package of happiness

yesterday, i received a lovely little parcel. and it was bursting with happiness...

my photography [part 2]

hey everyone, over the past few days there's been some family issues going on therefore less time has been spent preparing posts and whatnot. and last night i got locked out of my house - with the water running - for an hour and a half, so that tired me out and i would up falling asleep WHILE writing some letters and watching HIMYM just from all the physical and emotional exhaustion i had; pretty rare for me to fall asleep period, let alone watching a funny show and responding to letters. otherwise, this post would have been up last night. ANYWAY, thank you to micaela, paige, april and diana for helping me out and the prayers last night, thank you, thank you, thank you.

well! i was trying to figure out what i should post about first (what was supposed to be week, but turned into the weekend) and realized it'd been awhile since my fist post about my photography. so i began to make a list of possibilities of what type of photos to post about and finally decided on a project that's close to my heart and have recently gotten back into - the love + 100 strangers photo project. basically the concept - founded by the wonderful lauren - is:

'snapshots of 100 strangers, captioned with their first and middle name, age, and their definition of love. (definition of love being dictionary format, a short story, a phrase, life experience, or whatever defines love best for them.)'

so far i've got around 30 people and i hope to go to miami sometime this month and capture more amazing 'love strangers'. it's so incredibly hard to narrow it down, but here are some of my favorites:

"love is knowing everything about a person. knowing their deepest, darkest secrets and being aware of every flaw but still thinking they're the most wonderful person in the entire world and wanting to be with them anyway. really though, love is much too big to be captured and defined in a few words, but i think that's pretty close."

16/100 Megan Lane

Age: 18

From: Norcross, GA

"love is feeling completely comfortable with someone, being able to share everything and be open. showing them that you care."

8/100 Tierra Alesia

Age: 17

From: Rochester, NY

"love is something you give and get from the heart. some are ones you give yourself to."

21/100 Bradley Nelson

Age:21

From: I live on tour.

"love is a shared frenzy of color, adrenaline, and euphoria."

26/100 Fillippa Johanna

Age: 19

From: Sweden

"love is happy, excited."

24/100 Alissa Patricia

Age: 7

From: Naples, FL

"love is unconditional appreciation and understanding."

29/100 Erick

Age: 24

From: Born in NYC, toughened in Miami.

"love is awesome!"

28/100 Samantha

Age: 24

From: Miami, FL

"love is unconditional devotion, companionship."

17/100 Laura Marie

Age: 20

From: St. Petersburg, FL

"love is loving someone for everything they are, even the 'bad' stuff."

22/100 Laura Kaitlin

Age: 17

From: Fort Lauderdale, FL

"love is...not sure. comfort. acceptance. music and beer are both comforting and accepting of me."

27/100 Benjamin Patrick

Age: 32

From: Boston, MA

"love is teddybears and puppies."

14/100 Lisa S.

Age: 5

From: Tampa, FL

"i think that love has become over-rated in today's society. love is a term used very loosely nowadays and it's almost like it doesn't exist. the unconditional love that God has for us is the only true love i can find lately."

9/100 T.J.

Age: 14

From: Naples, FL

"love is when everybody is happy and you want to be together."

30/100 Arriel LeAnn

Age: 17

From: Missouri

"love is an unconditional feeling for someone that cannot make anything feel more important than that feeling."

7/100 Stephanie Ellen

Age: 17

From: Rochester, NY

"love is caring about someone no matter what they do."

1/100 Jordan Andrew

Age: 19

From: Naples, FL

if you'd like to view more photos you can take a look at -

lauren's set

my set

the flickr group

SO! tell me lovely readers - what is your definition of love? what does love mean or feel like to you? let me know!

- L

hooray! hooray!

the shop opens today!

view and shop my fun, unique, whimsical and lovely little shop HERE!

lots of love,
- L

purple envelope week

^Taken by ME! Possible new header photo..? Let me know!

