With almost 400 guests, an amazing Boston band, enticing silent and live auction prizes, and sponsors such as Grey Goose Vodka and South Coastal magazine, the night was wildly successful in raising money for the Glenna Kohl Fund for Hope.

I’m guessing you’ve never been to a masquerade ball like this? It felt so very Shakespearian! People were decked out from head-to-toe, including elaborate gowns, top hats and masks. I look forward to seeing this event continue on in memory, support and celebration of one beautiful young woman’s life – and beautiful young people everywhere.

More photos can be found HERE.

First was the rehearsal dinner, a blended BBQ to include some of the father-of-the-groom’s most INFAMOUS grilled foods, yummy yum. I almost dropped vegetarianism right then and there when I smelled Chip’s buffalo wings. Emily treated us bridesmaids to monogrammed L.L. Bean totes (we’re so famous) and gorgeous green necklaces that she specially designed for each of us (we’ll come back to that in a sec). We camped overnight on the stunning property, and it downpoured harder than ever imaginable. The sun was shining bright when we opened our eyes on the wedding day.

The bridesmaids gathered that morning to make the bouquets and flower arrangements, and then we were off to the salon. It wasn’t until we were back at the house, Emily already in her wedding gown, that I realized I had lost my green necklace *GASP. After minor crying on my part, fast driving on Mike’s part, and sweating on Sarah’s part, we discovered the necklace was only a few steps away in the guest house. I had only brushed my teeth there that morning, but it was enough for the necklace to fall from my bag.

And then it was game time! What a beautiful ceremony and a beautiful couple!

Wait wait, there’s more! You know how you feel when you wake up the next day after an out-of-town wedding, and you’re kinda like “we better start heading back home, so tired, worn out, tomorrow’s Monday…” Well not at this wedding, no sir-ee! THIRTY-EIGHT guests rented tubes and went for a big float down the Deerfield River!! We took our own vows that weekend, and it was to include more river floating in our lives!

We’re so happy for you, Emily & Anthony! You deserve every single speckle of sunshine that shone on you that day and forever!

No, it has nothing to do with sunshine or anything – don’t be crazy. June has now passed with 30 days of rain, rain, rain. Honestly, even July has sent us packing for the hills of Vermont this 4th of July weekend. I haven’t been on the boat once, but Gary’s been squeezing in some excellent fishing with pals whether rain or shine, daylight or midnight.

Heather was in town from Arizona for the last few weeks, which is always awesome. We managed to hit a couple of our regular spots to catch up and eat ice cream, but the time went fast. Here are her girls playing at Craigville Beach one evening:

The Pashbys came into town one weekend as we also kicked off Emily’s bachelorette weekend in Wellfleet and Provincetown! Drag-queen karaoke is the perfect bachelorette festivity, FYI. Highly recommended. It was great to have a bunch of our friends meet each other that weekend, all cozied around the back deck sharing laughs and that now-so-familiar bottle of Hound Dog iced tea vodka (classy). We also got to meet Otis that weekend, the adopted little boxer brother of Toro Pashby!

In the meantime, a local animal hospital is ordering up about 10 to 12 of my prints in art gallery canvas and they look incredible! Check out the first trial order  below, and you’ll see this 30×20″ vision of Brewer above your bed when you visit next. It’s so exciting to see these and to be able to start showing them to clients.

On that note, I dabbled in my first-ever family photo session on the beach for a college friend, and I actually loved it! While I don’t expect to change the business name to ‘Warm’ Nose Photo any time soon, please do spread the word to friends and family that I’m available! Click on the photos to go through to the larger portfolio.

Stay tuned for more photos from last weekend, when Gary, Eric and Jill all ran the Fairfield Half Marathon in Connecticut, and the nieces and nephew had their uncle build them a big sand box in the back yard!

I hope you all have something exciting and dry planned for the holiday weekend ahead!

But sadly, unless Gary wants to start posting to the blog himself, this post isn’t about hippies and Wal-Mart parking lots.

It was a blissful weekend on Cape Cod! I worked from home and had some great walks with the dogs at nearby conservation areas. I spent a LOT of time on my photography business and was even contacted about two dog sessions and a large border collie event in August! Check out the next stage of the Cold Nose Photo logo:

I went for runs and I rode my bike, but I didn’t do any of the planned yard work because of the insane amounts of mosquitoes in the neighborhood right now! Gah!

The only human contact I had were the lovely ladies encircling Yummy Goods in West Barnstable >HI LADIES!< and an evening out to celebrate Kim’s birthday at Baxter’s on Saturday.

It’s not to say that I don’t love my husband, but it felt really awesome to be so silent and self-scheduled for a few days! I always had things like this to look forward to upon his return:

Sunday night I drove out to Chatham for a photo session with horses! And ducks and chickens and sheep and donkeys… It was so much fun! Here’s one cool shot, but you can check out the rest over at Cold Nose Photo or by clicking through this photo to my Flickr site.

Welcome to the glorious month of June! Happy Birthday to my fellow Geminis!

This month marks the one year anniversary of when I started Cold Nose Photo!!

A year ago I was a few months into having my fancy, schmancy new digital SLR camera, and about a month into living with the most photogenic mutt I’ve ever met. I had never heard of or researched the idea of pet photography. I don’t even know how I stumbled to her site, but the first photographer I encountered was Grace Chon of Shine Pet Photos on the West Coast. Whoa. I stopped in my tracks. Amaaaazing stuff.

