alaina + doug / sneak peek

national christmas center

I hope you all had a nice Christmas!  I wanted to share a few photos from a recent trip to the National Christmas Museum in Paradise, PA.  Laurie got the idea to take a road trip here after seeing the museum written up in her Martha Stewart Living magazine and we ended up having a fantastic time.  Just like their website says...its not what you expect!

here we are, just about to enter the museum, not knowing what to expect...

we realized this was no ordinary museum when we came to the life-size replica of  Woolworth's

the center houses thousands of antique glass ornaments...

creepy Santa

more creepy Santas...

Woolworth's...apparently, the man who donated to the center spent over a decade scouring antique shops and estate sales looking for these items and signage, most of them in their original packaging!

so pretty

ribbon / 25 cents

adorable box of 'snow'

Laurie hanging with the reindeer...

one of my favorite trees loaded with the most beautiful pink glass ornaments

loved these green lights...

old-fashioned candelabras

Laurie loved these little pipe-cleaner trees amidst the army of miniature Santas

after putting a quarter in the old (and working!) nickelodeon, the room is filled with music

real letters to Santa: this girl 'has made very little mistakes about being bad'

having worked up quite the appetite, Laurie and stop at a cute road-side diner up the street

jen + jim engagement / philadelphia

Here are some favorites from Jen & Jim's engagement session six weeks ago.  We met at their apartment, a gorgeous 1920's building, originally the Philadelphia School Board headquarters.  After walking around town a bit we went back to their apartment, where I got to meet the rest of the family, the adorable Murphy & Sanders.

Looking forward to Jen and Jim's wedding at the Tendenza next September!

katy + charlie / john james audubon center

When I heard there was snow in the forecast for Katy and Charlie's tent-wedding at the John James Audubon Center, I was a little...well...nervous.  So I planned to arrive a good two hours early to scout out some locations for pictures just in case it was really coming down.  Good thing Bob was there early, too, because he told me about the beautiful, hidden back porch off the main house.  It offered us shelter from the snow and gorgeous views of the surrounding woods. 

Katy and Charlie, despite the difficult conditions, were a pure joy to work with.  Looking at these photos reminds me of how truly blessed I am to be able to work with some of the nicest / kindest / loveliest folks the world has to offer :)