Busy Christmas!
We can thank this lovely Christmas season for my inability to do as many postings on my blog as I’d like to. It seems like it’s one Christmas party to another, shopping for gifts, and moving my home-base (with everything that entails!), to friends visiting. It just seems to never stop! I’m actually quite surprised with Christmas this year. I’m starting to feel like a woman on the verge of having business to attend to. It’s a strange feeling for me, but I have to admit, I’m really starting to enjoy it. I guess some would call it… maturing? Growing up? Getting a life? I don’t know. It is what it is, haha.
For example, tonight- Chris and I went to the Gates’s house for a “Welcome Home/Christmas Party” for their youngest daughter, Janelle, who is normally away in Georgia at school, and their older daughter, Melody and her husband Derek, who now live in California. I’ve known the Gates for a little over 10 years now, and they are a family I would consider my own. It was a lot of fun, and so so so great to see Melody again. I’d really love a chance to get back over to the West coast again and visit her in California. Who knows- I might just fall in love with it all over again and move back. That would be splendid.
Anyhow, I just wanted to update you all and let you know that I’m still here, I’m still alive, and things will get back to normal probably some time after Christmas (one can only hope!). In the meantime, I want to take a poll…
And of course, naturally, when I say “Track St. Nick as he flies around the world” I simply mean the NORAD Santa Tracker. If you haven’t seen this yet, I highly recommend checking it out. It’s great with kids and so much fun to do on Christmas Eve. It’s a website that actually tracks Santa’s stops around the world, and keeps an update of when he’ll be coming to your town, down to the second! They now have options for you to follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Picasa Web. I absolutely love it. My nephew, Mekaih and I tracked Santa last year. He was so excited, he couldn’t wait to fall asleep so he would come sooner.
And speaking of sleep… it’s now time for me to get some. I’ve got yet another full day tomorrow planned. Merry early Christmas, everyone, and good night!
d.
Desiree Designs a Mural!
Yesterday, I painted a mural for the lovely Liz and Steve. In remembrance of their friend who had passed away whom was always nicknamed “Peter Pan”, they wanted silhouettes of The Pan Man on the wall of their new infant’s nursery walls. I was more than happy to oblige. My friend, Katie is down from Illinois and since she’s looking to move here, I had her come with me and intern. It ended up being a huge help because without her, I would have not finished it in the same day. She was a huge blessing to have around. I did the design work, and she came after me to fill in all the silhouettes. During the process, I also had her take photos so we could document it. Below, you’ll see those! It was a long, hard day’s worth of work, but totally worth it when Liz and Steve walked into the room and saw it completed for the first time. They were blown away. She almost started to cry but blamed it on the pregnancy, haha. It was the most fulfilling part of the day. Anyhow, I’ll just get to the photos! They are in chronological order from what the room looked like before, the painting process, and at the bottom is the final product. Enjoy!
d.
Just a Teaser from Saturday
As some of you know, on Saturday I did a photo shoot with the beautiful Jennifer Rennie and her handsome son, Isaac. We went to the Maitland Art Center, in which someone was having a wedding, so we proceeded down to the lake instead. It was still a beautiful backdrop for some lovely photographs. We all had a blast and it was a delight to work with her and Isaac. He is a riot. He’ll randomly break into dance, he says the most random things, and he’s incredibly laid back and cool for his age.
Anyhow, I wanted to share a few teaser photos with you all before they go up on the website. Enjoy!
And naturally, afterward, we went to Jeremiah’s- The best Italian ice joint in town!
It was a fun day, haha.
If you’re interested in scheduling a photo shoot with me, please feel free to take a look around my website and contact me with any inquiries!
d.
Swap and Shop
So last night, I went to the last official “Swap and Shop” of the year. I always love going to these because it allows you a chance to get rid of clothes you never ended up wearing, or you’re just ready to get rid of, and you can take anything and everything that you want of other people’s clothing that they brought. All for FREE! It helps that the crowd that goes to this are all stylish hipsters so you know you’re going to find something good and unique. To make matters even better, some of the left over clothes, they donate to Dress For Success- a non-profit organization that helps women get interview appropriate clothing and tips. And if you’re looking to spend money on something else truly unique, in the shed in the back of the house, there were a few vendors set up. They are either reselling old vintage clothing or accessories, or they hand-make their own items, all of which you definitely won’t find anywhere else, for sure. It is just an all-around great time. I left with more than a garbage bag full of free clothes. I guess it’s time to go through my closet and get rid of the old to make room for the new. >.< It’s exciting, really. Enjoy the photos I took from last night’s event!
d.
Swap and Shop
Best Christmas Decorations Ever!
Are you one of those people that doesn’t put up Christmas lights because you just know you’ll have to take them all down a few weeks later? To make matters worse, do you have a neighbor that goes all out, seemingly just to spite you and your spirit of Grinch? I’ve got the perfect solution for you… Do what these people did:
Hahahhahahaa! I saw this driving home from the Swap and Shop (more on that tomorrow, I promise!) and I literally laughed out loud. So much so, I had to drive to the next road just to turn around, go back, and take a picture of it… I was even laughing in random bouts the whole 30 minute drive back to my house… I felt the need to share this Christmas Spirit with my faithful blog-followers. Merry Early Christmas!
d.
This month is flying by!
