What? You want to know about our new MINI Sessions?

Okay, let's talk. We've just added MINI sessions to our packaging list this season and we're so excited about them! Because everything is adorable in mini; because we can.

Our minis are half the price of our regular sessions-it's all the fun of a regular session crammed into one tiny time slot. You can check out our prices and packages on our website, here.

Here's a sneak peak of a mini shoot we did with Master Chef Haley yesterday. (Isn't she cute?)

She's cooking for Brantford's Grandelicious this weekend if you want to pop by and try out her mad cooking skills. (You do want to. You do want to. You do want to.)

And since I upped our dream list yesterday from "have 20,000 LIKES on our Facebook page" to "have 50,000 LIKES on our Facebook page" please stop by and share or LIKE our Facebook page for updates on our shoots, specials, contests and times.

What can I say?! #feelinginspired #dreamingonMondays #happytobehome #lovingourjob #gobigorgohome

HAPPY TUESDAY Y'ALL.

xx.

And then there was the Domincan.

Okay, I'm back in my corner of the library this morning, but I figured I would take a break and say HI.

HI.

Jonathan is in Indiana for the day, getting his arms coloured in by the famous Cody Eich (tattoo artist.) (He really is amazing. Cambria-you need his stamp somewhere...I think your left arm will do.)

And, as aforementioned, I'm in the fluorescently-lit library. Such is life. (Starbucks I miss you.)

A quick report on the Domincan before I go back to organizing:

Let me preface this by saying that all our family vacations when I was little consisted of packed food, road trips, groceries bought along the way, etc. etc. (Read: budget, budget, budget.)

I am forever astounded that we traveled as much as we did considering our tight finances. My mother was creative, determined and resourceful-for that I will ever be grateful. I haven't made it to all 50 states yet, but I am well over halfway there.

My point-I have and always will be excessively happy with simple outings such as these. Picnics and road trips will forever give me a thrill.

When we went down to Mexico for a destination wedding last year, I liked but did not love it. I know, I know. Shocking. It was nice but I told myself and others that I was glad I had that life experience and I was just as happy to come back home.

All

this

to

say

I FREAKING LOVED OUR TIME in the Domincan this year. Hello all-inclusive resort; I will never be the same.

You know me-I happily made myself a feeding routine that included buffet breakfasts, fruity morning snacks, cookies and coffee in the afternoon, 4 course dinners and a few cocktails thrown in hither and yon. (When we got to the airport and I saw I'd have to pay for my much-loved snacks, I found myself in a teensy bit of culture shock.)

Every evening was like a date with fancy dinners and starry nights. We slept long hours, we talked, we took long walks on the beach. Cliche or not-it was lovely.

You already know we didn't have internet and even having a break from texts, calls and emails was a welcomed reprieve. We read 2 books and 2 half books-don't ask.

Melissa and Trevor's wedding was perfect and they welcomed us like longtime friends into all of their family gatherings during the week.

And now we are back (at least this half of us)-tanned and ready for our fierce summer schedule. Come on world, bring it.

And We're Back!

Hulllllllo!

I have to confess I was SO proud of myself as I left town with only 3 messages in my inbox.

When we landed in Toronto late last night, we took bets to see who'd have the most messages in our respective inboxes.

Jonathan "won" with 157, but I came in a close second with 141. (I have to say that the 8 straight days with no internet and technology was nothing short of GLORIOUS.) But I'm paying my dues now-this particular corner of the library has my name on it for The Whole Afternoon. And maybe every afternoon this week.

Even after deleting the junk mail, I still have a few dozen emails to get through (not all of them from my mom, either.)

We'll post some photos of our trip once we make headway.

Until then-sending you love.

Before:

After:

Willows whiten, aspens quiver....

Little breezes dusk and shiver12 Thro' the wave that runs for ever 13 By the island in the river 14 Flowing down to Camelot. 15 Four gray walls, and four gray towers, 16 Overlook a space of flowers, 17 And the silent isle imbowers 18 The Lady of Shalott.

19 By the margin, willow veil'd, 20 Slide the heavy barges trail'd 21 By slow horses; and unhail'd 22 The shallop flitteth silken-sail'd 23 Skimming down to Camelot: 24 But who hath seen her wave her hand? 25 Or at the casement seen her stand? 26 Or is she known in all the land, 27 The Lady of Shalott?

28 Only reapers, reaping early 29 In among the bearded barley, 30 Hear a song that echoes cheerly 31 From the river winding clearly, 32 Down to tower'd Camelot: 33 And by the moon the reaper weary, 34 Piling sheaves in uplands airy, 35 Listening, whispers " 'Tis the fairy 36 Lady of Shalott."

