Joynt Love

Just got back last night from Central Michigan where we attended our good friends Matt (Joynt) & Heidi's wedding.  Here are just a few photos from that day.  Heidi was radiantly and breathtakingly beautiful.

And here's Matt, just moments before he walked down the aisle, with his groomsmen behind him.

And here they are as husband and wife, totally blissed out, which made my job as a photographer so much easier.

More to come, I'm sure!

In Daddy's Arms

Our friends Liz and Nate welcomed their long awaited and much anticipated bundle of pure joy Ida Jane in the wee hours of Monday morning.  Considering she was 2 weeks past her due date, we were all thrilled that she finally arrived.  I did a quick photoshoot when I dropped off a meal for Liz and Nate, and it was such a delight and honor to witness the love unfolding in this new family.  I can't wait to babysit!

Welcome, Baby Will

What an honor to be asked to be present to witness the miracle of birth, and to be trusted to document such a sacred event...I was truly moved watching my friend Alana bring her Baby Will into the world.

Welcome...you are so loved already, Baby Will...

New York, New York--A Few Highlights

BBQ with total strangers in Nyack who welcomed me with open arms.  Nyack rocks, 'Nuff said.

We wandered around a lot.

Some of us held hands. Hmmm. Now I'm wishing I'd held hands with Susanne.

We sat in Washington Square and people-watched. I can people-watch forever and ever amen thank you very much, and New Yorkers are very interesting to look at.

We pretended to be superheros guarding the streets of our fair Metropolis (actually, I just made that up).

My camera kept wanting to take photos of Susanne.  Can you blame me?  I love how she color coordinated her shirt with the streetlights.

We crossed streets.  Lots and lots of streets.

We browsed 18 miles of books at Strand Bookstore.

Susanne found the book of her dreams, in the $1 bargain rack no less.

We watched Joey Joey from the Bronx juggle, swallow swords and unicycle in Washington Square.

I took the obligatory bar bathroom mirror self-portrait.

We raised glasses and drank craftbrews from Belgium and Dupage County in IL.

Then we streaked naked in the night all the way to Union Square and back.  Ok, no, we didn't, but Susanne and I DID belt out Depeche Mode and New Order all the way from Greenwich Village to Edgewater, NJ.  I'm giving Susanne honorary Korean status for singing Bizarre Love Triangle with me, which is the Korean American national anthem, at least if you were K.A. in Chicago and graduated high school in the 80's/early 90s.

This Is What a 5-Minute Date Looks Like

These are my friends Brendan and Amy, the parents of the boys Jack and Rudden who appear quite often on this blog.  We were at the Shelebration--a celebration of Shel Silverstein--at Millenium Park on Monday night.  While our kids were running wild, being juggled and chased by various adults and each other, these two decided to take a 5-minute date to go hear a song that the band was playing.

It may seem like such a little thing, but this photo represents to me the small joys that we as parents in couplehood need to seek out with each other, and how meaningful those little moments can be merely because of the difficulty in attaining them at all.

Sans Color

Black and white conversions are not my for-tay, but every now and then I try it out, or some version of B&W.  These are a couple shots I took at church a couple weeks ago of a couple of my favorite ladies.  That's Hilary's cute shoes and feet above, and the lovely Heidi below.

Cadence loves these two, by the way, and she's a good judge of character.

Waving the Stars and Stripes

We attended the unofficial fireworks of the Bowmanville/Ravenswood/Lincoln Square area at Winnemac Park.  Apparently, this happens every year, and this was the first time our family had a chance to check it out.  I'm not sure how to describe the scene.  Words like "chaotic," "exhilarating" and "crazy" come to mind.  There were explosions in the sky all around us, and we never knew what to expect and when.  It was a humid yet cool night, and the smoke mixed with the wet air to wrap us all in a thick orange haze that created surreal images.   It was not for the faint of heart, and if Rudden (pictured above) hadn't been there, Cadence probably would've assumed the fetal position and begged to stay in the car.

And here they are waving their flags at the exploding sky together while Ted looks on.  It was quite the night, indeed...

Radiantly Beautiful

My friend Liz at the Think/Dance performance last Saturday.  Cadence loooooooves Liz, and for good reason.

Fischer and His Family

There is a big park in Lincoln Square that has free concerts every Tuesday for most of the summer months.  We met up with our friends Nathan, Bryn and their son Fischer last Tuesday to catch some music and to hang out.  Although it felt more like March than June, it was nice to be outside and at least go through the motions of summer.  Plus, I had a chance to get a few shots of this lovely family.

An Addition to the Sunday Reading Club

This was actually from last Sunday.  Jack joined Cadence and Rudden for their "reading club."  It was so cute listening to Jack read his book.  He was pretty good at making up a story from just the pictures.  This was a rare moment of quiet amongst the three.

I Need To Empty Out Some Boxes...

This adorably kitty named Zippy belongs to my friend Kim (of Think/Dance).  Cadence and I got to play with him last weekend, and that got me achin' for a kitty again.  Which brings me back to the colony of boxes that have been residing in our living room for MONTHS now.  Seriously, if I don't clear that mess soon, them boxes are gonna start claiming squatter's rights on me. But once those boxes ARE organized or recycled, Ted promised me I could have a kitty.  I know y'all are tired of hearing about me cleaning out them boxes...

I suppose if you're not a cat person or animal person, you can't understand the longing that I feel.  I don't really understand it either.  Such is love, eh?

*meow*

Sidewalk Chalk Art

The juxtaposition of Liz's happy cloud-and-rainbow drawing and Nate's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle drawing makes me smile.  Oh, and you can totally tell Cadence is telling Liz what she can do with that chalk.

Lucky Jack

If I remember correctly, Jack caught a few rides on that yellow bicycle in this manner during the course of the weekend, and not just from Jared.  I like how Oliver is following in the distance down that gravely path.

Talk about idyllic...

Friends Rock

These are my friends Katie and Hilary, two of the folks I hung out w/ on the farm this past weekend.  Theirs is a friendship I have long admired, so I was glad to take some photos of them together.  Katie is the one who lives and works on Wormfarm as an Artist-In-Residence.

And here are my friends Amy and Brendan and their boys Rudden and Jack whom we also got to hang out with on the farm.   Jack was crying into Amy shoulder when I took this photo, which is why you can't see his face here.

Here's a better photo of Jack.  My camera loves his eyes, that's for sure.  And he's really good about looking into the camera, which works great for me the photographer.

These were the friends we hung out with during our weekend in Wisconsin.  I wish we could've stayed longer, but at least I've got the photos as a memento.

It's My Birthday, Folks

And here is the gluten free chocolate cake that my friend Amy made for me during the weekend on the farm.  I know you won't believe me, but that cake is full of protein and fiber, thanks to the pureed garbanzo beans that replaced the flour.  It was melt-in-your-mouth delicious!

I took today as a vacation day, and Ted and I plan on doing something fun while Cadence is in school, but I'm sure I'll get through the photos from this weekend soon.  The photo above is one of the first I took when I got to the farm.  There's a lot more where that came from...

From the Archives--Matt and Katie

These are my friends Matt and Katie who plan in the Tim Lowly Ensemble w/ Ted.  This was while they were setting up for a show.  I just love that faraway look in Katie's eyes.  It looks like they're in a play.  I think that basket and bottle of wine in the right are actually props from a theatre production that was going on at North Park University where the show was taking place.

I actually do have new photos I've taken, but I have a headache right now, and I feel like I might be getting sick, so I don't think I'll get through them for a while.