Jumping Back In

Let's try this again, shall we?  It's been a minute since my last post, and it's been even longer since I shared recipes on a regular basis. As I said in January, I've missed this space terribly, but it honestly just hasn't been my priority for the past year.  I just wasn't in the right mindset, and I didn't want to simply phone it in and post for the sake of posting.  I want this blog to be sincere and honest, and I want to be excited to share with you!  I'm psyched to pick it back up though; and I swear that's not just an empty promise.  I've found that I'm a better mom, wife, and person when I'm doing something I enjoy, and I really do enjoy blogging.

I already have some delicious recipes and dinner plans lined up for you, and my list of recipes and ideas  is growing by the minute -- nothing inspires me quite like summer produce!  I'm also working on a mega-post full of meal plans, menus, and recipes for summer.  Since it's been so long since I've posted, I thought a recap of some of my all-time favorites might be in order!

So as far as what we've been up to… well this summer is just flying by!  It's hard to believe that school starts back in less than two weeks, but we've already wrapped up swim team, a few camps, Vacation Bible School, and a trip to Disney World!  Not to mention dinners at the pool, s'mores at the fire pit, a fun Independence Day celebration, and just tons of summer shenanigans.  It's been a fun one, and I'm excited to share the rest of it with y'all!  xoxoxo

2015 in Review: Our Life

Wow.  So I haven't posted since October.  Sorry about that!  I felt very overwhelmed and was really busy this fall, and just needed to let something go.  So I'm sorry about the radio silence here, but it was much needed on my part.  I thought that maybe if I took a break from the blog, I could keep my house clean, get in more workouts, have more time to read and pray, and generally just get my head above water for a bit.  Well, as it turns out, my house is still messy.  I still miss more workouts than I'd like to admit.  The only books I read lately are about autism treatments and nutrition.  And I still feel like I'm barely treading water most days.  But here's the thing -- I miss this place!  I miss taking pics of my food, I miss writing, I miss hearing from you guys.  Can we try this again in 2016, pretty please?

When I first sat down to write about 2015, I looked back at the recipes I shared with you; but to be honest, 2015 was not about the food for me.  2015 was about Henry.  I could say that a dark cloud was cast upon the year because of Henry's autism diagnosis.  It's been way too easy for me to get bogged down in the negativity, fear, and sadness associated with that diagnosis.  Believe me, I feel all of that!  But then I look at what he's accomplished and who he is.  He went from being completely nonverbal in June, to having a vocabulary of almost 100 words in December.  He is quite literally obsessed with animals, and he can tell you the sounds of almost any animal you can think of.  When he wants milk, he asks for milk, rather than throwing himself down in front of the refrigerator, screaming and crying.  He looks me in the eye.  He holds my hand.  He gives me kisses if I ask.  And he calls me mommy, Joey Daddy, and Tucker "Tuck Tuck."  He's such a special little boy, and I am constantly amazed by him.  We have some pretty tough and stressful decisions to make about his future in the next few weeks; but based on the progress he's made in the last three months, he is so ready to fly, and I can't wait to see how high he'll go.

 

Henry is not our only child though.  We had lots of adventures and fun with the other three as well.  Smith played t-ball, Tucker's personality continued to shine bright and bold, and Caroline performed in a local production of The Nutcracker.  Perfectly cast as a cupcake, she was adorable and sweet, and she's already talking about what she wants to be next year.  Spoiler alert:  the Sugar Plum Fairy.

So 2015 was tough. It tested me, it was just hard.  We went though a LOT this year.  But we started 2016 with a bang.  My girl Annie and her sweet family came to visit us over the New Year's holiday, and we rang in 2016 with Mexican food, blood orange-passion fruit margaritas, dancing, and fun.  We laughed, ate, and talked our faces off, and I could not have asked for a better time.  If that is any indication of what the new year has in store, then I am excited and blessed beyond belief!

I felt like I owed you guys an update and explanation of my absence, but have no fear:  I'll be back again this week with a roundup of the top dishes of 2015, and then I'll be jumping into new recipes!  I have so many ideas and plans for the new year, and I'm so excited to share it all with you!  xoxo

Different, not less.

For months, I've been trying to figure out the best way to share this, or whether it was even appropriate to share at all.  This is part of why I've been quiet the past few months, and why the posting has been infrequent.  But especially over the past week, I've felt a strong pull to let you into our life.   I feel inauthentic by not talking about this, and I feel as though I'm faking it by pretending that everything is status quo.

