I'm SO excited. I'm going to be shooting one engagement and two weddings this summer/fall! One is for sure and the other I'm still working out with the bride. They are both low-budget weddings so it won't bring in a lot for me money-wise but I am excited nonetheless. I have only shot one whole wedding and I was the THIRD photographer. Besides that I've done mostly portraits of family members, friends or couples. So very exciting for me. :D

Just to be clear, the photo below is my cousin and her boyfriend - who are not engaged, just dating, I don't have any photos yet of the previously mentioned couples.

So the weather now is more spring appropriate for Chicago. It was about fifty degrees today, a sad drop from the eighty degree week we were having. My plants are still growing though - I have tiny little sprouts in the ground outside from my flower seeds and inside I have sprouts growing in containers. Soon they will be ready to transplant. Since we live in a rented apartment I'm planning on buying containers/pots for planting my herbs and flowers in, that way whenever we move I can take them with me. Plus, then I don't have to figure out what to do with the grassy, weedy mess of a lawn we have.





That would be from L to R: thyme, mint, oregano, basil and arugula.

On a gross and nasty note, while out in the garden a couple days ago I discovered a dead mouse. Possibly killed by a roaming cat - not really sure. But random and not fun.


A few days ago I made Spicy African Chicken-Peanut Stew. It was delish. Especially with fresh picked cilantro on top. I've made it before, although this time I swapped out a couple ingredients and left out some - mostly because I wanted to use some stuff we already had and didn't want to go out into the cold to buy sweet potatoes. So in this recipe I used regular potatoes.


Recipe adapted from here.