Being as impulsive as I am, and being currently involved in Wordpress training at work, I mocked up a quick site, borrowing too much from Grace’s at the time. But that very night I set to truly working on the site, researching this incredible industry and developing my own goals and ‘personality’ over the next 12 months.

I don’t really recommend this approach – I think it’s much more respectable to spend time dreaming and cultivating, and really working toward delivering the very best of yourself once you’re ready. Write some things down, share with your friends and family, check out peers/competitors around you and get excited – and then launch a web and marketing effort. I only began marketing myself in earnest with the start of 2009. I needed that time to really know who I was, what I was willing to give this new dream, and what I hoped it would give me.

Looking back over the year, I’m extremely proud of where I am today. I get regular practice and snuggles from the dogs at the Animal Rescue League of Brewster, MA, and I have prints going up in two of the Cape’s largest animal hospitals this spring. With an average of 40+ hits a day, more people are commenting on my blog, and it’s exciting to receive compliments via Twitter. My new photo project, Dogs of Cape Cod, just launched. I’ve had strangers on the Cape even tell me they’ve heard about me, which is really a funny thing actually. 74 of you gorgeous people have even become fans of the Cold Nose Photo Facebook page!

I won’t be quitting my day job any time soon, but Cold Nose Photo is what I identify myself with when I wake up in the morning (after first rolling over to identify myself as Gary’s wife, Bromley’s trusted guardian and Brewer’s tennis-ball holder). It always makes me smile to think, “hey, I’m a pet photographer.” It’s creative and fulfilling. I work longer and harder than any other job I’ve had working for other people. I’m downright happy, in this and in other aspects of my life, because I’m doing something that I love.

I encourage you, my friends and family, to think about the kinds of things that make you most happy. You don’t have to give up your full-time salary in order to follow your dream. Start small, be inspired. Maybe you’re already doing it – painting, writing, throwing pottery, sewing, gardening, fishing, singing in the shower… How can you start to share your talents with others in your community?

I went for a long, leisurely drive home along 6A on Friday afternoon after visiting the Animal Rescue League of Brewster. I stopped to look at flowers, antiques and even a couple of the libraries now that I’m officially a card-carrying member again (shout out to Earth Day!)

Check out the pretty flowers I found!

And the old wooden boxes!

On Sunday afternoon, we spontaneously hopped in Kevin & Danielle’s boat and drifted over to the Vineyard for some apps and cocktails. Sounds luxurious, doesn’t it? I was so excited for the amount of DOGS that seemed to conglomerate around the one waterfront bar that was open! I was snapping away with the camera – a perfect time to launch my new website!

Are you ready?? Click the screenshot for more, and please join the fun! Weeeeeeeee!

So you can take that approximately 5% decrease in your annual salary, and you can sulk about not being able to eat out at restaurants as often as you did before. Or you can look at the fact that you just gained EIGHT hours to yourself every  month (or 11 if you commute like I do!). A whole day to get out in the great outdoors, to donate your time to a favorite cause, to learn a new skill you’ve been thinking about, or to simply do nothing and relax!

What did I decide to use that time for? Well, you know my pet photography is a huge source of enjoyment and fulfillment for me, and you *know* how I feel about shelter dogs. I’ve done one-off shelter photography for a while now, but most places prefer you come in on a slower weekday to spend time with the dogs. So that’s what I’m doing! I’ve decided to split my furlough day in half and spend four hours every-other Friday with the animals at the Animal Rescue League of Brewster.

You can see photos of my first trip here and here. These photos will be used to boost the dog’s profiles and visibility, and of course I’ll be sharing them over at my photography blog and through an upcoming web project launching soon. Maybe you’ll consider bringing one of this little furballs home with YOU someday!

We’re celebrating a momentous occasion ourselves here in our cozy Cape Cod home…

Please head on over to Cold Nose Photo to read more!

Sarah tore her ACL a couple of weeks ago, so we added lots of cozy dinners and hot tubbing to the mix instead of long ski days and dog hikes.  The skiing was great too though, and we snuck off to where the Presidents Day Weekend tourists wouldn’t find us.

Aside from our romantic dinner for four at the 1824 House, we also set out for an evening at Hannah & Steve’s new home (Sarah’s sister) – what a unique house up in the mountains of Moretown, built mostly of wood from the property itself! Their property line even extends into the Mad River. Very happy for them, and the three sisters who are now all within ten minutes of each other.

Gary dropped me off for the second half of the workday in Boston today. Things have been busy and continuing to ramp up at the office, which is great news for all. At the same time, I’m putting a huge push into my photography business for the spring, so keep your eye out for upcoming goodness at Cold Nose Photo!

On a much sadder note, Gary’s grandmother is quickly declining in health. She is 91 years old, and the toughest, most vibrant 91-year old I’ve ever met. Lee is a true matriarch. She had the kind of husband legends are made of and bore three children. Those children are still very close, with expanding families of their own (five grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, four great-grandpups). She has participated in her community her entire life. Her network of golf friends, the ladies she plays cards with, the women’s group, her cookie-swapping neighbors… I know they are all keeping her in their thoughts right now. She is passing of nothing more than old age, systems shutting down. What an admirable thing that seems like these days.

We hope you’re all well, surrounded by love and pink doilies, and savoring the coming of spring.