Southbound

Well, it took longer than it used to, but after packing for ourselves, a toddler, an infant, and a dog, dropping them off at their respective home-away-from-homes, and giving lots of hugs and kisses, Jon and I hit the road last week. Southbound. Headed for the Bourbon Trail, and Music City. Ah, vacation, how I love thee.

We stopped our first night in Louisville, Kentucky in the heart of bourbon country. If you know my husband personally then you know he is really in to home brewing beer right now. We are talking massive quantities, styles, and even a few competitive awards. Jon never does anything halfway. Ever.

So, naturally, we stopped at several, three I believe, micro-brews in town to sample their beer flights and food. Jon meticulously analyzed each beer, while I mostly made bitter beer faces. Ok, that's not entirely true, there were actually several that I really liked.

(Photos are a mix of phone and DSLR shots.)

The next day we stopped at a couple of bourbon distileries on our way down to Nashville. I don't drink whiskey, but the history and behind the scenes tour was really neat. Well worth the time to see.

With all of the bourbon distilleries in this part of Kentucky, these massive black warehouses (used for aging barrels) are scattered everywhere. The world must drink a lot of Bourbon ya'll! 

I especially enjoyed the Maker's Mark tour. Compared to the massive Jim Beam plant, Maker's Mark is such a small, old-school, operation.

Original sales room, built at wagon height so customers could pull up and fill up!

Very active yeast on day one of the fermentation process.

Sure, stick your finger in there and taste it! Umm...ok...

The first floor of one of the storage buildings. Seriously amazing process, it was really interesting to hear all the details.

Hand dipping the bottles in their signature wax.

We left Maker's Mark behind and wound our way down country roads, through wooded hills, until we reached Nashville.

Nashville stole my heart. I adore this town. It's setting, nestled among rolling hills and the cumberland river, is beautiful, the people are friendly, and it seems to be this perfect mix of rich history, busy downtown, and hip urban areas. The music, the food, the history, the people...I'm smitten.

Forget Joe's Crab Shack, that little hotdog stand had the. best. hotdogs. eva!

Famous Tootsies lounge. Right behind the Ryman Auditorium, rich in history, and host to awesome live music! Live music is everywhere in this town. There is so much talent here!

Hatch Show Print, a poster shop that's been doing letterpress since 1879. One of it's biggest clients was the Grand Ole Opry. 

This guy tried to climb my leg, because I wasn't paying enough attention to him.

Greek food...Greek building...

These huge magnolia trees where everywhere. They were beautiful and many were over a hundred years old.

The Ryman Auditorium. The Mother Church of Country Music and the original home of the Grand Ole Opry.

On Saturday, Jon was at a work conference all day so I went and toured the Country Music Hall of Fame and the historic RCA Studio B. There is so much musical history in Nashville. It makes me wish I had a shred of musical talent. 

Until we meet again Nashville!

I had an awesome time getting away with Jon, but we were so happy to come back home to these two beauties!

My littlest valentine, 9 months old!

My little girl is nine months old! My little valentine.

I feel like over the past few months she has started changing at lightning speed all of the sudden.

She got her first two bottom teeth at eight months old and I think she is slowly working on the top ones now. She started eating baby food and cereal at around six months and has been slowly adding things like yogurt melts, cheerios, and the like. We've had a bit of a setback in the sleep department since early December. For some reason she has stopped sleeping through the night regularly and usually wakes up one to three times.

A few weeks ago she started pulling herself up into a standing position and hasn't looked back since! She pulls up on everything now, constantly, which has resulted in a lot of falls, but she's a tough cookie. She stands unsupported for several seconds at a time and likes to cruise on things like the couch, or the TV stand. Speaking of the TV stand, she pulls dvd's out of that thing like it's her job. Every. Single. One.  I remember Sydney used to do the same thing when she was her age.

At nine months her personality is really starting to shine through now too. She loves playing with and laughing at her sister, exploring new things, and putting absolutely everything in her mouth. She is fearless, funny, and feisty! 

And just because big sister knows not to pass up a good photo shoot opportunity....

I can't believe one year is just around the corner! Here's hoping more sleep is just around the corner too!

Refreshed.

I was so looking forward to this past weekend, and let me tell you, it did not disappoint! Wineries, spa treatments, girlfriends, and a cabin nestled in the Northern Illinois hills. It was exactly what this sleep deprived, busy momma needed!

The getaway was planned as a bachelorette trip for my friend Lori, who recently got married. (Congratulations again Lori and Brett!) We had such a great time, I think many of us are hoping to make it an annual trip! Maybe during a slightly warmer time of the year though, so we don't have to worry about our hair turning to icicles when we are in the hot tub. ;)

I ate more food than I should have in a two week time span, laughed so hard my cheeks hurt, and enjoyed myself silly! I am so thankful to have such an amazing group of smart, independent, funny, kindhearted friends. I adore each and every one of you!

A few photos from our weekend:

Not a complete group shot...and I think I caught Kristi by surprise. LOL!

A peek at the vineyards. This place must be stunning in the fall!

I'm hooked on these arched chaise lounge chairs. Crazy comfortable! I want one for my home.

massage + pedicure + facial = heaven

The adorable town of Galena.

Thank you ladies (and gentleman!) for a fabulous weekend retreat! Also a quick shout-out to Jon and all the dads for spending the long weekend home with the littles! Sometimes a short break is just what the doctor ordered. Time to refresh our batteries.

Sophie | Champaign-Urbana Baby Photographer

My good friends were in town a few weeks ago and wanted to get together to take some pictures of their new little girl Sophie. She was about a month old and this was my first time getting to meet her in person. Oh my goodness, what a doll!

Congratulations Jade and Jen! I'm so happy for you two and I'm so glad I was finally able to meet Sophie!

Baby Alec | Champaign-Urbana Newborn Photographer

Well, it's mid January and I'm finally going to make an attempt at getting caught up on posting some of the photography sessions I've been doing over the past few months, so stay tuned for several more session posts to come!

First up, is baby Alec! I got to meet two week old Alec and his family back in early December for his newborn shoot. He was such a sweet little boy! Alec's mom had picked out a couple of hats for his session that were handmade gifts from her family and I just loved them! I adore handmade items. I wish I had some sewing/knitting talent!

Thank you Kelly and Patrick for introducing me to sweet little Alec and for spending your Saturday afternoon with me!