For almost the past year, I've alluded to family issues, developmental delays, emotional times, and busy busy weeks.  All of those are simply euphemisms and roundabout ways to get to the point without saying the words.  The truth is -- our sweet Henry was diagnosed with autism this summer.

It wasn't a surprise; we expected this news.  He's nonverbal with a whole host of sensory, behavioral, and social issues.  Yet I still experienced pretty much every emotion under the sun when I heard those words.  I cried both tears of relief and tears of sadness.  Relief because it meant that we now had a diagnosis for what we've known all along, and we could begin to move forward with a real plan in place.  Sadness because, of course I was sad!  Since his diagnosis, I've continued to experience all sorts of conflicting emotions.  But one thing has grown stronger, and that's my love for Henry.  Yes, being diagnosed with autism is indeed life-changing news.  But it did not change our life.  We go on like we always have -- laughing and loving.

Henry has the sweetest soul you've ever known.  If you want to witness pure innocence, just look into his big brown eyes.  When he engages with you, it will melt your heart; whether its a fist bump, a high five, or the rare kiss. Henry is my hero.  Life is not easy for him, and he has a long road ahead of him.  But he wakes up smiling every morning, and he loves life in a way that I've never seen before.  His spirit is strong, and I know he's going to be okay.

Love needs no words, and I feel and see true, unadulterated love every time I look at Henry and anytime he looks at me.  Caroline already knew that Henry was different,  and that his brain works differently from ours; she knew that Henry doesn't use words, and he doesn't always "know how to make good choices."  When we explained Henry's autism to Caroline, we did so with the help of the book My Brother Charlie.  There is a page that I've since bookmarked.  As Caroline read this passage aloud, she replaced "Charlie" with "Henry," and said that this is how she feels about him.  It's how we all feel.

I've learned from Henry that love doesn't always come from what you say.  It can also come from what you do.  And so we do right by Henry.  We love him strong.  And we watch over him with the might of angels.  We have to.

 

Part of my initial sadness was due to the fact that he's a twin.  He's forever being compared to Tucker, and I felt like it wasn't fair to Henry to live in that comparison for his whole life.  Until I realized something: he has an advocate and protector in Tucker.  They might not be on the same path, but Henry has Tucker (and Caroline and Smith) as built in advocates for life.  I truly feel that they are a gift for us and Henry in that way.  Caroline has already assumed that role; she is fiercely protective of him, and she has made it her mission to educate her friends on autism.

I don't intend to sugar coat this.  It's not a fun road we're on.  We have some really bad moments.  He struggles every. single. day.  We garner a lot of stares and disapproving looks, and have already encountered many people who simply think we need to do a better job of disciplining him.  Some days I feel good about the hand we've been dealt, and I feel good about our plan.  But some days I count down the hours until I can crawl into bed and cry myself to sleep.  At the unfairness of it all; for us, and for the millions of other families who are going though the same thing, in this club that none of us asked to join.

We don't know what the future holds for Henry.  We are hopeful that with the intensive early interventions we are doing, he will be able to use words to communicate and grow to be independent and highly functional.  In a few weeks, he'll be starting at an autism therapy-focused preschool, so we are very excited to see the progress he will make there.  For now, we live and we love Henry, and we've adopted this song by Phillip Phillips as our anthem to him.  These are the word I wish he could understand. Because if nothing else, I want him to always know how very loved he is.

Hold on to me as you go

As we roll down these unfamiliar roads

And though this wave is stringing us along

Just know you're not alone

I'm gonna make this place your home.

Settle down, it'll all be clear

Don't pay no mind to the demons they fill you with fear

The trouble - it might drag you down

If you get lost you can always be found

Just know you're not alone

I'm gonna make this place your home.

Favorites from Friends and Family

I consider it to be the highest form of praise when my friends and family make recipes from my blog and give me the thumbs up.  I have to confess, anytime someone tells me that they're going to make one of my recipes I get a little nervous… like first date nervous.  What if they think it's gross or bland?  Or decide that I'm a terrible cook and blogger?  These are the ridiculous thoughts that go through my head.

But there are certain recipes that my friends and family just love.  Since I love my friends and family, and consider them to be the best of critics, I thought I'd do a quick round-up of some of their favorites.  Kind of an unofficial "Greatest Hits of Pink Parsley" sort of thing.

