Poolside Puppies

jackson who is noot super impressed with dakota but adorable none the less!

the boys being - boyys!

Over the weekend Matt and I visited with my bestfriend Victoria and her family. Victoria just arrived home from 8 weeks of European adventures on Saturday. It was SO nice to surprise her with a visit and catch up and hear all about Europe and the places and people she experienced!
We brought along Dakota (because well, we dont really go anywhere without her!) She was invited to go swimming with Victorias brothers in their pool. Matt and I were leary at first because we didnt know how she would react in a pool (she lives for lakes and rivers...what lab doesnt!) and we didnt want her to do damage but Victorias parents insisted and Dakota had the BEST time.

Here are some of my favourite shots, which brings me to this weeks favourites:* bestfriends
Victoria, we have known each other since we were kids, I feel like your more my sister than anything and Im so excited for what our futures bring. I know that we will always be in one another lives whether we are near or far. love you!

*Dolly Parton Princess Playhouses
Matt, I know your going to build her the best kitty castle EVER (pictures to come!)

Happy Birthday Reksio+Dakota

I have been so busy that I didnt get the chance to blog Dakotas birthday (YESS INTERNET, Im SOOOOO cool and have doggie birthdaysss! ppfftt)
Well the birthday bash was a hit to say the least! We had it on her actual birthday (July 13) She got all dressed up in a special 1year old big girl brithday dress and cutey pink bow barrets! ADORABLE, right?! She invited her 3 friends Jackson, Reksio and Reggie. They had a blast and lllloooooveeeed the doggie loot bags and pupcakes that I got for them!

Well it seems I have started a trend with all my friends because last night Matt, Dakota and I attended Reksio (its polish for rex - if you really want to say it 'properly' rollll your tongue and pretend you have a cool accent) birthday partayy. Reksio is my good friend Olas dog. We all had such a fun time, chatting with one another and eating yummy polish cake with Ola's family! So its now mandatory...DOG OWNERS, you neeed to get all your friends and their fury friends over and have your dog a birthdayyy partyyy!

Here are some shots of the evening :)

the birthday boy!

this is Olas cuteeeeee neice!

-jad

Allison+Greg engaged // Toronto Wedding Photographer // GTA photographer

On Saturday I had the pleasure of shooting Greg and Allisons engagment. They chose a little park on Lakeshore in Toronto and it was such a great location! There was the lake and the city skyline in the background and lots of trees and shade so we didnt melt, because it got hoooot!

Allison and I met a few weeks ago to discuss wedding details, and as we sipped on vanilla bean lattes she told me that her and Greg have been together forever... And it was only this past Christmas (after years of tormenting and teasing from friends and family) that Greg decided it was time to ask Allison to spend the rest of their lives together as husband and wife. Allison recalls him telling her he had the ring ( the HUGE and absolutely stunning ring I might add) for awhile and he was just waiting for the right moment (Greg, you are soo sweet!) On September 11th of this year Greg and Allison will wed at the Enoch Turner Schoolhouse in Toronto and Im so happy and honored to be apart of their first day as Mr.&Mrs.
I think you both are fabulous! I loved shooting your engagement and I look forward to your wedding!

-jad

Sparky

When I was small I lived with my great aunt and she had this cat - sparky. He was the meanest cat EVER, when my cousin kayla or I would walk by it would claw our ankles or any skin his paw happened to come in contact with. You think little ankle biting dogs are bad? Sparky was worse...Even though he thwarted all of my efforts to play and cuddle with him (this usually ended with tears and bandaids for me) I still loved him and cats.

Last summer I was swimming in the complex and pool and this cutey baby ginger kitten wandered up to the side of the pool - and I fell in loooove. He waited for me to dry off and he followed me home, well obviously I took this as he wanted me to be his mommma and love and cuddle him forever. So I brought him over to Matts place and got Matt to drive us to walmart where I could stock up on kitty treats and cute collars for MY NEW BABY.

A few hours later I was loving my little cutey baby inside while Matt was working outside on his car, I glance out the window and notice Matt talking with this sad little girl. Next thing I knew Matt was inside explaining to me that I couldnt keep my cuteycutey ginger kitten because hereally didn't belong to me, but to this little girl. Now as much as I didnt think this little girl could be trusted to keeep my kitten after she clearly abandoned it Matt convinced me that we couldnt pretend we didnt have him and I HAD to give him back. This made me sooooo sad, but the little girl WAS really happy so I guesssssss it was the right thing to do.

Last night Matt made up for making me give ginger kitty back because he finallly agreed to us getting a kitten of our own! (all hard feelings about ginger kitty are forgotten love!) We picked her up last night and she is sososososoooo adorable. Her name is dolly (parton) and her and Dakota are slowly becoming bestfriends, but not just any kind of bestfriends - were talking Milo&Ottus kind of friends! I just snapped a few quick pictures of dolly, there certainly will be more photoshoots in her furture so stay tuned.

