A Guest at Me Ra Koh's Workshop in Sonoma

Me Ra Koh is this fabulous woman and photographer who shares herself through photography. She's one of those people that you love from the get go. I think it's because she's just plain real. She was giving a workshop for women who wanted to learn more about their cameras and how to take pictures of their families and kids and what came out of it was learning about themselves, as women. If you read some of the comments from these women on Me Ra's blog you can see that it was not your typical "workshop".

One of my husband's business partners, Garrett Burdick helped put the whole thing together, and when Me Ra said that they needed a family to practice taking pictures of, Garrett called me up (love Garrett!). I of course said yes. How cool to have your photo taken by 9 women, Me Ra, her super cool husband Brian AND Garrett!
Here are some photo's from a few of the women....

Photographs by: Michelle Riddle


Photographs by: Sharon Sossaman


Photographs by: Wendy Zippwald

Amazing right?!

The other amazing opportunity that came out of it was that I was able to speak to the group about my business. Right after the test shoot I spoke to the women about what I do, some design techniques and brought a couple of sample albums to show.

It was this beautiful Sunday afternoon in Sonoma. The location was incredible. (I'm trying to find an excuse to go back ;-) It was at the beautiful Westerbeke Ranch and it felt like you had stepped into this wonderful ground of gardens with a pool and delicious food. The women were fun and welcoming, Me Ra and her husband Brian were so sweet and kind and it was one of those wonderful experiences that just linger with you.

After I spoke at the workshop, Matt, the boys and I stopped off at Cornerstone Place. This is a must see if you're in the area. There are two HUGE blue adirondack chairs that mark the entrance. There are 20 gardens to walk through, super cool gallerys and shops with exotic home accents, jewelry and of course accents for your garden. My two favorite stores there are Artefact Design & Salvage and Zipper (so hip and cool I can hardly stand it!).

Well, that about wraps up the day. This post wound up being way longer than I thought but there was just so much to share!

Thanks again to Me Ra and Brian, to Garrett and of course to all of the inspiring women at the workshop. You're reaching for your dreams and inspiring me to reach higher for mine. (And now I'm just dying to pick my camera up again!) Thank you for the photographs of my family and for allowing me to share myself and my business. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Green becomes Vibrant!

I had the pleasure of having lunch today with Corina Beczner, owner and founder of Vibrant. From consultation to production, Vibrant finds ways to incorporate who you are and the style of wedding you've always dreamed about into an eco-friendly event. Corina was engaging from the moment I met her. She's beautiful and when you're talking to her she really listens. When we started talking about business, her notebook was out and she started writing everything down. It was evident that she's a master at the task of organizing. A mutual friend had this to say, "Some people are just too professional to hide it." So true. If my husband and I ever have a second wedding, I'll be handing the planning to her for sure. I love what she states on her website, "A Vibrant celebration incorporates the future of your family and the health of the planet, bringing in the true meaning of Sustainability by incorporating generations to come."

We met at Sol Food in San Rafael and if you've never dined there, you MUST go! The food is incredible. Everything I've ever tried is amazing. Today I had the Ensalada de Camarones. Oh, so good. 5 Large pan-fried garlic prawns on organic greens with tomato, avocado and a lemon-garlic dressing. The ice tea is served in a large "mason type" jar and is perfectly refreshing. (They cater if you're having an event and do take out if you're on the go.)

The reason we had lunch today was because of an exciting new line of albums that I'm offering this year. Yes, you guessed it, "green" wedding albums. It's exciting to be able to offer a product like this. The books are printed on 100% post-consumer recycled acid-free archival paper. Environmentally sensitive materials such as hemp from conscious suppliers are also used. The entire process is powered by green-e certified wind-power too. How cool is that! And trees are planted with a portion of the proceeds from each book.

Considering we've just celebrated Earth Day 2008, I can't think of a more appropriate time to be working with Vibrant and to be launching this line!

Books I'm Reading & Have To Share

The Wealthy Spirit by Chellie Campbell is wonderful. 365 stories and affirmations for you to read each day for a year. What a great concept! I love having a positive thought for each day. My best friend Maya and I are reading it together and send each other a text every day, well, not every day. But most!! It's great to have someone else to keep me accountable for reading my daily dose. I highly recommend this for anyone who's looking to shift their relationship to money.




I Was A Really Good Mom Before I Had Kids is a book that another mom loaned me. She said she picked it up in a bookstore and was howling out loud from the back cover. It says, "You need this book if....
• You consider going to the dentist your special "alone time"
• You're competitive about winning Chutes and Ladders
• You reflexively refer to the bathroom as "the potty"
• You once introduced yourself at an important business meeting as "Andrea's mom"
• You'd trade your husband for a housekeeper

Can anyone relate?? Ha! I started reading this book last night and I wish I could give a copy to every mother I know for this upcoming Mother's Day. Which is on the 11th of next month for anyone who might need to know. ;-) I was reading in bed before drifting off to sleep and literally laughing out loud to myself. Every mom could use a good dose of laughter before bed so pick up a copy if you can!

As a pre-curser to Mother's Day I have to take a moment to acknowledge all of the women that are raising little people in this world and the friends, lovers and husbands that love us through it. My husband has found me sobbing on the floor, laughing in hysterics and passed out from shear exhaustion all from a day spent with my children. I truly must say, "God bless him".



