Well, everyone – it’s here: election week. I cannot believe that after what seems like the longest campaign season ever, we’ll finally find out who becomes president tomorrow evening. I voted on Friday morning for the first time ever, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous/excited. Not that I even particularly want either to be president (although I really don’t want one to be!). 

In case the election has you down, here’s a happy reminder: 47 days until Christmas! I’m starting my gift guide series tomorrow to get you in the holiday spirit! I can’t wait to share all of the guides I’ve been working on recently.

Some highlights from the past week include:

• Going trick-or-treating for Halloween in Cypress with Destiny, Sid, Truman, Isla and Amanda, since Sasha was out of town in Austin. We had so much fun! The kids only went to a few houses (Truman more than Isla, after we both got freaked out by a moving candy bowl!!!). 
• Taking family photos of the cutest little girl, Georgia, and her parents at The Menil – I cannot get over Georgia’s happy smile or her arm rolls! I hope Emi gets them too!!
• Photographing three of my blogger friends’ (Meg, Esther and Veronika) families at Discovery Green, Summer Street Studios, and The Arboretum. I love how they turned out and hope they do too!
• Taking graduation photos for one of Isla’s sweet babysitters, Lacy, at Rice campus – she is absolutely gorgeous!! I can’t even handle it. And let’s not even talk about her tiny waist right now. 
• Going to the most perfect baby shower for my friend, Kristen, in honor of her sweet baby boy, who is due on January 21! I cannot wait to meet him and for him to have a gaggle of girlfriends (lots of baby girls due in February!).
• Meeting with Meg Grant about some fun baby projects for Emi!
• Going to a smoothie date with Jessica, Isla and her adorable babe, Olivia! I cannot believe how big she is already!
• Having Amanda over to chat about blogs, baby showers (throwing one for Destiny in December), and life! 
• Going to church at Bayou City Fellowship and then having lunch at The Counter – their veggie burger is the best in Houston and I crave it constantly!
• Doing a family dinner night at La Vista, which we love and are excited to live walking distance from next year when we finish building the house!
• Having Ivana sleepover and eating MOD Pizza (our cheat meal for the week – sadly becoming a weekly thing!!!).
• Seeing that Pottery Barn Kids reposted a photo of Isla in her little kitchen here!

I hope you had a great weekend and that your week started on a good note! xo

Happy Halloween!! We’re going trick-or-treating with the Destiny, Sid and Truman tonight, as Sasha is back in Austin for the third week in a row. Destiny had an adorable party planned for Friday, but unfortunately Truman got sick and the doctor said he couldn’t be around other kids. So the party got canceled, and we had another couple over who were planning on going as well. We all kept our costumes on for about five minutes… except for Sasha, who wore his Michael Phelps Speedo for at least two hours before donning a robe (yikes!!). This will be the first Halloween that Isla is actually excited about, so I can’t wait to go door-to-door, even if it’s just for a few houses (or however long they last!).

Some highlights from the week included:

• Taking styled photos for Meg and Channing at Tout Suite and running into Meredith and Kailey who were there for a little coffee meeting. 
• Photographing Destiny, Isla, Olivia, Naomi and Tova at The West Studios for a Willow Crowns shoot – even the editing was a highlight because those models were all perfect (except perhaps my own, who acted as if she had just swallowed five large Pixie Sticks!).
• Getting our final architecture plans from Kelly Cusimano, our architect, and beginning to think of decor for each room.
• Photographing an adorable first birthday party, which was Halloween themed – I’ve never seen so many cute littles in their costumes – elephants, pumpkins, ballerinas, astronauts – you name it!
• Ripping open this month’s Bookroo delivery – two new books which we’ve read every day since! She is obsessed with Wolfie the Bunny. 
• Going to Isla’s first fall fair at her school, watching her freak out with excitement over getting her face painted (she’s asked me to do it every day since) and almost crying with happiness over her first horsie bail ride.
• Photographing the Organized Life Design second birthday party, which was hosted at Meggie’s gorgeous new home! 
• Spending lots of grandparent time with my parents and Sasha’s mom before they all left us for Colorado and Serbia. Anyone free to babysit? 😉 
• Taking family photos for our friends, the Lanhams – I cannot get over how adorable sweet Hollis and Walker are! Walker’s brotherly love kills me (see smooch photo below!).
• Going out to lunch at Counter Burger, which has been my pregnancy craving since day 1. They have the absolute best veggie burger and I would be happy if I could eat it breakfast, lunch and dinner every day!
• Photographing a contract signing in Pasadena for Sasha’s cousin’s company.
• Celebrating the 100 days-to-go mark on Wednesday – my bump has been pretty small thus far (which I unfortunately cannot say about my legs), but I’ve had a serious pain in my stomach the last few days and am concerned my ab muscles are ripping! Totally calling my gynecologist today to see if I should be worried!