This brings me to this weeks fav's:

-boyfriends who get their girlfriends cutey kittens

-and doggie+kitten best friends

<3>

my weekly favourite

To encourage me to blog as much as possible every week I have decided to include 'my weekly favourite' post which will occur every Monday (in this case Tuesday because a girllll needs her sleep after a super fun long weeeekend!)

Speaking of super fun long weekends, this past one Matt and I spent at a friends cottage near Sundridge ON. It was so nice to have a break from everything! There was no cell reception, meaning our blackberrys stayed in the car the ENTIRE time (although my fingers seized up yesterday when I replied to my full inbox of texts in record time) We caught up with friends we havn't seen since last summer and just had a really fun and carefree time.

On Sunday we drove into town to try and find a glow stick because Dakota is absolutly impossible to see at night so we came up with the idea of glowsticking her collar which worked amazingly, except we ran out after Saturday night because one of the packs was a dud :(

Instead of finding a dollarama in this little town, we found Jeffrey. Jeffrey Dickerson and his wife own a small craftstore in SouthRiver where they hand make beautifully framed artwork. In addition to their stunning peices they are incredible people. Ive never met such trusting, honest and genuine people ever. We couldnt resist purchasing some art from Jeffrey because it was just stunning and right up our alley with the custom made barnboard frames. We spoke with his wife at their store, she insisted we go down to the old rail station to meet her husband) He was organizing a yard sale fundraiser for the station to raise money to restore the old building. After we chatted about colours and size we asked if he knew where to find a glow stick, he could only think of one spot - his sons dresser. We politely declined because how could we take a kids toy! But Jeffery insisted and we decided buying a box from the sale would clear our conscious. So as I perused old dishes, books and kids toys I found some old glass. When I first saw it I passed by but on my second time around the table it made me stop because I saw past the dirt to the stunning deep green colour and the neat shape. I saw it sitting in my window with my Great Aunts vases and it was perfect.

This weeks fav goes to small towns and their amazing people. And to yard sales, and pretty glass.

And if you would like to see some of Jeffreys Art, go here: (http://www.countrystylepictureframing.com/)

Joe - just because

I took these images a couple weeks ago and I didn’t know how to write this blog so I put it off. And off. I couldnt put into words what a great friend is to me and what an influence he has had on my life. But today I decided to really take a stab at this post, so as I type and then backspace and then repeat again and again, this is my attempt.

Joe has been a long time family friend. He saw me through kindergarten and Barbies and all the accessories that went along with the coolest Barbie play area EVER. He taught me sarcasm and that just because my nan didn’t make it, doesn’t mean its not delicious. He showed me through his experiences the importance of being true to yourself and that there should be cobalt blue in every room (I guess I should give Martha some cred for that one too!) Thank you for always telling me what you think and not always what I want to hear. And for always giving me the biggest hair ever!

*jad

A Red Ribbon Affair

Baby, you are fierrrrce.

Hair and makeup was sooo hot! Aveda - you are amazing!


Wednesday night I attended A Red Ribbon Affair Fashion Show in Toronto, an event to raise aids awareness. The event was hosted by a group of students who organized the event as their final university project. All of the ladies were absolutely wonderful to work with and definitely knew how to throw a really party! The designers included; C’est Moi, Jason Meyers and Baby Steinberg all of whom had really unique and inspiring pieces.
I loved being able to see how the event came together, by being backstage I saw the hair and makeup done by the fabulous stylists of Aveda. I got to experience the primping of the final outfits on the models. There was so much detail that went into each of the models, I was exhausted just watching all the stylists and models hustling behind the white curtain to make sure each girl was a picture of perfection.

The venue was S T U N N I N G! The show was hosted at Andrew Richard Designs in Toronto. I was soo jelous of this space, I wanted it to be mine! The light in the building was to die for, and there was even a rooftop space that we got some really cool urban shots in that was super fab. He rents it out to the public as well so if your looking for a chic/urban space then this is totally it!

I was so thrilled to be a part of this event, I had a great time and I loved getting the chance to step outside ‘my comfort zone’ and to do something really different than I have ever done before!

Here are a few images from the night,

take your time

As Matt and I were driving home from Huntsville on Saturday after the O.F.A.H. Camp we saw a sign on the road that said 'High Falls' so we decided to check it out. I was reluctant because we had a pretty long day and still a 2 hour drive ahead of us. I was feeling my bed and cozy blankets get further and further away as we made our way off the highway on to this old windy dirt road.

We took a wrong turn but quickly got back on track and then we spoted it - high falls, and suddenly my bed wasnt even on my mind anymore. I was in awe, that this veiw was minutes from the busy highway we were just on. I was in the "ijustsawmountainsforthefirsttime" kind of awe. Here are a couple quick shots we took and they really dont even do this place justice.

It goes to show you that sometimes its worth your while to take a little detour and not worry about time and always rushing to get from point A to B... you've gotta smell the flowers sometimes :)

JAD