As we all know, I'm an inconsistent blogger. And that's putting it mildly. But its usually because there are lots of great things going on … or that hard stuff is going on … either way, life calls and leaves little extra room for reminiscing (which is what blogging feels like to me).
Note: There ARE pictures (lots!) in this post, feel free to bypass my rambling and head down to the prettiness!
So, I've missed sharing/documenting some great things! As we head into fall … my most favoritest season of the year for so many reasons … the weather, almost every single person in my family's birthday, holidays, football, etc … and are making plans/getting excited about all that this fall holds (TONS!) … I have been remembering last year. And I've got some stuff to share :)
I'm working on some invitations for my big sister right now … more to come on THAT exciting news later … it reminded me that last year I was working on invitations for my little sister … for her 16th birthday! Not a small thing in my world. And I was determined to do my part to let her know that. She and her best friend, Avery, have birthdays just 2 days apart in the first week of December. It's a busy time and has in the past been, their birthdays have had to play second fiddle to a variety of other things. Not this last year. Not on my watch ;) So, the moms and I got to planning their Boots & Bling Sweet 16.
I don't have many great pictures of the actual party … the girls absolutely loved it though! It was in a storage building on Avery's family's land … but it was totally transformed that night, mostly by Ave's crazy talented mama … and the kids all decked out in their boots & bling. I, unfortunately, had gotten really sick a couple days before with a high fever and was not at my best and even headed home early and crashed :(
But, just two days before the big day and mere hours before the sickness creeped in, the girls had this fun, last-minute idea to go take pictures downtown. And I got to play photographer :) I absolutely love these pictures! I have so much to learn about photography, but these two beautiful, fun-loving ladies couldn't take a bad picture if they tried and they couldn't be more interestingly complimentary in their outfits and coloring. They were so natural, it made my job super easy. But the thing I love most about these pictures is that you can't look at them and not catch their joy.
After I edited them in Photoshop (a little desaturation and increased contrast to make them feel a little rustic) with Kendall's help, we printed a few to frame for the party and had a slideshow of them playing throughout the night on the wall with some others of their friendship and friends over the year. It was a great hit and such fun to capture them at that moment in time.
So without further ado … the stars of the show … my wonderful, gorgeous sister Kendall …
And her crazy-fun, beautiful best friend, Avery …
This is literally the first or second picture I took, still trying to figure out if I had the settings right, and I told the girls we could go home after this one … its perfectly them to me. Don't you want to be their friend?
We ran out of daylight, but set-up a little make-shift studio in my mom's dining room (we were worried we didn't get enough good ones … we were very, very wrong) and they just kept being fun and beautiful!
And here is the Save the Date postcard I designed …
And a mock-up of the invitation … the zebra was furry paper and the turquoise was glittery. And we added a few rhinestones to each. Extra fun! And the pattern on the boot is their names repeating.