things I love: cute dresses, my girls, photographs, & awesome Haddy Grace Designs giveaways!

I love my girls.  When I was pregnant, I couldn't even fathom the idea of having a boy.  Even though we kept the baby's gender a surprise, in 18 total months of pregnancy we never once came up with a boy name.

So it never ceases to amaze me that although I was lucky enough to end up with two girls, these two girls of mine are as different as two kids could be.  Princess, at 4 years old, is my girly-girl, my perfectionist, my rule-follower, my over-achiever.  This is not because she is older.  She has been exactly the same her whole life.  Trouble, on the other hand, at only 17 months, is my wild child.  A pain-in-the-you-know-what since the day she was born, she is the source of my first grey hairs, as well as the one who also manages to wrap everyone--including me--around her devilish little finger.  Her wry smile, truly unfortunate hair, and fearless personality charms even the most anti-children people we know.  We have yet to meet someone immune to her magnetism.  But my oh my, is she a stinker!

A few weeks ago I came across a beautiful blog, Haddy Grace Designs, showcasing the most adorable little sweater dresses (at totally reasonable prices!)  As the mommy of girls, I was hooked.  Never mind the fact that I live in Florida and even though it is October, it is still 88 degrees during the day (and a "chilly" 75 at night.)  I love sweater dresses and I love pretending it is fall.  I wanted that dress, pure and simple.  I contacted Ruth Ann, the creative genius behind Haddy Grace Designs, and inquired as to whether she might be willing to create a sleeveless version of the sweater dress for those of us not quite so fortunate as to live in an area where sweater dresses are seasonably appropriate.

Amazingly enough, though she probably secretly thought I was a crazy person (which I may very well be), she was more than willing to work with me to create a Florida-friendly version of the sweater dress.  However, she ever-so-kindly suggested that I may want to consider a different design, her pillowcase dress.

Reluctantly, I did, and at that very moment a new love was formed.  I ordered the Fall Festival pillowcase dress for Trouble on the spot and less than a week later, it was on my doorstep, quite possibly the cutest little dress I had ever seen.

simply photography online class

As my husband will attest, I am somewhat obsessed with photographs.  Okay, maybe more than somewhat.  I have an utterly insane and completely irrational need to document every single moment of my children's life.  If I had an unlimited supply of time, money, and babysitters, I would buy myself a super fancy camera and then go to photography school.  Not to become a photographer, but just to be able to take really great pictures of my family.  But given that the title of my blog is "living well, spending less," I assume it is fairly obvious that I don't have an unlimited supply of money.  Ditto for time and someone to watch my kids.

I love participating in blog hops and getting the chance to check out other blogs.  There are so many amazing and talented people out there, and it is really cool to get inspired by other people doing what they love to do.  A few weeks ago I cam across a beautiful photography blog called Simplicity.  On it, Faith, the blog's author, was advertising her upcoming Simply Photography: Basics of Photography online class, and I couldn't help myself.  I signed up on the spot.

In the weeks that followed, I started to second guess my impulsive decision.  Between this blog and my mom's group and the kids and the house and the upcoming holidays, my plate is plenty full.  Would I really have enough time to dedicate to an online class?  Not to mention the fact that my Canon PowerShot is hardly a professional-grade camera.  What if my pictures become the laughingstock of the otherwise talent-filled class?  I was on the verge of asking for a refund, sure it wasn't going to work for me, and then Faith sent out the first tutorial and assignment.

family photos and why groupon rocks

My sweet (and very photogenic, I might add) husband loathes professional photographs.  I adore them.  If it were up to me, we'd have them taken once a month and if it were up to him, we'd never set foot in a photography studio.  But as you've probably figured out by now, given that we are polar opposites in so many ways, we have gotten pretty good at compromising.  So once and only once a year he lets me drag him to get a family portrait taken.

I am a huge fan of Groupon, which I originally discovered when we were living in Seattle.  If you aren't familiar with it, let me fill you in.  Groupon is a collective coupon that offers amazing deals in cities all over the country.  Each day has a new deal (different for each city) that is available for one day only, usually for at least 50% off a product, restaurant, event, or service.   The "catch," if there is one, is in order to get the deal you must pay ahead of time.  (Sort of like purchasing a gift certificate for yourself.)

A few months ago, only a few days after I changed my Groupon account to receive the Tampa deals instead of the Seattle deals, an amazing offer popped up for an on-location family portrait session by Angela Clifton Photography.  Tampa is about a 2 hour drive for us, but this deal--$59 for a 1 hour portrait session and photo CD of all the images--was just too good to pass up.  Even my husband, Mr. Anti-Portrait, couldn't turn it down.

This past weekend our long-awaited appointment finally arrived.  Dawn and Brent, the owners of Angela Clifton Photography, were super helpful when it came to suggesting a location (since we're not familiar with the Tampa-area beaches) and the best time of day (for good lighting).  They arrived for the session right on time and started shooting photos almost immediately.  They were great with the girls and did a wonderful job of just capturing the natural moments instead of trying to pose every shot, which made the experience a lot more tolerable for my kids (and my husband!)  Even more impressive, they emailed me a link to view the images less than 24 hours later!

I am so glad this package includes a CD of ALL the photos because there are way too many good ones to choose from!  Here are just a few of my favorites:

So out of all of this comes two things:  

1: if you live in SW Florida, it is worth a trip to Tampa to work with Dawn & Brent of Angela Clifton Photography.  The normal cost for their family package (what we got) is $200 (still a bargain, in my opinion!) and includes a CD of all your images, BUT if you mention my blog when booking your appointment, they will graciously give you a 20% discount--$40 off!  

2: if you live anywhere else and you have not yet signed up for Groupon, what are you waiting for?  Even if the closest participating city is a few hours away (as ours is), it is worth getting a daily email because every once in a while you will find something worth driving for.  Even better, there are a lot of offers that come up for online companies, which you can order from anywhere.

For instance, these online deals are available today, and many of them would make great gifts:

Providence-$40 worth of brownie gifts from Fairytale Brownies for $20.

Bakersfield-$35 worth of desserts from Fancy Fortune Cookie for only $15.

Buffalo-$115 worth of photo books from Photobook America for only $35. (70% discount!)

North Jersey-$12 worth of baked goods from Gimmee Jimmy's online store for only $5.

Sioux Falls-$50 worth of custom photo products from Harold's Photo Centers online for only $20.

San Francisco-(Deal Nearby)-$75 for photo scanning service worth $200 from ScanMyPhotos.com.

Louisville (Side Deal)-Choose from two custom photo bags by SnapTotes.com, a clutch ($29--normally $50) or a tote ($50--normally $80).  This deal includes shipping!

Omaha (Side Deal)-$50 worth of personalized gifts from Zazzle.com for only $25.

To sign up for Groupon, click here.  Once you have signed in, you can click on visit other cities to grab any of these deals.






Disclaimer:  The opinions expressed in this blog post are solely my own and I received no compensation for recommending either Groupon or Angela Clifton Photography.