PART II

37 There she weaves by night and day 38 A magic web with colours gay. 39 She has heard a whisper say, 40 A curse is on her if she stay 41 To look down to Camelot. 42 She knows not what the curse may be, 43 And so she weaveth steadily, 44 And little other care hath she, 45 The Lady of Shalott.

(excerpt from "The Lady of Shalott" by Alfred Lord Tennyson. Apparently this is our The Grime Poetry Appreciation week.)

I can say bits of this off by heart and have always had a bit of a fascination with this fancy lady; due largely to my much grander fascination with one Anne of Green Gables (if you know her at all you'll catch the connection.)

So when my friend Anne-Marie said she'd always wanted to do a shoot in this style, I was allllll over it.

Enjoy perusing a few of my favorites.

Wanderlust.

Despite the 3 a.m. wake up call, we are excited today to be traveling together to the Domincan Republic. We're shooting a wedding on Wednesday (A Big Congrats to Melissa and Trevor), and we're excited to spend a few days before and after their special day simply relaxing, reading, being together and staying grateful.

This is Jonathan's 10th country; Layne's 25th (our 10th together) so we're crossing milestones all around.

(I looked up "vintage globes" in google and found this beauty from an old blog. Love it.)

We are grateful (so, so thankful) for these days to stop and breathe before the intensity of summer begins. We are amazed at the faithfulness of God in our lives and can't believe the beauty of our journey.

We love, love, love God, each other, travel, our friends, adventures, photography-we love that our lives are so entwined with all of the above.

So this little shout out is really just a mini "thank you" card to our Big Papa, saying we see His hands and overwhelming love in every inch of our lives. And we're full of JOY.

We've pre-posted some blogs for this week, just so you don't forget about us entirely.

xoxo-L + J

Don't Judge.

...Okay, okay-you can just a little. Here's my confession of the week, the shock of the day: I just filed my 2011 taxes. Shhhh. Yes, it's true.

I could tell you the 22 reasons why it didn't happen before now. I could hem and haw and hold my head down in shame. I could defiantly proclaim that they would have never tracked me down up here in Canada anyway.

I could tell you of Jonathan's disapproving scowl during this entire process (pronounced The Canadian way.)

Instead I'll just sign off, a happy girl indeed since this one thing is Finally off my grand TO-DO list.

Would you roll your eyes if I tell you that I'm a wee bit proud of myself?

xx.

Once Upon

A couple of months ago, I showed you some snaps I did during my lunch break, a mini "Princess and the Pea" shoot.

What I was actually attempting that day was a short stop motion feature. It's taken me months to get around to putting it together-this is the result of rainy days on end and Jono being too sick to pay any attention to me.

Hope it makes you smile at least a little on this grey day.

[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/63858581 w=500&h=375]

Well, that's it. Happy Friday, peeps! I hope these lines find you full of weekend cheer.

p.s. Drawings in this are by The Anita Tamminga. I can't draw to save my life.

Randoms from the Life of Grime

(Does that sound anywhere remotely as cool as the Life of Pi?)

Me thinks it doth.

Okay, a handful of Grimeness just because:

1. Jonathan has strep throat (he had the flu and spent over a week recovering and is now swollen with this throaty gunk. It's so sad.) #heissosickandlaiduponthecouch

2. I am currently listening to my first audio book-Divergent by Veronica Roth. I was loving it until I read the back of the case and saw that Veronica is only 22 and then I wondered what I've been doing with my life. Oh well. #ilovegoodreads

3. Jonathan is re-watching season 5 of 30 Rock to help with his ailing health. Last night I asked him who is funnier-me or Liz Lemon. He couldn't answer with a straight face. #HeadoresTinaFey.

4. For those of you who don't live in Canada, it has been raining for days and days. Even I, who love the rain, would be okay to say adieu.

Good thing I have my new rainboots.

Back story: I wanted rainboots for years and in 2007 my friends Neil and Emili surprised me with the black pair for my birthday. So nice!

I wore them a year past their holes and Jono recently surprised me with the red pair. #heissogoodtome

5. We tried uploading this video for hours today and it kept posting that it had uploaded...but then wouldn't play. #fail

Vimeo, are you actually sorry?

Peeps, hopefully we will get the video up and running tomorrow-with less than a dozen false promises of having done so from Jono's tweets and Facebook account.

#haveahappynighti'mgoinghometomysickyman

Daddy Dearest

Happy Birthday!

We hope your day is amazing and your upcoming year is even better. Boom, boom, boom.

Here are a few exclamation marks just for you because we know you love them so:

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's your birthday and we weren't sure what to give you.

