So, I am excited to share with you that I am actually in Las Vegas! I am at WPPI, which is one of the most awesome conferences/tradeshows in my industry. So…. I am here literally basking in awesome information… and will be back on Friday!

I am especially excited for a couple of things…

1. To room with one of my favorite people ever, Jan Schill. And, I get to see friends from the industry from across the country!

2. To do a fun photoshoot in the dessert with Thirst Relief. An organization that I love. And if you didn’t know… in 2012, we decided that 10% of what you spend here at m.e. photography goes to Thirst Relief. So you are saving lives by providing clean water!

3. Airplanes and Blazers. Can’t wait! My dancing shoes were the first thing in my suitcase.

4. New products and seeing my vendors in person. So fun to meet the people who take care of albums, prints, etc. WPPI has an awesome tradeshow.

5. Lots of learning. I am a nerd like that. I LOVE listening to speakers… Can’t wait to learn some new things!

So.. here’s Vegas 2 years ago… Think this was from Casey’s point and shoot. This year I go sans Josh. Sorry Josh…

Jan, myself, and Casey…

Be Back Friday…. but keep checking the blog! I have posts scheduled to keep you reading while I am away, and maybe, just maybe, I will post some fun from afar!

.e.

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Apple Shallot Pork Chops

I have made these a few times. Josh and I think they are pretty good… and Ainsley likes them also. I give it to her minus the almonds (choking hazard)

You need:

1 Apple

2 Shallots

5 Tablespoons of Coconut Oil

Cinnamon and Sea Salt

4 Pork Chops(thick)

1/4 cup white wine

Slivered toasted almonds

Ok, and now for the recipe!

Slice the shallots and apples thinly. Add them to the large skillet, with 4 tablespoons of coconut oil. Saute for 5 minutes or until the apples are tender but still a touch crisp. Remove them  from the pan and then add the last tablespoon of coconut oil. Generously sprinkle cinnamon on both sides of the pork chops and lightly sprinkle sea salt if desired. Put pork chops in the pan and sear for 2 minutes each side. Add the wine and bring to a boil to cook off the alcohol. Add the apples and shallots back into the pan, cover and cook on medium hear for another 6-8 minutes (depends on the thickness of your pork chops). Serve with slivered almonds sprinkled on top.

Good stuff and super easy!

This recipe was taken from Everyday Paleo.

Happy Cooking!

m.e.

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So, moving along on our tour… I am going to share my office with you today. Last week, you caught a little glimpse of it, so I might as well share it!

The office is right off of our living room/client meeting space…..Perfect! Love my built in’s.. I think I rearrange them at least once a week. It’s hard to find a balance of making them pretty to look at but also functional….. but not too busy, etc. So, I am never satisfied… and if you stopped by next week… they would probably look different!

Ps…. I had some folks email and ask about my curtain fabric… it is from Crate and Barrel, and I got it about 2 years ago… I do not believe that they carry it anymore.

View from the folding doors…

And from the other side of the room…

So this space over here is where I plan to have a mini newborn studio… Just waiting until my web guy gets my site launched…. It is driving me crazy.

It’s the perfect little space… and there is a great closet holding all of my newborn props… Just on the lookout for a nice chair for nursing mothers and we will be all set!

Some close ups of the built ins… The people who lived in this house before us used this room as their bedroom…

Love my camera collection. My dad just recently sent me some new cameras…. He loves antiques and was out at some antique shops… and sent me 2 awesome care packages of some new cameras!

Thanks for stopping by….

m.e.

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In honor of Valentine’s Day, Ainsley and I decided that we would pull a bunch of pink and purple clothes from her closet and “play” today… and by play, I mean I chased her around with my camera.

So Happy Valentine’s Day! Hope you do something to celebrate…or not (for those who just don’t like the holiday)…

m.e.

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Happy Friday!

I hope that you had a fabulous week… that you got a lot accomplished… that you made great memories with loved ones….

Had to share a few images from a super quick session that I did with Ainsley this past December just before Christmas…. LOVE, LOVE all of her little expressions…

She is my trusty little assistant over here in Pittsburgh….and she lights up my life. She keeps me on my toes and I love her more than anything.

Can’t believe she will be 18th months in just over a week. Not sure where the time has gone….but we’ve enjoyed it!