I did a bit of an informal survey, and thought about the recipes that I know my people love, and there are some definite common themes here.  These are all tried and true by my toughest critics:  the people I love most ;)

Everyone loves BBQ.  Apparently if I post a recipe featuring bbq sauce, it's going to be a hit.  My friends love bbq… which is why they are my friends :)

BBQ Chicken Meatballs over Cheddar-Corn Quinoa
BBQ  Chicken Burgers
BBQ Pork (or chicken) Taquitos

We also all love Mexican food!  From the authentic to the … not so authentic, my friends and family will always and forever be fans of these recipes.

Chicken Enchiladas
Tex-Mex Skillet Pasta
Foil-Baked Fish with Black Beans and Corn
Chicken Enchilada Quinoa Bake
Chicken Tortilla Casserole
Chicken Taquitos 
Watermelon Margaritas

Pizza and Pasta are also popular within my network.  Especially if it's a spin on a favorite or a one-pot pasta.  Quick and easy always wins.

One Pot Creamy Lemon Pasta
Skillet Lasagna
Lasagna-Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms
Pizza alla Vodka
Wild Mushroom & Fontina Pizza

 

Really, any and all comfort food is always a hit.  These are some of my very favorite recipes, and I'm tickled to death that my loved ones love them as much as we do.  Um, did you notice that they are all centered around cheese?  We are pretty cheesy (sorry, I can't help it).

Four Ingredient White Bean Chicken Chili
Jalapeno-Cheddar Cornbread
Classic Macaroni and Cheese
Pimento Cheese
Baked Tex Mex Pimento Cheese
Cheesy Zucchini Rice
Baked Fontina
Loaded Baked Potato Soup (Crockpot)

 

 But I do have to say that my friends and family like to eat healthy as well.  These light and healthy recipes have been hits in many of their houses!

Grilled Summer Vegetable Chopped Salad (my very favorite salad on this planet)
Fall Harvest Pear Salad
Mushroom-Crusted Turkey Burgers
Tomato-Basil Quinoa


I hope you've enjoyed this round-up.  I always like seeing what my friends and family are cooking, and selfishly, I love when they use Pink Parsley recipes!

Thankful.

I joined the track team in the seventh grade, and ever since, I've identified myself as a runner.  I ran cross country and track all through high school, recreationally in college and as a young adult, then kind of fell off the running wagon when I got pregnant with Caroline.  In between pregnancies, I half-heartedly trained for a few races, sporadically run from time to time, and to be honest, kind of lost the love.

But this year, I slowly began picking it back up.  A few miles here, a run at the gym there.  I completed the Couch to 10K program, and then ran a 10K in March with some friends. Strangely enough, I began to find myself yearning for the pavement again.  Joey and I ambitiously signed up for The Triple Peach, a series of races in Atlanta this summer and fall.  We ran the Peachtree Road Race in July, a 10K, The Atlanta 10-miler in October, and today we capped off the trifecta with the Thanksgiving Day Half Marathon.

These races have pushed me beyond what I thought I was capable of.  Over the past few years, I've stopped telling people that I'm a runner.  When talking about running or races, I'd say "I used to run."  I came up with so many excuses and justifications for not running.  I have too many kids.  It's too hard to schedule runs.  I don't have time.  I've gained too much weight.  I felt sad, because I felt like a small part of my identity was gone.

But as selfish as it may sound, running is one of the only things in my life that's mine and mine alone.  It's my alone time; my quiet time.  I love running because you get out what you put in.  Today I smiled through half of my race because I was so ecstatic just be out there.

I ended up beating my best half marathon time by seven minutes!  I crossed the finish line and almost burst into tears because I was so happy.  I really and truley never thought I'd find the joy in running again.  But after today, I'm already excited about my next race.

My heart is full of gratitude today.  For the ability to run, for the time to run, and for my husband and mother-in-law for helping out with the kids so I could fit in my training runs.  I hope that you all had a wonderful, healthy and happy Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving

I want to take a quick moment to with you all a Happy Thanksgiving!  I have so much to be thankful for, not the least of which is all of you wonderful readers and friends.  Wishing you all a day full of turkey, love, and laughter!

