Disney!

My husband had friday off from work so we drove up to Orlando to visit his family.  Rio started walking since the last time they saw her so they were so excited to see her running around, my little Miss Independent.  Saturday, my mom and step dad drove up from Miami too and we all went to Disney!  It was hot and there were so many people but we had a good time.  We went on a few rides, we saw a street parade and Rio and I danced with the characters, and Rio really enjoyed her first turkey leg ; )  We got to run around and be big kids for the day.

And let me tell you, Roberto's mom cooked some amazing paella for us on Sunday.  Great way to finish up the weekend before driving back home.

Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens

Todays adventure was up in West Palm Beach at the Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens.  It was a lovely house with almost two acres of gardens and let me tell you, Ann was an amazing sculptor.  She was very passionate about her art and her grand sculptures were throughout the property.  Some of them must have been more then twenty feet high, such amazing work from such a tiny woman.  My mom, Rio and I had the place to ourselves and it was peaceful and full of eye candy for us to take in.  There was also an exhibit inside the main house of found pieces made into sculptures or mixed media artwork, nice, but nothing compared to seeing Ann's studio with dozens of finished and unfinished work, miniature sculptures that would later turn to her large pieces and all of her tools that she used to create.  It was quite inspiring walking into her studio.  She accomplished so much in her life and THAT is something to look up to and aspire to.

MIA

Today, it was time for a little adventure.  I was on a mission to find the perfect spot to photograph the airplane landings at Miami International Airport- and we succeeded.  I did have a little help from my step dad, but that's okay.  It was amazing watching them coming in one at a time... a tiny spot on the horizon and then the lights come on for the landing.  My grandma lives right next to the airport so when I was a little girl I would always hear the planes while I was trying to fall asleep at night.  I love how they sound and I especially love the places they have taken me.

Fruit and Spice

Today my mom finally flew into town for a visit.  Finally!  So after I picked her up we went to the Fruit and Spice Park all the way down in Homestead about as far south west as you can go in Miami.  What a beautiful afternoon we had.  We walked around a little bit on our own and then we hopped on this trolley for a tour and our tour guide was fantastic.  She was constantly stopping and picking fresh fruit for us to taste.  Some fruit I've never even heard of from all different parts of the world.  Rio was absolutely loving it, she was devouring everything we gave her.  She was in heaven, one thing my little girl loves is her fruit.  My mom was loving it too because when she moves back down here she's planning on adding fruit trees to the back yard.  There's this one tree I love from Brazil, the berries actually grow on the bark of the tree.  It looks amazing and the berry is so sweet and turns a bit sour towards the center. 

I love days like this when I feel like I've really learned something about the world while spending time with the people I love.

I love...

Things I love...

1.  Seeing my daughters little face when she first wakes up

2.  Having lunch outside on an overcast day

3.  Apples.  Any color, I just looove them

4.  The color green

5.  My husband's calves : )

6.  That first glimpse of the ocean

7.  The smell of vanilla and coconut

8.  Taking a really really hot shower

9.  Sunflowers!

10.  Turkish apple tea

11.  Having a good cry during the sad (or happy) part of a movie

12.  Drawing with my pastels

13.  Funny cards... I never buy anything else

14.  When my daughter calls me baby

15.  flip flops... I live in them

16.  A good glass of red wine

17.  How I feel after a good run

18.  Trying something new that I've never done before

19.  Listening to The Beatles

20.  The feeling you get when you finish a painting

Tomorrow's the Big Day!

Tomorrow is my handsome hubby's Birthday!!  So I got him a few little presents, but I think he's really going to like these sweet little pics I took for him.  

This is for you Papa... We love you too much  XOXO

The New Park

There's a new photographer I've been working with recently who has a studio five minutes south of me and every time I've gone there, I noticed a park right next to the building.  So today I took Rio there to walk around.  The park is right on the bay so there are beautiful view of Miami and there was a good mix of people.  I saw two other Mama's there with their babies walking around and then I saw some sketchy people as well.  At one point an ice cream truck drove by and stopped and I saw these two young guys run out of the bushes to buy something and then they walked by me very slowly while I was taking some pictures.  I just gave them a "Don't mess with me"  look.  After a while I saw those same guys again, riding on a red bike with two big wheels in back and they kept whistling but I wouldn't even look at them.  Little punks.  

I wasn't too impressed with this place anyways.  Now I'm on a mission to find a cool new spot for me and Rio to go...

Drum Roll Please...

