Houston Family Photographer – Page 2 – Snapshots & My Thoughts by Ailee Petrovic

Personal October 26, 2015

Week in Review

Happy Monday! For those of you in Houston, I hope you survived the crazy storm that hit the state of Texas on Saturday. I had to postpone three family photo sessions due to the inclement weather, which is not ideal, but it may just have been a blessing in disguise, because I was able to catch up on editing, emails, house cleaning, ‘thank you’ cards, and DIY projects, like making one of Isla’s Halloween costumes.

Unfortunately, all of the rain caused Sasha’s boat to flood. It was stored at his parent’s beach house in Tiki Island (outside of Galveston), and it couldn’t handle all of the water. Sasha is very upset about it (he had planned on selling it soon) – hopefully we can salvage the engine before having to get it disposed of.

Besides the intense weather, we had a fun (and quick!) week. I finally weaned Isla (I know think it was just me who couldn’t do it before – more to come on this later!), and she impressed us by learning one new word or animal sound a day. Our friends told us that all of a sudden, they’ll know a heap of words, but we didn’t fully understand this until now. She says: Duck, turkey, bear, bee, owl, bird, “nana” (banana), “nack” (snack), apple, cheese, “nigh-nigh” (night night), thank you, no way, no (all too often!), book, ball, baby, bubbles, “bankie” (blanket), binkie, one, “mo” (more), Belle, Dada, Tata, Deda, Baba, Mimi, Papa, Nana, Mama and Mummy. She will use sign language for: More, all done, one and where, but her favorite thing in the world is to make animal noises for: Sheep, horses, dogs, cats, monkeys, lions, fish, and elephants. The latter is definitely my favorite. If you don’t have the Peek-a-boo Barn app on the iPhone, get it!

Some other highlights of our week include:

Photographing Veronika’s (Veronika’s Blushing) sweet new baby boy, Lincoln. I will be sharing my favorites this week!
Taking fashion blogger photos for Lauren Mills of Sunday Beach Blog, Elly Brown of Uptown with Elly Brown, Jessica of Feather Thread and Destiny of Truly Destiny. These four ladies are so gorgeous – I love photographing them!
Taking family photos for my friend Esther’s friend, Rima, outside of the Menil Collection on Friday (prior to the downpour all weekend!). Their son, Saul, was too cute!
Photographing two extremely attractive (and fit!) models at a Define shoot. I definitely went to the gym on Wednesday night! Ha.
Taking newborn photos for my friend, Annemarie. Her daughter was born very prematurely, so she’s three months old, but really just a newborn!
Taking product photographs for Willow Crowns‘ winter collection – the bows, clips and headbands are seriously too cute. I am obsessed! The launch isn’t too far away.
Going to Lifetime with Sasha (he is a member at 24 Hour Fitness) – I love when he uses my guest pass, and we get to be together!
Taking swim class at Dad’s Club. Isla enjoys the Mommy and Me class so much and is so confident in the water. She’s a fish!
Eating at two of our favorite spots: Ruggles Green and Garbanzos, and trying a salad bar restaurant that is less than a mile from our house – Sweet Tomatoes – that we’ve never gone to before!
Getting visits from the grandparents (except my mom, who is in Colorado). Isla is lucky to have everyone so close!
Going to a surprise birthday dinner for our friend Aaron at Benjys on Washington – the food there is incredible. It’s definitely one of my top three favorite restaurants in Houston. You must go and have to eat the Brussels sprouts!
Making a cotton candy costume for a Halloween party this week, and then ordering another from Carter’s for Saturday.
Shopping the amazing 40% off Gap sale with code ‘BOO’ – I did a little damage, but I have a Gap card now, so there are future benefits!
Finally buying two day Australian Open tickets for our visit in January. Sasha is very, very excited.
Splashing around in the rain with Isla’s new pink Hunter Boots – I have some in grey (but wish they were pink!). She loves the rain!
Finding fun skeleton flamingos for our yard – you can buy them here!

