For nearly everyone I have talked with, May was a collective whirlwind of embracing spring, winding down a school year (for those with children or who teach) and gearing up for the summer ahead. Both invigorating and exhausting. But as spring is my personal favorite season, the month of May mostly catapulted me into bouts of extreme joy.
With the warmer spring weather, I naturally shift from my cozy days of painting and pottery into photographing weddings and humans. This month also brought a week of travel to New York and a trip up north to our cottage near Sleeping Bear Dunes. This past week I traveled all over the state of Michigan photographing families and couples and I honestly loved every minute of it.
Photography
May brought with it our first few weddings of the season and it felt really great to be back in the proverbial saddle. Both weddings were local to our Grand Rapids home-base and it felt good to flex those muscles again. I also flew to New York to cover Sarah Sherman Samuel’s first solo show and the celebration of her first book release. The week was incredible with sunny spring weather, amazing food (Gjelina being the star of the food show), shopping and taking the tram to Roosevelt Island. Also, I’m no super expert, but if you wanted a mini NY guide to some of my favorite spots, let me know!
While I am mostly booked for the summer months at this point, I do have a spots open for my upcoming trip to Chicago next month and September still has a good amount of open dates. For those that have been asking, I will be putting my fall mini session dates together sometime in mid-July but you can email me anytime to get on my fall calendar.
Art
With so much travel and photography work, my painting and pottery-making has slowed down a bit, but with the warmer weather now here, I am hoping to set up my painting outside on our deck next week to work on a few pieces I have been conceptualizing in my head. I am also heading back into the pottery studio to work on some serving pieces that I want to use for summertime hosting, as well as some more sculptural pieces I have been wanting to use around our home.
These pieces will be heading over to Dune Saugatuck this weekend and my shop at Maison Blanc is going to be getting some freshly-framed photography pieces. My friend Mindy and I also have a wall up at the new Crow’s Hold Vendor Market in downtown Grand Rapids for a project we have been working on, and hopefully launching a coordinating website alongside of it soon, called Hey Wall. We have been wanting to collaborate for a while to put together a cohesive print shop website where you can order curated prints for your halls and walls. I’ll share more on that soon!
I also haven’t forgotten about the giveaway of the art print that I mentioned in last month’s Substack. The winner (I put it into a randomizer online) is // Meredith!
Congratulations Meredith! I’ll contact you to get you your new art piece!
Favorite Things
This is a longer list this month as I have been feeling pretty shop-py this month.
My summer bag this year is this darling butter-colored leather handbag from Ganni. It’s the perfect size and can be worn several ways. I’m obsessed.
And what’s in that bag? My favorite colored lip balm/gloss in a perfect tomato red. I love this one because it can give you a quick, sheer coverage of color or layer it for a more vibrant hue. It’s also nourishing, not drying. I have one in my bag, my car and my makeup kit.
Speaking of tomatos, I don’t just want my lips to look tomato-colored I want to SMELL like a tomato. This is my summer scent and it’s a good dupe for the Loewe Tomato Leaves room spray.
Also in there is this salt. Purse salt is essential, in my opinion.
And lastly, these red jelly flats from The Gap are both nostalgic andcomfortable and I find that they look cute on nearly every outfit I put on lately.
Recipe
This month I’m sharing my favorite granola recipe. It’s easy, tasty and contains no refined sugar. I make this for my family often and it comes together if very little time. I’ve been obsessed eating this over my favorite yogurt with frozen wild blueberries on top and a small drizzle of honey. It’s a delightful breakfast (or lunch, as is often the case for me during a busy workday).
4 cups of oats (I like these sprouted oats)
3/4 cups of (melted) coconut oil. I use the unrefined coconut oil from Trader Joes. Alternatively, I have used olive oil in lieu of the coconut oil (Graza always).
1/2 to 3/4 of maple syrup. Depends how I’m feeling haha. You could also use honey but I really do think the maple syrup makes it taste best.
1 cup of chopped pecans (use any nut you like. pecans are my absolute favorite nut).
1 cup of pumpkin seeds (these are my favorite).
I alternate between adding dried cherries or dried cranberries or freeze-dried berries (I love these ones from Trader Joe).
A hefty sprinkle of cinnamon.
Mix all of the ingredients together EXCEPT for the fruit option you are using and bake at 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes, spread out on a cookie sheet. As soon as I start smelling the granola I know it’s done. I let it cool for about 45 minutes to an hour, mix in the fruit I’m using, and store it in an air-tight container.
Add coconut flakes to it if you like. Add more than one nut. Go crazy. Granola is hard to mess up and always tastes better than store bought. This one is the one we eat up within days every time.
Ok friends, that’s all for this time! Let me know if you find these posts entertaining or if you want more specific articles. I’m all ears!
here for the purse salt