April Showers

wedding shower, bridal shower, babies, wedding season, spring bridal shower, champagne bar, wedding cake

It’s wedding season! Doesn’t it seem like just yesterday we were all getting together for bridal showers and bachelorette parties every other weekend? Truth is it’s been a while since we all got together to celebrate a wedding. That’s why Matt and I decided to be the last. You know, to build the suspense and excitement. […]

Read More

Awkward Family Photos

family photographs, children, photography, springfield, illinois, old state capital, christmas cards, holiday, boys

Every year around this time, my sister off-handily asks me to bring my camera home to “take a couple of pictures of the boys for a Christmas card.” Seems easy enough, right? Well it used to be. Back before said boys knew what capturing a decent photograph entailed. Things like real clothes, real smiles and real […]

Read More

Cupcakes and Ice Delis

baseball game, nephews, little league baseball, boys

Please accept my apology for ignoring the blog late last week. I had plans to fly home and surprise one of my best friends for her 30th birthday and I was not entirely confident in my ability not to spill the beans. All of them. All over the table and the floor. I love surprise parties, but […]

Read More

Happy Birthday Jake!

Today is my youngest nephew Jake’s fourth birthday. It’s hard to believe we’ve only had four years of this precocious kid, but the laughter and joy he brings to our family is immeasurable. It seems like just yesterday I was begging the concierge at the downtown Hilton Garden Inn to go wake up my dad […]

Read More

Photographic ramblings

photography, children, nephews, springfield illinois, simply social blog

Today, instead of my normal ramblings, I’m going to pretend to be a photographer and share with you a “client post.” You know, kind of like this one. Just kidding. Can you tell I spent incessant amounts of time swooning over her yummy light skillz? Can you believe a daughter of writers would allow skillz […]

Read More

Vacation Recap: full heart, tired body

sprinkle wedding cake

My body is tired. My heart is full. I may or may not be reconsidering having children of my own someday. These are just a few of my symptoms after a weekend spent with my family to the (slight) northwest. It was a Murphy/Gleason weekend and it was lovely. Give me a weekend filled with […]

Read More

Moments of Clarity and Prancercise

glazed lemon pound cake

Have you ever had a moment of clarity in the midst of an everyday routine? As if all of a sudden you are experiencing it for the first time? Not so much a deja-vu moment, although I have plenty of those on the regular, but a lovely mix of nostalgia, beauty and hope all wrapped […]

Read More

Jake and the Captain America Party

captain america birthday

This weekend we celebrated my youngest nephew’s third birthday with a Captain America-themed bash. I can’t speak for your family, but birthdays are big in mine. Whether you are turning 2 or 92, each year your birthday is celebrated with cake, presents and the annual telling of the birthday story. Yes, the story is repeated […]

Read More