This book is the 2nd in a series of 3. The third one isn't coming out for some time. I read the first and couldn't wait to get my hands on the next one. I'm not worried about taking my time reading this one because I know I'll have to wait for the last in the trilogy.

It's a crazy trip about how we exist in one of many realms that certain people called "Travelers" can move between. John Twelve Hawks is the author and no one knows who he really is. He communicates with his editor using the internet and an untraceable satellite phone with a voice scrambler. Check out this site and you'll get a taste for what the book is about. Enjoy!


(For those of you who may wonder how I have time to read...I have no clue! Honestly. When I think about the fact that I'm reading books I have no idea when that happens. A stolen moment here, 5 minutes right before shutting my eyes to sleep, anywhere I can to find some way to expand my mind past changing diapers, fixing lunch and working out marketing strategies to grow my business. I have high hopes at times. Yesterday I brought two of the books with me to my son's doctor check up. What was I thinking? I knew there would be time spent in the office waiting for the doctor. That you can count on right? But what I failed to remember was the constant attention the boys would need. Read this book, play with that toy, I have to go potty, pick me up. Oh well, maybe one of these days when I bring the book with me I'll have a chance to read it!

Living In Motion

I feel like I'm in a constant state of motion. I find myself moving from place to place. Picking up, putting down, folding, washing, kissing, laughing. It's amazing to me how there is always something to do.

Having children and dreams and a life that I love is the biggest gift. I'm reading a book that is 365 days worth of stories and positive affirmations about wealth. Today's story was about remembering to actually enjoy your life. To slow down a bit and make time for the things you want and love to do. The story makes a point of how life will just continue after you're gone so make the most of it while you're here. I remember when my father died I had that very realization. He had died in the wee hours of the morning and I'll never forget the phone ringing at 8am. It was a salesman trying to get me to buy the newspaper. I wanted to shout at him that my father had just died and didn't he know that? How could he ask me to buy a newspaper at a time like that. And then I realized, life just keeps going. It might have stopped for my father and even for me in that moment but the rest of the world keeps moving. So, I keep moving. I do my best to remember to smile and laugh and not take it all so seriously. It's hard to do sometimes but I do my best.

My affirmation for today is "I enjoy each and every minute of my blissful life!" And you know what? I do! Even in the midst of the chaos, I'm happy. Deep down happy.

(The wonderful photograph was taken by my husband. I'm so lucky to have a fabulous photographer for a husband. He took some head shots of me this past weekend and when they're ready, I'll upload the best to share.)

Mason Has Turned 4!

I can hardly believe that my first born is 4 years old! They say the time passes quickly and boy is it true. I find myself just looking at him sometimes in complete awe of who he is. I had this thought the other day that even though he seems so big and that he's growing up so fast, he's still a little sweet boy. He has the cutest little voice and my heart melts when he calls me mama. His kisses are the most precious thing and I hope the day when I try to kiss him and he turns his head and says "ewww mom, gross!" doesn't come for a long time.

We had a very sweet party for him and I thank my lucky stars that my husband Matt and one of his business partners Garrett are such brilliant photographers! I can be busy cutting cake, playing games and laughing and not worry that I don't have my camera in hand. Here are some of the photo's from the day. I couldn't help but post and share. Click here if you would like to see the slideshow.

Happy Birthday Mason!!!

FMN Design is a Vendor on Project Wedding!

Have any of you heard of Project Wedding? It's a great site that helps make the whole wedding process simple. You can look up vendors in every category, including me! Since album design is a fairly new market in the industry, it's a bit dodgy finding me. As soon as we have ten album design companies on the site, they'll give us our own category.

So, for now, I'm listed in the "Other" category but I'll take it! I'm #74 to be exact. One of my clients was sweet enough to recommend me as well. She wrote such wonderful things on my page that it made me blush. Thanks Kristy!

I hope that you check out the site. Take a look around and you never know what you might find. They have vendors that offer everything from custom made wedding dresses, stamps, help finding a wedding site, photographers, cake decorators, coordinators, invitations, hair and make-up, jewelry, dance lessons, videographers, officients and yes "others" which include me, your personal custom album designer!!

Check It Out! I've Been Kissed!

Hi everyone,

Check it out! KISS Wedding Books is now offering design as a service on their site and I'm one of the designers. I've had the pleasure of working with Kiss for a while now and I have to say they truly make the whole process a piece of cake. Kevin Swan, one of the founders of KISS is such a great guy. Always available and I swear the man doesn't sleep. No matter what time I fire off an email, he responds right away. I love that! He's been great to work with and I'm flattered to be part of the team.

Their books are simple. People love them. I love one of the lines on their site....:"Just say no to complexity. Get KISSed!"

So if you haven't been KISSed, pucker up!

Dolls with an edge

I love Robert Knowles. He's a designer here in San Francisco. I was lucky enough to hire him while I was working my corporate job and "what a find". He not only has a great sense of design but he's an artist! He's one of those guys that has you stop and think, "wow, you have a lot to contribute to this world!"
He's recently made a series of dolls that he's looking to market. They ROCK!

The Whole Package

I've recently had the pleasure to work with an up and coming wedding photographer. Brooke Buchanan is the cousin of one of my best friends. She always has her camera in hand and shoots in that editorial style that I love. She came to me looking to have her first portfolio designed. I not only designed her book but put together her whole logo design and business system as well.
I love how it's turned out. Take a look!