Crystal Genes Photography

Not too long ago I got to spend some time with Evan and Davis during a short but fun portrait session! When I first moved to Charlotte nearly 5 years ago, my first job here was at the neighborhood coffee shop just 2 blocks away. Evan was a regular and knew all the customers. If he didn’t know someone, it didn’t matter, he’d still talk their heads off. His mom? She was the owner of course! Then Davis came along and she decided to sell the shop to pursue other things. I hadn’t seen the family for 2 years. Even though Davis didn’t get those early years exposed to thousands of different coffee shop faces, it definitely didn’t mean he was going to be a shy one. The second I walked in the door, he was smiling and wanting to play and show off. So much fun!

As you can see, they’ve had a busy summer already and I’m so jealous that Amy and Colin even visited Cameroon, Africa. That has been on my list of places to visit for over a year now!

Gotta love skateboard camp!

Hiding…

When I first arrived, Even showed me his Lego collection and told me all about how his dad is a lego expert and that he’s teaching him everything he knows so that he can be one too.

Then Evan can teach his little brother…

Davis has somewhere to be…

…to drive his convertible.

and to drive his tricycle.

Meanwhile, Evan works on his fort.

Loose tooth!

I haven’t given up, I’m just a day late on Fun Fact Friday this week!  My parents came for a short visit yesterday so I just didn’t have time to make a post.

Fun Fact #5 - I believe in using scent to enhance memory!

I always knew that people can often associate certain memories with certain scents, but until a few years ago, I hadn’t realized it for myself.  When I studied abroad, I only took one bottle of perfume with me - Victoria’s Secret Pink.

I used it all the time on myself and as a room deodorizer.  When I got back from my studies, I was quite tired of the same ol’ smell, so I immediately started using all my old favorites.  Quite a few months after I was home, I decided to try out the Pink again.  As soon as I sprayed it, I was overwhelmed by a plethora of memories and good feelings.  That was five years ago.  I use Pink sparingly now, but every time that I do, I still recall those months abroad.

When I went to Europe in May this year, I knew that being there for 3 weeks would be enough time for a scent to make an impression, so I went on a search for the perfect new scent.  I wanted something different from what I am normally drawn to, and I wanted something that was pretty classic, that would most likely still be around in 50 years so that I could keep buying the same stuff in the future.  (I doubt that Pink will be made forever, unfortunately.)  I finally settled on Burberry London, and looked forward to testing it out.

While abroad I wore it everyday and tried to spray it around the rooms whenever I remembered.  When I got back, I put it away for a couple of months and pulled it back out a few weeks ago.  Of course it worked!  Good feelings galore!

You could do this every year with a new scent, on longer vacations, OR during your wedding planning period.  I would probably start up to 6 months prior to the wedding.  Choose a scent that will be around for years to come.  Wear it all through the planning stage, the wedding day, and the honeymoon.  As soon as you are home, put it away for a few months to let it set in, and then for years to come whenever you want to remember the whole experience again in a whole new way, just whip it out and be taken away!

Here is the rest of my too small perfume collection.  Whenever I go shopping for a new scent I get so overwhelmed by all the choices I usually decide on nothing.  It took over a month of debating and sampling just to choose the Burberry scent I used.  (Lancome Miracle, Gap Dream, Lolita Lempicka, Clinique Happy in Bloom, Clinique Happy Heart)

My wish list is quite large, but I’ll have them all eventually (in order of preference) - Stella by Stella McCartney, Banana Republic Malachite, Versace Bright Crystal, Burberry Summer, Prada Infusion d’iris, John Varvatos, Bvlgari Original, Laila the esscence of Norway, Annick Goutal Neroli,  Chanel Chance, Chanel Mademoiselle, and any of the Incanto fragrances.  Yay for scent!

Today is Tracy’s birthday as well as her due date!  Will it be the big day?

Last week I drove down to Charleston and had fun spending the morning with fellow wedding photographer, Tracy Turpen, her husband Lance, and their sweet dog Emma.  Of course we did a maternity session, even though Tracy’s way beyond ready to pop out a new baby boy!

Having Tracy lay down on the side of a 4 lane highway apparently causes people alarm.  One lady did a u-turn to make sure she was okay!

I bought these little baby shoe socks for the new baby, but they looked so cute on Emma!

Doesn’t it look like you can see a baby in there?

Oh, it’s already Fun Fact Friday again, and I can tell I’m going to have a difficult time keeping on top of this. I have the hardest time coming up with new facts and this is only the fourth one! I’ll have to start getting really creative and super random if this scheduled posting is going to continue.

I guess this week my fun fact will be… I love yoga!

Fun Fact #4 - I love going to classes at the Y. My favorite=yoga. My least favorite=power hour.

