PERSONAL – love always, audrey

I’m so excited!

audreyannephotography@gmail.com — Tue, 28 Nov 2017 17:50:44 +0000

In case you missed it on social media, I could not be more overjoyed to tell you about a passion project that has finally come to life.

Nicole, one of my oldest and dearest friends, and I created this desktop calendar called “Women Who Changed The World.” I did all of the lettering by hand, and she did all of the other illustrations by hand, plus composition and layout (and she patiently listened to me talk about timelines for months).

Here are some sort-of incriminating photos of us from high school.

I should also mention that Nicole lives in NYC and I live in Chicago–so we’re long distance BFFs and now long distance business partners! I honestly can’t believe we pulled this off with that factor.

This was taken in December of 2016 and foreshadows quite a bit don’t you think?

Soooo… why’d we do this? We’ve been talking about this project for over a year now–we both needed something creative outside of work to do (other than my blog of course), and we wanted to do it together. We also wanted to make an impact of some kind… so donating to charity with every sale was an easy decision to make (more on that below).

And featuring women? Well, that was a no brainer. This calendar is created by women, it’s for women, and the proceeds go to women. #thefutureisfemale

Each month features a quote from a famous historical woman who made an impact on the world.

I’m not going to give away all of the pages (you’ll have to be surprised!), but I can tell you the amazing women who are featured:

January – Eleanor Roosevelt
February – Rosa Parks
March – Anne Frank
April – Nora Ephron
May – Susan B. Anthony
June – Harriet Beecher Stowe
July – Frida Kahlo
August – Julia Child
September – Amelia Earhart
October – Fannie Lou Hamer
November – Lucille Ball
December – Helen Keller

Arguably the best part of this project is that 10% of sales (sales, not proceeds) go to She Should Run, a national network committed to advancing women and girls in public leadership. See what they’re about here.

I would LOVE your support–if you don’t want to buy a calendar (no hard feelings!), pass this on to someone who would like it!

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How To Care For And Maintain Adult Friendships

audreyannephotography@gmail.com — Tue, 25 Apr 2017 12:18:47 +0000

This gets harder the older you get. In high school and college, your friends surrounded you almost every moment of every day. You went to class together, attended extracurricular activities together, and, if you’re like me, you even had the same job as your best friends in high school (no seriously, my friends and I all worked at LifeTime Fitness together for many years and it was awesome).

We’ve been friends since we were 15 but haven’t lived in the same states since 2009.

But as you get older, things change. Obviously I don’t have to tell you this, but I think we’re all in the same boat here. And by now, I’ll bet most of your friends are scattered across the country like mine are. Womp.

Sup, Soul Cookies?

I try my absolute hardest to maintain my friendships as an adult, but it’s really hard sometimes! Life just kind of happens, you know? You know.

My AZ besties, minus a few

SO, I wanted to spread the knowledge. I’ve come up with ways to help maintain those precious adult friendships — because I think we all can use a little help with this.

I have a call list. It’s literally a list of people I want to keep in touch with. And every so often I check the list and make sure I’ve checked in with those people recently. It’s a simple Notes doc on my phone, but it works! I also write down things like “plan a coffee date with so and so in May” or “call so and so when you get back from vacation.”

I keep very, very detailed lists of birthdays/holidays in my planner, and I have reminders the weeks leading up to acknowledge it. This may seem totally crazy of me, but if Jacquelyn’s birthday is on August 5th, and she’s someone I usually mail a gift to (she is), I have a note in my calendar 2-3 weeks beforehand reminding myself to ship her a gift. This goes for my mom on Mother’s Day, or even my friends’ anniversaries or due dates. Not a birthday or holiday, but I literally have a note in my calendar that says “Bridget’s due date is coming up!!” a month before (Hi Bridget!). This leads me to another important one:

I use the heck out of the postal service. Snail mail is and will always be important to me. I love going to my local stationery store, picking out the perfect card, and writing a note with love. Everyone loves mail! And they always will! At least in my world.

I “remember” things that are important to my friends. Another thing I write in my calendar: when my friends have interviews or any other work/school-related milestone. My brother’s CPA exam dates were in my calendar. My friend Kara’s interview for her most recent job was also in there. Because believe me: I will forget ANYTHING not written in my planner… I don’t care who you are. My crappy memory shows no mercy.

