I'm a wedding + lifestyle photographer based in Brooklyn, NY. A Heart String is my space for my wedding imagery, personal pictures, inspiration, and daily adventures!
I know I vowed to keep this blog up, but things have been so crazy, the last thing I've wanted to do after work is come home and glue myself to the computer screen again. My life has basically consisted of work, coming home, crashing, and repeating - week after week after week. I've been lucky to be able to squeeze in a brunch or a dinner with friends here and there, but for the most part, I've been in total hibernation mode.
Now that Spring is FIIIIINAAAALLLLLLLY here, I'm feeling more compelled to merge with the living again and actually go outside/ pick up my camera! Jobs are finally starting up again too, which is a nice reminder that I'm supposed to be keeping this side project up for myself. So, expect more consistent updates!
That said, I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend! Mine has been exceptionally awesome and productive. Gave our apt a super deep clean (which it needed desperately), went on a plant spree, got all of the laundry done, treated myself to a mani-pedi, brunched, put together a care package and date night'd. Phewww!
B is off assisting today, so I've spent my Sunday being lazy with my cat babies and catching up on things online. Now I'm off to prepare for Cinco de Mayo festivities, but in the meantime, here are some lazy Sunday pics. The start of more to come!
I have been feeling super, mega, ultra fucking life thirsty lately. As
in, I have been dying for a really touching, positive, life-altering,
soul hugging experience. It had been so long since I'd read an amazing
book, or found a beautiful new slice of music to enjoy or laughed so
hard my stomach hurt. My spirit has been feeling seriously parched.
....and then, just like that - the best week I've had in a long,
long, while arrives! If you follow my instagram (@veronicarafael! lets
be friends!), then you're already all caught up with my shenanigans. but
I'm going to rehash them again anyway because I have inspiration to
share :)
First off - my book club (yes, yes, my book club) just finished a
really good one. If you're feeling a little life muddled or uninspired,
Chery Strayed's Tiny Beautiful Things is a perfect/short read
that will satisfy most of your squishy, quarter life crisis dilemna's.
My personal favorite is an entry called Write Like a Motherfucker - which has become my own personal "get it together" go-to read. If you're curious you can read my favorite entries online here!
Tuesday, I had the privilege of celebrating a woman I love and
admire greatly - who at long last finished her dissertation and finally
added "Dr." to her resumé. Emily was my first roommate in New York ever,
which basically means that we have watched each other flourish, drown
and flourish, again. We've peeled each other off the floor, danced like
banshees together and laughed until our tummies hurt. It's THAT kind of
sister-love that can really only exist with people you've lived with and
loved with and lost with for (what feels like) a million years and two
minutes all at once.
SO! Emily, being the amazingly cool person she is, took us out to
celebrate and guided us to a sweaty,crowded bar on the LES to listen to
bluegrass and to see this AMAZING french singer Cyrille Aimeé. I've been
trying to find videos of her / her band online to share how amazing
they were, but it was seriously one of those new york moments where you
had to be there to witness the magic. it was incredible. And sadly, her
ensemble that night was made up of a bunch of friends of hers visiting
from France, making it even more impossible to find it. BUT. It was
incredible and magical and I'm sharing it below anyway, just in case
you're curious.
Wednesday was probably the best surprise - another one of my first
BFF's in NYC invited me to be one of his dates to the AmFAR gala, which
basically meant I got to dress up realz fancy and have dinner & drinks with
celebrities. As in, I interrupted SJP's speech when I arrived late to my
table, sat next to Michael Kors / Heidi Klum, missed LiLo in the
bathroom, watched Janet Jackson accept an award, was in the same room as
Jay Z, danced with CeeLo. It was amazing. epic. total NYC fun. What a week!
I also shot an adorable engagement party this weekend that I can't wait to share with everyone! It was a sweet day, and as always, I was very grateful to be part of someone's special day!
& now that I've put it off long enough - Happy Valentines Day
everyone!! I hope your day is full of love (even if it's not the
romantic kind) and tons of sweets (you def. don't need a lover for
that!!)!