Celebrating FRIENDSgiving

You may be familiar with a little show that used to be on the air called Friends.  I guess you could say I'm a big fan.  I only make Friends references in the majority of my posts.  And my friend Annie and I   have entire conversations using only lines from Friends.  We are in agreement that the Thanksgiving episodes are some of the best of the series, and definitely some of the most memorable.

For the past few years, Annie and I have been talking about how much fun it would be to get together and watch all the Thanksgivings, then cook all the food from those episodes.  We decided this was the year, and I planned a last minute trip to Indy for the weekend.

We had an absolutely perfect weekend together.  We ate inordinate amounts of good food, watched many many episodes of Friends, drank lots of wine, laughed a lot, played with her sweet kids, worked out together, and even went to a Friday afternoon movie - such a luxury!  Saturday was our big day, and we headed to Whole Foods to stock up for our Friendsgiving Feast.

And then came back to Annie's house to do what we love most - spending the day cooking together!

Here is our Friendsgiving Feast.  If you can catch all these references, consider yourself a true Friends fan :)

Three Types of Potatoes:
     Mashed Potatoes with Lumps
     Mashed Potatoes with Peas and Onions
     Tater Tots (get a little turkey, cranberry sauce, a tot)
Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Sweet Potatoes with Marshmallows in Concentric Circles (these also doubled as Brad Pitt's yams)
Monica's Righteous Mac and Cheese
Rachel's Traditional English Trifle (you know we had to!)
Joey's Turkey
Chanberries

 I know what you're all curious about.  That infamous trifle.  Here's what we had.  A layer of lady fingers, jam, custard, raspberries, more ladyfingers, beef sautéed with peas and onions, another layer of custard, bananas, and whipped cream.  So how did it taste?  Well, I wouldn't say that it tasted like feet, but more like your dessert got mixed up with your main dish.   I didn't finish my portion, but Annie's husband Ben got seconds.  Beef?  Good.  Custard?  Good.  Jam?  Goooooood.

This was easily one of the most fun projects I've taken on, and it was pretty amazing to get to do so with one of my best friends.  We had an absolutely perfect weekend, and I loved getting to spend so much time with Annie and her family.

Whether you're spending Thanksgiving welcoming hot dancers to the new world or hiding out from your family because they think you have VD (both Joey), or maybe proving your friendship by hanging out inside a huge box (Chandler), I hope you all have a happy Thanksgiving tomorrow!

Sunday Scenes

Happy Sunday, my friends!  I hope everyone is having a stellar weekend, and staying warm!  This week I have lots of pictures to share, as usual.

As I mentioned last week, we recently had family pictures taken, and suffice to say, I'm pretty much obsessed with the photos and look at them at least once a day.  I had to laugh about this though.  It's always a little baffling to me when I see a pic of young kids, and they're all looking right at the camera and smiling angelically…. well we kind of got one of those, but the bottom picture is really a more accurate representation of our photo session.

Our fabulous photographer, Jody Lynn, really worked hard for us that morning!  It had been quite a while since we'd had family pictures made, and the kids are so fun and full of life, and I know I will treasure these for years to come.  These are a few of my favorites from our session.

Even though the past few days have been stupid cold, we've had such a lovely fall here in Georgia.  Subsequently, we've been enjoying as much time outside as possible.  These kids LOVE playing outside, and they all run to the door like puppies if they so much as hear the words "outside," "playground," or "backyard."  

Even though I absolutely abhor winter and cold weather, I suppose sitting by the fire is pretty nice.  When she got home from school on Thursday, Caroline asked if I could start a fire, then sheepishly asked if she could also have some hot cocoa.  How could I say no to this sweet face?

Speaking of sweet faces, here's one for the books.  While at the grocery store last week, Tucker pointed to this magazine and said "Look, it's Daddy!"  I about died right then and there, and at that moment Tucker became Joey's favorite child.  #iwish #andtheniwokeup

And speaking of my handsome husband, we had the luxury of enjoying a night out last weekend.  We went to a new development here in Atlanta, and tried out a new upscale Mexican restaurant.  There was a long wait, but armed with margaritas (mine had St. Germain!), we didn't mind.  If you live in the northern Atlanta suburbs, check out Avalon.  It's a super fun shopping center with some pretty amazing restaurants.  We ate at The El Felix, and highly recommend it.  Cheers to date night!

I've been busy this weekend cooking up some Thanksgiving dishes for you.  I have a lot of amazing recipes to share with y'all in the next two weeks, so hang on to your hats!  

