Meet: The Myers Family

And here we go with family #3 from last weekend!  Brad and I go all the way back to the fall of 1993 (what?!) when my parents forced me to leave public school for private school.  Naturally this was the end of my world at the time but as parents tend to be, they got it right and I had the best middle and high school experience that I could have possibly asked for.  The second week at my new school included spending a week at Camp Chewonki with Brad's dad, Bruce, as my group's faculty chaperone.  I remember basically nothing else of that week (besides no plumbing and eating camp fire grilled Spam) but unknowingly, it was my official introduction to the Myers family that has now spanned 20 years (again, what?!).

I'll spare you the embarrassing stories and inside jokes and just say that I'm glad that we're still in touch.  Brad and Christie got married in Maine in 2010 and they had adorable little Greyson back in July.  I saw Christie about three weeks before she gave birth and let me tell you, she looked more like six months pregnant than nine!  Greyson is a carbon copy of his father with the bonus of his mother's cheeks - even with a little cold he was happy and cute as a button.

Brad and Christie, I love your new home and that new little baby of yours!  What a great way to spend a Sunday morning, thank you for having me, I can't wait to do it again!

Meet: The Williams Family

Family shoot #2 last weekend was with the Williams family in East Boston.  Emily and Craig both attended my alma mater, our beloved Union College and while I didn't really know them when we were students, I got to know them in our post college years living in Boston.  Emily and I work at competing companies while Craig is a pastry chef at the ever popular Post 390 in downtown Boston.  They are a sweet little family of three, Gavin at the age where sitting still certainly isn't his preference!

There are neighborhoods in Boston that I never get to and besides the airport, East Boston definitely falls into that category.  I hadn't really seen them since they welcomed little Gavin a year and a half ago so it was fun to catch up on a spectacular fall afternoon by the water, the city skyline in the background.

Emily and Craig, thank you so much for letting me come hang out with your family, I had a blast!

Meet: The Adams Family

This fall has been crazy exciting for me as I have been given the privilege to document some young families!  First up, the Adams family.  Abby and Rob came to me via Emily, a fellow Union College alum (photos of her own little fam coming soon!) and it turned out that we had many other connections as well.  They live in the same town that both my parents grew up in while Marc, of Meghan and Marc, went to college with Abby and works with Rob.  This just seemed meant to be!

Their little girl, Charlotte, has the cutest little mop of bright red hair and the prettiest green eyes.  She had her moments but who could blame her for wanting to play with the nearby golden retriever?!  Overall I couldn't have asked for more from a 14 month old, she has certainly set the bar high.  The foliage was quintessentially New England, a picture perfect fall day.  Abby and Rob, thanks so much for spending your Saturday afternoon with me, I had a great time with you guys!!

On The Road Again: Dubai

A while back I wrote about all the amazing traveling I got to do in 2011.  So far, 2013 is winning.  By a lot.

About a month ago I was lucky enough to travel to the United Arab Emirates, both to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, for work.  We did have to spend a day in meetings but the majority of the week was spent experiencing everything the UAE has to offer.  I was only in Abu Dhabi for a night and naturally managed to take zero pictures with my big camera as I was still in recovery from the 24 hours of traveling it took to get there.  But let me tell you, our five star hotel was a-maz-ing.

The daytime heat rivaled the heat I experienced on the Amazon in Peru with highs around 106 degrees and overnight lows in the mid 90s.  I can only be thankful that it was September and not July when your typical day hovers around 115!  The city is under constant construction, always trying to outdo itself with something bigger and better.  We went up to the top of the Burj Khalifa, better known as the tallest building in the world, which had spectacular views at the top of the 60 second elevator ride to the 124th floor.  After that we hit up the local spice and gold market where you could get saffron at a fraction of the price that you'd see in the US (though the gold was priced as you'd expect it to be).  We followed that up with a walk down to the beach to swim in the Persian Gulf, by far the hottest body of water I've ever been in.

We spent one evening at the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve where we went dune driving followed by camel rides and a cookout in the middle of no where.  A few of us risked getting the super fine sand into our cameras and played with some long exposures from the top of a nearby dune after dark - definitely could have done that for hours!  The entire night was one of those times that you couldn't quite believe where you were, like something you only see in the movies; a total bucket list item if there ever was one.

If there was a city to compare Dubai to, I'd say its Vegas.  You don't really need more than a few days there but experiencing excess of the city is totally worth it.  It was so fun to go somewhere totally unlike anywhere else I'd been.  Below are a few of my favorites from the trip, as always I wish I had taken more!