I multitask. If I’m going on a trip to Trader Joe’s, I’ll call Taryn to see if she wants to walk with me. I’ll ask friends to take workout classes with me. Any way that I can hang out with a friend while crossing something off of my to-do list is a win in my book. They make everyday tasks so much more fun!

I make an effort to put my phone down when I’m with them. There’s nothing more infuriating than when you think someone is listening to you, then they pull out their phone like what you were saying means nothing to them! I never want to make a friend feel like that, and since I see my friends so little, I want them to feel like they have my full attention when we do see each other. Obviously I’m not perfect at this… no millennial is. But I’m working on it!

Sam and I planned this Art Institute date WEEKS in advance.

I make plans with people. I am not the type to often say “hey let’s maybe do something this weekend.” I’m more like “hey let’s do this at this time on this night.” I’m not really flakey, and I like to have my calendar planned out weeks in advance. I realize I’m a minority on this one, but I own it! And it works (unless people flake, of course). ;)

What do you do to maintain your adult friendships? Are you going to use any of the tips listed above?

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4 Niche Gift Basket Ideas For Adults

audreyannephotography@gmail.com — Wed, 15 Mar 2017 12:53:59 +0000

I think I’ve mentioned this before, but my love language is totally gift-giving. I love shopping for loved ones and finding the perfect presents for them, and I especially love to see their faces when they open their gifts! Since I love a good thematic gift, I put together 4 gift basket ideas for adults, each with a different niche!

I don’t personally celebrate Easter, but I thought that putting together these gift baskets now would be perfect timing for the upcoming holiday! They would also make great housewarming or hostess gifts. I bought all of the baskets at Michaels, and everything inside the baskets came from Paper Source (c/o). The filling for the baskets came from Amazon (link here), and I recommend one bag of filling per basket.

FOR THE BRUNCH LOVER:

You may recognize some of these products from my brunch post back in December! I’m a girl who loves to brunch (call me basic), and these products are just so stinkin’ cute and I know I would personally love to receive them as gifts!

This cereal bar is positively my favorite candy bar ever, and I love this Toast book–I made two recipes from it, and they were both SO DELICIOUS!

I also can’t get enough of any Sugarfina candy (sweet tooth over here), and these rosé gummies are amazing. Remember the champagne gummy bears from Friendsgiving? YUM.

I’m still waiting for a good time to make the bagels from this bagel kit, but I’ve read the reviews and am pretty convinced that they’re going to be amazing when I do!

Shop this basket:

FOR THE HOSTESS WITH THE MOSTESS:

We all have that friend that loves to host get togethers (in my case that’s me, ha), and what better way to show your appreciation than with a basket of things a hostess would love? This hostess with the mostess basket includes a Kate Spade recipe binder for her favorite recipes (doesn’t hurt to put your favorite recipe in there to get her started… maybe she’ll make it for you ;) ) and matching Kate Spade lemon tidbit plates–these are plastic and just so cute!

I also included this cookbook which features 100 simple, vegetarian recipes geared for entertaining! It also has floral arranging and other hosting-related DIY ideas. How perfect, right?!

Another fun thing I added was this table topics conversation starter set. Your friend will never have to make small talk again!

Shop this basket:

FOR THE TEA LOVER:

For the tea enthusiast, this basket has it all. Tea, a loose-leaf spoon, a cute essential oil diffuser, honey spoons, and even an entire book about tea! I have to say that my favorite thing is this “hot-tea” tea canister… it’s so quirky and cute, and it’s sure to provide a laugh or two for guests.

Also, we have to talk about the honey in this box. For every Bee-Cause honey jar purchased, donations are sent to the Bee-Cause Project to help fund the installation of classroom observation bee hives in 1000 schools across America! Sweet in multiple ways, eh?

Shop the basket:

FOR THE HOMETOWN GIRL:

If you’re anything like me, you just cannot get enough hometown pride. Even though I’m from Arizona, I’ve called Chicago home for almost 3 years now and am positively beaming with pride for this city, hence why this is my favorite of the gift basket ideas.

