Crista Acosta Photography »

1. I always have the greatest intentions of keeping up with 10 on Tuesday, but it never works out as well in reality as it does in my head.

2. Confession: Our Christmas Tree has been up since the week before Thanksgiving. C and I love this time of year, and we were extra anxious to get in the spirit this season.

3.  Speaking of holiday spirit, we took a ride yesterday down to my parent’s retail shop in Newtown CT.  They own Black Swan which is a home and hearth shop.  Holy smokes, talk about a Christmas wonderland this time of year.  Seriously, if you’re in the area – go visit.  While this sounds like a shameless plug, I swear you’ll thank me.  We picked up a basket full of beautiful and unique ornaments for our tree.

4.  This year we’re also starting the tradition of the Elf on the Shelf, inspired by the antics of Lyndsay’s elf last year.  So L.A. is still a little young, but C and I are having fun with it.  L.A. named our elf Ming Ming, and I’ll be sure to share some of Ming Ming’s adventures in the next few weeks.

5.  As I type this, L.A. is snuggled up on my shoulder.  He has croup – AGAIN.  If you’re keeping track at home, this is probably the 9th or 10th time.  It just seems like whenever he gets sick it manifests itself as croup.  Not fun, but considering he’s typically bouncing off the walls from sun up to sun down, I’ll take the extra cuddles.

6.  It’s definitely the holiday season as the UPS man has been dropping lots and lots of my clients’ beautiful holiday cards off here.  I have been having so much fun seeing them come in and packaging them back up.

7.  I’ll admit though, I’m insanely jealous of the holiday card photos that my clients have.

8.  Hmm… why Crista, whatever do you mean?  Well, you see… a few weeks ago I decided to take the boys out to take their holiday pictures.  I figured I’d get a head start and I had a great idea in my head.  L.A. is hardly one to sit still, and P2 isn’t quite sitting up on his own, so I decided I’d use the old vintage Radio Flyer wagon I have to contain L.A. and have P2 propped between his legs.  It would take 2 seconds, and I really only needed one shot.  It was an epic FAIL.  Instead, L.A. thought it would be fun to pull P2 around the yard like he was on a stretcher.

Exhibit 1:

Exhibit 2:

Exhibit 3:

9.  I’m going to go ahead on record and say that if all my clients were as difficult to photograph as my own children, I would not be a photographer.  I also still have no clue what we’re doing for our holiday card considering it’s already December 8th.

10.  Exciting news, though!  The segment that I filmed for Better Connecticut on Custom Newborn Photography is scheduled to air on Monday December 28th.  I’ll be sure to post a reminder and link the online segment once it’s up.  That way we can all laugh and point together at how foolish I look on camera.  ;)  There’s a reason I’m usually behind the lens.

In just the first day, I’ve already had ten nominations for the Giving Is Awesome session, and that makes my heart happy.  Thank you!!  I have no idea how we’ll select a winner, each nomination is so wonderful and well deserving.

You know what else makes my heart happy?  This video.  I was cleaning out my hard drive today and came across this video of L.A. from last August learning to eat bananas.  Maybe it’s just mommy goggles, but I love this age when they’re discovering new things.  I just want to reach through and pinch his little cheeks.  Crazy to me that P2 is only 2 short months behind this, and I was pregnant with him (though I didn’t know it yet) when I taped this.

I love how he uses two hands to get it in his mouth and then looks so proud!

Excuse the quality, this was taken on my old point and shoot camera’s video option. Also excuse my voice here… funny how your voice never sounds like it does in your head when you hear it played back.

To kick off the month of December, one of my very favorite months of the year I want to say thank you.  Thank you to my wonderful clients for inspiring me, for challenging me and for making me a better person, a better photographer.

As a thank you, I want to to give back.  So here’s the deal…

You know someone.  You know someone who’s experienced a tragedy, is struggling to stay afloat, is raising kids while holding down more than one job, or is volunteering selflessly despite extenuating personal circumstances.  You know someone who can’t afford custom photography, but who would cherish it this holiday season.  You know someone who deserves a year-round reminder of their family’s spirit, love, and beauty.

You know someone.  I guarantee it.

I want to know who they are, and I want to give them the chance to experience complimentary custom photography – $1000 worth, to be exact.  Whether it’s canvas or albums, prints for Grandma, or digital files to reprint as they choose to enjoy forever.  It’s in your power to give them the artwork they deserve this holiday season.

Oh, and the best part?  The person who nominates the winner receives a $200 print credit.  What better reason to show some love could there possibly be, people??

The rules:

*  You cannot nominate yourself, and the person nominated must be sincerely incapable of purchasing my services.  (Being unable to make mortgage payments for a two-million-dollar-vacation-home in Paris does not qualify as sincere financial need.)

* The nominee must reside in Connecticut.  Tell me who you know, what they’re experiencing, and why they deserve my artwork.  Please include a way to contact both your nominee and yourself as well.

* You must email me the full story to:  crista@cristaacosta.com

The winner will be announced on Christmas Eve — get nominating!  I can’t wait to read all of your entries!

Open your heart to someone this holiday season – and thanks for giving me the opportunity to open mine.

Much love,

Crista