Are you on Snapchat? If you are, then follow me @aileepetrovic, and I’ll follow back! I ‘snap’ most of my highlights, so you can see them real time.

Personal October 19, 2015

Week in Review

Hello, Monday. I am so not ready for you. Where are these weeks going – or maybe just the weekends? To put my feelings about today into perspective: I’m currently drinking a cup of caffeinated coffee, which rarely happens these days (typically opt for decaf if I can). I’m very, very sleepy.

Besides being tired from a busy weekend, I’m feeling exceptionally grateful as I look back at the photos taken over the past week. We got to see some of our closest friends who live out of town, play tourist in our own city, eat at some of our favorite restaurants and celebrate a good friend’s birthday. This past week was definitely one of my favorites. Some of the highlights include:

Going to our third Rising Tide Society meeting (held at Ecclesia), and heard some useful tips from a local lawyer about contracts. I am drawing mine up now! I’m learning quickly how important they are!
Taking Isla to The Water Wall in the Galleria area for the first time. She absolutely was beside herself. All of the water and mist. She was so confused at first, then ran around and around in circles squealing.
Seeing my guest post on Say Yes to Happy here! I’m honored that Julie asked me to writer for her blog! I chose to share details about my blogging journey.
Eating a family lunch at True Food Kitchen on Sunday and meeting an Instagram friend who was eating right across from us!
Taking family photos at Centennial Gardens on Saturday with the most dapper little man! I can’t wait to share some of the photos.
Shooting maternity photos for a partner at my former company’s wife at Brazos Bend State Park. Sophie looks amazing!
Taking Isla for a fun play date at our neighborhood park. She is fearless and will just step off the platform onto a slide. It scares me to death!
Going to swim class at Dad’s Club. Isla is a fish. She loves it so much!
Having lunch with my sweet friend Joy at Dish Society on Wednesday and catching up on our endeavors. She is such a mover and shaker. I love it!
Taking Isla to the Houston Polo Club to see her favorite animal face to face. Her reaction made me tear up. She was so incredibly excited and kept walking around with her arms out, neighing.
Shooting Jaclyn at River Oaks District with some colorful backgrounds!
Getting to catch up with our friends, Andrew and Diane, who will be moving to Texas next year, and I am so excited. I love them!!! Andrew and I spent the summer today frolicking around Paris (blog here), and he’s one of my favorite people in the entire world.
Taking newborn photos of adorable baby Annie. Her mom was my sorority sister at Texas (both Thetas!), and I hadn’t seen her in entirely too long. I am anxious to share more photos form the shoot!
Going to my friend Danielle’s baby shower. Her daughter, Nora, is three months older than Isla, and is a hoot. She has so much personality, and all I want to do is squeeze her cheeks. I am very ready to meet Baby Girl Goates #2!
Eating dinner at Rosie’s Carabbas. The Insalata Fiorucci is my favorite salad in the city, so you know it’s a good week when I get to include it in my highlight reel!
Shooting some of my favorite fashion bloggers – Destiny and Lilly at CityCentre. They are both GORGEOUS, and I love their styles.
Having my older sister Karine over for dinner on Tuesday and getting to catch up with her over a glass of bubbly!
Celebrating my friend Kristen‘s birthday at The Shack in Cypress on Friday. I loved getting to meet some of her other friends. She is such a sweet, sweet person, and I’m so grateful for our new friendship.
Allowing Isla to have a donut in honor of National Dessert Day and being healthy again (12 days of medicine were probably more rough on me than her!).

P.S. My blog will resume its (hopefully) exciting, creative content when I figure out how to manage a family, photography business (editing takes so much time!) and a blog. Sorry for slacking lately!

Personal October 12, 2015

Week in Review

Another week flew by, putting us that much closer to Thanksgiving and Christmas, and perhaps even more excitedly: our Australia trip. I need to start planning things! All I’ve figured out is our flights and accommodation.