Sunday Scenes

As we progress through life, I find myself less inclined to take pictures at every single given opportunity.  Our family is in a season of major craziness, and my main priority is keeping everyone happy vs taking the prefect photo.  It can be frustrating when we're paying good money for family pictures, but then I just remind myself that this truly is a snapshot of our lives.  So if it's blurry, crazy, and unrecognizable… well that's just life right now anyway.

So this new feature is dedicated to snapshots of our family.  Whether it be a random camera phone picture, or a portrait taken with our DSLR, this is where we are right now.  It's crazy.  It's chaotic.  But it's us.

Coming off of a big Halloween weekend, it's only fair to share a pic of our little monsters.  We went with the classics this year.  Caroline was a witch, Smith was a skeleton, Tucker was Frankenstein (even if he wouldn't wear the headpiece), and Henry was a vampire.  Smith ended up winning our neighborhood's costume contest as the "scariest costume," and he was beyond proud.   

Speaking of Halloween, when Caroline was on fall break, I dedicated an entire day to Halloween Pinterest projects.  We made "boo-nana pops," graveyard pudding cups, painted pumpkins, fingerprinted, etc.  Tons of fun, and I can't wait to do another fun day like this for Christmas.

And speaking school, have I mentioned that all three boys are now in preschool??  The twins started school this year, and bittersweet is definitely a good word for it.  But so far, they are absolutely loving their time there, and I'm definitely loving my free time in the mornings.  I feel like they were JUST born, so it's a good reminder of how quickly time flies by.  This was their sibling picture on picture day.  Considering that within 0.02 seconds they were all three inconsolably crying, this is definitely a money shot. And seriously.  Tell me if you know three brothers cuter than this.  I guarantee they don't exist!

A few weeks ago, my sister and her wife came for a short visit from California.  It was a wonderful chance to get our family together, and the first time in over two years that me and my three siblings were together.  We certainly drove each other crazy growing up, but these three people are my best friends in the world now. 

That very same weekend, Joey and I ran in a 10-mile race through downtown Atlanta.  I haven't really delved into my running history on here… another day, another post.  It's been a bit tumultuous to say the least.  But I'm absolutely thrilled to be active and running regularly again.  We competed in a 10-miler a few weeks ago, and we're running in a half marathon on Thanksgiving Day.  I'm just so excited and happy to be running again!  Aside from this blog, running is my "me-time," and the best stress-reliever out there -- aside from wine, of course.

Another hobby that Joey and I have picked up this year is home brewing.  Really it's Joey's thing, but I am just along to help out and be an "editorial advisor."  Our first batch was a Double IPA (yum!), and we currently have a Belgian Christmas Ale fermenting.  This hobby totally combines my love of cooking and flavors with my former career in science, so it is pretty much my ideal venture!

And finally, I'll leave you with this.  This boy.  He's my heart and soul.  Tucker is a total mommas-boy through and through, and I wouldn't have it any other way.  xoxo

Food Photography Workshop in Charleston

A few weeks ago, I had the amazing opportunity to attend a 3-day 4-night food photography workshop.  With one of my best friends.  In Charleston, South Carolina.  Taught by the two incredible ladies who I very much admire.  It was basically a dream vacation. Helene Dujardin of Tartelette fame, and Clare Barboza, food photographer extraordinaire put together a truly perfect weekend - complete with tons of hands on practice, lessons from the masters themselves, field trips that gave us a chance to put our newfound knowledge to the test and explore the wonderful city of Charleston, and plenty of downtime for drinking wine and bonding with each other.

There is so much to tell, that in an effort not to write the world's longest post, I'm following Annie's lead and will be splitting the trip into 3 parts.  I'm also going to do my best to avoid overusing the words amazing, awesome, incredible, and perfect.  Even though that's basically how I would describe the entire weekend.  :)

Annie flew into Atlanta and we road-tripped to Charleston on Thursday morning.  When we arrived at the sweet mansion beach house, we unpacked our stuff and then joined the other participants for cocktails and nibbles as we chatted and got to know each other.  In true southern style, a low-country boil was prepared for us by Helene's assistant Laura (she's a professional chef and cooked for us all weekend - we were totally spoiled!).

More wine and sangria were consumed, and then Helene and Laura set up what was the most adorable ice cream sundae bar ever.  After stuffing ourselves and taking a short walk around the area, we called it a night - we needed to rest up for the coming days!

