Birthdays and Bucket Lists

Its my birthday. 

How about that? 

Its a big one guys. 

So big in fact, that I'm having trouble getting my head around it. 

Four. Zero. 

How thats even possible I'm not sure, because I still pretty much feel like an 18 year old most of the time (especially when I think about people I went to highschool with....they can't be turning 40 this year too can they?!?!) 

I'm not going to pretend that my feelings about all of this are figured out and that I'm super chill and awesome about this new milestone. They say it's all downhill from here, but honestly I feel like I'm still climbing. Still pushing boulders up hills in excitement for whatever might be at the top. 

But let's not get too deep here and instead lets look at some cake. 

Since I'm a huge nerd list maker I thought this would be as good a time as any to finally write out a photography/business bucket list. And to be even more cheesy, I'm going to write 40 things on this list. See what I did there? Sooo brilliant I tell ya. How do you guys stand it?

Ok here we go! (in no particular order)

1. Shoot a double exposure
2. Shoot a romantic shot in the rain using flash
3. Shoot a proposal
4. Shoot on a ferris wheel, ski lift or rowboat
5. Shoot a wedding in a European country
6. Shoot a destination wedding in a tropical country
7. Speak at a local or national photography or business conference
8. Start a podcast
9. Write a blog post on a national or large audience blog
10. Be featured in a national wedding blog
11. Take a self portrait every day for a month
12. Shoot a wedding or session in at least 25 different states (four down, 21 to go) 
13. Sell a piece of artwork 
14. Hire an assistant
15. Grow my mentorship/coaching program
16. Create resources and community for introverted creatives and photographers
17. Host a workshop for those same people 
18. Teach a photography class to high school kids or young adults
19. Shoot a session in NYC
20. Shoot an awesome light painting or fireworks shot
21. Have a photo place in the top 3 in a photo contest
22. Shoot an in-home engagement session
23. Create a resource library for budding photographer entrepreneurs
24. Shoot an engagement session with a dog(s)
25. Host a series of webinars
26. Be published in a magazine
27. Grow my email list to 1000+ subscribers
28. Shoot a wedding on top of a mountain
29. Shoot a wedding on a beach
30. Shoot a ridiculously amazing sunset 
31. Publish a blog post that goes viral
32. Book a wedding through instagram
33. Have Paul join me in my business when he is done with the Army
34. Create a 6 figure income with my business so we can give back
35. Attend a Creative Live session in person (in Seattle) 
36. Shoot a wedding in Seattle and Albuquerque
37. Shoot a session at the balloon fiesta in Albuquerque
38. Shoot a surprise wedding
39. Do one creative personal photography project per year
40. Continually learn and continually teach (<---I know thats not really something I can cross off, but it's something I want to strive for!) 

GUYS. That was hard!! I really started slowing down with the ideas around 25. But it was a great exercise to go through to really consider what's important to me and what I'd love to do with this little business 'o mine going forward! You should consider writing up your own photo or business bucket list if you haven't yet!! 

Now...it's time for cake and whatever else Paul has in store for me today! Yippeee!

Red Oak Weddings // A wedding resource for NJ, NY and PA brides

The day is finally here friends!! Its the launch of the new Red Oak Weddings website!! 

I've hinted at this a little bit last week and on IG, but ROW is an AMAZING new site created by my very good friend Jillian, to fill a BIG need in the Tri-State area for brides and vendors! 

For Brides and Couples: 

Red Oak will be a place for couples in the New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania area to find all of their vendors in one place without having to do a TON of work or research.

For wedding vendors:

Red Oak will serve authentic and purposeful businesses who want to attract a specific bridal client...couples who place a high value on design and working closely with local vendors to create a one of a kind wedding. 

A few weeks ago I got together with Jillian and some other fantastic creative ladies to put together a styled shoot for branding images for the Red Oak website and social media. We had a fantastic time and I love what we came up with! Here are a few behind the scenes shots from that day. 

Behind the scenes photos by Laura Lee Photography

And here we are! Myself, Kerry, Jillian, Laura and Alyssa. It takes a village! 

And this lady right here! She is a total inspiration to me and I am so blessed to know her! We were randomly introduced through Instagram when Paul and I first came out to NJ back in May to house hunt and we have become quick friends. She is full of heart, amazing ideas, fortitude and energy. I am honored to call her a friend and I am SO excited to see where all of this leads! 

Check out the new website HERE and if you are a vendor in the Tri-State area, send an ROW email for more info about advertising or collaboration opportunities!