Remember Kristian?! She won my "How to Make Pink Coffee" contest!

Kristian owns Kreative Photography in Orlando, Florida. And last week she came up to Jacksonville for her mentoring session with me. She showed up at my door bearing Starbucks and won me over immediately! We talked a lot about shooting, branding and pricing, and I really enjoyed getting to know her. I always say it's a really small world out there, but was still surprised when we realized that we know someone in common! After our (rather long-thanks to me) chat we met up with a great couple for their engagement session.

We shot Jessi and Chris' engagement session at Adventure Landing in Jacksonville Beach. They were up for anything, so we even managed to get a few shots in the water park area!

The fist bump engagement ring shot...a new classic!

I couldn't help myself-had to take another mirrored glasses shot!

Chris entertained us the whole time!

Jessi and Chris,
Congratulations! Thank you for being kind, patient and easy to work with. I know your wedding will be beautiful!

Kristian,
You rock! Thank you for spending the afternoon with me. It was fun getting to know you. Your honesty and real-ness is refreshing, and I'm excited that I now have somewhere to stay during my IKEA trips. :) And thank you for your sweet words!

Kacy is one of the most stylish people I know. She's a makeup artist and designer-graphics and jewelry. So it's a bit of an understatement to say she has a great eye and killer style. The girl knows a thing or two about what looks good! When we talked about our session together she had a simple request for me. She just wanted to learn more about shooting. So I met her at her house, (one block from the beach; so jealous!) and we had a "how to shoot in manual mode" crash course. Then we put her skills to work during a laid back love session with a super-cute couple. Phil and Shelby have the best story. They met on a cruise ship! Isn't that fun?! And they aren't just pretty people. They are really funny and were so patient with us.

And they brought BIKES!!!

Kacy working her skills! I can't wait to see some of the shots she got from this session.

Clearly, it was a fun afternoon. :)

And we ended with a little dance-off. :)

I met Candice and Dustin when she excitedly walked up to me at church one day and said she wanted to book a photoshoot sometime soon. I liked them immediately (even though Dustin was less than excited about the idea of a photoshoot)! They're warm, friendly people; I felt at ease with them from the start. And they BOTH have an incredible sense of fashion. They always look like they've stepped out of a magazine...a cool, surfer chic magazine where everyone is effortlessly fashionable and attractive. Ha! I can't wait to see their adorable kiddos one day. No hurry though you two. :)

They planned every little detail of the shoot and made my job an absolute breeze. It was SO MUCH FUN working with them. Thanks for an enjoyable afternoon, Candice and Dustin!

We were headed to One Ocean for a few inside shots when we ran into some of the Scarlett Lillian workshop attendees. I got to meet Jess, who follows my blog and has the most vibrant red hair I've ever seen. And saw cute Kayla and a few other familiar faces. I always enjoy running into other photographers during photoshoots. It's a fun little surprise. :)

Greg and Julianne are adorable newlyweds getting ready to celebrate their 1st anniversary next month. They wanted an anniversary shoot at the fair, because it's a special place for them. Last year they got engaged on the Ferris wheel! Isn't that romantic?! So off we went to the Jacksonville Fair for a fun (and entertaining) afternoon. Greg and Jules were such good sports. They put up with lots of curious on-lookers when I asked them to: sit in the middle of the street, make out in front of the game booths, "borrow" a funnel cake and even ride the carousel with me. They weren't fazed at all!

Happy Anniversary, Lovebirds!!!

PS-What is it about the fair (any fair) that makes me want a funnel cake topped with curly fries and fried chicken with a Polish sausage and a corndog on the side?! AND an ice cream for dessert. Any other time I would make throw up noises at the sound of those foods. (In fact, I'm turning a little green just writing this). But at the fair they sound so yummy. I guess it's one of those great mysteries of life. :)

I might have the World's Best sister-in-law. There's no scientific research to back this up, but science has never been my thing anyway! Sara is one of my favorite people. She's unassuming and kind; loving and accepting. The type of person you could sit with for hours and talk about everything under the sun. And her husband just so happens to be a pretty great guy too. Anderson's little brother, Will, is married to Sara. They are two of the sweetest, most giving people I've ever met. I LOVE spending time with them! While we were in Michigan last week we had a chance to take some pictures of them in (and around) Grand Rapids. Here are some of my favorites:

And she said she couldn't pull off a "serious" look...puhhlease!

They laugh...a lot!

Sara's a teacher, so I had to have a shot of her holding apples. :) She teaches 8th grade English. (Sometimes I cringe at the thought of her reading my blog.) Sara, do you ever print it and mark it up with a red pen just for fun??!!

My assistant (Anderson) was aggressively throwing leaves on them.

They were just as yummy as they looked. The apples, of course!