Hope you have the best Halloween and that you enjoy the rest of your week! xo

Is it too early to start a Christmas countdown? 61 days to go? Nope, not too soon. I am so excited and praying that the hustle of holiday season makes the days until February 3rd fly by. I’m already pretty uncomfortable and so ready to meet baby Emilia (“Emi”).

My best friend (since fourth grade!) was in town this weekend from Chicago, and we had lots of quality time together – obviously had to sneak in at least one viewing of It’s Complicated… our favorite!! Some other highlights from the past week include:

• Meeting with Kelly Cusimano, our architect, to get V1 of our house plans – I am seriously so excited to start on this process!
• Taking family photos in Katy with my parents and sisters
• A few park dates with Isla and my parents and Sasha’s mom
• Visiting Ivana at her house to drop off a little surprise
• Going to the Needtobreathe concert with Destiny and Amanda and our husbands – they are so amazingly talented!!! I can’t wait until they come back to Houston!
• Taking photos of sweet Lincoln, whose newborns I took last year – feels like only a few months ago!
• Photographing Elly at River Oaks District – she is such a babe!
• Going to Bayou City Fellowship and having Curtis preach a moving message on discipleship 
• Doing a few DEFINE spin classes – my favorite being one with our cousin, Kristina, on Sunday

So… are you as ready for the holidays as I am? Do you have big Halloween plans?

These weeks are flying by, and hopefully continue to do so, as I’m 24 weeks pregnant and am very ready for February 3rd to be here. I cannot believe I was roaming around Durango with Courtney Brown just last week. The rest of the week was a blur, trying to catch up after being gone for a few days. We’re in the throws of family photo season already, so my weekends are pretty much gone – except for this upcoming one, as I’ve taken Friday off because my best friend, McKenzie, is coming to visit and I could not be more excited.

Some highlights from the last week include:

• Going to Sasha’s dad’s house for a BBQ and spending time with him and his wife, Olivera (“Oli,” as Isla calls her)
• Eating dinner at Jonathan’s the Rub with three of friend couples
• Taking family photos for the Burkes, Kapoors, and Wallaces all around Houston at some of my favorite spots – the weather was so gorgeous, despite being in the high-80s/low-90s still!
• Photographing sweet Natalie York – her nursery was a dream, but she was even cuter!
• Exploring Durango with Courtney on Monday – I have never been there past Labor Day weekend before, so it was fun to see it in the fall!
• Getting my hair chopped and colored by Eric Vaughn – he is amazing and I highly recommend him!!
• Taking the glucose test at 24 weeks – and passing!! That drink is so incredibly disgusting, so I’m glad I didn’t have to drink it twice (which you do if you don’t pass the first test).
• Buying Isla’s Halloween costume at Pottery Barn Kids. I DIYed her outfit last year, which I loved, but I don’t have time this year unfortunately! 
• Celebrating the 6 year anniversary of meeting Sasha at work, which we didn’t really do anything for except have a big hug 😉 Simple people, ha.
• Taking Bear’s photos in Katy after he spent a long weekend at the vet
• Picking pumpkins at Trader Joes, then painting one in the driveway. It is literally LATHERED in paint, now a sort of black color… such a cute table center piece, right? Ha. 

Hope you had a wonderful week too! Happy Monday. xo