Rachel Kate Photography Blog »

Morning. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that is is good right now…but it is definitely the morning so my greeting is fitting. It is before 7:30 and for those of you who know me I don’t really like exiting my bed BEFORE 7:30 at all. Ever.  But I have to take Missy the wonder dog to get her hair styled this morning and I have about 3 thousand other errands to run today (considering the fact that the first time I stepped foot outside of my house in 3 days was yesterday for 5 minutes and that was just to get my boy at school..I am like some weird, TLC show requiring hermit these days..) and I promised the beautiful Rachel that I would have her blogged this morning. So, for her..and no one else, certainly not my kids and without question NEVER for my husband, I am out of bed and at my computer before I have even gone down to get my coffee.

This says a lot.

I can’t lie.  I may or may not have ulterior motives.  I came across a pretty valuable, in my opinion,  piece of information shortly after I shot the pretty little wedding of Rachel and Chris.  I knew going into to this event that Rachel was the little sister of one of my favorite clients ever, Alysa. I shot Alysa’s family a couple of years ago and there isn’t a single time that I have talked to her that she doesn’t make me laugh out loud.  Rachel actually didn’t have much of a say when she decided that she would marry Chris in who would be there to photograph her big day. Alysa made that decision and that was all right by me.  I knew that this wedding was going to be held at the Black Rock Country Club in Hingham and I knew that I love it there.  I knew that in a few short weeks after the wedding that Rachel and Chris would be welcoming their new baby boy and I knew that I loved that, too. What I didn’t know until after I left there that night was that Rachel was my hero.  You know WHY she is my hero? It has something to do with her rocking a pair of 5 inch Louboutin’s while she was 8 months pregnant at her wedding but mostly, it is because that girl was savvy enough to marry her way into the family responsible for White’s Bakery. Brilliant.

White’s Bakery just happens to be the world’s best bakery, ever. That’s all. And Rachel is now  a WHITE. Which means that at any given moment, of any given day, she has access to the chocolate covered macaroons that they make and sell there (which, I am not completely convinced, aren’t laced with some sort of addictive substance). I think it really was for the best that I didn’t know this going into the wedding. There is a solid possibility that I would have sidled up to Mr. White at some point, either during the ceremony itself or shortly after the salads were served and asked for his autograph. I would have asked just what it is that makes the fruit tart pie things so very shiny and pretty, so pretty in fact, that I would like to hang a couple on my walls and replace baby pictures of my boys. I would also ask the question that runs through my head each and every time that I enter that sweet smelling place where good things happen and that is “Does it all get eaten?? Can it possibly??” Because there is just so much. And it baffles me to think that all of the confectionery goodness is consumed by consumers. It is something that I can’t understand. And if it doesn’t (which I imagine it does because people with food stores like that tend to know how much to make in order to stay in business and all of that) WHERE does it go???

Most of you readers are North Shore peeps who may not know this White’s of which I speak. Do yourself a favor and go to the Derby Shops and get yourself a macaroon. You will be glad you did.

Anyway, now you know why Rachel is my hero. She is also very enjoyable and I was so happy to spend a few hours with her on her wedding day.  It was one of those crazy 60 degree days in the beginning of January and Rachel (re: Alysa) agreed to let me come early enough so that we could do pictures outside while we still had some light.

Rachel is just beautiful.

There are three awesome sisters in Rachel’s family. Between them they have 7  kids and two on the way. There is my Alysa. And her little Ava who I would like to borrow every now and then. Oh. Hello Chirs. Chris WHITEyou say? Soooo nice to meet you…He looked awesome and I was IN LOVE with his suit. Ohhh…Rachel..you looked stunning. I sense just the tinyest bit of scarcasm in Chris’ reaction. Just the tinyest bit. Gorgeous. Love it. I mean…REALLY? One of my favorites. All of the girls.  So sweet. Thank you so much for inviting me to be with you that day. I can’t wait to hear about the baby’s arrival. Congratulations! You know, for the wedding of course and also for becoming a White;)

