First I wanted to say – sorry I haven’t blogged for a while – but here’s a sweet session to make up for it!

I’d like you to meet Jessica & Andrew. Such a sweet couple. She says he’s smart, loyal, funny, trustworthy and exciting, he says she’s  cute, smart, funny, energetic and loving. And I totally see that! We had a really fun session. What completely blew me away is that after an initial 5 minutes of giggling around (that always happens of course, it feels so funny to be photographed for the first time!), they gave me so much during the individual portraits – Jessica is so expressive and her face can do a zillion things all more beautiful than the other. From serious to big smiles, she is just stunning.

Oh, and another thing: they’re planning their wedding while Andrew is working in Europe the whole time! I think most guys might welcome not to have to do too much for the big day but I liked that in the only few weeks he was home until the wedding, he did as much as possible to contribute to the  planning. Yay for Andrew!

I love love love her smile!

Beautiful ring and rather unique as well

Jessica loves that one

♥

Can you tell I'm looking forward to their wedding?!!!

Last week I indulged in showing my love of shoes. That day, I got an email my childhood friend Séverine – she’s getting married! Congratulations again, Sev!!! She’s partially setting the tone for her wedding  with the short little lacy dress she’s having made – love it! She tells me she checks out French blogs for inspiration (she lives in Southern France).  I would tell her to use Pinterest but she refuses to join Facebook! She also reads my blog (told you she was a good friend!…) and checked out the shoe post. So I thought why not continue making a few boards with some of my favorite things of my 2011 weddings?

A few things come to mind if you’re not looking for something traditional: you could choose the music of Jaws for your processional… Or your hubbie could ask to do a George Constanza boudoir shoot as he’s getting ready! Those are 2 things that certainly made an impression on me, I loved it and will never forget it!

But for now, how about we check out some bling and wedding accessories for his and hers? Is there some accessory or piece of jewelry you loved having on your special day? Or something you would like to recommend to my friend? If so, leave a reply below so she can check it out!

A bracelet made from vintage silver spoons- Etsy - Mon Petit Chou. I just placed an order just for myself, that's how much I love those!

Made from the bride's mother's wedding dress. The bride carried it on her heart on her wedding. LOVE that.

No comment... It was on a groomsman - not the groom

Necklace all the way from Hong Kong

Traditional family pieces

Those sun glasses were a fantastic accessory for this couple's Rock&Roll entrance!

The wedding band goes around the engagement ring so it is one large ornate ring

My absolute favorite socks ever!

And Grand-mother's broach on the bouquet

You probably know the poem “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost. It ends with

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”

I remember our English teacher reading it to us. I was 14 and I instantly froze and listened more intently than ever – I felt somehow this was so hugely powerful, that some day I would get a full grasp of its entire meaning.

Most of the time I think we navigate life rather reactivily than proactively. We do the things that makes most sense and don’t give much thought about it at all – and that’s probably a good thing on a daily basis, otherwise I’d never get anything done! I do remember the first time I chose a path that wasn’t the one people had expected me to take. I was quite young and at the time it was motivated as much by fear of the unknown as by the conscious choice of doing what I actually wanted.

Today I have counted the number of times I saw the clear and obvious path that lay ahead of me, the one that all would say made most sense, the one I would have been expected to take, the one I myself thought for a while I would take – and then decided to go another way. 6 times. I counted 6 times. Major decisions to me (not always noticeable to others). Presently contemplating number 7.

Mr Robert Frost, I don’t know that I took the road less traveled by; as I grew up, taking the road less traveled actually became less cool of an idea because why should I define my choice based on what other people think – whether I follow the road most traveled OR the one less traveled, aren’t I then still just choosing the road comparing myself to somebody else’s definition of what the road is? Just once in a while I laid new tracks when I really didn’t like anymore where the ones I was seeing were going. Or was that what you meant with the “road less traveled”?

Anyways. The road to my father has been a very long one. 30+ years in the making. Why doesn’t really matter. I just feel fortunate it’s there. I’m glad I took the time to reflect and decide which path to take.

Today I am getting on a plane. My father is sick. Not the flu kind of sick. I’m going back home, to France, to spend a few days with him before his treatment starts. A few blissful days doing just what we want and nothing else. Together. Doing something I doubt either of us would have thought possible even just 10 years ago:

Sharing a Road.