Proper beach attire

I am very lucky.  Although my family lives thousands of miles away, my three siblings, mom, and mom's boyfriend all came to visit us last week!  We had fun spending time together: watching movies, exploring Portland, playing board games, cooking at home.  We also took a day trip to Cannon Beach, which is a lovely place to visit any time of the year.  One doesn't go to the Oregon coast to sunbathe in December, so we occupied ourselves in other ways.

After my family flew home, Matt, the doggles, and I took a short trip to the Olympic Peninsula.  We found a cottage in Forks, Washington, not too far from the Olympic National Forest and some breathtakingly beautiful beaches.  It rained, as expected in the rainiest part of the country.  We were in a rainforest, after all.  It was glorious.

The four of us donned our raincoats and set out for our first hike together, not encountering any beast or person for the entire two hours on Christmas morning.

What a beautiful part of the country!

Happy New Year!  I hope 2012 is filled with happy surprises, time spent with loved ones, and new opportunities for us all!

Family Portrait!

My photographer friend, Carly, came over to assist with a fun project yesterday. We have the honor of appearing in the Cares4Pets 2012 calendar, scheduled to be released in a few months, and Carly snapped some great shots of the four of us together. As you can imagine, it's not always easy to photograph pets, and given that ours are of a particularly squirmy variety, Carly did a fabulous job! I like how so many of them feature Emerson's tongue on Matt's face.

Which shot is your favorite?

(Don't worry; The chosen image will be much crisper than those portrayed here.)

Money to a great cause! 2011 Cares4Pets Calendars!!

The weather is getting cooler and you know what that means; time to start planning your holiday shopping!

As many of you know, until our recent move, Doc and I volunteered on a regular basis with Cares4Pets, a WONDERFUL pet rescue group in Philadelphia- the same group we adopted Andy from two years ago. One of the projects I became involved with was the 2011 Cares4Pets calendar. This calendar serves as a fundraiser for the small group while showcasing twelve success stories- happy pets with their new families. Along with helping plan the calendar, I did four of the photo shoots for the project, including these two and these two!

I'm asking today that you consider pre-ordering a 2011 Cares4Pets calendar in place of your usual calendar. And if you're so inclined, we would love love love you to purchase a few calendars as gifts. If, for some amazing reason, you would be interested in purchasing a larger amount, there are freebies to be had.

Montana poses for her close-up.

The calendars are $20 each (plus shipping) and absolutely all proceeds go directly toward the rescue, rehabilitation, and placement of homeless animals. Please visit the Cares4Pets website at http://cares4pets.org/ for more information about the group. While there, feel free to take a look at the cats and dogs up for adoption. (Sponsorship of an animal in need also makes a great gift! C4P will even send your loved one a certificate!)

Calendars can be purchased through PayPal by clicking on the button found below. Alternatively (and preferably!) payments can be sent via snail mail. Just make sure to print out this form , which includes all the pertinent information to mail along with your check. If you are unable to pick up the calendar in person, please include an additional $3 for shipping.

Questions? Email me at inmyveganlife AT gmail DOT com.

2011 Cares4Pets Calendar!

Recent Cares4Pets Photoshoots

As you may have read a while ago, I'm helping out with a 2011 Cares4Pets calendar, which showcases happy Cares4Pets dogs and cats in their loving adoptive homes. I'm currently 1/3 of my way through the photo shoots. The calendar will be available starting late summer/early fall, with all proceeds going directly to the rescue, rehabilitation, and rehoming of lucky dogs and cats in the Philadelphia area.

Recently I had the pleasure of photographing Thorn, a beautiful dog, previously known as "Comet," one of Cares4Pets' "Christmas Puppies," and Nobbles, a friendly cat who is clearly in love with his humans.

More photos of happy pets and happy families to come soon!

A Lovely Fall Weekend

Cares4Pets is putting together a 2011 calender filled with adoption success stories along with photos of the happy families. I've been assigned the task of photographer and this past weekend I got started with two delightful women and their pups.

DocDufresne, my dutiful assistant, and I met up with Sandra and her lovely lab/pointer mix, Montana in Clark Park. Montana is a senior lady and was rescued from a breeding operation where she was going to be put down due to the fact that she wasn't producing litters any more. She's adorable and very sweet. She also clearly loves Sandra dearly. Here are some of my favorite photos from the session. After our session in Clark Park, DocDufresne and I took a lovely walk to Woodlands Cemetery, which is a great spot where we spent some time when DocDufresne lived in the neighborhood. There we met up with Beth and her cutie pie, Gizmo, who was rescued from running across a busy street. One of our photo spots was commandeered by some sort of amateur film crew that was shooting footage of a small metal bird cage... Clearly it was a good spot. Luckily, I'm really happy with several of the photos that were taken with a lovely honey locust in the background.

Earlier that day I worked with a great group of volunteers. We rescued native tulip poplars, sweet gum, sweet birch, white pine, and read oaks from a meadow that will be mowed in the spring. It was such a lovely weekend.