(iPhone shot of our NYC apartment wallpaper)

And just like that, it’s another Monday on the blog!!! I was looking at my calendar this morning & realized I only have 7 more Mondays until the last week of school!!! That only means one thing for this teacher-photographer my friends: the kickoff of Wedding Season 2015 is coming my way!

While my first wedding isn’t until the last week in May, a lot of my industry friends started their busy season this past weekend. It was so fun to see their excitement flooding social media, and, while a part of me was a little jealous they were able to kickoff so soon, mostly it just made me that much more thrilled for all of the amazing couples I have in store! I knew choosing to hold fast to teaching would mean limiting my number of weddings during the school year, but for me, that’s the way it works :)

ANYWAY, there will be all sorts of fun things headed to the blog in the next few weeks! If you followed along on Instagram, you saw (too many) snap shots from our adventure in NYC last week; we had the time of our lives! I will be sharing some highlights and images on the blog later this week, along with some gorgeous women I was able to catch up with and photograph along the way! Headshots are some of my new favorite things, guys — seriously so much fun!!!! Especially in NYC ;)

For now, here is some quick insight into lessons leaned & things to love this Monday morning, with a NYC twist :)

• It’s completely reasonable to visit FOUR different restaurants in the span of two hours in the city. Drinks downtown, pizza off of the subway stop, accidental stroll by a mini-cupcakaroon store, and then noticing we were two blocks from THE Serendipity when trying to find our way home? Yeah, that happened, and it was good. :)
• NYC cabs are super fun and make you feel like you are a living, breathing part of the city, but UBER cabs smell nice and involve less honking. Experiencing both was definitely a plus!
• Wearing flats in the city leads to people asking you for directions and store clerks inquiring about your neighborhood of residence. Wearing tennis shoes with skinny pants in the city moves those questions into the direction of your STATE of residence, and, while someone may still ask you subway advice, they will assume you’re a tourist too. Shoes matter.
• But so do your feet. So, even though the flats are so much more fun…stick to the Nikes. #oops #sixteenmilesinflatsisnotrecommended
• Southwest flight attendants are hilarious and I love them. It’s amazing what a little sense of humor can do to calm the nerves :)
• My favorite find from the whole week? The Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter cookie from Levain’s Bakery. Not even kidding, this thing was amazing. Big shout out to Robyn of The Real- Life RD for the introduction :)
• And finally, Air Bnb is officially the best way to travel. Yes our shower was in the living room, but our apartment was in MANHATTAN! Best stay ever :) :)

Check back on Friday for my full re-cap of the trip :) Can’t wait to see you then!!  Until then, enjoy some previews of the good things coming your way…

Jillian of Bella Carta Boutique

Robyn of The Real-Life RD

Happy Monday!!!

Love love love,

Sami