Christmas Music Mayhem!

"Guess what?" I asked my husband while simultaneously pushing the radio button on.

"...come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you" sang loudly through the speakers.

"Christmas music on Halloween?" my husband asked, looking puzzled and slightly disturbed.

"I love it!" I rang out with excitement.

"I thought Christmas music started around Thanksgiving."

"Guess they're starting even earlier! I just love it!"

"I'll be sick of this in about three days."

I laughed diabolically.

"Christmas music shouldn't be allowed in Florida. There is no 'dreaming of a white christmas', no 'sleighs' because there is no snow, no 'chestnuts roasting on an open fire' because it's too hot to have a fire in Florida,' he reasoned, as if Christmas music required logic to be enjoyed. Silly New Englander!

I scoffed as if I cared, but I didn't. I don't. I've grown up in Florida, and Christmas is my favorite time of year, and Christmas music is my favorite part of the holiday season.

Logic won't melt my Frosty the Snowman, regardless of the 80 degree weather!

A day went by, and we were in the car again.

"I do like the way palm trees look with the lights wrapped around their trunks," he said.

So he's been converted to the Florida Christmas way of life, after all. ;-)


Here's a peak at a recent Christmas shoot....love the green!

Besides red, the only other signs of Christmas are the hats!

Happy Holidays!

xo

jbnewcomb<3

Fall in Florida

Because there are no big piles of red and orange leaves to jump into, there aren't many signs that it's Fall in Florida. It's still between 80 and 90 degrees most days, with just a tease of cooler daytime 70s weather here and there. But it's pretty much still green and hot.

Florida is one of the few states in the US that stays green. There are a few trees that drop their leaves, but I dream of the gorgeous golds and reds that so many states enjoy.

We have pumpkins! hahaha That's pretty much the only blankets of orange a Floridian sees in the Fall, and even those are only around for about a month. For Thanksgiving, homes are adorned with faux Fall foliage and warm-toned table runners. We light pumpkin-scented candles to complete the mood, but it still falls short of the traditional Fall that most in N. America enjoy.

Nevertheless, I'm determined to faux-Fall it up with hay, pumpkins and faux "turned" leaves!

Here is one of my latest shoots. Notice all the green! lol

But I must say Fall, like all of the non-seasons in Florida is simply beautiful. And this warm and beautiful family was such a pleasure to photograph with the faux-Fall scene. :-)

Happy Fall, all!

xo
jbnewcomb<3

Showcasing Sarasota's Beauties

Everyone deserves to feel beautiful.

When I was a teenager, I wanted so badly to feel beautiful. This desire, mixed with the desire for a boy to notice me, was a driving force in practicing self-portraits. I became a master at posing. I'm what I like to refer to as, "The Perpetual Smiler". My poses are flawless. hahaha What I mean is that I have practiced posing so much that my body naturally moves into the perfect position and I look almost exactly the same in every photograph someone shoots of me. And I feel beautiful.

Not every woman grew up obsessing quite as much as I did, and yet they want to feel beautiful. They deserve to feel beautiful. And I adore capturing their best angles, showcasing their beauty like never before. And I'm pretty darn good at it. *toot toot*

That is why I gravitate toward headshot photography. It's so rewarding to know how happy I make my clients when they see their shots for the first time.

Here is one of my latest beauties I was honored to photograph.

Simply gorgeous!

xo
jbnewcomb<3

Love is Intoxicating!

I just love love. My friends laugh and occasionally tease me for being such a romantic. But is there any other reason for living than love?! Of course, I don't think so!

Here is one of my favorite couples. They're so adorable together!

Jack and Kassandra, your love is palpable. I adore you both, and I'm so happy you reunited after all these years.

xo
jbnewcomb<3

The Happiness Diet

Warning: contains some crazilicious theories on dieting. :-P

Baking is dangerous! Or so you'd think! Honestly, I swear I've lost weight since I've been eating a pound of butter a week. Unbelievable, I know. But hear me out. I've got a theory. And maybe a revolutionary diet bubbling to the surface! lol

I love to cook meals, but the love I have for the baking process makes my love for cooking seem like a tolerance! I've never felt as good cooking an entree for my family as I do baking a decadent layered chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream frosting or delightfully scrumptious sour cream scones. The cake and scones take twice as long as most dinners, but somehow I enjoy it more. I know there's something so satisfying and delicious at the end of that long process. And the smiles and the "oooh...mmmmm...uhhh this is the best!" is the inevitable reaction from my family, and of course Moi!

So here's my theory as to why I feel less puffy after eating such forbidden foods!

* I'm not buying these naughty treats from a store, so it's all 100% pure food! My body recognizes it as food instead of half chemicals and industrial products, and it says, "yeah, I know exactly what to do with this," and that "something" is not to add it to my thighs!

* Baking is just plain enjoyable! For me, it's one of the top 5 favorite activities of all time. So, the happier I am, the less stress I have. The less stress, the less cortisol released, and the less my body holds onto and creates fat.

* I'm more satisfied with food in general and eat less because of it! My sweet tooth, or more appropriately called my "butter tooth" is satisfied on a daily basis, so overeating is less of a temptation.

You may not buy it, but the fact is, I have been eating foods no diet would condone, and my jeans fit better!

That doesn't mean you could eat what I eat and not gain weight. It's not because I have a high metabolism. I don't. The diet is a diet that prohibits unhappiness. The diet consists of finding what truly makes you happy and doing it on a daily basis. Lucky me, that happens to be baking! For you, it may be realizing you love to glue gum wrappers to cereal boxes! lol

Find what feeds your soul, and your body and mind will be harmonious, and you will lose that extra pudge. Or as I like to say, you'll "de-puff". In my case, it wasn't simply eating peanut butter brownies, it was baking them!

xo
jbnewcomb<3