Like I mentioned last week, family photo season is in full swing, so my weekends have suddenly revolve around sessions, which is really fun (albeit a tad exhausting). Sasha and Isla are my biggest fans though, and I’m so grateful that he is so good with her and does ‘Daddy Duty’ magnificently when I’m gone for bed routine.

The only low point from the week was Isla developing a rash over her whole body (most prominent on her legs). You can see it in the pumpkin painting photos below. It looked pretty severe, but the rash associated with Roseola shows up as the virus is dying off, so hopefully it’s gone quickly and she’s completely healed!

On a more positive note, some of the highlights from this week include:

Attending a polo game at the Houston Polo Club with other Houston bloggers (organized by the lovely Alice of The Lonestar Looking Glass). I only there briefly, but got to stomp the divots and have a champagne toast, so it was worth it!
Dining at a new restaurant near our house, Bramble, with our good friends, Erin and Matt, for a double date night on Saturday. They ordered the biggest shank of meat I have ever seen, but thankfully my delicious veggie plate kept me distracted!
Photographing fashion bloggers – Alex of Adored by Alex, Destiny of Truly Destiny and Lauren of Sunday Beach – all three ladies are gorgeous and seriously so sweet. I’m so inspired by their outfits too! This was a bad shopping week (sorry, Sasha!).
Taking headshots for my friend Kristen at Highland Village and River Oaks District. She’s in the Rice MBA program and will graduate in May. She’s a serious #GIRLBOSS in training! We took some serious LinkedIn photos, then had to grab a few with more colorful walls.
Spending Saturday morning outside at the newly finished Buffalo Bayou Trails – specifically Lost Lake and the Johnny Steele Dog Park. We spent most of the day playing inside though, as sun exposure heightened Isla’s rash.
Photographing a few families at Menil Collection, Terry Hershey Park, Centennial Gardens and Lost Lake. I’m going to do a roundup post soon with some of my favorite family photos that I’ve taken so far! My weekends are completely booked through November 15 now, but I’m still free on many weeknights and any date after the 15th. Visit Snapshots by Ailee Petrovic and email me if you’re interested in booking a family session!
Navigating pumpkins at St. Luke’s pumpkin patch with our friends, Lindsey and Hollis, and then lunch at Tiny Boxwood’s (seriously so delicious!). We haven’t seen them in ages, so it was nice to catch up!
Visiting Texas Art Supply to buy some supplies for upcoming newborn sessions and colorful boards for photos (many of the #SAMTcolorfuldays photos are taken with them!).
Very briefly running into Megan on her birthday as I was leaving the gym, and she was going to birthday lunch with her hubs!
Celebrating Sasha’s relatives’ Slava at their house and getting to catch up with his family.
Mingling with the neighbors on our street for our National Night Out block party on Tuesday! We know almost all of our neighbors and love them.
Having a toddler skate date with Megan and Macy at Dairy Ashford Roller Rink – Isla definitely just scooted around on her bike and pushed a baby doll and stroller she found (all toys were common property!). It was really fun though.
Finishing My Paris Dream (a great read for all Paris/fashion lovers!) and moving onto 99 Problems but a Baby Ain’t One by none other than Meg (above).
Visiting Glenwood Cemetry to see the tombstone of Sasha’s uncle who passed away earlier this year. It was very emotional seeing a Starbucks cup full by his cross – he was a regular and the baristas all knew his order.
Eating dinner on Friday at Adair Kitchen (heavenly baked brie!) and running into one of Sasha’s closest friends from high school!
Very briefly running into Megan on her birthday as I was leaving the gym and she was going to birthday lunch with her hubs!
Having a bubble bath party in the wading pool outside – Isla loves it so much, and I figured our days of doing outside swims were limited! We also painted pumpkins in the same pool, which was really fun (for both of us!).
Watching American Sniper on Friday night and then crying for a solid hour after. One of my close high school friends died in Afghanistan, and I literally cannot watch this tribute video without ugly crying.

How was your week? What were your highlights?

