courtney jade’s blog

Yesterday my bestie Ben, and his sister Jenna introduced me to what is now my favorite restaurant in all of Portland: Jade Teahouse & Patisserie

Located in the adorable Sellwood neighborhood, off of 13th and SE Lexington, is a beautiful green building. One of the reasons it was love at first site was the design of everything. From the moment you spot the place driving by, to the second you walk through the door, it’s beautiful. The colors, the lighting, the furniture, even the fonts on the menu board create such an upclass, yet homey feel. You can tell that everything has been carefully thought out and cared for with a whole heart. These people want you to feel comforable!!

The atmosphere is completely beautiful and warm. There’s a peace about it, and there are fun little details everywhere. Just look at the rack of loose leaf teas!

And the menu, oh, the menu!!! Mark and I have a hard time finding a place with food that we both LOVE. Sure, there are places that he loves, and I like, or visa versa… but this place is the perfect fit! They have menu items that are more traditional or basic (but still completely flavorful and delicious), and also items for the more adventurous tongue, and everything in between. I don’t know anyone who couldn’t find something here that they didn’t absolutely love.
They have a huge variety of asian influenced dishes, as well as baguette sandwiches, soups, and delicous baked goods! The head chef pours her heart and soul into every single dish that’s prepared, and you can tell 100%. Everything tastes and looks like it was specially prepared just for you. The people are extremely friendly, and go above and beyond the norm to tell you about the cuisine, even recommending things! All of the ingredients are fresh, and though I’ve only been there twice now, it seems as though they make most everything from scratch! They have a bakery downstairs where the head chef (who apparently studied the art of french baking for a time in France [i think, can't remember exactly what our server said about this.. but I know she studied it over in Europe for a time]) prepares delicious baked cookies, macaroons, and other tastey treats!
I could go on and on all day, but I’ll let the photos speak for themselves

Mark’s Thai Iced Tea & my fresh squeezed strawberry lemonade

A few cute shots of my markie <3

Our delicious food!!!

Hands down, best Pho I’ve ever eaten. Mmmmmm so good

And of course, we had to have dessert!!! Jenna was raving about their traditional cake that they make! It’s green due to the banana peels that they use in it, and it tastes like a light vanilla. The cake is moist and fluffy, and the buttercream is smooth and creamy. There’s a surprise crunchy layer in the middle of some sort of flaky pastry, and white chocolate shavings on top To. Die. For. And not too sweet either!

We also tried this traditional sesame ball treat, which I forget the name of! It was awesome!! It was like a rice/bread doughnut-like ball that was crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside, and it was filled with some sort of yummy almond paste and coconut. Then it comes with a sweet glazey honey caramel sauce (I think that’s what it was… it was all so delicious and went so fast I can’t be positive!).

Seriously. Best. Restaraunt. EVER. I’m officially in love, and SO excited to find a place that Mark and I are both totally blown away by! I can’t wait to go back, and I was just there 2 hours ago!!

Until we meet again Jade… <3

Can I just start off by saying that I am so in love with this entire session! The colors, the lighting, the subjects, everything just lined up perfectly, and I couldn’t be happier with the photos. This is the first professional portrait session I did with my new camera, and I don’t know about you, but I can tell a HUGE difference!

I met these two darling’s mother Jenn back when we were both working in cosmetics, and I was still in school for graphic design. She was just starting her very own business- a cute, funky-fresh retro themed line of baby apparel, bibs, burp & bum rags, and blankets: Pearly Grey. (Fun Fact Alert!: she was my first “client” for design! I created her logo, hehe) Check out her site and if you know anyone who’s expecting, she makes these awesome little Hospital Take-Out kits that are completely adorable (they even come in a Chinese-style take-out box!)!! I just gave one as a gift at a baby shower I attended, and you should have heard the “oohs” and “aaaahs” it got. Total win.

Jenn and her family are just beautiful. She is such a wonderful person, and her kids are to-die-for gorgeous!!! So of course, when she said she wanted to do newborn photos for her newest addition, little Liam, I was more than excited!!! It’s always fun to work with other artists, and Jen is just so laid back in general, I knew we would get some really great photos!

