Sunshine, surprises and sappy sitcoms – here are my favorite things from March!!

1. Lance’s birthday – earlier this month, I surprised my husband with a super-fancy laptop bag for his birthday. It’s hard to order things for him online since he gets email notifications from UPS and FedEx sent directly to his email, so I had to be very very sneaky. It worked. :-)

2. Lemonade and Lenses cover contest honorable mention – L&L is a beautiful magazine for photographers with excellent articles. Twice now I have submitted images for their cover contest, and both times I have received an honorable mention, which is so very exciting since every other image considered for the cover is *so* lovely! It is an honor to be mentioned among so many other wonderful photographers.

3. SUNSHINE!!!! – Winter has mostly tapered off here in the Hills. We do still get a snow shower here and there, but nothing that sticks around for very long. Hooray for extra hours in the day and temperatures warm enough for outside photos!! :-)

4. studio lb Instagram account – I’ve had a personal account for a while (@laurabcatron), but I wanted someplace to sneak peek my pretty photos from engagement sessions and weddings. For the past week, I’ve been filling up the account with photos from the past and I’m now caught up through 2010. If you’re on Instagram, follow @studiolb to watch the past three years appear, as well as first looks at my upcoming weddings and sessions! If you’re not on Instagram, you can still check out the images by going to instagram.com/studiolb.

5. craft + bake day with Halley – My friend needed some help putting a quilt together, and since I have limited knowledge passed down from my mother, as well as a sewing machine, Halley came over and we spent the day tying, sewing, calling my mom for help along the way, and baking cupcakes! The cupcakes we made were Lavender with Vanilla Bean Frosting – although I was hesitant to put real bits of lavender in the actual cupcakes, so we steeped the lavender in the milk, and then couldn’t even taste it in the cupcakes. Maybe next time I’ll leave some in. I’m just so afraid they’ll taste like soap!!

6. Hart of Dixie – Do any of you watch this show? I know it’s super corny, but I think Rachel Bilson is simply adorable – I wish I had her hair, her style, and her ability to walk across town in heels. I’m also waiting for Zade to happen again, but we’ll see what the writers decide. ;-)

Michael + Megan are certainly a couple who can roll with the punches. When it was below zero for their scheduled Christmas-time engagement session, they said “We’ll come visit you when the weather is nicer.” When I found out Roughlock Falls was still closed for the season, they said “That’s okay, you can pick a new spot for photos.” When I brought them to my new-found location and we had to tip-toe through mud and slush, they continued to hold hands and smile for my camera.

Thanks, you two, for traveling all the way across the state and trekking around in the forest with me! :-) I am so looking forward to your wedding in a few months!