I love going to yoga classes at the Y. Well, actually, I love the act of participating in yoga class, and I love the feeling I have afterwards, but the problem is the actual process of getting in my car and going to class. I have, however, been doing an excellent job the past couple of months.

Every few months I say to myself, “I can’t keep paying for a gym membership and not even go. I will start going at least one day a week on a day off.” Well, let me tell you, after 2 years of saying that again and again, I realized it just wasn’t going to work. SOOOO…. I decided to start going 5 times a week. Call me crazy, but it actually is working. The first 2 weeks I went to a different class five different days. Since, I’ve been going at least 3 times a week.

I started out going to all sorts of classes, whatever was available during the time I wanted to go. I went to yoga, pilates, bosu ball blast, and even power hour. Twice. Big mistake. My friend Morgan talked me into going the first time. I thought I would die after the 50th lunge suicide and that was only after the first 15 minutes. The class was taught by Leonard Wheeler, a former Panther’s football player, and there were about 50 women in the class ready to be whipped into excellent shape by this attractive man. We did laps, lunges, lunge jump laps, squat suicides, step work, weight work, mat work… the variety goes on. I managed to make it through to the end, though I did sit out of the last of the suicides before I passed out. And at the end it felt really good to have finished and I felt like the workout was the best I’d ever had.

A few weeks later, I really wanted to get a class in and the only one available was power hour (though it was being taught by someone else). I thought if I made it through once, I could make it again. 10 minutes into the “warm-up” I was ready to take a break. 30 minutes into the class I was ready to quit and didn’t think I would make it, when the instructor said, “Let’s take it outside!” In the middle of the hot summer afternoon we started doing laps around the track. I had to walk half the first lap while everyone waited on me. More lunge squat jump suicides. I completely sat the second lap out. The third lap, I picked up my water bottle, waited for everyone to get around the first corner, and I ran for the exit. Working out should be fun and feel good, so I know when to call it quits! I’m not ashamed!

Yoga is both an excellent workout and a ton of fun for me. I can challenge myself or take it easy depending on my mood and I always feel good afterward.

Unfortunately I don’t have any fun images that I personally took to go along with this week’s post, but I managed to dig one up of Mr. Wheeler. He won “Hero of the Month” on Asana Activewear’s website for Charlotte. I borrowed this image from their website… click the link above to check them out!

But stay tuned!  I have a couple of posts going up hopefully in the next week or so from some really fun sessions!

This week’s Fun Fact is coming a little late in the day, but I still managed to make it on Friday!

***First up… contest results!  I put everyone’s name in a jar and had my roomate pick the winner for last week’s Fun Fact Friday contest……..and the winner is…. Lorelei!  Send me an email with your mailing address and I’ll ship you my Burgaw book!***

For anyone just tuning in, Fun Fact Friday is a way for you to get to know me a little better.  It’s really important that you love your photographer as much as you love their work, so each week I’ll be leaving a random little fact about myself that will show you a bit more about who I am!  To see all the facts, just click on the “Fun Fact Friday” tab under the categories section to the right side of this page.

Fun Fact #3 - I love to host parties, showers, and random get-togethers!

Last night I hosted a Going Away Party/Very Late Birthday Party for my roomate who is about to leave Charlotte to go to NC School for the Arts in Winston Salem for film.  It was the first party I had thrown in a very long time.  When I first moved to Charlotte several years ago, Ben and I would throw parties on a monthly and sometimes weekly basis.  Eventually we just sort of stopped, and I don’t know why because they are so much fun!

Here are some snapshots from last night’s party as well as some I dug up from the parties I’ve thrown in the past… (remember these are mostly just snapshots and should not be judged for their beauty or lack there-of!)

I also like to decorate and have a theme.  Last night’s was Morrocan Flavor.  I bought some cheap fabric and tried my best to make everything beautiful!

I even wore this middle eastern hat Ben found in a shop in Seattle for a little while until until everyone agreed it made me look more sickly than middle eastern.

Maria is crazy! I don’t know what I’ll do without her around…

The food was delicious. I made home-made Baklava that took a couple of hours. We also had Falafel, Hummus, Baba Ghanouj, stuffed grape leaves, stuffed cabbage leaves, pita points, and couscous.

This pic is from one of the first gatherings we ever had in Charlotte…

One of the biggest hit parties we ever had was the 80s party. No one was allowed inside unless they were dressed appropriately…

Then there was my personal favorite… Forever Young Prom Party. Everyone had to dress for prom. We even had a portrait station set up for everyone to get their formals taken…

There were dance parties…

Christmas parties…

Glamour parties…

And dress as you wish parties…

Then eventually there were lingerie showers…

That turned into Karaoke parties!

Hope everyone enjoyed this week’s random fun fact! See you next week!