I thought cake came from a box and that you “just add water”. I believed that macaroni and cheese was meant to be the color of traffic cones. I had never seen tomato soup come from anything but a white and red labeled can. Vegetables, I imagined, came from the freezer isle, flash-frozen and nuked to mushy perfection. I didn’t even know you could make bread at home; what a thought! **

It’s been a good decade since I learned of cake “from scratch”, that vegetables can grow in my own back yard and taste so amazing, that macaroni and cheese is best with real, aged-cheddar and aught to be hued more butter-cream than plastic-pylon, and that  the best tomato soup comes from roasted, fresh tomatoes, red peppers with fresh spices and a dollop of Greek yogurt. I even know where the best breads come from (although my success is still limited in this department. Thanks honey, for eating it anyway.)

Despite all I know, it’s been hard to make the lane change from the quick-fix boxes of macaroni and pre-made-everything to nourishing my family as I once did each of my four babies; from food as God intended it;  fresh, whole, real. I am, after-all, busy. I have a small business, traverse the country once a month for work, have four kids ranging in age from 5 to 17. We run all over the Midwest visiting family and manage all the other day-to-day tasks of life with four kids and a dog. Our dishwasher died. Our kitchen sucks (just ask someone who’s used it). Fresh food is expensive , too time-consuming and our American life doesn’t leave room for old-fashioned home-cooking. And, frankly, some days, I just want to order a pizza!

These are all pretty “reasonable” reasons to just keep the status quo, but I’m not going to let my objections win this round. For one month my family is going to eat “From Scratch” or at least “Pretty Much From Scratch”. I figure if I go full-on, cold turkey, no cheating, in the end I will come out with fresh understanding of where my food comes from, some new skills (like maybe bread that actually rises to a fluffy softness) and my kids will have learned a thing or two, as well.  I will document my successes and failures here. I am sure it’ll be entertaining, educational and hopefully, the photos will be pretty, even though, well, let’s be honest,  my kitchen sucks. Stay tuned, it should be quite a trip!

**Disclaimer, my mom is a great cook. She makes a lot of things from scratch these days, maybe she always did, but somehow I missed those lessons along the way. Maybe I was too busy out playing in the dirt? Who knows, but at any rate, it’s not her fault. I promise.

We will be offering 10-minute mini-shoots at the Los Gatos GapKids store for only $50! To make the most of the opportunity, the Gap Brand Experts will be on hand to provide styling from their upcoming spring collection. To make a sweet deal even better, bring your session confirmation email into the store between now and your session and you will get a 20% discount on your entire purchase!  Additionally, we will be offering 20% off prints as well.

Location: Los Gatos GapKids (120 N Santa Cruz Ave)
Date: Wednesday, January 26th, 2011
Times: 10-Noon and 1-3pm
Price: $50

These sessions are gonna go fast, so
get more info and/or BOOK NOW at annamayer.com/gap

Crazy Four-Day deal!

Buy it now – book it later! JUST $150!

Before midnight on Monday Nov 29, buy a 2011 Winter/Spring Photography Session for only $150! Weekday, Evening, or Weekend doesn’t matter!  Whether it’s a milestone birthday, a newborn, belly photos, or a family photo session, you can’t go wrong. This offer is only available online through Monday, so don’t delay!

… but read the terms below

San Jose/San Francisco Available dates during this period: 1/28-31 3/11-14 4/22-25	Zoiks! You missed it!
Milwaukee/Chicago Available dates during this period vary. Please inquire for specifics.	Aw shucks! You’re too late

This promotional certificate must be purchased through this link between 11/26-29/2010.  The session does not need to be booked at the time of purchase, but must be booked by 3/31/11 and  must take place between 1/1/11 and 4/30/11. If the session does not take place before 4/30/2011, the purchase will convert to a gift certificate for the amount of purchase. If you would like an actual certificate to present this session as a gift, just let us know; otherwise, we will simply note the purchase in your file.  Upgrades for beach, San Francisco, and Chicago are available for the usual difference.  Travel charges of $2.50 per mile (one way) still apply beyond 20 miles from our Los Gatos Studio in CA and outside the Racine, Delafield, Port Washington triangle in WI. Not valid on prior sales and cannot be combined with any other offer. Offer expires at midnight PST on 11/29/10. All sales final. By purchasing this certificate you are agreeing to these terms.

