Monday, October 25, 2010

Hodgepodge

I think it should be known…again…that I love all things October. Bring me a to a place full of colorful trees, leaves crunching at my feet, pumpkin carving, crisp night air, pumpkin bread, cute little baby Halloween costumes, and Halloween themed gooey eyeball deviled eggs and I’ll show you what a great weekend looks like. That is exactly what my friend Darcy showed me this past weekend. As Addisyn and I took a road trip to Virginia for two photo shoots and some Q.T. with the BFF, I got my autumn fix in with a hodgepodge of EVERYthing that was this past weekend. It could only be described in one "hodgepodge" word: Amazingbeautifulovely.

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That pumpkin above is the first pumpkin I have carved in over fifteen years.

Someone else I know loves this season too!


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and I was able to meet beautiful baby Keira. Please enjoy some of the sneak peeks from her shoot.



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Until next time,

Stacy Hart

Monday, October 18, 2010

Essence

Every week I retreat to a familiar chair in the corner of our study.  My newest passion for blogging combined with my post pregnancy derriere weight have joined forces the past few months to wear my fairly new seat cushion into a cozy padded Stacy impression. The seat cushion now conforms nicely around my tush each week as I kick my feet up on the ottoman and nestle into my little corner. The small side table holds a lamp with the perfect amount of ambient light and is ornamented with coffee cup stains that remain from last week’s blog post.  It is my blogging haven and I look forward to the peaceful ambience, the quietness, the background music playing softly out of my laptop, laying my head back, closing my eyes and tapping into the memories of the past week’s events to find the one subject I will write about. 

This week was totally different for me. As I reflected on the week’s events, I realized that there was nothing glaring at me with neon lights saying “WRITE ABOUT ME!”. For the first time since I started blogging, I realized I was suffering from writer’s block. This was an insane discovery because I would have never previously considered myself a “writer”. I still wouldn’t, to be honest, but this blog has been much more to me than proper grammar and perfectly placed adjectives. It is about enjoying the essence of life and embracing God’s plan for me. Then it struck me: Essence. This weekend was a series of meaningful events. It was a weekend I almost let pass without recognizing and enjoying the simplicity and soul of it all. I wouldn’t have traded my weekend for any other and there was a TON to enjoy about it. Steve and I had a wonderful date night on Friday with friends from our church. There was delicious food, we laughed, talked, and then caravanned to Wilmington to attend a marriage seminar to learn ways to cherish each other (more on this to come in the future). On Saturday, a long time friend of Steve’s came to visit us from California. I had never had the time to get to know him until this weekend. Through our conversations and interactions I discovered that there must be something in the water in Sonora, California. Ben, like my husband, is passionate, intelligent, fun and embraces life. It is clear that nothing holds him back from grabbing life by the horns and holding on for wherever the ride might take him. I look forward to seeing Ben more in the future. Saturday night, I was one of 149 others attending a party for a really good friend of mine. She was turning thirty and celebrating the recent receipt of her doctorate degree. It was an honor to be included in such a wonderful event and to see the love that surrounds just this one person. On Sunday I attended church, as I always do whenever I am home, and it was wonderful (as it always is), but equally as wonderful was reconnecting with an old friend and his children. During a yummy lunch after church, I got to see how much his kids have grown and how much they love and respect their father which was heartwarming and just plain lovely.

As I sat back in my chair and thought about all these moments, I only hoped that what they say is true: “You are the company you keep” because I love the company I keep. They all enjoy the essence of life.

There are not many pictures this week. A huge photography post coming next week.
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My Essence

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Autumn Lover


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Looking too cute :-)

Hoping you find the essence of your life in all its simplicity,



Stacy Hart

Monday, October 11, 2010

All things Autumn

I wake up, as I do every morning, with heavy eyelids.  My tired body stumbles to the bedside of my baby Addisyn as she stands up with a huge smile. She doesn’t care if my hair looks like a rat’s nest and stands about an inch higher than how I use to style it in the early 90’s. My body shivers because I just left the warmth of my Tempurpedic. Then, without question, the cozy bed I just left wins the battle over the first cup of coffee every time.   I pull my daughter in closely and crawl back into bed with a seventeen pound love bug attached to me. I lay there hoping to be able to go back to sleep, but a clapping, laughing, crawling, and hungry baby makes it a lost effort.  With a heavy sigh, I accept defeat and change my focus on a cup of coffee that is just minutes away from seeping into my veins and awakening me from my grogginess. This is my morning routine, but this Friday was different from the past nine months. I opened the windows while my coffee was brewing and a warm Autumn breeze softly blew in.  It was almost as if to be a gentle reminder that this was the first day to a fantastic weekend of Fall activities to be shared with my long time Virginia friends, Darcy and Kristen.

