The first time I met Annalee, she came to my house for a babysitting interview.
Being the highly professional person that I am, I sat down with her on the porch (on super old kitchen table chairs – we didn’t have a patio set yet!) and said something like this: “Basically, we want Max and Henry’s babysitter to be like an extra aunt. So, if that sounds good to you, we should be good to go!” And we were! Annalee became Max and Henry’s babysitter that afternoon and, ever since, my kids have fallen more and more in love with her. Like, Henry’s face turns into a shower of fireworks every time that she walks through the door. Henry loves Annalee!
Which brings me to this blog post! A few weeks ago, a dress came in the wrong size for a photoshoot and, two minutes after I opened the package, Annalee arrived to watch the boys while Andrew and I went on a date night. I looked at the dress, looked at Annalee, put the dress on a chair and said “Try this on for me while we’re out!” and, when I got back that night, we planned a photoshoot. And a funny photoshoot it was! I planned to photograph Annalee in our garage early on a Sunday morning so, when I rolled out of bed that morning, I pulled on ripped leggings and a huge, bleach stained flannel that hits my knees. I didn’t think twice about this: Annalee is one of only four people on the planet (Andrew, Max and Henry are the other three!) who has ever seen me on a multi-day editing bender so wearing the boxiest flannel of all time, ripped leggings, and no makeup did not seem like much of a big deal. After starting to shoot in the garage, though, I said “Let’s go to the park instead!”, totally forgot I was basically wearing pajamas, and, fifteen minutes into our shoot, I looked down at myself, realized I still had on the most ridiculous (and messy!) outfit and then we laughed about it for, like, two minutes. I mean, pajamas are a classy look, right? Especially on a Sunday morning!
Lucky for me, Annalee didn’t blink twice at my hot-mess attire and we had so much fun taking these photographs! The night before this shoot, it lightly snowed and I love the bits of white we were able to pick up in these photographs. Thank you so much for modeling, Annalee! You are amazing!
After shooting at the park, we headed back to the house for some water photographs!
We used a bath bomb from Whole Foods for this shoot (fun fact: when Andrew picked the bath bomb up from the store, he called me laughing because, in one swoop, he purchased a purple bath bomb, pink wine, and two bushels of pink and white flowers like a “sorority girl” – as he put it! – and, since he is a thirty year old man and these were the only items he bought while alone at the store, it was really funny), baby’s breath from an online vendor, and the best flowers. I love how these photographs turned out! The flowers and the purple bath bomb look so magical and Annalee made the most gorgeous model. Modeling in a bathtub is ridiculously hard – it’s a small space, it takes forever and the photographer (that’s me!) stands directly over you – and Annalee did the most amazing job!
Ah! Isn’t she gorgeous?! I love these photographs of Annalee so much!
And before I finish this blog post? I had to share this last photograph! Annalee is super loved at the Chandler household – she’s basically a celebrity to my kids and Victoria – and, while we shot the photographs in the bathtub, the boys kept coming in and out and Victoria parked herself in the bathroom (or at the bathroom door) for the whole shoot… except, of course, for when she tried to jump in the bathtub to keep Annalee company. Haha. We are so glad to have Annalee in our lives!
Thanks so much for modeling, Annalee! I love how these photographs turned out!
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