We had our choice of 5 charities … so why did we choose LLS?  Two reasons:

First, 10 years ago, a long-time client and friend, Linsey Krolik, was diagnosed with and beat Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.  Take a moment, and read her story at her Me Too You Blog.

Second, Every 4 minutes one person is diagnosed with a blood cancer…  Here’s more from the LLS website:

An estimated 137,260 people in the United States will be diagnosed with leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma in 2010. New cases of leukemia, Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma will account for 9.0 percent of the 1,529,560 new cancer cases diagnosed in the United States this year*.

Overall incidence rates per 100,000 population for leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma are almost identical for data reported in 2009 and 2010 [(leukemia 12.3, 2010 vs.12.2, last year); (NHL, 19.6, 2010 vs. 19.5, last year); (Hodgkin lymphoma, 2.8, 2010, same as last year); (myeloma, 5.6, 2010, same as last year)].

Leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma will cause the deaths of an estimated 54,020 people in the United States this year. These blood cancers will account for nearly 9.5 percent of the deaths from cancer in 2010 based on the 569,490 total cancer-related deaths.

Every ten minutes, someone dies from a blood cancer. This statistic represents nearly 148 people each day, or more than six people every hour. Leukemia causes more deaths than any other cancer among children and young adults under the age of 20. In general, the likelihood of dying from most types of leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma decreased from 1998 to 2007 (the most recent data available).

*Facts and statistics from Leukemia, Lymphoma, Myeloma Facts 2010-2011

Here is the latest edition with his lovely parents:

And here’s a flashback to baby no. 1 . . . And the latest again. He’s so precious . . .

Look at those lips! 

Another flashback. She was so much chunkier! Love the cheeks. 

And maybe my favorite Before & After . . . no. 1 on mommy’s shoulder in 2008 . . . 

And here she is now, so big! (oh, and look at mommy’s expanding ink . . . )

Now you’ve got one more chance! We’ve just added a new Short & Sweet with Christmas delivery. Our Bay Area Short & Sweet Sessions have been booked up for quite some time now, but we just decided to open up one more session! We have 6 spots available at Bramhall Park in Willow Glen on Saturday, 11/6 at 8:00, 8:20, 8:40, 9:00, 9:20, and 9:40am. At just $200 each, if you are interested, book it fast, ’cause they won’t last!

Get more details on our Short & Sweet page

OR

 These are my favorite. LOVE the joy on Elissa’s face. You can just see how happy she is.

And this one . . . love it!

Last week my kids were showing their summer baby-sitter some old photo albums from Isaiah & Alayna’s babyhoods. Ah, the days of film, when all I had to do was send in the rolls of film and Viola!, the photos were done and ready to enjoy and, ah, the days before I did this for a living; before I went pro. I have all these crappy-wonderful snap-shots of my kids dancing in the living room, snuggled up together in a box, eating  birthday cake. The lighting is not always great. The backgrounds are not always complimentary. But the photos are a delicious window to our memories of life with the kids, so little and sweet and growing and changing so fast. I don’t take any of those anymore.

Now, because I know better, I always want to wait for the perfect lighting, the perfect backdrop, the “perfect photo”. In my wait for that perfect moment, the one in which my kids don’t look like they dressed themselves, three days ago, and the house doesn’t look lived-in, er, trashed, and the light shines in their eyes “just right”, I’ve missed so very much. I want to have snap-shots again. I want to have memories captured of just regular old not-so-sexy life in my not-so-amazing house with my wonderfully-real-not-always-turned-to-the-light-at-the-right-angle kids. So, here goes. My rules/criteria:

1. I shoot with my  “old” camera body, the 5D, no flash, no frills.

2. I use the 16-35L , a lens I purchased several years ago, only to leave it on a shelf, unused, in favor of my 24-70L and fisheye. (NOT a cheap lens, it needs my love!)

3. I don’t spend time working out the perfect angles, the best light, the perfect exposure (no custom white balance or manual exposure, baby!)

4. I reach for it at least once a day, to capture something delightfully “everyday”.

5. I come here and share them with you, as often as I can.

6. At the end of the year, I take those plain old photos and PUT THEM IN A BOOK, so we can look back and remember the year in pictures.

So, here’s my first share. Lydia, enjoying her yogurt in our crazy-strange kitchen:

And Mr. Z, being 10, almost 11. Sigh . . . ten is the end of the little kid years. I’m bracing myself . . .