Hope & Faith: RCIA Mass

growing up, i went to church every weekend with my family, typically meeting up with my grandparents in 'our' pew. waking up for early (7:30 or 8) mass was rewarded with a big stack of french toast or pancakes - that nana would cut for us even into our teens. being part of our family meant being part of the catholic family and i'm so thankful for that connection. some of my strongest memories revolve around times spent in church, singing hymns and opening our souls to something greater.

going to mass was our most consistent family ritual and it's something i carried with me when i went off to Villanova. my husband and i met during my first year of college; he was a junior and i had just left the nest of my family, friends and everything familiar.  i found comfort in the sunday night student masses that kept me close to my family traditions, even when we were 250 miles away. michael had officially joined the catholic church, as part of the Villanova RCIA program and together we made sure to integrate our faith into our relationship and weekly routines.

then we got busy with life.  we graduated, found jobs, got married a few years later, moved to a tiny town with lots of churches, but ancient parishioners, and homilies that i could barely sit through.  we tried going back to student masses a few times, but we didn't quite fit in there (no matter how amazing the choir is!) and our connection to the church was, sadly, frayed for a little while. and ya know what? the rest of our life felt the strain.

in the past year, we decided enough was enough and did some church shopping in order to find the perfect parish.  we found a beauty in St. Helena's of Blue Bell and i truly feel that being an active church-goer again has reinvigorated my spirit.  just having dedicated time each week to shut off our phone, calm our brains from the distractions of life, and be together in the presence of God makes me feel like i can take on all of the garbage that's been coming our way lately.  it helps that our parish is incredibly community oriented and we are blessed with priests who really hit home with their delivery of the word.

this weekend we had five RCIA candidates receive their first communion and they were confirmed into the church.  it was great to have so many people praying and cheering them on as they took this big leap.  i volunteered to take pictures and i hope that i created some images that remind the candidates of this joyous experience.

i felt fairly awkward snapping photos during such a holy time, but the deacon read an emily dickinson poem that started with:

"Hope" is the thing with feathers—

That perches in the soul—

and i thought, hmm, 'perch', like 'perch sisters'...he must be giving me the okay to snap away! ;-)

just a couple of the church and the Monsignor since the people pics haven't been released yet. the flowers were gorgeous and just as vibrant as the smiles of the RCIA candidates.

most of the pieces in the church have been reclaimed from churches around the world that were closing their doors...pretty impressive, huh?

IN THE BAG: the gear

the other week, i gave you a glimpse into my beautiful ephiphanie camera bag. while the bag itself is quite impressive, it's what it keeps safely stored inside that's most important! my cameras are amongst some of my favorite possessions...which i would bring with me to a desert island, even though the lack of electricity would render them useless after a few days! my gear is what helps me hone my creativity and bring my ideas to life. i am so glad to fill my bag, with what i think, are exceptional pieces of equipment. all my gear has served me well and i was lucky enough to recently upgrade to a top-notch body to snag that extra bit of light and produce the exact images that i feel demonstrate who i am as a photographer.

excuse the iphone photo!

everyone seems to have a story about why they shoot nikon or canon and why their choice is better. my story is fairly simple, my husband had a nikon from back in the film days so when i got my first big girl dslr i went the nikon route so we could share lenses. good thing he was nikon, because i love the crisp, saturated colors...and i like the ergonomics and shutter sound better - it's the little things :).

behold my d800! i looked at the d600, but couldn't pass up how badass the 800 was in comparison.

the nifty fifty has been my favorite lens from the moment i attached it to my d90. it rarely left my side as the fixed lens suits my personality and aesthetic. it remains my primary lens for most shoots and this christmas i upgraded from my original 50mm to this fine piece of glass...

to round out my setup, i have a speedlight (as a backup plan only, love natural light!), a few additional lenses and my phatstrap to keep my camera close at hand when not in her bag or when i feel it unsafe to go strapless. thinking about maybe adding this camera strap into the mix...anyone have any experience with the ciesta line?

what's in your camera bag that you can't live without? in the final installment of this mini-series, i'll show you all of the extra little trinkets i tote around in my bag. let me know what fun gadgets i might be missing!!

in case you missed it, you can read the other post in this series here:
IN THE BAG: Part 1

and because babies make everything better, here's one of my darling nephew enjoying the chilly spring air!

