on spontaneous visits

When I did my site redesign, I realized that any photographs that I have of myself are at least 18 months old -- and having just celebrated a birthday, I was afraid that using any of them might look like I was trying to appear younger than I actually am.  I decided that it was time for a new photograph, and I knew exactly who I'd call to help me get one that looked and felt like me in real life. 

My dear friend Maile, purveyor of the gorgeous Epiphanie camera bags, is a phenomenal photographer, and one of the few people whose camera doesn't make me completely nervous.  

So I contacted her. 

"Maile, I need new photos.  I was wondering if you would do some for me?"   

"Of course," she responded.  "How are we going to make it happen?"  Maile lives 3 hours away from me. 

"Well, I thought that I'd bring my family and we'd totally descend upon your house completely uninvited for a weekend." 

And because she's one of my best friends and is highly awesome, she warmly said yes.  So this weekend, we drove out to her place. 

As I knew she would, Maile took shots that I'm thrilled with, and I'll share some with you after she does her post-processing magic to them.  But the best part, of course, was just spending some serious bonding time with Maile, our friend Jenny, and all our families.

Here are some of the scenes from the weekend. 

Looking at these pictures, I'm realizing that this summer has been a complete departure of my usual habit of planning out what we do for the three really warm months of the year, when Alex is off of school.  Instead of scheduling our vacations to within an inch of their lives, this season has been all about spontaneity -- irrational road trips, last minute holiday plans, and now (admittedly somewhat brashly) inviting myself to spend time with friends. I don't plan on making a habit of simply calling friends and telling them we're coming (my mother would be horrified); nonetheless, this summer has been such a lovely reminder that sometimes the best times happen without long-range plans, as long as they happen with good friends and family.

Song:  Catch a leaf by Recloose