Sometimes, I meet people & instantly feel like I must already have known them, & Shannon felt like that to me. She & husband Chris came into our lives via CrossFit when they moved to the South Bay & joined up at Max’s “box” (that’s “gym” in CrossFit-speak). We got to know each other on the beach during Saturday workouts when Shannon & Chris would kick ass while I watched the kids. Their little lady Neave is just a few months older than our second daughter, so we had a lot in common to talk about with parenting. And lucky me, soon I got to hang out with Shannon for playdates, & always I come away feeling like I can’t wait to see her again! Shannon is a humorous, witty conversationalist who is incredibly positive & energetic. Chris is a insanely talented & in-demand music composer for film & television. They are both dynamic, warm, generous souls who make people feel special just being with them. And their home is filled with art, laughter, great food, & comfort. Neave is growing up surrounded by music, dance, & so much love…

What a treat it is for me to photograph & blog about this family! I first met Celeste when we were hired the same year at Beverly Hills High School to teach English & attended the new teacher orientation meeting. We were fresh out of grad school & trying to dress older than our age to garner more respect while often being mistaken for students ourselves. For more than a decade, Celeste & I saw each other almost daily, attended the same meetings & after school events, shared lunches, dinners, & nights out on the town as single ladies with our posse of pals. And sometime in those years, Celeste & Pete, who taught next door to each other for years, became Mr. & Mrs. Now, sixteen years later, Celeste & I go to each other’s kids’ birthday parties, discuss the Tooth Fairy, laugh at the foibles of motherhood & marriage, & count ourselves lucky if we can find one afternoon every few months for a “girls’ brunch.” It seems not so long ago that I had the special honor of photographing Celeste & Pete’s wedding…But this month I got to capture these two wonderful friends with their beautiful tow-headed kids, & to make a great session even more extraordinary, got to create some portraits of four generations of the female line in Celeste’s family: Nana, Gramma Sue, Celeste, & Dylan all together. {And on a special note, I owe it to Nana & Celeste that I met my wonderful husband in Las Vegas, but that’s a story for another time!}