I've been working my little tushy off on my photography and last night I finally finished my Etsy shop and I started posting photographs to sell.  I know it's the first step on a long road but I'm willing and excited to make the journey.  I built up my makeup career from scratch and it took time and patience.  Everything worth having takes hard work so all I can do is accomplish small goals every day.  Life has changed and the most important thing in my life is my family, therefore I knew I had to find something that would make it possible for me to be a very present Mama and wife as well as be creative and fulfill that aspect of my life as well.  Wish me luck on my new path!

Spanish Monastery

For the past few weeks I've been wanting to go to the Spanish Monastery where my husband and I got married.  It's such a beautiful place with so much history and I wanted to take Rio to the place where Mama and Papa became husband and wife.  It was hilarious when I got there because as soon as I walked through the entrance way, I looked up and saw 30 nuns and an entire film crew.  The two actors looked over at me and it's kind of hard to make yourself invisible when you have a baby with a stroller.  I had to roll over these huge cables and the wheels kept getting stuck.  So I finally made my way past the craziness and into the cloisters where we had our wedding party.  I got a little emotional, it was just as beautiful as the day we were married.  And I was there with our little girl which was pretty amazing in itself.  The lighting was fabulous and I was just walking around taking pictures and remembering what a perfect night that was... Maybe a ten year anniversary party there?

Water Baby

She loves water.  There is this look of excitement and pure joy on her face when she's kicking her way around the pool and I couldn't let it end just because class was over.  So we made our way to the beach at sun down right before the rain came and it was just the cherry on top for her.

The House

Last year my husband and I, with our newborn baby, drove around for months in our neighborhood looking at the houses for sale and wishing we could find the perfect one.  We looked at this one house about four blocks from us that was in foreclosure.  It has over 2000 square feet and it looked like it needed a little TLC.  When we finally saw the inside of it, oh my god, my jaw dropped to the floor.  It looked like the inside of a fetish club.  The walls were all painted black and there were no doors anywhere, to the rooms or bathrooms.  The kitchen was like the kitchen to a restaurant and the master bedroom was on the second floor with these very narrow steep stairs you had to climb up... I was such a baby when I had to climb down, I thought I was going to fall off because there was no railing.  

Thank god we found our house.  

So Rio and I were walking around our neighborhood today and there it was.  The house.  Somebody bought it but it still looks like a wreck and on top of that the house next to it and the house across the street are empty.  The whole street is overgrown with palm leaves and branches covering the sidewalk and street... but it looks eerily beautiful.  

Poor house, I hope whoever bought it puts some love into it.

I heart Miami

I love Miami.  I really do, and I couldn't imagine living anywhere else.  It rained for most of the day today but close to sundown it stopped raining just long enough for us to make it over to South Point Park and walk over to the beach.  You could see in the distance black skies and clouds but there was a beautiful light right over us and I took some photographs of a Miami that usually doesn't get captured.  

My Miami.

Inspiration

I found this great blog  blogs.photopreneur.com and am feeling very inspired.  He created a list "60 Sources of Inspiration for Photography" including everything from shooting at a different time of day, giving yourself a theme, revisiting your past, or even using yourself as the subject.  Writing a blog was on his list as well and I do have to say that I completely agree.  It feels good to see my photos posted somewhere even if it's in my own blog and it keeps me motivated because I want an image or two to share for the day.  Photography is an artistic medium that works perfectly into my life at the moment because I can create while I'm with my little girl and I don't feel like I'm neglecting her.  Actually most of the time I incorporate her.  She really has become my inspiration and it's funny, when I shoot her the images have such a lovely child like quality in comparison to my other work.  She has made me see the world in a different way and opened my eyes therefore I am experimenting and I'm excited with the outcome most of the time.  At the moment, I feel as if a door has opened and there is this constant flow of inspiration and it's exhilarating really.  It makes me excited to see what tomorrow brings and what can be created...

first day

Drum roll.......  Today was Rio's first day of swim classes!  She's like a little fish in the water.  The teacher came by every few minutes and gave me a exercise to do with her.  She was kicking her legs and splashing in the water, she was loving it!  I was having so much fun with her, I enjoy everything so much more just by seeing how excited she gets experiencing the world.  At one point while she was holding onto the side of the pool there were three guys (in their late teens at most) standing next to the life guard stand.  When she saw them she actually picked herself halfway out of the water and lifted up her arm and WAVED to them.  My 14 month old baby is already crazy over the boys.  I am in so much trouble...

Rainy days

I had all these plans for my day yesterday.  I was going to go to a few different locations for a photo shoot and what happened?  I woke up to tornado warnings and constant rain until about 6pm.  That's one thing about Miami, when it rains, it RAINS!  But good news is when the skies finally parted, there was a beautiful filtered light and I did a little mini shoot with the flowers I had just bought.

Here's to a beautiful sunny day today and a toast to my delicious cup of coffee this morning!