All aboard my spaceship to Mercury. Turn first at the light that's in front me. Cause every night I'ma do it like it's my last. This dream is all that I need, cause it's all that I ever had. - Iggy Azalea, Work Regardless of the medium, every artist struggles with the same thing: the value of their work. Whether it's an internal struggle, or the challenge of relaying this worth to a client, we all hit this wall at some point. Most of us, if you were to ask, would say that

When you blow out the candles, One light stays aglow It's the love light in your eyes, Where e'er you go. - Tom Chapin, Happy Birthday Today, my Baby Squid is five years old. My comedic genius, my tough guy, my King T'Challa (he insists that this is his real name). For some reason, five is hard. It's like closing the Baby Chapter and opening the By, Mom, I'm Off to College one. Yes, I know this is absurd, and yes, I know I feel like this every year. But holding him all cuddle

The mere idea of you, the longing here for you You'll never know how slow the moments go till I'm near to you... - Billie Holiday, The Very Thought Of You I was at a newborn session the other day with the chunkiest baby boy you've ever laid eyes on. I was greeted at the door by a beaming three-year-old who proudly announced that she was a big sister... and then filled me in on about a hundred other things before the shoot was over. She was adorable and reminded me of my own

Ah, but in case I stand one little chance Here comes the jackpot question in advance What are you doing New Year's, New Year's Eve? - Frank Loesser, What Are You Doing New Year's Eve? This is my ultimate glittery-thrift store-silk-and-sequin New Year's Eve dress. Some year, I'm going to rock this dress and feel glamorous and timeless and not care who's watching. This is not what I wore as we rang in 2019. I think I was wearing jammy pants with anchors on them. And heated so

Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself, (I am large, I contain multitudes.) - Walt Whitman, Song of Myself Today is Election Day. I'll just mention this because, although it's not strictly relevant to yesterday's shoot, it's on my mind. I photographed an old friend. Someone I'd lost touch with back in what I could sum up briefly as Alexis Version 1.0. Bear with me for a moment while I wax tangential. Remember that kid in high school that was kind of a je

"Oh, that's far," said Big Nutbrown Hare. "That is very, very far." Big Nutbrown Hare settled Little Nutbrown Hare into his bed of leaves. He leaned over and kissed him goodnight. Then he lay down close by and whispered with a smile, "I love you right up to the moon - and back." - Guess How Much I Love You, Sam McBratney The name of the midwife who attended Liam's birth was Moon. Really. Out of six midwives on rotation, there was just one person I hoped against all hopes woul

Today was a rite of passage in our household. My oldest son proudly donned his backpack and climbed up into the yellow school bus while his younger brother and I stood on the sidewalk and waved. I held back tears as I drove my younger son to daycare. His first day without his big brother around. Last night at bedtime, he told me he felt sad about the change. And I felt sad for him. And hopeful for both of them. And a little sad for myself. Every parent must have this day when

I will work ten times harder than before I will create art, I will create beauty I will create so many things that you can't ignore But I will not do them in your name You Will See Me, Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip I don't do New Year's Resolutions. If that's your thing, I'm all for it. But they've never worked for me. My resolutions come late on a Monday night in the midst of chaos. I will not let fear get a bridle on my sense of inspiration. That's a promise I made to mys

...There will be time, there will be time To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet; There will be time to murder and create, And time for all the works and days of hands That lift and drop a question on your plate; Time for you and time for me, And time yet for a hundred indecisions, And for a hundred visions and revisions... The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, T.S. Eliot They don't write them like they used to, anymore. As a teenager, I drank up poetry like water.

The heat from the subway cars racing by The steam rising up from the tracks If I were a phoenix, then I would fly Get out of this city and rise from the ash I was a long-legged, skinny little thing, growing up. More bony little legs than anything, my parents used to call me Lexi Bird. Eventually, I was proud to note that my skinny little legs filled out a bit. These days, I'd even go so far as to say they could stand to be a bit more 'bird-like.' But the point is, as we all s