We are planning a fun little session for the 18 month milestone….so you should see those on the blog soon. One of my new years GOALS (more of a goal girl than a resolution girl) is to share some more photos of our peanut…. So, here is a little start!

Have an amazing weekend! And we’ll see you Monday!

m.e.

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So I had shared about a book that I have been reading, that has been really awesome for our marriage, and I hadn’t told you the name of it yet… so here it is!

The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands, by Dr. Laura Schlessinger

Now I could go on and on about all of the little excerpts that I highlighted in the book… but I don’t want to bore you. What I LOVE about this book, is that it is so simple and practical….  that is how our men are. Super simple creatures…

She covers a lot of different aspects of loving our men in this book, but for me the part that hit home the hardest was making my husband feel loved and respected by putting him first on my priority list…. Instead of coming after our daughter Ainsley, or after my business… He needed to come first. And one of the most simple things that this meant for me in a practical way, was to take care of some of his most basic needs: Food.  You might be reading this and think I am so utterly stupid…  but my mindset has changed from making sure that there is food in the house, snacks that he likes, and making dinner about 2x a week to putting that need at the top of my to do list… So, this has looked a few different ways for me…

Cooking him a meal, and having it ready for him when he gets home from work.

Somedays this means… taking the time to look up a recipe…going to the store to get what I need… making it, etc… and then getting my work done later… Somedays this is super hard… I know that  might sound pathetic….but it just plain is…. But, I trust that God’s order for my priorities is Him(God), Husband, Child, Job… So I am trusting that by honoring his order, He will bless it, and He surely has. Work is getting done… Ainsley and I are having a blast… and my husband feels loved.

I have been trying to make something every night, but some nights I have just made him a plate of leftovers, and have had it heated up and ready for him when he got home…

Sometimes it is packing his lunch with a note…

Sometimes it is making him iced coffee before he leaves for work…

It is just little things, but it goes a long way… and my husband knows that I care about him. I stopped giving him my leftovers (no pun intended), and putting focus on really letting him know that I am thinking about him. Ainsley and I greet him at the door, shower him with hugs, give him some space to unwind, and then feed his belly.

It is crazy b/c the author basically states that if you make your man feel important… and loved… and that he is a priority in your life… that you admire him, he will slay dragons for you. Now, we don’t have dragons in our house (that I know of), but I am pretty sure that if we did… he would be slaying them.

I am not doing this for the receiving side, but I am not going to say that I am not enjoying it. Just making him a priority has made me love him more…. it’s like it rekindled a little spark that might have fizzled out a bit… and it is crazy how suddenly he just started taking the garbage out… and doing little things that I love his help with… and I haven’t even asked!

Here are just a few things that hit me from her book, that I thought I would share.

“Love your husband with all your heart and treat him like the gift of God that he is.” I think that sometimes I really do forget what a gift he is in my life. It is so easy to just “do life” and take for granted our blessings.

“It’s one thing to have a tiring, stressful day- or even week. It’s another thing to allow outside activities, no matter how seemingly important, to routinely get in the way of obligations to the roles created by holy vows, moral obligations, and love.” Helloooooo convicting statement. Of course holy vows, moral obligation, and love should be first on the list. Where has my head been? I definitely don’t want to be the couple that wakes up one day when our kids move out…who look at each other and have no connection…because it wasn’t a priority…. No thank you. Didn’t sign up for that one… so it will take some hard work and commitment. I’m game.

“…Your basic male is a decent creature with simple desires: to be his wife’s hero, to be his wife’s dream lover, to be the protector and provider for his family, to be respected, admired, and appreciated. Men live to make their women happy.”

“By and large, they tend to get a sense of approval from their success at work, and from their wives’ happiness. That makes us wives more accountable for their well-being than we may like to be.”

And that, my friends, is all that I will share for now… Really amazing book. Crazy easy read. Super simple concepts… and I totally love it b/c she doesn’t take any excuses. It is a no frills, no excuses… if you let your marriage go down the drain it is your fault kind of perspective… Now of course there are always special circumstances… don’t get me wrong, but it is totally worth the read!