My favorite item in this collection is definitely the map print, and I can’t wait to hang it up! The candle also smells lovely, and looks perfect alongside the matchbox on my coffee table.

I should also note that I painted this basket myself because hey, I like consistency. I cut out the Chicago stars (background on the stars and their meanings here) with my Cricut machine; you can get the SVG cut file here if you have a machine of your own!

P.S. If you live in Chicago: places to get your creativity on in Chicago, what to buy for a Chicago winter, and Chicago’s best ice cream.

Shop this basket:

What themed gift basket ideas do you have?! I’d love to hear! Comment below! xo

Photos by Taryn J Rosenberg Photography

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Whole30 Tips, Tricks, and Recipes

audreyannephotography@gmail.com — Sat, 18 Feb 2017 18:11:54 +0000

via Designlovefest

At the beginning of this year, I embarked on my second Whole30 journey. While my first attempt only lasted 22 days, this time I did the whole damn thing (*pats self on back*). If you don’t know what Whole30 is, you can read about it here. In short, it’s 30 days with no grains, sugar, dairy, alcohol, soy, or legumes. That cuts a lot out of most people’s diets, including my own.

In addition to giving up all of the above, I also gave up coffee for the month. I felt that it’s just not worth it to drink my coffee black, and wanted to give my body a break from the constant caffeine intake anyways.

People ask about my experience a lot, so I wanted to share some tips and insight for those wanting to try a Whole30 challenge! If you have any questions on things I haven’t covered, please comment below and I’ll do my best to answer!

How Whole30 Made Me Feel

Whole30 made me feel lighter and healthier, and I had a few people tell me that my face looked a little skinnier. Other than that, it didn’t make a huge difference except in my head. I felt a huge sense of power over my self-control; something I hope will last me for a while.

What Was Hard About Whole30

— The First Week: Week one was when my body was being detoxed of sugar. I felt light headed, extremely tired, and shaky. This went away after the first week, though!

— Weekends: When my friends were going out to bars, it was hard to be the only person not drinking. I should note, though, that my friends are not huge drinkers, and I ordered seltzer with lemon and was just fine. I just expired a little earlier in the night than everyone else!

— Dining Out: The only meals I went out for were breakfast and lunch; reason being that I knew I could order an omelette with veggies pretty much anywhere. This was hard for me, as I’m a huge fan of getting something sweet for brunch (i.e. pancakes or monkey bread). I also annoyed every server so much with all of my questions!

— Weekday Mornings: I had to set my alarm 30 minutes earlier every morning just so I could make a nice breakfast and not starve until lunchtime. One morning I accidentally slept in, and had I not had some hard boiled eggs in the fridge, my morning would have been a disaster!

— The Money Spent: This was the absolute worst part of the whole program; I spent over $800 on food during the 30 days. I’m pretty embarrassed to admit that, but I think it’s something you need to know if you’re thinking about doing it! You might not spend $800 (my eyes are bigger than my stomach), but you will likely spend upwards of $600 on food for the month. The reason being is that you need to buy a lot more vegetables to fill yourself up, and any kind of meat product that doesn’t have sugar in it is is going to be very pricey. You’d be surprised how much sugar and gluten is in your deli meat, and to buy it without is going to cost you. Since I needed some convenience meat items, this rang up my total quite a bit. Also, you’ll find yourself wanting to try new recipes so the 30 days aren’t boring, and if you cook a lot you know that buying brand new spices and ingredients all the time adds up.

via Designlovefest

What I Ate:

Check the bottom of this post for all of the recipes I tried during the 30 days! Some good things to have on hand: a powerful chopper or food processor (I have this one and love it), and a spiralizer (I have this one and it’s so great).

Whole30 Must Have Snacks and Products:

Larabars (my favorite is Cashew Cookie)

Inka Plantain Chips (these taste like potato chips!)

Siete Chips (My favorite is the nacho flavor)

Guacamole

Spindrift or LaCroix

Tessemae’s Dressings (the balsamic is my life.)

Frank’s Red Hot Sauce (I put that sh*t on everything!)

Tips and Tricks:

— Meal Prep: I prepped for every single meal of the week. I measured out my kale and tomatoes for my morning egg scrambles. I made a huge batch of turkey + veggie soup for the week, and split it into large mason jars; 1 for each night.