What do you get the man who has all the nice black shoes and golf balls he needs?

When we were younger we always gave you sock and underwear.

I'm just not sure that's as appropriate now. Unless we decided to get you and Jono some matching pairs...of socks.

We (Catherine, Jono and me) chatted and chatted about what to give this Pops o' our hearts.

And in the end, we decided we wanted to give you a treasure, a pirate's store of goodness. Boundless gold and some rubies too.

Then we looked into our wallets...and discovered...

that maybe we will have to wait on that gift.

But what we will give you is...

One last momento from our childhood? A childlike piece of art?

No, no-one plane ticket to see one of US, your earthly treasures. We hear relationships matter the most so we want to help further all of ours.

We know Hawaii is on your dream list so we hope you pick the Big Island; but we Grimey Canadians have some open arms too. (Don't worry; we shoo'd away all the snow.)

We decided on a big blog birthday card instead of the traditional kind so the WHOLE WORLD can know just how much we love you!

p.s. You'll have to talk to us to get your plane ticket. You may have a few "special challenges" to overcome before you can hold your ticket...like a birthday obstacle course....

The Lamest Thing in my Life Right Now.

Okay, I'm about to make a confession and it will be embarrassing. This is something I shouldn't even share with my mum.

{Let me preface this by saying I have never played video games more than 5 times in my Entire Life. Yes, in all 3 decades I've been kicking it, I have never passed Mario Cart 2 or played DD. I've only played Wii once.}

I know you think that was the embarrassing confession, but it wasn't.

The confession is: I have reached new levels of dorkiness by becoming addicted to Scrabble on my phone. I can't even play with my friends as I don't have data on my phone; I have to play with the computer.

And the computer kicks my butt almost every single time. They write words I've never heard of in my entire life like emdash and jdion but who am I to question the powers of the computer?

Multiple times a day the little teacher function on the game informs me "Ummm, let me show you what you just missed." Or "Great job, but let me show you how you could have earned a few more points" and then goes on to produce a 64-point word I missed while happily scooting together my 14 point word.

Sigh.

And still I play on.

I play it while I'm waiting in the car at stop lights (what? this has to be illegal); I play it when I'm awake late at night and Jonathan wants the lamp off; I play it while I'm eating lunch or waiting for the kettle to boil.

I.love.it.

Note the wins to losses variety below. I have never felt so stupid. I need to find a third grader to play a round (or 10) with me and boost my self-esteem.

In conclusion, this is pretty much The Best $1.99 I have spent ever and I think you should invest too. Power to the phone Scrabble.

Of Faerie Tales and Pixie Dust.

We are working on a few bigger projects right now-RED, Hello Brantford, a stop motion, something with masks....and they are all my favorites. Especially this series I'm doing on pixies. They are just so fanciful and fun

I think I may collect these "pixie photos" for the rest of my life. Just because. I'm doing a lot of experimentation with this look of whimsy and it's been so lovely.

And now-introducing Holly the Lovely. (Holly, we forgot to find a good fairy name for you!) Any suggestions masses?

Happy weekend!

xx.

I think this one is my Fave.

You know faeries and their wildlife.

Poor cold faerie.

Oh wait, I love this one too.

And this one Love I...

And I looove this last one too.

Hello Brantford: Faces of our City.

We recently got inspired to do a project right here in Brantford, something that recognizes the people of our city. We will be taking our cameras to the streets in the coming months and starting a portrait collection of our fellow Brantfordian residents. We're stoked!

Yesterday was our first attempt and despite a bit of a cold wind, numerous people were willing to give us a couple of minutes of their time.

We also asked everyone what they love about our city. Hello photojournalism; it felt so good to be back in the saddle.

We'll let you meet these fine folks for yourselves.

Dylan C., 22, says he loves the trails, the river and skating downtown in the winter.

Scottie M. says he loves the river and that there are lots of people here in Brantford.

Kayt M. says she likes the nice people.

Arthur E. ("Oz") says he likes "how everyone is friendly. The city adopted me."

We love our city and hope you do too.

More faces coming soon.

Until then-happy weekend!

xx.

While You Were Sleeping, part VII {and other randoms}

It's been awhile since we updated you on the drama of our sleeping times. And it is drama. I've even started keeping a nighttime notes on my phone so I don't forget and so I'll have all the content for my pending book.

Here is a gem from one night last week-

4:30 a.m. Jonathan in a loud whisper: "Who is that?" "Who is that beside me?"

Layne, loud whisper in return: "Baby, it's ME. Remember me?"

Jonathan, loud whisper: "Uh...yeah."

