Dreaming......

Of a vacation. I have never in my LIFE been so cold as I have been the last few weekends (that I can remember ...my dad swears it was 8 degrees in AL one year when I was little) Anyways, I have the travel bug something bad and have been surfing the interweb all morning looking at dreamy places that I would love to visit, or in some cases, re-visit.

1. First up, Costa Smeralda, Northern Sardinia (near Porto Cervo) - the first stop on our honeymoon 5 and a half years ago. Costa Smeralda is Italian for "emerald coast" and is a tiny port town built by Prince Karim Aga Khan in the 1960s as an exclusive holiday village for the rich and famous with high end fashion boutiques, expensive restaurants, and luxury hotels. This place is seriously paradise. The food is incomparable, the locals are super friendly, we had the most amazing massages EVER at our hotel, the Costa Smeralda Cervo Resort and (the best part) a private beach overlooking the Mediterranean. Our favorite place to eat was this little local restaurant, Il Peperoni. Sardinian cuisine is simple and straightforward, made with only the freshest ingredients. The exception being this famous Sardinian specialty (warning - not for those with a weak stomach.)

2. L.A.: (or anywhere in CA basically!) I've only been once and am dying to go back. I think we spent 5 days there and there was never a moment where I thought "oh, I'm bored..." There is so much to do - the parks, the beaches, the dining, the shopping .... oh L.A. I puffy heart love you :-) A close second is San Francisco, where Chris and I got engaged. So romantic, so beautiful, so much wine to drink ;-)



3. Vegas, Baby! Fingers crossed I will make my pretty little way to WPPI this year. Prrrrrrrrobably not, but....a girl can dream, right?



4. I'll be going here in a couple of weeks for another one of these. woot! so excited :-)

5. Last but not least, I'll settle for this, which is where hubby and I will be this weekend celebrating Valentine's Day :-)

Our Christmas

was cozy and fun! We have a tradition of hosting Christmas Eve dinner at our house every year. This year I made a simple but hearty menu for fifteen that included roasted leg of lamb, parmesan risotto, minted carrots, baked brie en croute, roasted pototoes and the BEST home-made bread pudding you've ever had in your life. Chris and I then rounded out the night with my favorite tradition: sipping champagne and playing Santa. Our kids are such night-owls though, we had to stay up until 2:00 am to safely bring out the goods. Christmas this year wasn't huge, and I am totally OK with that. I put a lot of thought into what we bought for each boy, made a list, checked it twice and ordered 90% of it online :-) The older I get (and the more kids I have) the more "actual" shopping gives me major anxiety! They seemed pleased with their gifts, and it was really fun that Owen was actually excited for Santa to come this year and understood what was going on. All he wanted was a garbage truck for Christmas (the kid has always had a weird penchant for garbage cans, gargage trucks) and he got it. And that was all he played with :-) I don't think he even noticed that he HAD other gifts to open until about an hour later. Jack's big gift was a scooter that makes sparks when you hit the brakes. But his favorite gift was the practical joke set he got. What was I thinking?! We then hopped from my parents' house (where we had smoked salmon, cheese grits and mimosas, my fave!) to my in-laws where we ate AGAIN, home for naps, then back over to my rents for the best steaks I've ever had in my life. We went home sleepy and full, the perfect ending to the perfect day. And the perfect way to round out a wonderful year!

(taken with the Shake It Photo iPhone app)

Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas...

Well, by now our Christmas cards have hopefully arrived to all! Next year, I will definitely fore-go the square cards since they involved gnashing my teeth during the design process, multiple trips to the post office and a million dollars in postage, ha ha. Seriously though, I love sending/receiving Christmas cards almost as much as opening presents on Christmas morning. I get really excited every day when I see my mail man :-) This year my mantra has been a low-key, no stress, keep it fun, who cares if the house is messy, style Christmas. I decided that instead of attempting to do our own family photos like a crazy person (aka = me last year), we would hire another photographer to do them for us so that we could enjoy the whole experience. It was also a treat for me to get to experience first-hand the process that my clients go through (waiting to see our proofs nearly killed me, lol) One of my high school friends' husband, Cory Callahan, is a super-talented photographer and so fun to work with. Here are a few shots from our session(s) (we got rained out on attempt #1.)













Merry Christmas to all! I sincerely hope you have a wonderful holiday, filled with lots of love and fun, and maybe even a little cold weather (fingers crossed!)
XOXO,
Sarah

10 years ago today .....