Birthday Break

Hey y'all, it's my birthday so I'm treating myself to a little blogging break! On Friday, my insanely thoughtful husband surprised me with tickets to last nights' P!nk concert...which was out of control amazing...but now i'm tired (from watching her expend so much energy and since i'm an old lady now). I'll be back later in the week with another installment of 'in the bag', so check back in a bit! And be sure to listen to the new P!nk album while you're waiting for my return!

Adventures on the Brandywine

This past weekend my mom escaped chilly and snowy RI to come visit me for a few short days. We were blessed with incredible spring weather and some unexpected adventures!

Many years ago, when Southwest first started flying Philly to Providence, my mom had found an article  about a garden/home/cafe store concept that the owners of urban outfitters had created and we thought we'd add it to our list of things to do at some point. i'm sure i still have the article stashed somewhere on my craft table, but out of sight, out of mind...until i saw this feature on stylemepretty.com and i remembered how much we NEEDED to go seek Terrain out!

Terrain at Styer's was an absolutely joyous experience. Every time I'm in an anthropologie, i say (outloud) 'i want to live in this store'...well this place evoked that feeling times a hundred. there were treasures around every turn (and there were lots of turns, it's enormous) and gorgeous displays of spring growth hanging from every rafter. I didn't take any real photos on the grounds...consider yourself lucky because there would've been 10,000 pictures...because really it's more of the experience than just a collection of items for sale. We enjoyed a delicious brunch in the greenhouse (the only meal you can share apple fritters, pancakes and a short rib sandwich and not feel weird) and wandered throughout the complex for hours afterwards saying 'ooooh, look at this' at every whimsical and lovely thing we came across. I didn't buy anything, for fear I would buy EVERYTHING, which just means i have an excuse to go back :). If you like Anthro and are looking for a good outing to revel in all things home and garden, put Terrain on your list!!

After leaving the magical comfort of the Terrain complex, we walked around the two nice shopping centers, on either side of Route 1, which had just about everything i could ever need...target, marshall's, grocery store, jcrew, willams-sonoma, etc, etc. i'm thinking i really should move into Terrain!! The weather was outstanding, we were sitting on a bench enjoying our fro-yo and the sun was heating the rivets on my jeans to an uncomfortable degree, haha.  

Once we had exhausted the shopping plazas, we headed back to the KOP area by way of the springton reservoir, just for a more scenic trip. So glad we did, because we happened upon a marvelous park that helped us walk off our brunch!! If you're in the Brandywine area, be sure to stop and walk around the Newlin Grist Mill, it had lots of hiking trails, picnic areas and building scattered around the grounds to explore. Definitely will be planning a return trip when the mud dries up and the blacksmith is in!

After a very trying and tiring week, this was truly a spectacular weekend and it was just what I needed to get through the next few weeks. Thanks for coming to visit, Mom! See you soon! xoxo!

Hooray for MOO!

I had a completely different post planned for today, but when I got home from work I found a nice little surprise waiting in my mailbox so I had to share!!  excitement equals exclamation points, so prepare yourself!! :)

My MOO cards arrived 4 days early, woo-hoo for moo!! don't know MOO? they're a london based company that's headquartered in the US in Rhode Island...so you know i've got to love them for representing my home state with an excellent product.  if you want a discount on your first order, leave me a comment with a way to contact you and i'll send you a coupon code!

I ordered business cards and mini cards so I could have something that was a little more standard and clean plus some picture cards to showcase my work. The business cards are matte, and while they're not the letterpress cards that I long for, the paper quality is great and they feel fancy. I ordered the mini moos in glossy and since moo uses 'printfinity' you can pick as many different pictures as you'd like to make up your set! So fun and so easy to create with their online tools...although the unlimited options made it tough for this gal to commit and actually place my order! Super happy that I finally placed my order, they are just what i hoped for, can't wait to hand them out!!

Excuse the phone photos, I was far too impatient to deal with my real camera!

awh shucks, new best friend?! so kind! not only is their product fabulous, but their packaging...and witty branding...is right up my alley!