Week in Review September 7, 2015

Week in Review

Happy Labor Day! I hope that all of my American readers are enjoying their holiday weekend! It’s funny how having one extra day in a weekend can make all of the difference in the world. This week flew by even faster than others with a few photoshoots – one that I was in for a change (for this Bikini Body Guide review post). We broke bread with friends on a number of occasions, which always makes me happy. In addition to playdates and pool days, I would say this was one of my favorite weekends in ages. I wish it would never end!

Some of the highlights from the past seven days include:

Visiting with one of my favorite people on earth – Brooke – at our house on Sunday, and having Isla feed her a million Goldfish. She’s such a joyful soul, and I love her to pieces!
Having a playdate with Esther and Naomi at their gorgeous house. Naomi is such a little chatterbox. I love her!
Swimming at our good friends’ house with their little ball of happy energy, Ellery. It was so fun watching her and Isla play… and by that, I mean determine whose things were whose. Isla kept pushing sweet Ellery off of her own chair! Such a little bully!
Worshiping at Bayou City Fellowship and listening to Pastor Derek talk about Godly parenting. I was so inspired! I think I’m going to do a blog post on this topic soon!
Taking photos for my Bikini Body Guide review post with Paige and getting my hair and makeup done by Britt beforehand. Paige had a meeting to go to afterward, but Brittany and I ate breakfast at Sweet Paris in Rice Village together afterwards. I treated myself to a mimosa!
Eating breakfast at Buffalo Grille on Saturday morning with my older sister, Karine. I love their oatmeal, and Isla adores their pancakes! It was a treat to eat breakfast out twice in one week!
Finally getting most rooms in our house painted (we chose Benjamin Moore Classic Gray!) by Alvarez Painting. I didn’t quite think about how ALL of our stuff would get moved around, so the house was super chaotic, but it’s all back to normal now, and I love it.
Attending a Memorial High School cheerleading practice to chat about Senior Photos, and having some of the male cheerleaders put Isla into her first stunt! She loved the attention she was getting.
Going to Isla’s 15 month doctor appointment at Blue Fish Pediatrics. She weighs 22 pounds and is 31.5 inches long! She’s getting so big – it’s crazy! She did not like the three shots she had to get one bit. Poor baby girl!
Taking head shots and product photos for Nine0Nine Creative on Tuesday and Friday at Meredith’s house. Mother Nature was certainly against us, but we made it work!
Meeting my former co-worker turned friend, Nastassja for lunch in Katy at Dish Society on Friday. I always love catching up with her!
Decorating vegan sugar cookies (adapted from this recipe) with watermelon colored icing on Monday to surprise Tata when he got home from work! He ate them all in a matter of minutes.
Stopping by DEFINE and briefly catching up with Kasey, who gave Isla a grand introduction to the class she was teaching. I documented it on Snapchat (@aileepetrovic) – are we following each other yet?
Eating frozen yogurt from TCBY and getting some for Sasha and Isla at Orange Leaf – it was a froyo filled week! I also treated myself to a number of Sinfull Bakery’s Everything Bars from Georgia’s Farm to Market, which are seriously my favorite treat in the entire world. I would choose those over any other sweet or dessert!
Dropping by The Monogram Shop to pay for a gift I had ordered and picking up a sweet gift for Isla from Leah, the store’s social media guru. I love it! I’ve been meaning to snap a photo of Isla with her new bag, which gets carried around everywhere.
Eating dinner at our favorites – Garbanzo, Buff Burger, Ruggles Green, Rosie Carrabba’s – we are such creatures of habit, but have a list of new spots to try and are going to make a point to visit them soon!

How was your week? What exciting things did you get up to?