I had also mentioned in the last post that I have a group promo code for the Weekend to Remember Getaway Retreat. So, if you are thinking about going, use the code: MEP, and I am pretty sure it is 50% off. Pretty awesome.

m.e.

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Hey all!

So here is the next part of our house tour!If you missed the first part, click here. (You haven’t missed much!)

Welcome to our living room! This is also our client meeting space…. Hence why most of the photos on display are not personal.. The  yellow room on the left that you are getting a teeny peek into is my office…. which is next on the tour!

We LOVE having a fireplace!!! We didn’t have one in MD and really wanted one…

It has been so nice outside this winter that sadly, we haven’t used it yet… And actually… we don’t even have tools… ha

Maybe next year….

A view from the other corner….

Our little corner display. This display is actually personal… They are our maternity photos done by one of my favorite photogs, Maria Vincencio…. and a few that we took of Ainsley…

And a view from the other corner…

So whether you are a friend or a bride, when you come in we want you to kick back, put your feet up, and feel like you are at home.

Thanks for stopping by….

m.e.

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I am so at a loss for words at what to post. Not because I don’t have any words, but mostly because I am emotionally drained…. There are actually so many thoughts running through my heart/mind that I couldn’t even begin to share them… and you most likely wouldn’t even want to hear them.  :)

I’ll keep this brief… and by brief, I am hoping to keep it to a paragraph-ish.

If you follow the blog, you might know that I am a Penn State Alumni… a VERY Proud Penn State Alumni. You can read a little bit here about my post in the midst of the recent mess at PSU. I still stand behind JoePa, and will support him… He has touched my life and SO MANY lives… and he truly made Penn State what it is today. He is soooo much more than football… and I would highly, highly encourage you to watch the memorial service that was held. He is an amazing man and he has done more good in his lifetime than you or I will ever do. There is so much more on my heart, but I am not here to provoke arguments, etc. All I know, is that Joe Paterno is a legend… that legends never die… that he inspired THOUSANDS…. and he knew that there was a greater purpose and calling in life. Some say that he died of a broken heart… I believe it…

Soo….I couldn’t not head to Penn State to say goodbye to JoePa. Was chatting with a great friend on Tuesday about going up to Penn State…. we talked about leaving super early on Wed am to make the last public viewing from 8am-12… and so at about 4pm on Tuesday we decided we should just go up that night… So, 3 hours later, Ainsley and I were packed and in the car and on our way to PSU. I am so incredibly thankful that we went…. It was truly amazing. So I wanted to share some pics from our trip up.

I will say…  at the same time that it was so amazing that I could take Ainsley there to see Penn State and to be there for such an amazing event… it was also very hard b/c the photographer in me wanted to document everything…. and capture all of the events and emotion on campus… but I couldn’t. I could barely even change my lenses…. I was either shooting over her head while she rode in the Bjorn… or I had the camera around my neck and was holding her hand as she toddled around….  I really wrestled with this…because I wanted to take all of these amazing pictures…. and I didn’t/couldn’t. But I will share what I was able to capture….

On to the adventure after my not-so-much-a-paragraph-ish-paragraph…..

We got to PSU around 10pm… and I HAD to go to the JoePa statue at the stadium… So Ainsley and I headed over there… and I was greeted by this cute face when I opened the car door to get her all bundled up! A Penn Stater at heart. She was so excited!!

Amazing…. I could have spent HOURS here…. HOURS…. It was just amazing… but I had a sweet little girl that I had to keep warm and it was waaaay past her bedtime.

This picture is in honor of actually using my degree! That is the Visual Arts building behind me…. where I spent many hours… and nights….

SBS (Student Book Store)

Heading towards Beaver Stadium for the processional…. Here’s the sign at the BJC

Beaver Stadium…..

Everyone lining up along the street for the processional…

Keeping Ainsley occupied as we waited for the processional to begin…

Adore her.

This is totally amazing. There was a rainbow straight down the street… right over the chapel where JoePa’s funeral was… This was right before the processional began. It was super faint….. but so cool….

One last stop before Ainsley and I headed home… the Nittany Lion Shrine for A’s first (of many!!) pic there! She just kept looking at him… and she made the lion sound! ha ha

WThank you JoePa. You inspire us… and We truly Are, because You Were.

And below is a slideshow of more of our day.. and please, please take some time to watch the memorial. I promise that your heart will be touched.

