So I  started a cooking blog…

Sometimes it seems crazy to add another venture to my already jam packed life. But cooking is something I do every day. And I love it!

Don’t get me wrong. It hasn’t always been this way. When Aaron and I first moved in together, cooking was a necessity. Honestly, I kind of hated it. It was hard. It was time consuming. And the results were not always as good as I had hoped.

Fast forward to today. We have a successful business. We’re crazy busy. And I’m still cooking.

Somewhere along the way, things started getting easier. I learned how to measure without reaching for a measuring spoon every time. I got better knives and got better at using them. I made a conscious effort to cook healthier meals. And one day, I realized, I love cooking!

We’re not the only couple out there trying to eat healthy meals that actually taste good. And I figure, if I can get dinner on the table most days (ya know, between the 9-to-5 job and working on stuff for Hawes Photography), you can too. So if you like to cook, want to get better at making dinner, need some new recipes, or are just curious to learn a bit more about our lives via food: hop over and check it out: www.modernmealsfortwo.com. I hope you bookmark it, add it your Google feed, subscribe… whatever gets you back on a regular basis… so you can chat with me about food.

In the space between when I made the move to St. Louis and when Aaron joined me, we continued to get inquires from couples in Kansas City and Aaron conducted consultations on his own. It was frustrating not to be have that initial contact with potential future wedding clients, but Aaron can clearly explain our philosophy and business on his own (in truth he can sometimes get carried away, talk to a couple for hours and make me think that he’s lying dead in another city… but that’s a story for another time). Michal and Melissa were one of the couples he booked solo, so the engagement session was my first chance to meet them. Of course they fit right in with the kind of people we normally attract: fun-loving, unpretentious, and laid back. They sealed the deal when I tossed out questions we would normally ask at a consultation. Their answer to “What gets you most excited about your wedding?” was “The photos!”

One of the things we’ve been looking forward to most about our move to St. Louis is the chance to explore a new city. So we went a little untraditional with Josh and Laura’s request for “green space” for their e-session and opted for a lot down by the river that turned out to be a foundation of an old building. After a little free form climbing, it turned out to be the perfect setting to capture the early morning light in March. Enjoy!

We’re opening our first storefront, this is not just a home-based business, pedestrian traffic welcome studio! I’m resisting the urge to insert multiple exclamation points, because we couldn’t be more excited to finally be here. And be here I mean 1) in a bonafide studio 2) in a new city and 3) on Cherokee Street.

Each of these points deserves special attention.

1. Getting Aaron out of our basement (unaffectionately known as “the cave”) has been high on our business goals for a few years. We felt our home studio was great for weddings but was holding us back in a few other areas of the biz. Let’s be honest, we couldn’t exactly hold a business meeting with a prospective client interested in our commercial work in our Blue Springs basement…with the dog corralled upstairs… you get the picture.

2. We moved cities. While we L O V E Kansas City and it will always hold a special place in our hearts, we’re thrilled to be scouting new places to shoot and bringing our creative style to StL. We’re already making mental notes of places we’re dying to shoot!

3. We have had a crush on Cherokee Street since we visited a few years ago to check out the antique stores for which the strip is famous. What we found was a gorgeous hunk of city with affordable retail spaces that was just begging for artists. And we’re not the only ones who noticed. Much like Crossroads was the heart of KC’s art renaissance, we see Cherokee and the awesome people on this street breaking new ground in the art world and, in doing so, creating a fantastic community of likeminded folks.

So consider this your invitation (if you haven’t received the e-vite the FB event notification or talked to us in the past week… I’ve invited anyone who seems remotely interested). We’re throwing open the doors, popping a few dozen bottles of wine and saying “Hi! Nice to meet you!” to anyone who wants to stop by. The party starts at 5 pm Friday at 2307 Cherokee Street.

And for all you who can’t make it, stop back here on Monday. We hope to be past our hangover by then and posting images of our studio!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Eeek! I couldn’t help myself.)

Our first ever contest proved to be highly entertaining! Among the entries:

- a mom getting into the wrong car at a gas station (which was the runner up, even though that doesn’t come with a prize)

- a mom mistakenly using car air freshener for body spray

- a mom scolding movers for “stealing” her jewelry only to remember that she pinned it into her bra just to ensure it would not be stolen

We honestly had a hard time deciding which story was worthy of the free session and canvas. Emily’s story hit close to home.  There is a similar story about Aaron’s mom’s attempt at breadmaking that has become somewhat of family lore… though no animals were harmed in the making of the story.

Here’s what’ Emily sent us:

“My name is Emily Pearl and I am 25 years old. My wonderful mother is Agnes. She married my dad in July 1973 and first became a mother in June 1974 (they didn’t waste any time) with my oldest sister, Katie. Then in 1979, Tim, the only boy and therefore our mother’s favorite  ;)  came along. Mary was born in 1981 and I arrived in 1985. 

I’ll start her funny story before then though. Katie must have been around 3 because Tim wasn’t born yet. Mom had made some meatloaf one night. Well the small family didn’t get it all finished, so the next night they ate it for leftovers. It just so happens that Dad got sick! What bad luck. But that darn meatloaf was still around, and my mom, being how she is, just couldn’t throw it out. We don’t waste food! So the next night Mom and Katie ate the meatloaf and then Katie got sick! Mom would not throw that meatloaf out though, so she ate it for a couple more meals. Finally, she was so tired of eating meatloaf; she gave the rest of it to the dog. The next morning the dog was dead! LOL!

 So Mom’s meatloaf has a bit of a reputation. It also proves just how much of an iron stomach she has too!”

Congratulations Emily! We’ll see you and your family soon… but please don’t ask your mom to bring any snacks!

Posted by Heather (thought you should know – otherwise this won’t make much sense)

Cheri was one of my sorority sisters and roommates in college. Now she lives in Hawaii and is serving as a nurse in the Navy. When she wanted us to do her boudoir portraits I was extremely excited to spend time with her again. As you can tell from the pictures she loves to laugh. What you can’t see is what I love most about her – she is whip smart and an incredibly loyal and supportive friend.  Enjoy!

Cheri – I’ve always found you to be a beautiful person, inside and out. I know it’s cliche, but it’s true. I hope these pictures are a nice reminder of your external beauty. Love you – Heather