The next morning, Clare and Helene led us through the nitty-gritty details of the basics of food photography:  aperture, shutter speed, camera settings, natural light, etc.  While most of the information wasn't new info per se, some things definitely clicked more for me, and it was immensely helpful.  Following the first presentation, we were let loose to do what we all came for:  take pictures of food!

I started by taking a few shots of this gorgeous chocolate cake, then I played around with some berries and a pecan pie.

The pie was particularly challenging, but I wanted to push myself.  The filling was super oozy and the pie didn't slice well, not to mention the less than appetizing color and texture.  But I was happy enough with the shots I ended up with nonetheless.

After lunch, we had another presentation that focused on styling and composition, and then we followed it up with another shoot.  This time our assignment was antipasto, and we were told to take pictures of two subjects:  something pretty, and something ugly.  Anyone can take a good picture of pretty food, but when you push yourself to photograph less than attractive food you'll learn the most.

I started out with my "ugly" shot, and I chose a delicious but not-so-attractive seafood spread.  To make it appear more attractive, I used cute dishes, added some fresh herbs for color, and some sliced bread.

I just loved the red pappadew peppers in this aqua bowl:

My pretty food shot actually ended up teaching me a lot.  I decided to move to a different location to shoot this cheese and fruit tray, and while it seemed like the back porch had enough light, it wasn't good light.  It wasn't really coming from a specific direction, there were some weird shadows and bright spots, and it was just kind of flat.  Compare the light in this photo with that of the two above pictures.  It taught me to really think about the direction and brightness of the light that I use for photos in the future.

After this shoot we wrapped things up for the day, had some time to relax and hang out, and then chowed down to a wonderful pasta dinner.  As an aside, can I just say that staying with a group of food enthusiasts has its benefits?  We didn't just have spaghetti with marinara.  Oh no.  Fresh pasta with smoked tomato sauce.  Short rib ravioli.  Beet and goat cheese ravioli with browned butter.  Salad with the freshest of veggies.  And of course, the wine was flowing.  We turned in pretty early, because the next day we were up bright and early to hit the Charleston Farmer's Market!

The trip to the market was another photo assignment.  We were to focus on telling a story through photographs.  It was challenging, a little stressful, but so much fun.  I took tons and tons of pictures, so I'll be doing a separate post soon to tell you guys all about it!

Part 2 of our morning's assignment was then to photograph our brunch.  Our lovely hosts prepared a truly perfect spring brunch for us to shoot and then eat:  roasted asparagus and tomatoes, bacon, farm-fresh eggs cooked to order, toast, english muffins, fresh fruit... I decided to go with a fried egg over asparagus and roasted tomatoes.  I crumbled some bacon over the top, took some pictures, and dug in!

We had the remainder of the afternoon to relax, start going through our photos, and/or explore the area.  That night, we took another field trip.  This time we were treated to a truly fabulous meal at Lana Restaurant in downtown Charleston.  I'll also be doing a separate post on our dinner out.  Stay tuned!

The next morning, we began our final day of the workshop (sad face).  Clare and Helene each walked us through their thought process for styling and shooting a scene, and then we were given our final assignment:  make and photograph a picnic lunch.  The initial plan was to then walk to the beach and enjoy our picnic lunch, but everyone was so hungry that we ended up just eating there at the house.  I chose to shoot a corn and black bean salad:

We spent the rest of the afternoon uploading our 15 favorite shots from the weekend, and then as a group we reviewed and critiqued each participant's photographs.  I won't lie, I was so so nervous when my photographs were up - but of course no one told me I was terrible, and I seemed to get good feedback overall ;-)

To cap off the weekend, we were treated to another homemade meal - this time, pizza!  Clare and Helene's husbands and Laura prepared a feast of gourmet pizzas and plenty of vino.

The next morning Annie and I tearfully set out back to Atlanta.  The weekend really was just incredible.  I learned so so much, was pushed outside of my comfort zone, and forged some wonderful friendships.  Clare and Helene are masters of their class, yet they are both so humble, generous, and down to earth.   I loved that they didn't give us a set of rules to follow for setting up a shot.  They encouraged us to develop our own style and method, while offering technical feedback and suggestions.  Getting to know them, as well as the rest of the participants, was one of the best parts of an already pretty perfect weekend.