Last year I celebrated a "big birthday" and I blogged about the parties my dear friends threw for me. However, I never shared the "beach party" I threw for myself....until now....I wanted to save it...to revisit it a year later. It was the most magical day!
I decided to do a ladies lunch and photo shoot on one of our local beaches...with a professional fashion photographer and her assistant and make-up artist and a crew made up of family. My husband and children got up before dawn so we could set everything up (I had things prepared in advance). The four of us watched the sun come up as we worked... it was breathtaking and the beginning of a beautiful day! Thank you Mother Nature!
I thought that doing a photo shoot with my girlfriends on the beach would be a unique way to celebrate and an optimistic leap toward the next chapter of life....it took three attempts because the weather didn't want to cooperate last August. One of the mornings the beach actually disappeared under turbulent waves...but I just had a vision that it could work...
I designed and styled the entire shoot...I wanted everyone to feel as if they had escaped to an exotic island...not a beach in Chicago...lol! I even made a special playlist of "mood music" that brings me right back to that day every time I listen to it!
who were very flexible and forgiving...since we needed multiple reschedules.
We pretty much had the beach to ourselves...
I loved that my girlfriends got wonderful pictures of themselves that I had framed for them afterwards...
The conditions were sublime...no bugs and no humidity!
We did wardrobe changes in our makeshift "changing room".
We did a number of these "Vanity Fair" like poses...
Stella, our make-up artist did a fabulous job...even using the battery in my car to make some of her equipment work it's wonders!
Our photographer Amie was a visionary and made the day flow smoothly and made everyone feel like a "super-model"...not a bunch of middle-aged Moms!
We ladies love a great "blow out" and paid homage to our hairstylist Augustino with this shot...he jokes that he should use it as his business card...
We even filmed a fun video (remember we grew up in the era of MTV,,,lol)...here are a couple of the shots...
The scene...
I just loved writing this post...as I knew I would...it was like unwrapping a great present! That was the idea...hopefully year after year...I will be able to look back at these pictures which confirm that life is beautiful...at any age...it's all about making magic...whenever you get the chance!
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