Paw-sitively Fabulous: Barkfest At Sniffany's Photo Session

I'm so excited to finally share our fabulous photos from our portrait session with Seriously Sabrina Photography. Sabrina was so wonderful to work with, and really took the concept and ran with it! I told her while we were strolling thorough the Park that seeing engagement photos on Facebook inspired me to photograph the most significant relationship in my life, and I truly feel like she was able to capture that through these images. Enjoy!

Until Next Time, Darlings!

Paw-sitively Fabulous: Bark-fest at Sniffany's!

Ever since I had my professional photos taken with Holly last year, I have been dying to do another shoot, this one inspired by Holly's namesake, Holly Golightly, and the iconic New York City scenes of Breakfast at Tiffany's. I was lucky enough to snag the only NYC portrait session with Seriously Sabrina Photography, a super-talented Kentucky photog who luckily loved the idea as much as I do! We are currently planning out the session, which will take place just after Holly's second birthday party, but I thought I would share some of my ideas in advance!

In case you aren't familiar with it, Breakfast at Tiffany's is a 1961 film based on the Truman Capote novella of the same name. In one of her most iconic roles, Audrey Hepburn plays Holly Golightly, a girl who came from a small farm town to the big city and reinvented herself as an Upper East Side socialite (sound like a little dog you know?). I plan on styling our shoot based off of the opening scene, which was shot in front of the Tiffany's Flagship on 5th Ave at 5am, and to this day is a dorm-room poster fixture for just about every female college student:

To get the look, I plan on wearing a similarly shaped black sleeveless dress I have from Banana Republic, my string of large freshwater pears (my mother refers to them as "jawbreakers"), and vintage Ray-Ban Wayfarer sunglasses in white and gold. Etsy has some great vintage black glove options that I am excited to try out (I have my eye on a pair from the 1930s covered in rhinestones!). I will still have a fresh blowout from Holly's birthday party, so I may stray from the image a bit and go with my hair either down or half up rather than trying to execute a complicated updo!

Of course, the most important styling will be for Holly Golightly (pup version) herself! I plan on having her wear her fancy birthday dress (we won't reveal that until the post on her party), dressed up with some Audrey-inspired accessories. I found a pearl collar and leash I love on Etsy, which I think will add the perfect touch of glam and make her look the part of a fashion icon and movie star!

Pearl collar via Etsy. Buy it here.

Faux Pearl Leash for Toy Breeds. Buy it here.

And of course, the photoshoot would not be complete without a certain Little Blue Box...a Little Blue Squeaky Box, that is!

Sniffany & Co. Toy; Haute Diggity Dog via Amazon.com.

Would you do a movie-inspired photoshoot with your pup? Which movie would you choose and how would you style it?

Until Next Time, Darlings!

Happy Holly-Days (Part One): Pictures With Santa

Last year, a dear friend of mine came in to town in mid December from LA, and we decided to take Holly to Bloomingdale's to tell Santa what a good pup she had been. While we were waiting in line, we noticed a few other pooches waiting to do the same, and learned that Bloomingdale's (59th Street) is the only major New York City department store that allows dogs to pose with Santa.

Santa and the photographer were a delight, and I knew I had to make the trip an annual tradition. Holly and I have been looking forward to going since the 1st of November, especially since her grandpa (my dad), will be in town for Thanksgiving and get to join in on the fun!

Since this year will be a multigenerational family affair, I wanted to make sure we had coordinated outfits so we would have a cohesive theme (my dad was thrilled when he was given these marching orders...hehe). I started browsing wag.com for options and stumbled across an adorable dress from famous designer Isaac Mizrahi, but unfortunately they were sold out of Holly's size :( . Isaac Mizrahi's pooch line is super cute and well priced (the dress was under $20!), though, so I know I will return to it when Holly needs an outfit for future events.

This Isaac Mizrahi dress was super cute and festive, but sold out in Holly's size.

I decided our holiday photo wardrobe crisis was the perfect opportunity to add another Fab Dog sweater to Holly's collection. After some browsing of the holiday selection available, I decided on this cute snowman style. I'm a little worried that the light blue color will make people think she's a boy, but it was so cute I decided it was worth correcting a few people!

This snowman sweater was too funny to pass up!

Inspired by Holly's cute snowman sweater, my dad and I will both don blue sweaters as well. I will share pictures right after we take them--I'm sure they will be paw-sitively fabulous!

Until Next Time, Darlings!

Paw-sitively Fabulous: The Puppy Photo Shoot

When you are a person of a certain age, there is a sudden shift in the content of your Facebook News Feed. Photos from wild weekends and late night parties are replaced with posed professional shots of engagements, weddings, and babies.

It struck me that my life with Holly was something I wanted to commemorate with a photoshoot. Rescuing Holly was a defining moment in my New York life, so why not spring for some professional photos to celebrate and remember that forever? I decided to borrow from some of my friend's photoshoots and do a "One Year" session with Holly celebrating her first birthday.

There are plenty of photographers in Manhattan that will offer professional in-studio sessions for you and your pet, ranging anywhere from $300-$1000 depending on the number of photos, length of the session, and extras you want to receive. I decided I would prefer an on-location photo shoot with Holly, since we love spending weekends exploring the city and could highlight some of our favorite spots. There were fewer photographers who seemed to offer this specific service with pet photography in mind (likely because a studio is a more controlled environment and animals can be unpredictable), so after researching several photographers offering deals on Groupon, we decided to work with Amber at Amber Nicole Photos.

Amber was the perfect choice because as a fellow animal lover she was patient with Holly and was quick to snap the perfect shot (since pups can go from perfectly posed to OH MY GOD A SQUIRREL in about a millisecond, this was essential). Even though our original plan to start at Bethesda Fountain was disrupted by a parade closing that portion of the park down, we had a blast travelling all through Central Park and to the Museum of Natural History on the Upper West Side, where we got some of my favorite images of the day.

My best advice for having photos done with your fur baby is to have fun with it, and don't be afraid to go all out! Holly and I wore our matching Ralph Lauren, and I accessorized with an Alex and Ani bangle with a letter "H" and a custom dog bone shaped necklace stamped with Holly's name from Etsy (similar styles here).

Having high quality photos of my pup has allowed me to creatively and tastefully incorporate her into my home and office decor (look for a later post on chic pup-centric decorating), and I know I will enjoy them for years to come.

Or at least until our next photoshoot. I'm thinking a Breakfast At Tiffany's theme?

Until Next Time, Darlings!