Hello everyone!
Greetings from Fawn! I’m working in the shop today. I always love Fridays because its the day I work, but it is also the time I get to do a lot of work on my photography business. Speaking of which, just a friendly reminder:
December 19th is the last day available to sign up for a timeslot for my Holiday Sessions!
There are two options available for signing up:
1) Come visit us at Fawn in Historic Downtown Sanford (www.FawnMom.com) and sign up on the signup list. There is a $50 deposit to hold your spot, and it goes toward the $200. The rest is due the day of the shoot.
2) You can call me to set up your appointment anytime today before 7.30p (407.257.0753) and I will put your name on the list and run your credit card through the phone for your $50 deposit. And likewise, the rest is due the day of the shoot.
For more information on what you’ll receive through the Holiday Session and how it works, visit my other blog post for the details here:
Desiree Designs Holiday Sessions
Don’t miss out on this great family portrait opportunity! I hope to work with you soon. 
d.
Christmas has come early this year!
So, I hear a knock at the door today to find this:
Merry Christmas from my baby! He knew how much I needed these and he stepped up and got me what I needed for Christmas, and I couldn’t be more thankful! So now, my room will smell of fresh rubber until Friday when we’ll take my car in to get them put on. Unconventional? Maybe. But I wouldn’t have it any other way! I love it!
d.
Vivia for Fawn
I’ve updated my website with these new photos. This is my niece, Vivia Victoria Martinez. These photographs were taken as a promo for my family’s store, Fawn. She’s absolutely darling, if I say so myself. Enjoy!
d.
Winding down from the weekend!
Wow! There was a lot going on this weekend! I find it so funny when you will have certain times when absolutely nothing is going on and you could shoot yourself in the foot just to be entertained, and there there’s times when everything is happening all at once, and you’d shoot yourself in the foot just for a reason to stay home. Thankfully, this weekend was a healthy mix between the two.
We can start from Friday night, Chris and I went over to Papa Phil’s house (which is going to be my new residence here, quite soon) to have a much needed discussion. Saturday morning, I wake up to Chris knocking on my door. It was time for Ikea. Okay, so we got a late start, but we still went. Chris had never been to Ikea before. He was amazed by it, I could tell. He wrote all about it, and I couldn’t help but giggle. Ikea led to Papa Phil’s once more. The boys all watched the football game… I took a nap. Haha. It was a great nap, the only problem was waking up once the sun was done… it made me feel like I was supposed to still be sleeping.
So a few hours later, we finally left Papa Phils to drive a whole quarter mile down the road to Jennie Rennie’s house. She had invited us over earlier in the week and I was rather excited about it. Why? Well, she was making her homemade chicken and dumplins…. I’d never had HER homemade CnD before, but everything she cooks is great, so I wasn’t worried about it. We all hung out there for a while… Had a great time. We got to play with Sofia (my 1 year old niece). Chris would hide behind the wall and when she’d come looking for him, he’d jump out and scare her and she’d go running and laughing as seen here… (caution, hilarious!):
My niece had me rolling on the floor, laughing. She also learned a new head-move. Just imagine her saying “Nu uh oh no you DIDN’T!” Hahah She’s hilarious and she doesn’t even realize it, which makes it even more funny.
Then yesterday (Sunday) we had a production by the dance team at Northwest Church called Deception. It involved silks and hoops and trampolines, very cirque-ish. I was impressed with the progress they’ve been making since I introduced them to a friend of mine, and silks trainer some few months ago. It was quite visually stimulating. There’s one more performance Friday, Dec 11th, at 8p. Totally free and well, well worth it.
After church, Chris came over and we rented a couple of movies and hung out at my house, ate some food, and winded down from a busy weekend. I ended up passing out way sooner than usual (I think it was around 10.30p?) which explains why I’m up at 9a this morning.
I’ve got to go to English class at 2p, and take my poetry exam. Goodiegumdrop… In better news, however, this is the last week of school. Next semester doesn’t start until January 11th. I have a few odds and ends jobs happening, like mural paintings, and photo gigs, but I will have a lot of free time. Be sure to check out my website and contact me with any photography inquiries you may have. Free time means more time to work with YOU, taking photos!
With all that being said, I’m off now to get a few things done before I have to get to class. Wish me luck!
d.
Work, Work, Work!
Hello, all!
As some of you may be able to tell, I’ve been doing a lot of work lately on getting my photography website up and running, as well as marketing the crap out of it! It’s so strange: when I get these sudden bursts of inspiration, I have no choice but to run with it. Maybe it’s out of fear of losing it? Maybe it’s because it’s just a natural progression? I don’t know. All I know is I’m glad it’s happening. It is much over-due for getting things up in the air, out in the open, however you want to word it.
So for the other half of you that don’t know what I’m talking about (I’ve been doing it all day, may as well throw in another shameless plug!) here’s a list of the sweet websites and such to check out, add yourself to, whatever!
Desiree Designs a Blog (although you obviously already know that one… you’re here, aren’t you? >.<)
So there you have it! The Desiree Designs hub, central station, lexicon, call it what you will! With that being said, I’m finally going to head off to sleep, count some sheep, and wake up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed tomorrow. Chris and I are taking a mini field trip to a lil store called Ikea…ever heard of it? 
Gnight, and happy web-surfing!
d.
