The Color Collaborative : Blue

We have a shark enthusiast in our family, so a trip to Adventure Aquarium in Camden, New Jersey in honor of shark week was a perfect opportunity to shoot a lot of blue (embrace the grain people!).  Plus our hometown of New York City surrounded by water helped a little too.

Happy summer!

Please click HERE to continue along our blog circle starting with my dear and talented friend, Jill Cassara. 

World Class Sunset

A recent date night took my husband and me on a 47-second rocket ride into the sky.  Inside the elevator at One World Trade, whose doors are a slick three-dimensional time-lapse panorama of over 500 years of downtown Manhattan, we soared 102 stories with hardly an ear pop. 

Needless to say it was a pretty spectacular 360° sunset.   

102 stories above

102 stories below

Letters To My Sons | July

Dear sons,

I must say we've been busy this summer doing all sorts of things, going all sorts of places, and yet there is one recent morning that stands out. We were getting ready to hit the playground early before it got too hot or crowded when Cash, you came out of your room to show me you had on your red rain boots and had dressed Grey in your favorite hat and sunglasses. I couldn't help but laugh because many times in the past I had tried (unsuccessfully!) to get Grey to wear them - but since he loves YOU so much, he was happy to put on whatever you picked out. I was dying too because you guys looked like the Blues Brothers. You're too young to know who they are, so just google it and you'll see. 

[Click each image to view full scale]

 

Most of the time you spent going down the big slide over and over again. Grey, you were so happy to chase behind and up the steps to the top and Cash, you were so sweet with him, giving an extra boost of encouragement, a gentle push or a playful idea: "Put your hands up Grey! Close your eyes this time!" Sometimes he'd just sit in between your legs while you slid down with your arms wrapped tightly around him. 

We left with one of you riding piggy back to the nearest Duane Reade for band-aids - yes, those rain boots made for some gnarly blisters. Heading home, well Grey, that's when you managed to throw yourself into a state. It started from something small - I think some lady had bumped you accidentally when she walked past - and within moments you were inconsolable. But it was nothing Cash and I aren't used to. Actually it was fun for us to watch all the people walk by and try to get you to stop crying. We'd just look at each other like, "Yeah okay, nice try but we know how this goes." We patiently let you wail, wait for the next bus to go by and then shout, "Grey, Look! There's a bus!!"  Bingo. 

The other day I ran into the girl who works at the liquor store who saw this all go down. And you know what she said to me?  She said we did everything right, and most of all, what a great big brother.  

You Davis Brothers who look like the Blues Brothers, who play hard and love hard and cry hard, are growing up before my eyes. 

Cash, this past year especially, I have watched you become such a helper with Grey. Whether or not he is willing to receive the help, that's another story. But one day he will discover with great certainty that you always have his back. Even nowadays when he's having a tantrum on the street you'll say to me, "I'm not leaving my brother." 

Daddy tells you guys to "look out for each other no matter what." His mother said that to him and his brothers all the time when they were growing up and you know what, they did. They held each other up in the best and worst of times. And I have no doubt you will too.

Always & forever, 

Mom, Mama, Ma-mee

Shark Week

Beware the fin. 

Shark Week 2015 is finally here and we know a certain someone who's been counting down the days. 

"Dununt....Dununt.." 

 

Harlem Bulldogs 11-0

This past week wrapped up my oldest son's first Little League tee-ball season. Only 4 years old, he was the youngest on the team and also the smallest. The Harlem Bulldogs was his team, bright orange in color and in my opinion, coached by the best in the league. 

Over the past three months with the support of the amazing Coach David, my son went from batting on the tee to consistently hitting pitches, from shy newcomer to team player and for his father and me, it was a tremendous joy being both supportive parents and wide-eyed spectators. So congratulations Bulldogs on your undefeated season! 11-0 doesn't come easy. 

~ Click on each image to view full scale ~

~ Click each image to view full scale ~

Technically in tee ball you aren't supposed to keep score; all games are considered a tie. But everyone, coaches and parents alike, do it anyways. The Bulldogs wrote the score next to the batting lineup on a dry erase board that hung on the fence.  

Cash Money, Lucky #7.

We're already hearing you talk about next season. 

Hopefully you will have Coach David again... 

...and who knows, maybe another undefeated season.

