable canvas painting of a black and grey basket with yellow flowers. Why am I so incredibly excited about this vintage find? Weeelll, it was just days before that I had decided to do my new room in gray and yellow! Yep, that's right. Not only was the rug calling my name, but so was this hunk of funky love. And again, with a pricetag of only $12.50, who would pass it by???

And, I'm not done yet. I did another sweep around the place and also walked away with 3 vintage suitcases, 3 pairs of shorts, a cheese grater (yeah, I needed on), some Christmas presents and a cute little canvas painting of a kitty (awwwww). My goodwill shopping spree was complete. I walked out with a practically a whole new room and a smile :) on my face. My Friday was complete!


So, thank you again Veterans for allowing me to have a mega good time finding fun deals and decorating my new pad!

After I'd had my fun at the goodwill, it was time to settle in for the storm that was headed my way. I got all unpacked and started heading to my bedroom and find this...


Apparently, my little man could sense the storm and felt that this thin piece of fabric was going to shield him from harm. Cute = camera comes out = cat shots. (Yes I know, yawn...)


Ok, enough of my main man... :). Lately, I've been going a little bohemian. Not my usual style, but I love the more free, vintage, anything goes feel that comes with it. My new favorite store? Forever 21. Love it! We just got one at our mall and it. is. awesome.

So, before I left for work on Thursday, I got a little funky and came up with this!

Well, it's not too funky, but I'm getting there. Give me a couple a months and I may have dreads! (just kidding. i wont have dreads.) The white tank = Banana Republic, cardigan = Forever 21, skirt = Banana Republic, shoes = Sacha Too, jewels & belt = Forever 21.

Anywhoo - it's time for me to sign off for tonight, but stay tuned, I've got some photography gigs to share :). Night!