Or last night-

2:14 a.m. Jonathan, clearly annoyed: "You're SO Weird!"

Layne: "Ummm, who is?"

Jonathan: "YOU!!!!"

Guess it's good to know how he really feels. (?)

...and here is a quick snap from our dirty door this morning.

Anddd, last but not least-

I finished reading "Onward" this morning, the book by the CEO of Starbucks. This is my favorite excerpt, a bit where he talks about some of the lessons he's learned along the way.

Grow with discipline. Balance intuition with rigor. Innovate around the core. Don’t embrace the status quo. Find new ways to see. Never expect a silver bullet. Get your hands dirty. Listen with empathy and overcommunicate with transparency. Tell your story, refusing to let others define you. Use authentic experiences to inspire. Stick to your values, they are your foundation. Hold people accountable but give them the tools to succeed. Make the tough choices; it’s how you execute that counts. Be decisive in times of crisis. Be nimble. Find truth in the trials and lessons in mistakes. Be responsible for what you see, hear and do. Believe.

Yeah!

Red: An Essay. {coming soon.}

One of my BIG IDEAS (see below blog entry) is a full-on "RED" themed shoot. I have at list of a dozen "Red" photos I'm going to take over the next couple of weeks.

{Taylor Swift, call me.}

But I think I'll carry this simple-but inspiring-shoot through the rest of this year.

I'm loving this pre-overtime season of reading, dreaming, writing, reading and working on personal shoots. The ideas just keep coming!

More RED photos coming soon.

Happy Tuesday, y'all.

"My Little Book of Big Ideas"

My friend Melissa recently gave me a small blank book and I have been staring at it for weeks, wondering what I wanted to do with it. It was so cute, so full of potential.

What to do?

I haven't broke out the "magazine cut out" trick in a few years, but one morning earlier this week, I knew it was time.

I opened the blank pages and just let myself dream.

I'm starting with a couple of personal photo projects over the next couple of weeks. But really, the possibilities are endless. I can't wait to share them with you!

Mel & Chris {teaser video}

We were soooooooooooooo Excited (hehe, yes, really that much) to share Melissa and Christopher's special day with them. And now we are just as excited to give you a glimpse of their stunning wedding.

Their February wedding was the perfect day and so full of sunshine, laughter and dear friends.

And now-no more words. I will let the video speak for itself.

[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/62945691 w=500&h=281]

Congrats you two love birds. Now-come and move next door, alright, already.

Heather & Jordan & Baby Smith Too.

We did a mini shoot on Saturday with the lovely (sweet, funny) Heather and Jordan. They are expecting their first in a few short weeks and we were honored to document their season of waiting.

Enjoy our sneak peak!

This is one of my faves!

This one is by intern Zach.

Another fave...

And last but not least, two more by the Zach.

We can't wait to meet Baby Smith soon, soon!

Feeling Nostalgic....

Maybe it's because I'm a girl, or perhaps it's simply because I'm me, but I usually like to think-and sometimes even talk-about my feelings.

So I'll tell you how I'm feeling today, this week, this month.

I'm feeling sappy, alive, full of hope.

I'm feeling the itch to be creative, to dream again, to write something new.

I'm feeling sad so many of my heart friends are far, far away.

I'm wishing I would work on another creative project with some of my Very Favorite creative people-Lindsay, Cams, Naomi. You know who you are.

I'm remembering all the good times. Here is a flashback to a wee experiment we did "back in the day." Perhaps I'll share at least one more of these before the week is out.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YimUqxTgQZc&w=420&h=315]

Let's Be Honest: There are Some Ideas

that just Sound More Romantic than they are....like going swimming together first thing in the morning.

Back story-for Christmas we got a giftcard to the indoor pool which really was such a great gift.

Oh how we have talked and dreamed about our pending pool sessions! Oh how we have chatted about getting in shape. We held our new swim things close (remember the speedo, goggles and swim cap Jono gifted me for V Day? Yes, well, those things.)

What swimming adventures lay in our future, just beyond that sweet horizon!

We finally made a plan to actually GO this week. Monday and Wednesday we said.

So we went yesterday and jumped right in.

What is this-shortage of breath? Weird stroke patterns? A deep, achy tiredness?

And why has the clocked only moved 5 minutes???

I'm not going to lie. We (silly us) anticipated swimming for an hour, but only made it 33 minutes. But who's counting. Really.

I imagined the life guards laughing throatily at my weakness from their lofty stations.

We splashed around a little. We laughed a little. We died a little bit more.

I used to think I swam like a fish. Maybe I did once upon a time. Maybe there was a bit of my former glory seen yesterday, at least for the first half lap.