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I celebrated Autumn like it was only in season for the weekend. Making sure that October didn’t slip by too quickly, I crammed as many Fall festivities as I could pack into a weekend and let them soak into my soul.  As a new mommy, I discovered a love for a new Fall item that made its spot to #1 right above my “Spiced Pumpkin” and “Autumn Wreath” Yankee Candles. I think I have a new obsession for baby tights.

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Although the Smore’s and hot cocoa were a pleasant reminder of the cravings (or call it addiction) of my third trimester, there was nothing better than enjoying a delicious bowl of French onion soup and sharing a good bottle of wine and great conversation with friends.Thank you, Darcy and Kristen for making my first “real deal” Autumn weekend so memorable and lovin’ all over my baby girl.


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Loving all things Autumn,


Stacy Hart


What is your favorite Autumn item?


Do you need a fast appetizer that is a huge hit with guests? I make this at least once a week. Try it out!


Sliced (slightly stale) French Baguette bread
Drizzled with Extra Virgin Gourmet Olive Oil
Sliced fresh mozzarella
Sliced fresh tomato
Sliced Proscuitto (you don't have to use Proscuitto)
A little more drizzle of oil..a pinch of salt, pepper, and basil.
Yummy!


Most of the photographs above are created by Storyboards. This is a new product I am offering for announcements and Christmas cards. If you are interested in Engagement pics, baby announcements or Christmas cards, please contact me at stacyhartphotography@gmail.com

Monday, October 4, 2010

One More for Love

It was a morning love letter; a simple paragraph with perfectly worded and incredibly romantic sentiments. It was unexpected, but not out of the ordinary. It was faultless.

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This post is completely and whole heartedly inspired by a love letter I received from Steve earlier this week. A letter I now carry with me in my wallet so I can draw motivation, love, and hope from it as often as I desire. I know, twelve posts into my new blog, you might be thinking “Ugh! What else can she possibly say about love?” Well to that I say, “Sit back folks because if you think I’m done, it’s gonna be a wild ride.” Love IS my passion. No wait, I said that all wrong. Love…is my mission, my inspiration, and my purpose. It is packaged and neatly gift wrapped and ready to share with anyone who is willing to receive it. So I dare you to read on. And while I am certain there will be a time or two when I have a series of bad days, this is NOT one of those times .


Let’s get back to something fun, handsome, and incredibly important: my husband. It is my personal opinion that aside from the whole insignificant vampire detail, we would give Bella and Edward a run for Stephanie Meyer’s money. So if anyone wants to write a story about two Delaware residents that fell in love and are now joining together to fight the evils of everyday life, I am game. Any takers? I didn’t think so. Lucky enough for me, I get to use my blog as a platform to tell you all about my love life. So there are a great many detailed characteristics that I love about Steve. For example, we have dance offs all the time. Unscheduled, completely random, and insanely hilarious dance offs. The crazier the dance, the better. For those of you who have been so honored to witness “the cricket”, you will know that this is the caliber of dancing skill required for these dance-offs. Steve is one of the goofiest people I have ever met and that is just one small reason why I love him. Now let me tell you the main reasons. 1) He is a man of God. He is steadfast in his faith and he steps up to the challenge of life each time it flares it’s ugly head. 2) He puts me before Addisyn. I think it is a common mistake in most marriages to put the children first. I know from experience that it is easy to get sidetracked in raising a child that the spousal relationship gets neglected. Well, this is something that Steve stays tuned in to and before it gets too late, we take the time to refocus on each other. I know it doesn’t seem right, but I honestly believe that children will reap the benefit of being raised by a mom and dad that openly shows their affection toward each other and who remain united on big decisions for their family. 3.) He is a wonderful father. He comes home from a long day at work and he lies down on the floor and plays with Addisyn, reads to her, feeds her, takes a nap with her, gives her a bath and rocks her to sleep. He does all of this with a smile on his face and then joins me for great conversation at the dinner table after Addisyn is all tucked into bed.


Oh, and did I mention he writes me love letters?


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"My hope is that you know that even though each day may not be perfect between us, we are perfect for each other each day. "- Stephen Hart


I pray these words and pictures will encourage all of you to let down your guard and become one more for love.



Until next time,

Stacy Hart


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