xo, Rachel

0

Hello there. Good afternoon to you. It is 1:23pm and although I had good intentions of beginning this blog at about 9 am I got whatever the photographer editing equivalent is of getting stuck in the mud and I couldn’t get out. Which I suppose is good news for you because that means that you don’t have to wait another week for a post.  It isn’t as fun here as it was like a month ago, is it?A post a day to help aid and abet in your computer ADD which I know that you, like me, suffer from.  I just happened to go back and look at a post from the beginning of January last year. First of all, I have to say that I am pretty friggin funny when I want to be. And I also have to say that I need to step it up a bit when it comes to communicating with you.  I was thrown WAY the hell off of my blogging high horse in the last week by the discovery (I say this as if it were me that “discovered” this particular blog that has changed my life while simultaneously making me very well aware of just how crappy a blogger I really am) of momestary.com/blog/  Oh. My. God. Glennon, the author, has changed my life and I not only want to BE her I REALLY want to be her best friend. FOREVER.  One of her posts, Don’t Carpe Diem, has reduced me to tears on THREE separate occasions and I promote it with all of the promoting powers that I possess.  She is sheer genius coupled with hysterical hilarity and I am not sure if I mentioned or not that I would like to be her.  Not only do her posts make me laugh out loud every single time I log on but she is insightful and spiritual and she makes me stop and think for awhile every time I log off.  She has made me think about quite a few things. Mostly in the wee hours of the morning while reading my kid’s Kindle Fire that I swiped from under his pillow earlier in the evening. And also while I am practicing for the Insomnia Olympics which I feel I have a real shot at winning this year. One thought is that I really do like to blog  just to blog.  I feel like recently I got away from writing to you about the everyday nonsense in my life, like JUST how irritating it is when I have to listen to Eric drink his coffee in the morning, and instead focused solely on the photographs that I am presenting you with. Which I understand is the reason you may come here, but I do like just writing and I want to try to get back to that a little bit. I will always pale in comparison to my weird, bordering Single White Female, crush that I have recently developed,  Glennon, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t at least try to write more. So I will. OK?

And now for the part that may in fact be the real reason you visited me today, my little boyfriend Jake. Not quite sure how it happened but the little guy went and turned two on us. I love my visits to his house. I very much enjoy Jake mom, Alison and her house is where I would like to live. I have talked about this before. It is all clean, and bright and painted with Silver Sage. Just perfection, really.

Shooting Jake at 2 wasn’t like the good old days when he would just sit still and look right up at me with his big blue eyes and make my job easy. Nope. Because he is two. And a boy. And somewhere, sometime, they all signed a two year old boy pact to avoid me at all costs.  Despite this, I am smart and anticipatory and I get them anyway.

Oh Jake. You kill me.

Ruuunnnningggggg. That is what he spent the better part of the morning doing. Mostly away from me. He is too much. He is really very cute. But I would be lying if I said I didn’t miss the days when he would lie down on his parents bed and eat his toes and look directly into my lens. And in a few months a baby will make this a perfect family of four:)  

Always a pleasure guys. Hope to see you when the new addition arrives!

xo, Rachel

Good afternoon…it is me..your long lost blogging friend, Rachel. Slow going over here these days and I kind of couldn’t love it more.  I am what I like to consider a woman of leisure these days.  Breezing into my office for a few hours here and there..working on albums and the little bit of editing that I have every now and then.  There is a LOT of sitting on my couch reading my Nook and waiting for my kids to get home from school and petting my dog. It is BEYOND enjoyable.  Long lunches that involve wine and friends and breakfasts with my girl, Lisa.  Housework when I feel like it (not often) and cooking every night. I could get used to this straight housewife stuff now that my kids are in school all day long. I distinctly remember thinking it was for the birds when I did it for 7 years and they were needy and stuff, but this, this right here is living.

I bet you are ready to see some pretty people in some pretty pictures, right? I know you all love little Gracie girl who has been up for like a month and a half, but alas..it is time for something new, no? Ok, then. I will happily share with you the perfect, quaint, gorgeous wedding of Tayna and Steve.  I met these two for the first time on the day they got hitched. It was December 30th and because of the global warming/world is ending kind of weather we have been having and I am TOTALLY OK with, we were able to go outside and shoot, just us, for over an hour with no coats. Sigh. It does not get better than that in the dead of winter.  Tayna is the good friend of one of my oldest and best clients, Carey, and I could not be happier that I was a part of this beautiful day.  Tayna and Steve were not in it for the grand affair..250 of their closest friends and a day that costs what a mid size house costs in middle America somewhere.  They were in it to get married. To each other.  Surrounded by only their family and a few close friends and they did it beautifully.  They started they day off at Boston Park Plaza.  All of Tayna’s details were stunning (much like Tayna herself) and there is a very real part of me that actually misses her bouquet made by Winston flowers.  Tayna went straight class all the way..nothing was over looked.  Her make up was done by one of Boston’s most talented makeup artists, Dani Wagener.  I will be updating this when I can get you the name of her hair dresser who absolutely killed it that day, as well.