The Color Collaborative : Yellow

This month I followed the suggestion of my friend, Jill Cassara, and carried my pocket rocket Fuji xe2 around with me as much as I could. Below are a few of the yellow pops of color I found on the streets of New York City. 

untitled-2-2.jpg

Click HERE to continue along our blog circle starting with the talented Jennifer Conley.

Letters To My Sons | June

Dear Cash,

I remember clearly those first weeks after you were born. As a new mother I'd often start crying whenever I'd look at you, shaken by how much love I felt. I heard such emotions were typical, but I also knew it was more than that -- it was you. Over the past four and a half years, I have had these feelings wash over me time and again. When you are sleeping I'll sometimes sit beside you for a bit, kissing you softly on your forehead and repeatedly thanking God for such a loving little boy.  

"Cash, I wish you could stay four forever," I once said to you, "I wish you would always want to cuddle and hold hands like this...You'll grow into a teenager and then a young man who will have his own family...but I'll always remember you as my sweet little boy." To which you replied, "It's okay Mom, that's a long way from now. And I promise I'll come back for Thanksgiving." 

I guess you're what people call a Momma's Boy and that's cool. No, that's GREAT!  'Cause even though your "grown-up-ness" is a long way away like you said, these wonder years are still going to pass far too quickly. Starting with that first photo we had taken of us together (you were six months old) with your little balled up hand resting on my collarbone, to a recent one of us on vacation where you instantly placed your hand over my heart, your tenderness is without question. Then there's the moment you reach for my hand through the fence (one of my all time favorite photos!) just before going up to bat at one of your little league games and said, "Mommy, hold hands."  That was when my heart exploded.    

 

"There is an enduring tenderness in the love of a mother to a son that transcends all other affections of the heart."

~ Washington Irving  

Your last day of preschool was a week ago. As I sat through the closing ceremony, what struck me most was how loving you also are toward others. After getting your diploma, you hugged each of your three teachers one by one. When your head teacher, Lisa, started crying while saying good-bye and thanking the parents, you walked over and gave her another embrace. "Don't worry Teacher Lisa, whenever you feel sad you can look at this picture and then you won't be sad anymore."  What your teachers talked about most this year was your developing sensitivity toward your peers, how you learned to use words rather than behavior to communicate your emotions (not always easy for a 4 year-old!) and how loving you can be in your ways. Heck, sometimes you help me work through my feelings ("Just take a deep breath Mommy.... S-L-O-W-L-Y ... now breathe in and out"...) which never ceases to amaze me. 

Cashew, it's been a real joy to watch you evolve past your challenging year three. The arrival of your baby brother rocked your idyllic "only child" universe and we had to chug through some pretty rough patches that year.  "Mommy when I was three it was really hard for me, and I wasn't good a lot of the time. But now that I'm four, almost five, I'm being good....I'm not mean to my brother anymore. I just had to learn." 

Oh baby, the way you process life is remarkable. I am awestruck. You are the apple of my eye, bring tears to my eyes and fill all of our hearts with love.   

Always my sweet boy,

Mom 

One of the flowers you picked for me during our recent vacation to the Dominican Republic. Each day when I came to get you from camp you'd come running. "Mommy, Look! This flower is so beautiful. I picked it for you. Put it behind your ear and you'll be so pretty." By the end of the week I had a glorious bouquet.  

 

Ferry

This past Saturday I took the boys on a late afternoon Staten Island ferry ride - a beautiful day for their first time aboard the big orange vessel. 

 
 

"Travel not for the destination,

but for the joy of the journey." 

~ Sir Joseph Fresco

 

i only have eyes for you

This is the glorious beauty I see each time you look at me.

 My guess is those eyes will get you in trouble one day.

[Click on each image to view full scale]

Photo 52: Pespectives | Textured

As I searched the city this past week for interesting textures to photograph, my trusted assistant was with me. Usually he's so busy practicing his kung fu kicks that he could care less about what I'm shooting.  But this time he asked to be in the shot and since this isn't an everyday occurrence, I jumped at the opportunity. Below are a few of my favorites.  

 

 

 

 

In each photo he chose his expression or pose; I intervened very little. Sometimes serious, broody, playful, or in the midst of a kung fu punch, it was all impulsive and super fun to photograph. He definitely has his grill face down in a few of these and I'll admit, I love the intensity. Must be the New York blood in his veins. 

My quest for textures ended up being a spontaneous photo shoot with my little man. You never know what might transpire when you've got your camera, a playful preschooler and New York City as your backdrop.

Click HERE to visit our collective site, Who We Become, to see our image gallery for this week.