last time i was at the cabin, lars and i deserted the doggies and

stole away to alexandria for a quick 

(late) anniversary trip.

we used to live there and all 3 of our babies were born at

douglas county hospital. because we started our

grown up life and family there, struggled and laughed our way through

 our twenties, this town will

always hold a special place in our hearts.

before we left the lodge though, i happened to look out the

kitchen window and saw that every single blade of grass 

had a dew drop on it's tip. it was beautiful... the sun was coming up over

the tree tops~

just one of the millions of tiny little miracles that make up our days.

 i picked these dried goodies and made a bouquet for the kitchen window- 

look around outside, you don't always need fresh flowers to make a pretty arrangement.  :  )

i found these bright reddish colored mushrooms in the woods~

so off we went to alex. 

if you read my blog you've seen posts featuring my dear

friend leslie's house. when she heard we were in town she

offered to make us breakfast....can i just say

yummmmmmmm?

she and bob had just returned from a junkin road trip to

texas and she was oozing southern hospitality!

she said in texas their orange juice was served with fresh mint,

so she put some in ours too. she got out all her best dishes and

set the table so beautifully. 
this friend of mine truly cares about and shares the simple pleasures of life.

(nothing better than a big breakfast that someone else

makes you is there?)

                                                                                        um, who pre-peels your tangerines for you?

                                                                                       a delicious quiche from pioneer woman's cookbook

my big sweetie hadn't been to bob and leslie's since the house was just a shell,

being remodeled. we did a fun tour so he could see it all and then the

guys disappeared to talk about guy stuff like pool balls and

hunting and us girls went from room to room so i could see the

treasures from their trip and her fall decor.

this sunroom is one of my favorite places on earth to sit with a cup of

something warm (or something in a stemmed glass) and a magazine.

leslie loves dolls. she considers herself to be a "doll rescuer"

she's loved them since she was a child and no one loves

all the wonder of childhood more than she does.

everywhere you look in their home you'll see whimsy and 

collections that tell a story.

when we met and became friends i stepped up my decorating game

because she inspired me to do so.

when we moved to mpls. i took it down a notch because she

wasn't here to cheer me on. to this day (23 years later) when

she's coming to my house around a holiday i run to the

totes in the basement and bring up more stuff... and then

when she gets here she always says  "em, where's all your stuff? you didn't

decorate a lot this year"...haha!

one year i had a genius idea and before she came, i decorated

my entry table with a couple things from every single holiday of the year!!!

tee hee hee

some of leslie's dolls

we're both bird lovers...isn't this girl holding birdseed cute? love it spilled all over the deck too.

 this is shells and sea glass from their travels~

and these? yep- antique steiff animals... i'm pretty much in love and if she goes

to heaven before me...i would like the lion please. thank you very much.

girlfriend has a whole wall of these precious old silhouettes. they are 

painstakingly cut out of paper and years ago people would

pay an artist to cut out a likelihood of their child.

bob and leslie hang upside down from trees somewhere (they could tell us where, but then they'd 

have to kill us) to get this ahhh mazing bittersweet every fall.

while in alex we drove around and sat on the beach for awhile and talked

about maybe moving back there someday. it's fun to dream.

we also saw the movie the judge and i'd highly recommend it.

*if i was on the board of the academy, i'd give robert duvall one of

those pretty gold statues for his performance.

i also visited my brother and saw his family which was nice.

i have a backup of things to share with you, but for now, it's monday

and i have work to do!

i've been very busy with photography sessions and it's just the most 

amazing feeling to me~ i feel blessed and humbled...doing something i love so much and

being able to give people photographs that i hope they'll cherish for years to come.
i told a young friend recently that i feel a bit like the velveteen rabbit.
hard to explain, but after all the times i've started over in life, and all
the pathways i've traveled... this one feels the most real to me.
it feels like i'm doing heart work. work that matters now, and hopefully
will still matter years from now.

i have a new facebook page

brown sparrow studio 

if you want to see albums of the images. there are too

many to post on my blog right now.

off to resume editing,

xo, beth


p.s. if you know of someone who is going through a tough time and would
like to have photos taken, would you kindly let me know?
as a way of giving back i would love to gift them with a session.