As always, I am super thankful for all of the love I have in my life! I am always blessed, but today, I feel especially grateful :)
Happy Sunday! I've had a very productive weekend (our apartment in SPARKLY! our kitchen is reorganized! I actually made a dent in the book I'm reading!) & am enjoying a little down time before it's time to meet some friends for bloodies and Beyoncé (or, you know, the Super Bowl)!
Just wanted to share a little bit of my weekend inspiration with you. If you can't already tell, I am BEYOND ready for Spring!
Friday, February 1, 2013
So, I know I'm extremely late on this one, but I hope that your year is off to a fantastic start!! I have no excuse for being a terrible blogger, outside of just indulging my urge to disconnect and a desire to refocus and re-prioritize all of the things in front of me. BUT! It's February 1st and it's time to make some moves, don't you think?
I kicked off the new year in California with my friends and family and then promptly rushed back to New York to dive headfirst into all of my new responsibilities as an official agent. I finally feel as if I have a grip on everything, so it's back to booking jobs, having meetings and events, and picking up my camera again!
2013 has been very productive so far. I've committed to eating better and to keeping as physically and mentally healthy as possible. I feel like I'm in such a good place! I hope all of you are too :)
My outlook on this has never been more clear:
Cheers to working our butts off and getting closer to our dreams this year! I see big things ahead!
The lovely and extremely talented Leah Goren, Rachael Cole and Julia Rothman have released a limited edition batch of the cutest scarves ever to make the amazing products they create together once a week at ladies drawing night available to YOU! Each scarf (there are two from each artist) is printed on lightweight silk chiffon, was designed in Brooklyn and made in San Francisco!
I was lucky enough to have the chance to spend the afternoon eating sushi, hanging with moses (when he wasn't hiding under the couch) and photographing two lovely ladies to show off their debut collection.
Each one is absolutely beautiful and would make a perfect gift for the holidays...or like, for me, if you're feeling super generous. I can't even decide which is my favorite! So excited about all of the goodies to come! Check out their website and store here.
So, thanksgiving has come & gone, and I've been a terrible blogger! Lots of exciting things on the horizon though, so expect way more updates from me in the coming weeks! :) The first of which being a heart string's new look!
I hope all of you had an amazing holiday with lots of yummy food and wine to keep your belly warm! I spent my (extremely short) break in New Jersey with Brandon's family, indulging in the crisp weather (motorcycles in the winter are rough!) authentic italian food and doing suburban-y things that I miss on the regular (driving to the grocery store in a CAR!?).
I am super excited to get the ball rolling on all of our holiday plans and embracing all of the things that come with December! I love nothing more than 5pm cocktails at the office, an excuse to buy sequins, xmas tree shopping, holiday parties! I'm especially excited to take my annual trip home to visit my family (that I miss like crazy) & catch up with friends!
Speaking of friends and holiday cheer....
My amazing friend Falcon and her boyfriend Anthony have recently moved back to NYC to pursue a handful of their dreams (seriously - these two are ridiculous!) - one of which being their super cool tie company Grove Lane.
Grove Lane ties are made from supple Italian leather and are lovingly made by hand by Falcon and Anthony in their NYC studio.
They've recently teamed up with Smallknot (think Kickstart for community based campaigns) and they would love your support to help them lower the
production cost of their Spring/Summer '12 collection! Your support would help them employ a staff to continue to personally hand-craft each tie from their New York City studio and to help them upgrade to an industrial sewing machine, which would help them TONS!
Each tie is absolutely gorgeous, they come in tons of colors and they make amazing christmas gifts!
To learn more about Grove Lane, click here & then mosey on over to Smallknot and help them out!
If you live in NYC, then you know today was PERFECT for brunch & pretty much finding any excuse to spend the day outside. I think we've all earned a little bit of good weather at this point, no?
It's been a super productive weekend and I look forward to many more. I know they'll be colder and I'll be crankier, but I'm still stoked to have gotten to enjoy a random spring day in November.
Anyway, I'm excited to finally share this project with all of you! Thank you guys for your likes and support and for checking in :) I'm going to do my best to keep my updates as regular as possible and can't wait to share new work with you!
p.s. can we talk about how cute wanda is when she sunbathes?