Personal August 31, 2015

Week in Review

Exactly one year ago this week, I decided to start an Instagram account for my blog versus just using my personal account. I would be lying through my teeth (or my text, I suppose) if I said I was not incredibly nervous and self-conscious about starting afresh. I very rarely used to share details about blog posts on my personal Instagram, as I felt that my friends didn’t sign up for that when they chose to follow me. However, I knew that Instagram was a powerful tool for bloggers and photographers, and so I bit the bullet and created @SnapshotsAndMyThoughts. I think I had about 15 followers for the first few weeks and was nervous it would stay that way indefinitely (can we talk about #firstworldworries?). More than just being concerned about follower count, which didn’t matter all that much to me, was the fear that people would judge me for posting too much about my life. Blogging in itself is pretty self-centered – Hey, do you want to see photos of my life? Hear about my fun weekend? See how I styled my new bookshelves? I write this blog not because I want to talk about me-me-me, but to have a journal of our lives that I can look back on, and also to hopefully share some fun products we try, ideas I’ve got, styles I love, etc.

The very best thing about the blogging and Instagram journey is the people I’ve met. Yup, super corny, but so true. Over the last 52 weeks (and before that too!), I’ve met some of my new closest friends and have, through those people, worked on some exciting projects which has helped me launch a new business venture – Snapshots by Ailee Petrovic.

This is a really long way of saying ‘thank you’ for following along with me. For making this journey exciting. For your ‘likes’ and sweet comments. For sharing your lives with me as well. I am so incredibly appreciative.

This week was especially fun, as my sister-in-law was in town and I love spending time with her. Bar a nasty stomach bug that knocked most of us out for at least a day, the last 7 days were filled with lots of laughter. Some of the highlights include:

Dining with my very best friend, McKenzie, at Ruggles Green on Friday night and talking about any and everything. Life gets busy and sometimes we don’t see each other for a few weeks, and I hate it. She really is the best.
Catching up with my former co-worker and now friend, Jess, over coffee at the house on Monday. We worked together at Accenture what feels like many moons ago (but really was just 3 years ago!).
Eating an early lunch at Local Foods in Rice Village with Meredith after our date to SnowBlock was uprooted by it not opening until noon!
Meeting with Leah at The Monogram Shop to talk about a new project she’s working on that I’ll be helping with. She’s the best, and I am excited for what’s to come with the store!
Shooting with Elly Brown on Sunday at the Police Officer Memorial and Discovery Green. Not only is she drop dead gorgeous, she is so sweet and I loved spending the afternoon with her.
Celebrating our friends’ wedding on Saturday at St. Luke’s Methodist Church and the Nouveau Antique Art Bar. It was so much fun, and I’m glad I ordered this Monique Lhuillier gown from Rent the Runway.
Spending almost every day at LifeTime gym doing week 12 of BBG getting ready for Wednesday’s shoot with Paige!
Shooting with Esther and her gorgeous family at Fat Cat Creamery for this big announcement.
Meeting one of Sasha’s best friend’s new son, Archer, who was just one week old and so tiny… not to mention, absolutely adorable.
Getting my new mouth guard at the dentist (Dr. Matt Nickolas – go to him!) to help my TMJ. I cannot wait for my jaw to feel better!
Dropping by my friend’s house to shoot the exterior of her home for this house tour post. Isn’t her house stunning?
Finding a cheerleader outfit at Michaels (of all random places) for Isla’s doll and tossing around her pom-poms for an afternoon. She loved it.
Photographing our friend’s daughter and her two sweet cousins at Memorial Park on Saturday morning. Getting three kiddos to smile is always a challenge, but they were so cute in their little coordinating outfits – we got some adorable shots.
Spending time with all six of Isla’s grandparents (Sasha’s parent’s are divorced and remarried) and two of her aunts! She’s a spoiled and very lucky little lady.
Amongst healthy eating and lots of exercise, sneaking in some TCBY (my absolute favorite). Life is all about moderation, right?
Finally busting out our Breville juice machine and then making a million juices. I cannot wait to try new recipes (from JennyJourney.com!).
Eating veggie burgers from Buff Burger. If you live in Houston and haven’t tried it yet, you need to! They are so delicious.
Hosting a Shop Small giveaway, which ends tonight at midnight! Make sure you’ve entered!
Getting the prettiest package from Lindsay Marcella in the mail. Our bedroom makeover is seriously almost complete. I am so excited!

How was your week? What were your highlights?