— Grocery Shop Like A Pro: I wrote a list of every recipe I was making for the week, and then compiled all the ingredients into one list, making sure to eliminate duplicate items. I also checked my spice cabinet for spices because I’m know to forgot what I have in inventory and buy triple of everything.

— Go It With A Friend: I did this program with a friend from work, and it made everything soooooo much easier. We even took turn making lunches every other day; this was awesome and I highly recommend doing it!

— Learn About Eggs: Scrambled eggs get boring after a week. Before starting, watch a few YouTube videos and figure out how to make eggs as many ways as you can. I finally learned how to perfectly poach an egg, and this became a staple!

image via Designlovefest

Would I Do It Again?

Mehhh, maybe. I said that last time, too, though, and here we are. I learned how to cook a wide variety of foods, and learned how to make vegetables taste better, so I’m sure I’ll be taking that knowledge to the kitchen for years and years to come. From here on out, I’m going to give it my best effort to eat a clean, Whole30-inspired diet during the week, and then give myself a break on the weekends. I truly believe that nutrition is about balance, and I don’t think eating purely meat and veggies is realistic for my lifestyle. So, I guess the answer is maybe!

Other Info

You can follow my Whole30 Pinterest board here! I pinned quite a few recipes, and always am on the hunt for more, even though I’m done with the program. Also, here are a few blogs to follow; they post a few Whole30 recipes, and if they’re not compliant, they’re easily adjustable to fit your diet.

Blogs to follow for Whole30 recipes (some need to be adapted):

Recipes I Tried (And LOVED) During Whole30:

Creamy Spinach Sweet Potato Noodles with Cashew Sauce

Pear, Shrimp, and Pomegranate Salad

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Turkey, Kale, and Cauliflower Soup

Salmon with Lemon Herb Cauliflower Rice

Crispy Smashed Potatoes with Chipotle Lime Mayo

Zoodles with Turkey Meatballs in a Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Cauliflower Crust Pizza (without cheese of course)

Potato Avocado Toast with Poached Eggs

Slow Cooker Beef Brisket with Tomatoes and Onions

California Club Sandwich

Chicken Salad

Spaghetti Squash Bolognese

BLT Salmon Salad + Cilantro Dressing (I used dill instead of cilantro)

Have you ever tried Whole30? What recipes do you recommend?

Pin for later:

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2016 Wrap Up and 2017 Goal Setting

audreyannephotography@gmail.com — Thu, 22 Dec 2016 23:18:46 +0000

2016 was a year for the books (and kind of a terrible one for the world overall… why did you have to take Bowie, 2016?!). While I’m bummed about a lot that happened this year, I can’t help but feel thankful for all the good things that happened in my personal life. 2016 was, for me, an incredible year of growth and change that I never could have seen coming. For example…

I got a new full-time job that I love.

I travelled over 14 times to places like San Francisco, Nashville, Los Angeles, and New York.

I wrote some of my favorite blog posts to date, like…

This Galentine’s Day post

This Beach Bachelorette Party post

This DIY floppy hat tutorial (and people MADE THEM!!)

and this Friendsgiving post!

I moved to a new apartment in a great neighborhood in Chicago.

I started dating Idan.

I bought a guitar and started guitar classes at the Old Town School of Folk Music, my goal from last year.

2016 was the perfect impetus to propel me into 2017 with new, realistic goals. I have some concrete plans, and will have all of these done by this time next year. Really. I will…

Shoot one roll of film per month (I already bought the film so I have no excuses).
Partner with more brands that I love and want to spread the word about.
Continue guitar classes at the Old Town School of Folk Music — guitar repertoire here I come!
Add more percentage to the money I put into savings each month so I can start saving for bigger things — a condo, a car, a big trip, etc. #adulting
Read 20 books (this year I read 15 and I think I can do better). Also, you can follow my reading list in real time here.
Work out at least 16x per month.
Complete another Whole30 challenge (starting halfway through January! Who wants to join me?)

This is a lot. I know it is. BUT, I’m stubborn and determined, AND 2017 won’t know what hit it.

What were some great things that happened to you this year? What are your goals for 2017?

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