Here we go…

Here is gorgeous Tayna… This is one of my favorite pictures of her the whole day. Tayna does a little nose crinkle thing when she laughs. It couldn’t be cuter. And here is Steve. Poor thing..I don’t know if he knew exactly what he had in store when Tayna hired me, but he gets an A++ for being a REALLY good sport. C’mon…Tayna..you are perfection. First look. I am so in love with all of these sidewalk pictures. Love it. Just the three of us hopped on their trolley to head to the Public Garden for some shooting before the sun went down. Gorgeous winter light. Love this. LOVE this. I also really love this. Sigh. The trolley went back to get the families for portraits. Steve’s sister completely cracked me up. Back to the hotel for a bit until it was time to head to North Church in the North End. That is my buddy, Shane. He did a great job delivering that ring. Love this picture. Married!! And then it was off to Smith and Wollensky’s for a beautiful dinner and to celebrate.    Thank you SO much for having me with you that day. It was beautiful and perfect and I hope it was absolutley everything that you wanted it to be.

xo,Rachel

I honestly wonder how many times my friend, Vanessa has checked my blog this morning. I know it has to be somewhere in the high double digits. She knows that somewhere in my computer the pictures of her little girl are stored and waiting to be released to the world and she knows that the time is soon that she will get to see them.  She keeps lying to me and telling me that Gracie’s has been pestering her about when she will get to see her pretty pictures. I know that isn’t true. Gracie is only 6 months old for,God’s sake. I am not that dumb, Vanessa…pinning your complete lack of patience on a baby. Nice.

But..today is the day and I will happily show off one of the prettiest babies that ever lived..the perfect little girl of some of my closest friends, Vanessa and Cristina.  I am 100% head over heels completely in love with this baby. Love, love, love. I want to squish her, just completely smoosh her and I would do it if her mother, Cristina, would  ever back the hell away from her for 20 seconds or so.

I mean..you really need to mentally prepare for the cute that you are about to see…it is dangerous cute. Like make me want a little girl that looks just like Gracie cute. DANGER.

This is Gracie’s lizard tongue look. I mean..c’mon Gracie. WHY are you so round and so flipping adorable?? WHY??!!?? I am pretty sure that what is happening here is that Gracie is screaming at Cristina to get the hell out of the way and stop messing up her shots. I like how she went for a sweet/shyish look in this one. As if I didn’t want to bite her head enough. Just. Stop. I can’t. I just can’t even deal… I think this is my favorite. I feel like she is telling me with her eyes that she would like to see a lot more of me and that she would like it if I held her for days. I know. I just know.  I love you Gracie girl! Thanks for coming to visit me. Tell your moms that you would like to do it more. Love you Vaness and Cristina.

XO,

Rachel

 Shower? Check. Rocking the tank top I wore to bed last night and the same yoga pants that I have had on for the last 3 days? Check. Hair and makeup done with absolutely zero intention of leaving my house today? Check.  House a mess with plans to run around and clean about 20 minutes before the boys come home just so they can mess it up and I have to do it again before they go to bed? Check. Second cup of coffee being consumed? Check. LOVING that I am out of the crazy woods and the pressure cooker that was the last 5 months of my life? Check. Nothing I love more than a day when I am all made up with no place to go, two boys in school and a whole day to get things done at whatever pace I damn well please. Sigh. It is a really good thing that I still have stuff to work on because I am fairly certain that I would have to declare bankruptcy if I had nothing but free time on my hands when the kids went to school. Yesterday I went to the grocery store for bread and walked out with 136 dollars worth of groceries that I really didn’t need but that I just couldn’t stop myself from buying.  Just couldn’t help myself. It didn’t matter that there is no humanly way possible for my family to eat all of the produce that I was compelled to buy before it disintegrates into a mushy mess on the bottom shelf of my fridge. I NEEDED 4 bunches of green onions and 5 more tomatoes. Even though there are 3 bunches of very wilted green onions and 2 tomatoes on the verge of rot in my fridge right now. I also needed a new jar of  peanut butter even though there are a total of 3 in my cabinet at the moment. French toast bagels? Yup. In you go you maple flavored carb factories (which I found out today that neither of my kids will eat). And don’t be silly, OF COURSE I needed the fancy Hannaford Inspirations brand of Blood Orange Sparkling Water. 2 of them. Actually, that one you can’t blame me for..I had visions of pairing it with vodka at some point and I still think that was a viable purchase if you picture it like that. Anyway, all’s I know is that an idle Rachel = a dwindling bank account so I need to find things to keep me busy and that today this would be my little boyfriend Jack.

Jack comes to visit me all the way from Mexico. Isn’t that nice of him? His family only gets up here every so often so even though I had completely closed my book and considered myself on vacation right before Christmas, when I got an email from his mom,Kathleen, asking if I could get them in before they left I was 100% on board.  This baby kills me. Completely slays me and if I thought I had a crush on him before at his first shoot..forget it. He had me wrapped around his chubby little finger a couple of weeks ago.  He has the best facial expressions of any baby ever..and he is so flipping cute it is almost like he is a drawing. LOVE him.

Love a dog…Kathleen didn’t really want any part of a family pic but I didn’t really give her much of a choice in the matter.

Ahhhh!!! I can’t!!! He is just a little boy shaped doll. His expressions KILL me. Oh. Hey, Jack. What’s up? Yes. Yes, you do rock, Jack. You do indeed. C’monnnnn…. How is he even real?  Thank you SO much guys! Maybe next time I should just come to Mexico for the shoot? Wouldn’t that be nice?? So good to see you:)

xo, Rachel