Sole Snaps Photography »

Here in the Northwest we had a bit of an Indian summer.  My friend Ali decided to have a “green birthday party” for her girls.  My girls were invited to the celebration which meant I got to take photos at this sweet little party.   I imagined all of the kids dressed in their very favorite clothes, sitting on a beautiful quilt under Ali’s bountiful dwarf apple trees.

Instead, the weather turned out to be blustery, cloudy, slightly rainy, and cold!  The Indian summer was gone with a capital G!  Ali and her kiddos prepared for our arrival by making cupcakes, cookies, apple slices, cheese, and beautiful party favors! Of course the weather did not matter one bit to the kids.  Nor did they care about what they were wearing, or where they were sitting, or what they were sitting on.  You know they didn’t even care what they were sitting under!   They sat on the floor in the house, scarfing down their cupcakes and drinking their tea. Being together was enough for them. This is what we should always remember every single day. We need to help our kids to hold onto this idea, the idea of being together is enough, or even better, just being is enough, rather than giving them expectations of gifts and extravagance. Our kids are born smarter than we have become.  Keep them this way!  Keep them this way! Keep them this way!

tulsi tea, holy basil tea and chamomile tea…

ali’s pfaltzgraff tea set that she pieced together from different second hand stores…

apples from ali’s tree and gluten free, vegan  oatmeal pumpkin drop cookies….

grain-free chocolate cupcakes with dairy free cream cheese…

and the kiddos of coarse!

I think this may have been one of my most fun sessions yet!  as you can see these little ladies are quite colorful.  i thought it was a good excuse to my my entire blog post in B&W!

I am happy to share with all of you, my first body map.  the ecodiva’s version of a vision board.  We of coarse got to make them how ever we chose.  I did my best to keep the body shape still visible in mine.  I am not finished but i wanted to share my thoughts of the experience while it is still fresh in my mind.

a few weeks ago my friend elena hosted her first intuitive wellness workshop.  it was held in the most beautiful space, a yoga studio called inspire studio.  wow!  how lucky we all were just to get to hangout there let alone take part in such greatness.  plus i got to meet some really amazing women.  we ate raw foods, (including chocolate!) we spoke about our intuition, we got to hear wonderful things about ourselves and share the positive thoughts we had about each other.  i am still feeling the effects and this was weeks ago.  It may have changed me forever!

after we shared our positive thoughts about each other we had about 2 or 3 minutes to write what we heard about ourselves on a beautiful, little white card.  on the outside we wrote what we heard and on the inside we wrote what we think of ourselves. Before I share what i wrote i want to share what the woman sitting to the left of me said about me.  the woman that i had only known for about an hour or so and had not even had a personal one on one conversation with.  her name is shannon and when she looked at me she said, “candace, i am proud of you.”  these words slapped me right in my face.  you wouldn’t think that words from a stranger could have this effect. she told me that she was proud of me for following my fears (i had mentioned this earlier).  that is all i will say about that besides thank you shannon!  I think about your words everyday and they give me the courage to jump right into my fears when i start to forget that following them is what i am working toward.   this is what i wrote,  “I am fearless, I am funny, a true friend and loved, I am happy!”  on the inside i wrote, “i feel like a leader, i feel strong and brave.  I will follow my fears into the rest of my amazing life. I love where I am!  I love who I am!

 PS. I will be posting photos of my on going body map.  this is just the beginning….