WHEW! All this week I've been training for my new job. I will only say that I'm one of those people that will be knocking on your door sometime in the next month so I can get a head count...

It's all very tiring and working more hours than I'm used to, but it pays well and I can set my own hours, so that's lovely, no? Even though I'm exhausted after a week of training, I've got to say that I'm really excited to be able to work again, no matter how tiring. :]

Anywho, THAT is why I have not posted this week; most nights I've basically fallen asleep without any knowledge of my doing so, waking up to my TV and lights all on; I'm a pretty big shark about saving energy, so I feel horrible about that this week. Turn a light or fan off for me, kay?

Well, here's the mail as of recently! This photo was taken on Wednesday, so other things have arrived since and will be photographed for Monday/Tuesday. Apologies about the late-ness.

Pink arrow - from miss Patty. She sends the awesomest large envelopes! Sepia photo - from the lovely Megan. Miss Megs sent me some gorgeous vintage photographs that I CANNOT wait to frame, with her letter. Small purple - from illustrious Ilona. Whom sends brilliant long letters. Owl purple - from Sophie in Australia. Anything owls or bunnies instantly makes me smile. Blue - from a reader with gorgeous handwriting. So excited to write back! Blue and white mermaid - from Melody. She always asks what I think of the stationery she uses, so cute. Hands - from Zoe in Canada. Love, love, loved receiving this envelope! Orange - from Chris. Oh my goodness, the stamps, the stamps. I died.



Oh! And these are some cute shoes I got for work that I am IN LOVE with. At first I didn't think they looked good on me but then I passed a window and was pleasantly surprised at what I saw, haha. Yay for gladiator sandals! They might be a better best friend to us ladies than chocolate.

Sending lots of love your way,
- L

crimson and clover

life, i'm starting to live it more. it's something i took advangtage of. and i won't anymore. the lens and it's stunning reflectors of light have come into my hands again. i'm starting to really discover myself. who i want to be. where i want to be. how i want to live. the people in my atmosphere that matter most and are closest to my heart. road miles will not block them from me anymore. this season after spring will be amazing. even if i loose all energy after it's end. my ears will be filled with music so lovely. my eyes with images by friends, newfound and true-blue, that i won't need the visuals that have disturbed my sleep anymore. i will finally be free of this body that's encased me in self-doubt and work my way into who i truly am, from the inside out. the payment received will fly me to souls i miss and need. no one knows me like them. no more surrounding myself with no one. my life and heart will be mine. no one will make me feel guilty. i own my heart. i won't let it be led astray. time to start treating myself and the people that matter most with more love than ever. time to let go. let go of material things that weigh me down. the emotional ones will be tucked away for sharing of my future self. but they shall not burden my own soul anymore. it's time. time for life. time for love. time for the soul.

Love,

Lauren Nicole

my photography [part one]

Photography. It's my passion, my love, my hobby, my art and my number one career choice. For some reason I rarely talk about it anymore and that's about to change. I've taken an [unknown until now] break from it and am excited to start being passionate about my art again. Even though it's highly improbable, I do believe there are bits and pieces of film in my veins as my Mother's Father was and is a photographer and my Dad is and was as well. Constantly surrounded by inspiration, it's a wonder why I don't photograph SOMETHING every single day, considering how much of both my Grandfather and my Father's works are around me all the time. In later posts I will be posting some of my Grandpa's amazing black and white snapshots of himself and my [passed] Grandmother, for they are some of my greatest inspirations. But anyway...in these series of posts I'm going to showcase some of my work for you to see. It would be lovely if you'd comment with your thoughts...

PART ONE: warmth

These photographs are of some of my closest friends [& a few of family] and of my Summer '09 that I love. All the photos have really warm tones and coloring to them and I always smile whenever I come across one of these in my un-packing.
[Forgot to mention that I shoot mostly on film and all of the below are scans of film shots.]

- L

PS: you can view more of my photography HERE.