Getting to venture back to Texas for a few days to shoot this Austin engagement session and a wedding was a perfect way to spend some down time during busy season. Admittedly, my to-do list for Austin was essentially a list of restaurants. Hopdoddy, Home Slice, Sugar Mama’s Bakeshop, The Yogurt Spot, Spiderhouse, La Barbeque just to name a few. Thank you Texas for your awesome food, your awesome people, and your gorgeous locations. <3

A few Instagram photos from the past few weeks. 

For all of my love of the corn fields and carnivals that inhabit the Maryland area in the summer months, my husband Josh and I will be relocating to the Philadelphia area in October.

This just means we’ll be a few hours further away, but we’ll still be available for weddings in the DC area and I’m so thankful for my love of travel. I truly can’t wait to be a little closer to NYC and I’m excited that I still won’t be too far away to travel down for a day trip to DC for sessions. :)

I hope you’re having a beautiful summer!  xo

Nessa

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of attending and assisting at Ryan Brenizer’s workshop. I have a deep passion for NYC, as you may have noticed and it was amazing to be back. Even if it was just for a day or two. Part of me thinks I could easily give up green fields and a back yard to be able to walk on New York’s wide sidewalks in the shade of tall buildings, ride the subway to museums, hail yellow taxis, and visit tiny bars on weekend nights.

I also need to mention I recently received an encouraging message from a ghost with sidewalk chalk. The message was simply, “up,” but it stuck with me.

Here’s to ghosts with chalk, New York sidewalks, and things looking up. Have an amazing weekend.

Highlights of the trip: seeing my amazing friends, being that close to the mountains, visiting Joshua tree, and oddly, the staff at The Ace Hotel. The staff were all like the fantastic cruise directors from movies. The broadway singing bingo lady with the oversized orange glasses and bright jacket was my favorite, but nearly tying with her was the woman in charge of entertaining the karaoke room, which was filled with tanned middle aged vacationers. I loved how well we fit into that scene; it was such a laid back vibe. Our stay at the Ace was really incredible and every day there was relaxing.

And Joshua Tree! Joshua Tree was so beautiful. The monolithic rocks, the trees, and by happenstance, we bumped into another amazing photographer, Dorothy, who was shooting a video in the park. Even the trip to and from Joshua Tree was fantastic, with miles of wind turbines lining the roads.

If you have a trip coming up and are looking for something to do, I’ll be less helpful because we honestly spent most of our time by the pool, however! We love food and I have two recommendations for you. The two restaurants we ate that the blew my mind were Grind Brgr Bar and the pizza at Birba. Oh so tasty – both of them.  I really can’t wait to go back, but until then, here are a few favorites from the four days we visited Palm Springs.

Aside from my ventures into the world of miniature gardening, I’m also an avid Instagramographer (someone tell me – is there a word for this?) and I was beyond excited when they recently opened their loving arms to the world of Android users! I couldn’t be happier to have more friends to follow these days. Instead of the Instagram filters, I’m addicted to the new VSCOcam app (just $0.99 and so much fun), my username is “nessakphotography” and if you’re on Instagram and like photos of puppies, plants, food, etc. we might get along. Here are a few Instagram snaps from recent days and I hope you have a great weekend!

We drank wine in Dolores Park, took a double decker bus tour of San Francisco to see the Golden Gate Bridge, ate pizza slices bigger than our heads, chatted with a French couple while eating al fresco in Little Italy, and rode the trolley enough times for me to fall in love with it. San Francisco was everything I’d hoped it would be and I really can’t wait to travel back.

And I have to rave about this book I just started – “It Chooses You” by Miranda July. I’m only a few pages in, but I’ve fallen in love all over again with Ms. July. It’s a book of interviews with people she met selling things (a leather jacket, tadpoles, photo albums) through “The PennySaver” as she was trying to write the screenplay for “The Future.” It’s quirky, odd, and I always

With my head in the clouds and my nose in a book, my feet are wishing they were back in New York City right now. These are a few shots from this summer when I was in NYC to shoot a wedding with the amazing team at Memories in Motion. And here’s a link to some photos from a previous trip to NYC. Eating food from street vendors, getting lost in SoHo, and loving New York for all it’s worth.

Now it’s 6 days into the New Year and I have to admit I’ve never really done New Years resolutions. I never feel any different on January 1st so it always felt like a false starting point for me. However, I’m in a new city now. I’m reconnecting with people I knew from college, making new friends, exploring new places to photograph, I’ll be photographing weddings in completely new cities and places all year, and I’m wearing sweaters regularly for the first time in years. It feels like a fresh start and so I thought I’d share some personal goals I’d like to accomplish this year.

· Eat more fruits. And vegetables, if I have to.
· Don’t stop exploring the city I live in.
· Grow mermaid hair.
· Take at least three trips just to take personal photos. Photograph everything.
· If I think of a compliment, I’ll say it out loud.
· Stop hanging clothing on the elliptical because it looks messy.
· Use said elliptical occasionally.
· Wear sunscreen.

I really love the Instagram app and these photos from last summer felt relevant this week. I’m currently listening to Animal Collective on Pandora,  designing albums, and drinking Vanilla Chai tea. I hope you have an amazing New Year.

So tell me — what are YOUR New Years resolutions? 

Aside from my busy schedule finding my favorite dives and good food in my new town, I’m also re-reading one of my favorite books from Tao Lin, “Shoplifting from American Apparel,” a perfect pairing with a nice hot cup of British Breakfast tea. It’s not that I haven’t had access to tea or haven’t been drinking tea while we were living in Austin, but I’ve fallen in love with it all over again. Yesterday, I saw my first few flakes of snow in years and drinking tea on a snowy day is a really profound experience. It’s completely different feeling to have hot tea on a wintery cold day with snow than a mildly cool day with sunshine. It makes you appreciate the indoors just a little bit more.

These are a few photos from last year that felt relevant this week as we unpack our belongings, drink our tea, and bring in the new year. I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe New Years Eve!

Speaking of packing, I had the amazing experience of being photographed by Brittany Esther, a Calgary Wedding Photographer as I was packing up our tiny little house in Austin. Her work is… phenomenal and absolutely worth checking out. I have a book of her travels to Guatemala that’s absolutely inspirational. If you’d like to see what a wreck our house was as we got everything together for the move, check out her personal travel blog.

And that is my life to date. Spending the day with my husband of one year, my two tiny dogs, and enjoying our new house. Merry Christmas and happy holidays!