Julie Harrell: Photographer

I met Lisa at MOPS, but I felt a special connection with her after we were both in the hospital together with our newborns, well almost in the same hospital. 3 weeks after Juliet was born, Lisa gave birth to Sophie… but there were complications, and after spending her first 8 minutes without oxygen, Sophie was airlifted from St. Josephs to Children’s Hospital in Seattle. This was the the same time of day same day that Juliet was being transported from Children’s to St. Joseph’s here in town. Over a year later, we both are completely blessed to have two healthy little girls without any known issues. So when Lisa asked me to do their family photos, I couldn’t wait, and not just because they are a great looking family, but because I felt I had a connection from shared experiences. Aaron and Lisa, with their daughters Addy and Sophie, are that family that you wish you had grown up with since you were a kid, and would be friends with till death, and that your kids would all marry each other, you know what I mean! They are warm, open, friendly and so fun to photograph!

Cheers,
jewels

Nicole and I took Amy on a wild adventure for her maternity shoot galavanting in both city and woods… well OK, Barkley Village and the little patch of trees across the street, but for Bellingham its subdued adventure. Amy is so beautiful pregnant, and enjoys her pregnancy quite a lot! The three of us photographer chit chatted about more mom things than our usual shop talk. And since my camera bodies were both in the shop at the time of our shoot, Nicole graciously agreed to bring a 2nd body along for me to use, but she forgot it so we shared a camera, alternating poses. I’m pretty sure these are my images from the day, but if they aren’t I know I’ll get a letter from her lawyer nice comment at the bottom of the post… Love you girls!

Cheers,
jewels

Last October was party month, starting with a babyshower for Amy and Heather. My dear husband Chris and girls were super patient while I crazily crafted through out the month of October. I co-threw two babyshowers, planned Juliet’s first birthday party and hosted a fall dinner for 12 wonderful local MOPS leaders… all 4 events within a two week span! If you know me, and how I procrastinate operate, I’m sure you just gave my husband bonus points. I did, but not in the form of points And if he is reading this, he’ll disagree… but to stay a little more on topic, cough ahem… I had great friends to work alongside to help the showers go smoothly… I’ll hopefully have all the parties posted by Christmas, but at the snail pace I’ve been blogging that’s very optimistic. I’ll start with Amy and Heather’s co-baby shower and work my way back (I didn’t even take one photo of the dinner party… all well). There are a group of local photographer gals who get together separate from our other photographer’s meetups just to hang out. So when Amy announced her pregnancy at one of those hangouts the rest of us decided we would throw her a baby shower. Soon after, Heather announced she was also pregnant, due within a couple days of Amy.  It was clear we needed to do a fun shower for the two of them.  Megs, from Evantide photography, offered up her beautiful studio as the venue, and so we (Megs, Karlyn, Nicole, and myself) began our planning for a late fall co-shower for two dear friends (both having boys). We wanted to use traditional fall elements, yet make the shower sweet and pretty for the two amazing women having their first sons. We were inspired by burlap and linen, white pumpkins and green pears and added a vintage mood with vintage china, blue mason jars, and pink flowers in vintage vases. Two of the most coveted local wedding and event florists, Kim Zylstra and Colleen Elkins did all the lovely flowers. The plates were part of the Passed Plates Collection, and the food and decor was divided amongst the four of us. When delegating tasks and responsibilities, we of course had Nicole come up with the game. No one was surprised when she pulled out a huge poster for “Pin the sperm on the egg!” Complete with sperm showcasing the face of either Amy’s husband or Heather’s husband… that game, which had us all in tears, was the best way to end a wonderful shower. Amy and Heather (now that it is January) have since given birth to their beautiful boys, Justin (Amy’s little man) and Myles (Heather’s lil dude). They are the most handsome little guys ever… Here are a handful of images from the shower. Photography by Nicole Medcalf, Meg Nelson and myself.

Cheers,
jewels

Menu:
Carrot Cake
Homemade donuts with cardamom vanilla glaze
Mini blueberry, yogurt parfaits with almond granola
Chocolate cake pops
Celery spears with peanut butter
Cashew nut chews
Yogurt covered pretzels

Selected Drink:
Spiced Pear Cider

Venue:
Evantide Photography Studio

Flowers:
Kim Zylstra, The Backyard Gardener
Colleen Elkins, Botanikal Design

Table Settings:
Passed Plates