I talked to Santa this week guys… for real. We’re looking ahead to great things coming your way this holiday season at SJP including the chance to not just meet Santa but to hang out and decorate some cookies with him too. Mark your calendars for Saturday, November 14th (Christmas set without Santa Limited Edition Session) and Sunday, November 15th for Santa Experience. Why am I telling you about all this right now?!?! Well, we still have One for One gift cards available this month only (buy one gift card for yourself and we’ll gift one to the essential worker of your choice!) and that gift card can be applied to any sessions this year including your Christmas portraits and Santa Experience!
Any to brighten up your afternoon how about a peek back at one of this year’s Christmas sessions. Aren’t they just the sweetest sisters?!?!
Today on the blog we celebrate the lovely Megan!!! This girl is seriously always a joy to be around. She’s just the sweetest and reminds me SO much of myself (way back when). She just lights up on camera and made my job so easy and fun creating with her at all of her sessions this year.
Good luck in all the things you do after high school, Megan I cannot wait to see where life takes you!
If hanging out with us and the entire model & influencer team for a year (or more) filled with portrait sessions sounds like fun (it is!) don’t miss your chance to join us. You can learn more and apply now HERE. Virtual interviews are starting NEXT week so that we can be photographing you guys by the end of the month, you’re really not going to want to miss this.
Ok I know I promised two more blog posts on the personal side of things behind my major weightloss. And the two left were really more of the deep dives into my WHY and my SELF TALK … and I’m going to tell you the lie/excuse first then the truth for why they still haven’t been published.
The lie/excuse … COVID-19 hit and it didn’t seem like the right time to be focusing on me/weightloss when everything in our lives, routines, habits and world was being shaken up. (Ok but really, wouldn’t that have been a good time to post/encourage/motivate those who are at home eating the icing straight from the tub?!? <<< me, I’m talking about me… I did that!)
The truth… I’ve started writing those posts and dang, who knew weight loss and self image and the why behind all this is SO deep and personal and hits me in the feels (which is not a place I like to hang out ya’ll). So the real reason those posts are MIA so far, they’re hard. Simple as that.
Ok so what is this 2.5 post? Well I realized today that I’ve left a small detail out of the full story. Not really on purpose (though for a reason) and not to hide it but rather to present realistic expectations for what it’s taken to have this transformation. And the detail I’ve left out is Plexus….
Plexus has been a part of my life for a few years now after I saw a great friend having amazing results and feeling very good (even getting off a number of her meds using it). So, I did what we all often do when I saw someone losing weight and taking this thing… I ran out and bought the thing. I didn’t change a thing in my lifestyle and I took the stuff and I watched the scale and …….. big reveal, nada! WHAT?!?!?! But SHE took it and she lost weight!!!! And THAT is why I often slide past this detail in my talks of my weight loss. Because, I myself looked at it to be the thing to ‘fix’ me, and it didn’t.
But, I do 100% believe that it now supports my healthy choices and I feel much better, stronger, healthier, more alert, better gut health, etc while taking it.
‘Pink drink’ AKA Plexus Slim drink every morning with my coffee. I find this keeps my hunger/excess cravings under control throughout the day. I tend to graze/snack and eat more when I’m not actually hungry on days I do not drink it.
Plexus Accelerator. Started using this at the beginning for a boost. Take it with my Slim drink but not long-term. I have a bit left so I use it sparingly on days when I feel like I could use a boost of calorie burn.
Pro Bio 5 & Bio Cleanse … I am the WORST at remembering to take these two but I can tell I have far less bloating and overall feel better (gut health) when I do. Ideally 2 Pro Bio before bed and Bio Cleanse 2x a day between meals (I mean come on, who can remember that!?!?).
Block … Ok this is my forgiveness pill. Who needs (NEEEEEDDDDSSSSS) to emotional eat sometimes?!?! I don’t care if it’s right or wrong or healthy or not, let’s be honest once an emotional eater I don’t expect that I’m now never going to be one again. No, I have more foregiveness for myself ‘falling off the wagon’ and better self talk now to not beat myself up over it and this supplement helps me feel ok with a bit carbier of a meal or a bit of ice cream once in awhile. It helps me feel like it’s not a fall off the wagon I simply let my feet dangle off the side.
Active … I have tried a few different pre-workout supplements and really find I have much more energy for my rides using them. I liked Active as well as Beachbody and just recently tried Advocare. I’ve liked all three and tend to jump between all of them.
So do these all work? I don’t know. Is it just placebo, maybe. And so far it’s working so I’m going to keep on keeping on. But I wanted to make sure to share the whole story and not leave out any bits. I do think these have helped me (maybe physically, certainly mentally) navigate this transformation but I do NOT think they would have done anything for me without the diet/fitness changes I talked about in post 1 and 2 of this series. But if these can help you, I think they have helped me and I wanted to share!
I thought it was time to celebrate this guy on the blog today to stand up and clap for our spring baseball players. I’m so so glad we rose with the sun to create these looks on the St. Teresa Baseball Diamond with Ethan as the perfect start to his senior session in contrast with a less than perfect ending to the school year for our 2020 grads.
Always a special place in my heart for mommas and of course we include them in your session whenever we can! You know she’s his biggest fan and we wouldn’t want it any other way.
We’ve been working this week with a local printer (because #shoplocal!!) to find a way to celebrate not only our senior grads but any area seniors and we love these yard signs (single or double sided) and front door banners. We have them available in our online shop now and will be placing the first round of orders Monday, April 27th for all orders received this week. We’re hoping to shower our city with some love for our seniors with these and hope you love them as much as we do!
Alden might just hold the new SJP record for farthest traveled for his big session day… all the way from South Africa! And let me tell you it was a real treat as he’s just the sweetest. He had me wrapped around his little finger before the session was even over.
We knew ahead of time we’d be planning for a Captain America cake smash session and while Christmas shopping I just happened to find these perfect cookies and couldn’t resist picking up a couple for his session. They gave us the perfect not so messy treat to photograph before we let him dive into the whole cake!
And this gorgeous cake… brought to you by local favorite Bodine’s Baking Company! They’ve done some amazing cakes/cookies for my own girl’s birthdays and I always highly recommend them for our cake smash sessions.
I’m SO ready to celebrate some of your BIG little birthdays again! I’ve got an April baby myself turning 5 next week and I’d love to hear any creative ways you guys have celebrated your little’s birthdays while staying at home this year. Be sure to follow our personal IG to tune into my attempt to create a mermaid cake as requested (I’ve failed at simple chocolate chip cookies THREE times during #stayathome2020 so this should be fun).
