Lovely Lake Michigan

If you have never been to Lake Michigan, pictures cannot do justice to how mighty this looks in person. I look at it and can't believe it's not ocean because that's the only thing I can compare it with. Vast is an understatement. This day was the windiest I have ever seen it there. The sand hurled at my exposed skin, pins and needles all over. I had so much sand in my hair days it was three days until I could scratch my head without feeling and hearing the tiny rocks. We had a glorious swim in the windy waves and picnicked on sandwiches, pumpkin and carrot bread and cheese with crackers. Then we stopped off at grocer's daughter for some delectable chocolate bars and truffles on our way home.

Got left behind hanging out with a monarch for a few minutes.

Searching for treasures.

I asked my grandma to pull over on the way home so I could get these two.

Walking Miss Daisy

My grandma is very devoted to taking the very best care of the pups and she takes them on walks through the woods daily. My grandma is in charge of driving, and Daisy is in charge of making sure everyone stays together and otherwise being the bossiest little dog possible.

Blueberrie Picking

My grandma casually mentioned that she had gone blueberry picking in an email and I instantly knew that was something I wanted to do on my trip. It was a very close call as the season was drawing to a close and many of the bushes at had been picked over, but we each picked a substantial amount of berries. As soon as we got to our designated rows, she took off. I seriously had to marco, polo her to figure out where the hell she was. I thought she was avoiding the inevitable photo opt, but she said she has some kind of food harvesting in her blood and just goes crazy-- I think it was both. Good thing I'm nimble enough myself.

Lazy Days on the Lake

My time spent in Michigan this summer felt like no other trip before it; I felt a sense of connection with the place for the first time. It felt like somewhere I could relax and appreciate the simplest of things-- the wind in my hair, farm stand hopping, sitting on the deck listening to bugs talk.

I have a hard time relaxing, especially at home in the same environment that fills me with constant worry about what will come next. In TC, I am not the expert on the fastest way of getting somewhere, and it didn't concern me. This is what my first day of a much-needed vacation looked like. More to come.

Moses & Meredith

Here are my favorite shots from a session I did in Michigan with Moses and Meredith. They make look familiar as I did a session with them a year ago. Moses was ready to go as soon as he saw my big camera
and Meredith was just as sweet as could be. Thank you for the great shoot!

I did not even tell him to get in there, I just let him do his thing. 

Let's Get Down to Business

Why, hello. Today is the first day I have been able to sit down at my desk and roll up my sleeves in what feels like too long. I took a trip to Michigan and promised myself I would relax and not worry about blogging, planning, problem-solving or any number of logistical photography issues. Of course, taking photos was not included in the ban, so I have a ton of photos to get through that I will be sharing soon.

Yesterday, I felt the beginning of fall in the too cool evening breeze as it hit me. After spending a week full of swimming, farm stand heirloom tomatoes and warm nights on the lake I can honestly say, I'm just not that into it.

Fruit or Vegetable? I Don't Care

Tomatoes, my second favorite food. One day when I have a backyard I hope to grow some of my own. I say hope mostly because I'm not great at keeping plants alive; I have killed a cactus or three. I'm thinking tomatoes and some other sturdy and relatively independent fruits and vegetables. Any suggestions?

What's my favorite food you ask? You must not know me very well. My favorite food is of course cheese, the greatest animal by-product in existence. If you didn't know that, congratulations, you have done an excellent job and tuning me out for however long we have known each other. I applaud your selective hearing abilities.

I made a couple recipes this weekend that I'm excited to share with you and on Friday I leave for Traverse City, Michigan. Cherry capital of the world, people. The world. And they also have that big ass lake. No big deal.