Personal Entry.

Mike is sleeping.
I wonder what he is dreaming of. Maybe its lollipops and roller coasters.... or maybe hes dreaming of eating ice cream in Barbados...or maybe hes dreaming of bowling...
What do you think Mike is dreaming of?
I dont know but he sure looks happy.

"sis-tern"

So this is how it all started. 15 year old Carissa stole her dads black Porsche in the middle of the night. Yes, I said PORSCHE..  She wins the bad ass award in my book. She was doing great until she accidentally scraped the ground effects. Bummer.  :(   She owed her dad some money for the repairs. Her father is a friend of mine and asked if she could intern with me. You see, Carissa is an aspiring talented photographer. (check out her work here.) Her fathers way of punishing her was to work it off.. with me. Thats what I call brilliant parenting. Instead of mowing lawns, she's learning more about something that she already loves. I always looked forward to having her around. We talked about boys, school, parents, and parties.. and photography of course. She's silly, animated, insanely brilliant, and daring. Together we would scout locations, jump walls, and sneak into places to dig for fresh spots. Thats my way of having a field trip. :D  And to top it off,  she loves minis as much as I do!  Meant to be.. So here are a few photos that we took together during our work days. The photo of her jumping the 15 foot fence got me published in 944 magazine. Carissa Rules. I love her guts.

Thank you for being the most amazing intern 

sis-tern ever!

I look forward to watching her photography as she grows. If Carissa ever moves to NYC, I call dibs. 

xoxo

Chellise

Jaime Lola

She's one of my sisters. I have 3. She's in the middle. Her middle name is not Lola, but I call her Jaime Lola because I love the way it sounds. She's not little anymore because she's ..oh my gawd.. I just counted. 29!!! How does this happen? I vividly remember holding her in my arms when I was six and stroking her temples to calm her down. A few years later I shared stories of the boogeyman (who is real) , "the man with golden arm" and "drip-drop". She used to sleep next to me on my ridiculously awesome heated waterbed and we would sing Soul Asylum songs while cracking up over the lyrics..and then crying over the lyrics.  I took her to her first concert, Rage Against the Machine. She was 13. And like any cool big sister would, I let her go free. She came back with shredded pants and I believe a missing shoe, and gleaming. I was so proud… The first time I caught her kissing a boy in the house, I dragged him out and almost killed him. I feel bad for that one. Sorry Jaimeeeeee.. Its really difficult to let go of my "big sisterness" sometimes even as they approach their 30's. But I cant help it. Its embedded in my brain from all of the baby rocking, homework helping, story telling, protecting, teaching, listening, and giving advice to. 

I love it and always will. Ill always be their big sister as they will always be my little sisters. 

Heres to Jaime Lola, the gypsy one.

I love you. xoxo

Lunch in Chinatown

Living in this city whizzes by fast. We've lived here 10 months and still haven't made our way to some of the amazing neighborhoods of the city that we thought that we would have by now. 

Like Chinatown.

So this morning, as we lay in bed rubbing the sleep out of our eyes I say "Lets go to Chinatown!" he says "OK!" 

I only took a few photos. It was a bit crowded today and I wasn't in the mood I guess. Im finding that I really dont like taking photos in areas when its crowded. It shouldnt matter, but for some reason it does. I feel timid, and I dont like it. I guess I just want to place all to myself.
I really want to go back on my own early one morning to get the photos that I really want. So heres a few. For now. :) 

Chellise