I was holding my precious newborn baby boy. It is so hard to believe that Jack is ten today. My heart swells with love for him more than ever before. He is so very special to me and is one of the best things in my life. When I think of how much he has changed me I have to thank God for the miracle of Jack's life. A (very) free-spirited but ambitious freshman in college, I certainly never expected to get pregnant at 18. I still remember very vividly the moment I found out. I was scared terrified. I took 2 tests to be absolutely sure and just remember the room spinning and a million thoughts running through my mind. I was in a relationship, but not married, was living in a college dorm, was a full-time student, didn't have a job and was an hour and half away from my family. But, underneath that flurry of emotions, there was a stronger current of peace, joy and excitement. I always knew that I wanted to be a mother and instantly I felt a love for this baby that I had never before experienced. I won't say that becoming a mom at such a young age has been easy, especially with all of the heartache we went through when John (Jack's dad) and I divorced 3 years later and I found myself a very young single mom. I know I missed out on a lot of things - experiences, opportunities ..... but I truly believe that God had (has) a very important purpose for Jack's life and that He protected us through all of our hard times and blessed us with tremendous love. I am so thankful that He chose me to be Jack's mother. I have always felt that this was my highest calling in life and NEVER regretted or even second guessed my decision to keep my child. My life is so blessed, so rich, so happy and fun because he is in it. I cannot imagine a day, let alone 10 years or a lifetime without my precious son. I am also thankful for the many wonderful people in Jack's life - Chris, for loving him as his own son, John, for giving me (one of) the most precious gifts *can't forget about my other sweet and precious boy!*, my parents for being SO supportive, encouraging and loving. For never judging me and loving Jack more than your own kids. Only kidding. Sort of :-) The world is a brighter place with Jack in it. Happy Birthday sweet boy, I love you more than words can ever say! XOXO, Mom.

*before watching the slideshow, scroll down to the bottom of the page and hit pause on my playlist, there is music on the slideshow and it will make you go crazy if you try to listen to both of them at the same time :-)

Wild Things....

OK, so maybe I'm a little psycho obsessed with Where The Wild Things Are...... This was one of my favorite books a child and I'm so happy that O&J now love it too. Nothing cuter than hearing Owen say "I lub ya so.... I'll EAT YA UP!" :-) I've always had somewhat of a wild imagination....I actually had 2 imaginary friends growing up, Jennifer and Allison (I could tell you exactly what they looked like and how they acted to this day!) and, at the risk of everyone thinking I'm a little nutso, I definitely still live in somewhat of a tilted reality now. I think maybe I just see things a little differently than most people. That's probably one big reason why I love photography so much! in a world full of mundane moments, and difficult moments and heart wrenching crap that we all have to go through, I get to create a sort of fantasy-land where everything is magical and golden and blissful and OK. I know that is a little cheesy and weird, so .... sorry :-) Also, I've come to the conclusion that I was just not created for a desk job. My heart literally sings when I get the shot I'm after (here I go with the cheese again.) Anyways, I am super excited to go see the Wild Things movie this weekend. It will be O's first "real" movie-going experience, and I'm honestly not quite sure how he'll deal, which is why Chris and I are tag-teaming so at least one of us (+ Jack) will get to enjoy the movie. I'm such a sap, the movie trailer made me teary eyed. Oh! and Owen is going to be Max for Halloween :-) I'm just waiting for my Etsy lady to finish his costume and I'll post some pics. I desperately tried talking Jack into being one of the wild things, but he is insisting on being a bounty hunter (??!!) instead. Maybe Chris and I will rock these grown up Wild Things costumes (hehe, yah right!) I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who's embracing their inner Wild Thing this weekend - check out all this cool stuff from UO!

Sunshine Boy

That is what I call Owen (and Jack when he was little.) It was so touching to me today when I was editing these pictures and I asked Owen "who is that little boy?" and his reply was "it's a sunshine boy." This little sunshine boy melts his mama's heart!

See more here

The Bray Bunch

Well, here we are :-) All 4 of us in our finest attempt thus far at a family photo! Photos taken by Emily of Campbell Photography. Since I don't have a little girl (yet) I can't really say that it would be a different experience, but I think you can tell by the look on my boys' faces what it was like, haha! Thanks Emily for capturing such wonderful pictures for us!!

PS - YES, we were H-O-T. But, ya know, it is actually supposed to be fall, so we were trying to look the part. I'm still making good on all my bribery & cajoling :-)