Slideshow: http://meaghanelliott.myshowit.com/paterno_

We Are…

m.e.

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You may or may not know what eating Paleo is…. and I will be sure to share some more info with you about it over time. We haven’t always eaten this way but slowly transitioned to this new way of eating and are loving it. We aren’t 100% all of the time, and you’ll find us “cheating” the most on the weekends, but here is the short version of how we started eating this way, and then a paleo recipe for you to try!

We met at a gym in Baltimore… We started doing kettlebells…. We got into Crossfit…. Lots of crossfitters eat Paleo…. did some reading, and decided it was the way to go! We feel the best we’ve ever felt and we are pretty much the strongest we’ve ever been.

So, with that said, here is a pic of the Paleo Lasagna that I made one evening….  Love that the vegetables make it colorful!

And a close up….

And now for the recipe, which I got from Everyday Paleo. Awesome recipe book and blog!  Check it out!

I made a few changes… but here you go!

1 red onion (I used a sweet onion)

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 lb ground beef (grass fed if possible!)

1lb mild italian sausage

2 tablespoons dried  oregano

1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1  (14 1/2 ounce) canned tomatoes, juiced drained (I used fresh tomatoes, lots of them)

1 (6 ounce) can tomato sauce (I skipped this b/c I just read this article)

5 zucchinis, thinly sliced long way

1 cup sliced black olives (skipped these)

*I added roasted red peppers as well (make sure there isn’t any sugar) as well as diced yellow squash

1. Preheat the oven to 350

2. Saute the onions and garlic in olive oil for 3 minutes

3. Add ground beef, sausage, and brown

4. Season the meat with the dry ingredients, add tomatoes & tomato paste, mix well

5. Layer zucchini in 9×11 baking dish, then add meat mixture, and top with black olives, then layer zucchini, and them meat again…

6. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes, let it sit for 10 and then serve!

Happy Thursday!

m.e.

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As I am sitting down to write this post it is in the midst of playoffs… and can’t help but be depressed that our first winter in Pittsburgh, we ended our playoff season super early… so not only do we have to watch the Raven’s play (boo!), we have to wait 8 months to see the Steelers on the field again… And I just realize while sitting here.. that the room that I am going to share with you in our house is actually like a Raven’s/Steelers bathroom! Yikes! If only I had thought of that before I started…

Actually if you must know…. the color palette for the room was 100% inspired by one of my clients weddings! Danny and Erika had this beautiful Purple and yellow wedding… I have adored that color scheme since!

And, although I miss Baltimore (except for the Raven’s), I have to say we are so incredibly happy here in Pittsburgh! It just feels right. This is definitely our home. I haven’t even begun to rebuild business here…. but have a plan of attack, and will do so soon. My new website should be launching super soon…. It has been such a long time in waiting b/c my designer was totally overbooked….but it will be worth the wait and I can’t wait to share it with you!

Anyways… back to the house post…

Buying a new house is super exciting for a lot of reasons…..

One of the most fun reasons (in my opinion) is because it is like a giant art project! New rooms… just waiting to be painted, decorated, etc.

So with that said, I thought I would give you a little welcome into our new place… We are moved in…. mostly all set… but still little touches and ideas of what we want to do with some of the rooms and spaces, but I thought I would share some pics!

Here is a pic of the bathroom before we moved in….

Another view of their bathroom….

And our finished bathroom! Well…. almost finished…  Eventually I would like to paint the vanity… not a huge fan of the oak or whatever it is….  and would also paint the wood around the light…. and maybe even the tile…. not a huge fan of the tan/brown family… unless it is super dark, like espresso! And we want to put a little shutter in the window as well…… but we’ll be in this house for a LONG time….so there is plenty of time to play around and change things!

And here is where I got everything!

Towels: Marshalls and TJ Maxx

Rug: HomeGoods

Yellow Vase with Purple Flower: Anthropologie

Purple Vase: SuCasa

Billy Buttons: Hammelmans Dried Floral

Flower Wall Canvas: Bed Bath & Beyond

Accent table/storage: Hobby Lobby

Other flowers: Had some already… got the rest at Michael’s/Joanne Fabrics

Happy Tuesday!

m.e.

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