Orange County's Family Photographer, Tara Whitney

warning: dont read if you dont like a good pity party of one

not in the mood for halloween.
not in the mood for anything really.
mad that i didnt get the garage organized before this so that i could get to the halloween decorations and put them out for my kids. since the construction this summer our garage has been a monster neither of us wants to tackle.
crabby
tired
house is a WRECK
seriously seriously a wreck
the kids rooms, my desk, my room, the laundry
nothing is organized the way i like it to be
its all clean underneath the mess but its making me crazy and i dont want to keep up with it
im hungry but nothing sounds good
i desperately want to go guzzle a 44 ounce coca cola
but i wont
i am afraid i am going to catch jeffs cold
ive had a lingering migraine since sunday
i really wish i could sleep in everyday
probably shouldnt be posting, but
just
bleh

now - you are only allowed to comment if you want to join in with me. vent away. list form is fast and easy. it will help you let go of some of your BLEH-ness. go for it. im going to go hop in the shower and put on some music that will pump me up. maybe some beastie boys, maybe some damien marley, maybe my classic rock playlist. yes, thats the one. some stones and some grateful dead will do the trick.

family of six #2

and now for my last new york session and my second family of six.

we walked around the meat packing district and if i could, i would shoot every single session there. too bad i live 2500 miles away.

i love using the group dynamic amongst the stuff i find.

this crew had amazing chemistry with each other, i hardly had to put any work into pulling personalities out-they were all there for the taking! hope you had fun with me even with the no water, no air conditioning thing. (its not so easy to find usable public restrooms where we were, so kids were giving mom a hard time for "dehydrating" them, and we would all swoon with relief as we passed by air conditioned shops)

i also want to share a new favorite song that my uncle sent me - edie brickell, once in a blue moon from Volcano.

i used to LOVE her, i had every cassette she had out and would sit in my room, listening over and over again, writing down lyrics in my composition books. glad uncle mike found her for me again. xo

sneak peek for finley's

mommy, alexis.

i woke up the morning of this session and this idea was forming in my head.

and i love these two shots i got out of her.

and ive always loved the whole family in bed with the newborn shot. you spend so much time in bed with a new baby...

family of six #1

in new york, i had two families of six that i saw the same day, in the same neighborhood. of course i relate and click with these families easily-i feel like i am in the midst of my own five counterparts! the six unit family dynamic is very similar wherever you go. and its always fun for me to see how parents relate and react to their brood of four-its like looking in a mirror. it also gives me just that much more to go off of-the more people around, the more honest reactions for me to record.

mom and dad were so amazing with these kiddos. they were dragging four kids around downtown manhattan for two hours on a busy saturday. and they kept a smile on their faces the whole time. i was impressed, and left feeling like i had new friends in all six of them.

sf, birthday, fires, and other stuff

sf:
incredible, always. karissa and i tooled around both of our favorite spots. castro, haight st, golden gate park. we rode muni and took taxis. we were drawn to a drum circle and laid in the grass and the sun. i went to timeless treasures and once more dropped a couple hundred dollars on words for my home. when i get them and put them up, ill show you. i got to see my high school BFF jalayne and spend the day with her. we went to north beach for dinner and shared wine and laughter with her boyfriend and his roommate. my clients chose the coolest places for their sessions and i fell in love with all of them. the people and the places. thank you so much for having me out! i cant wait to come back up next year. i have many people on the SF waiting list, so i will for sure be coming once, maybe twice next year.

jalaynes pup, jengo

riding around to three sessions on saturday

birthday:
thank you for all the emails and stuff from yesterday. i am 31. crikey.

fires:
it was incredibly depressing to land into a layer of smoke on monday morning. its a very scary time for all of southern california. we are fine, safe. the air is horrible and the schools are keeping all the kids inside. mick and emily are in an area that isnt so safe unfortunately and so we are all keeping positive and hoping the winds change and the neighborhoods leading up the ocean are safe as can be. it has actually been like a fun little vacation with them here...emily and i have our computers set up back to back, the guys have been hanging out with the kids, and the kids, well, of course they are just running around as per usual.

other stuff:
just wanted to let everyone know-if you wanted to order the "just be" stamp set from cocoa daisy, tricia told me she has something like 80 that she has re-ordered. you can get them here if you want.

jersey

i have my last trip planned for this weekend up north in san francisco-my absolute favorite city in the world. my sister karissa is flying with me. for company, for fun.

tomorrow will surely be a busy day, the day before i leave always is, and its also drew's tenth birthday, so i wanted to put up a sampling from my new jersey sessions before i go. and then the blog will be back to regularly scheduled programming once i get back.

let me just say, new jersey wasnt anything that i expected. i dont know what i expected-industrial i guess. menacing? but it was one of the most quaint and beautiful places. i enjoyed so much the three clients that hired me from this area. two of them were friends/neighbors. and i brought the third into the group and now they meet for coffee!

thank you laura, diana, lenee...!!!

just.........watch

found here

surface of the sun

pumpkin patch.
a few weekends back.
before the glorious rain.
my mom, dad, sisters.

it was indeed as hot as the surface of the sun.
not favorite.
hot and dirty at the pumpkin patch.
i can handle getting hot.
i can handle getting dirty.
I CANNOT HANDLE BEING HOT AND DIRTY ALL AT ONCE.

mckenna and i win first prize for being the biggest whiners.
luckily, everyone ignored us and we had fun anyway.

in the maze, before getting really hot. still smiling.

waiting for the wagon ride.

my adorable mom. wearing thrifted sunglasses. she might have owned this exact pair about 20 years ago.

sister two: karissa

kids with pumpkins and sister one: alisha

look at those red hot cheeks

love that they picked some white pumpkins this year

the pumpkins are now piled on our front porch and distributed to friends at school.
and we are no longer hot.

good morning monday

man i am a zombie today. the kids were late to school, i forgot book money for the book fair, and didnt have time to pack a lunch for nathan, who doesnt like to buy. to make it up to him i told him i would take everyone to get a shake after school.

and its raining. im happy. its all gray and drizzly.

Download 01_grey_in_l.A..mp3

listening to this today.
loudon wainwright III
grey in la
strange weirdos

ive decided im back in the weight loss game. no more regular soda. no more eating late at night. those are the two steps im taking beginning today. just felt like putting that out into the universe. you hear me universe? jeff is trying to motivate me to go to the gym with him. but i think thats pushing it just a tad.

i was totally totally inspired my my good friend christine, who came out from AZ this last week. she has lost 30 pounds since may and looks amazing. i always thought she looked amazing actually, even 30 pounds ago. but i am so proud of her and the willpower she has had. she likes coke like I LIKE COKE. she understands that need. and she stopped drinking it completely. i am so inspired by that. and she went down five sizes. and she just looks freakin HOT!

all of our crazy kids in my car on the way to christine's favorite CA pizza place

the pizza place

and me and chris with emily at H&M

upper west side

these two are getting married in about a week!
we were supposed to meet up in central park, but there was a 5k going on and it was packed/no parking. we met up near my hotel on the upper west side (77th/broadway). there were a ton of places nearby that were meaningful to both of them, from bagel places to markets and we did it all.

and yes this means i have begun the NYC sessions!