A breath of fresh air ... sort of .....

FINALLY!!!!!!!!! Yesterday was like a breath of fresh air for me kinda .... even if I did get some more bad news about a friend and a family member (I'll get to that).

One of my dearest friends and fellow photographer, Dennise Landgraf, flew up from Brownsville on Thursday to attend a photography seminar called Tots 2 Teens (which by the way was AWESOME!) and then spend the night with me and my family. What a treat! ... I am pooped but refreshed at the same time! KWIM?

That day started with me baby sitting my grandmother while my mom went to the hospital for her last eye surgery follow up. My hubby had to pick up my gall-pal and drop her off to me at the house. Not 5 minutes later after the drop, my mom gets home only to say that the new eye looks good but unfortunately the Dr's want to now go in and operate on the other one ... like, in the next 2-3 weeks .... joy .. here we go again.

So after getting that lovely little slice of news, my friend and I had to quick make tracks back to my house so we could grab a bite to eat, get dressed and have a much needed head shot mini-session .. we both needed to update our pics and there was no time like the present!

After that it was quick off to the Gunther Hotel at 4pm only to get out of the seminar at 11:45 ... yes, it was a loooooooooong one! Realizing that all of that sitting makes one's tummy get hungry we went over to have a late night nacho supper (gotta love Mamma Margies) and finally ended up back home after one in the morning ... sigh, I'm tired just thinking about it all!

To make my evening even more eventful, I left my friggin phone at the house (Yet another Erika-ism) and a few of my friends were left without a call back from me ... so sorry guys, you know I love ya both!

Off to bed we go only to jump back out just a few hours later so that I could get her airborne by 8am. Oh, and did I mention that my little girl came up sick during all of this?

As this Friday winds down and I'm sitting with my sicky-pooh girl and I'm stuck just starring at all of the things that I was sooooooo inspired to get done today :)

Having D come up and attending the seminar was just the jump start I needed to get back into my oh-so powerful groove, and it all came to a screeching halt with my sick little goose ...

sigh ....

life ...

what a ride :)

Oh, and here's one of the shots that D took of me !!! LOVE IT!

The mom made me do it!

Yes, baby Max got to come back into my studio and mommy had a very specific set of photos that she wanted ...

No explanation needed, just remember that she made me do it! ;)

Welcome Baby T!!!

This little guy had such a great photo session .. and I was totally shocked! normally I strive to do any newborn sessions early in the AM when they are fresh, but this time mom and dad could only make it for a 7PM start time.

So in a word, YES I was worried! But little baby T put us all to ease ... perhaps I should think about dragging new parents out to my place later at night more often .. it's not like they are getting any sleep anyways with a newborn in the house!

Congrats to Kim & Abram ... your son is a true blessing!

Man ... I gotta say ... this first image was literally the last shot of the night and it is soooooooooooo my favorite one! You did good A!

Ok, so mom brought in the bow and I think that it was the perfect size and color ... and the perfect baby ;) ... well done!

My new headshot :)

So I needed to have a head shot done because a friend of mine did an interview of me for her pay-it-forward type of blog. (I'll post the link to the article once it is online).

These are the four that I'm gonna let her chose from. My family and friends have already spoken up on which shot is their favorite ... which one would you use for the article?

Oh, and before I forget, a great big hug and thanks to Chasity Furse of Studio 423 for taking the time to do these for me. You are the best :)

A personal note to all ...

As many of you may have noticed, I have apparently fallen off the face of the earth and I can absolutely understand many of your frustrations with me. Phone calls and emails have not been returned and many prints & products have not been delivered in my typical timely manner. I would like to first and foremost apologize to all those that have been wondering what has happened to me and the previously prized customer service and friendship that you have been accustomed too.

Over the past several months my family and I have been riddled with several major health and mental crisis’s and as a result of everything I have been unavoidably unreachable and distracted … and for that I truly do offer my sincerest apologies. Public confessionals has never been something that I was fond of, but in all honestly your valued friendship and loyal business deserves nothing less from me.

Alas, there has been a glimpse of peace and life at the end of this long dark chapter in my life that will joyfully result in the “Business as usual’ mentality. So, on that note, if you have been waiting for a print, product, service, phone call, email .. whatever, from me please take comfort that come 1st thing Monday morning I plan to finally (and quite thankfully) return to the world of this photography business that I love so well. One by one I will answer your emails, phone calls and requests. I only hope that at this point you can take it on faith that nothing would mean more to me than your love and continued friendships.

Love, E.