A lot of people ask me where I shoot, if I have a studio, bring props, etc. I am an on-location natural light photographer. That means that I show up with my camera, a few basic essentials, and my talents. One of the most important things to me is to capture people’s genuine self, which means capturing them in their own element, with things that are special or important to them. When I showed up to Jenn’s house, I was more than thrilled to walk into her completely adorable kitchen!!! These photos were shot in her kitchen right next to a sliding glass door. All natural light. Of course, she has a completely adorable kitchen, I mean, look at the wall color!!! And not to mention the black and white tile floor… my mind is spinning with all of the possibilities that I didn’t take advantage of… well, we’ll just have to do another shoot This woman has got style!!

Now, onto the photos! Welcome to the world little Liam Vincent You are perfect in every sense of the word.

Liam’s older sister Jane Pearl was such a perfect little model for me too! She wanted so badly to be a part of the whole shoot, and I couldn’t have asked for a more cooperative little model. Isn’t she completely gorgeous!? I can hardly believe she’s just 5 years old…

And she just loves being a big sister You can tell she takes so much pride in it. Little Liam, you are in good hands!

These next shots are probably my favorites from the entire shoot. Completely beautiful <3 There were too many good ones. Just look at how peaceful little Liam looks in her arms

Another cute shot of Jane I can’t help it, if only all 5 year olds were this excited to have their photo taken! haha.

Check out those little lips

A few of my faves with mommy, of course!!

I just love his expression in this one, it’s like he’s saying “awww come on mom! geez…” haha, I just had to post it!

And we just had to get a couple of product shots in there for Jenn to use to promote her business!

And of course, the adorable chair shot! (I know, I posted it in the sneak peek, but I just can’t help but post it again I love it so much!)

Thank you Jenn, for being so great, and for choosing me to take Liam’s first photos I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

<3

Have you ever read the book “The Five Love Languages” by Gary Chapman? Well, if you haven’t you should, it’s a very interesting book!

“Of the countless ways we can show love to one another, five key categories, or five love languages, proved to be universal and comprehensive—everyone has a love language, and we all identify primarily with one of the five love languages: Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Receiving Gifts, Acts of Service, and Physical Touch.”

At the end there is a quiz that you take to determine which of your love languages are the strongest. My top results were “Receiving Gifts” and a tie between “Words of Affirmation” and “Quality Time”. Everyone speaks all 5 languages to some degree, but it’s natural for most people to have a dominant one or two.

This was no surprise to me by any means. I value gifts, little and big, immensely. Whether it’s a quote written down on a napkin, or a beautiful sparkly something, it has the power to take my breath away. I also love giving gifts! I feel like it’s a great way to show that I’ve been thinking of someone, and I always put great time and effort into selecting and preparing special presents for people.

I believe that this is why I love photography so much. When you take someone’s photo, and then give it to them, it’s a very special gift. No one can ever relive the moments that have passed, and memories fade with time, but a photograph lasts forever. Those little moments frozen in time to remember and hold on to forever. There’s just something so special about that.

So it was to my complete surprise when I opened my mailbox this evening and there was a “You Have a Package in the Manager’s Office” slip sitting atop my mail! I racked my brain trying to think of what it could possibly be… did I order something? Did Mark order something? A print order? A large envelope from the insurance company (you know, one of those horribly ridiculous packs of paper that they are required by law to send out once a year or something.. waste of trees!) None of those. I raced up to the office since it was about to close, and eagerly handed her my slip.

“Ah!” she said as she turned around and picked up a medium sized brown box.

She handed me the box, and it was sealed with SAINT CUPCAKE PACKING TAPE!!!! Saint Cupcake?? But, who? How? Why??? What was in there?! My mind went racing, thinking who would be so nice as to send me something so amazinly sweet and awesome… and what was in it?! I thanked the manager and raced back to my apartment. Once I got in the door, I cut the tape and opened the package.

The glory of it all. I LOVE this place. It is the first cupcakerie I ever stepped into years ago, and I’ve been in love ever since. My good friend is friends with the owners of the place (one who is a graphic designer superstar– in case you couldn’t tell..) How gorgeous is this presentation!?! I flipped the card over…

Of course!!! My lovely bride (and friend of MANY years) Jesse from last Saturday’s wedding! She had asked me for my address and I thought nothing of it. WHAT. A. DOLL!!! At this point I have serious little pink hearts floating all around me, I’m so happy. Pink + cupcakes + amazingly gorgeous packaging/design= DROOL!

I realize that it’s not just cupcakes, but an entire “Saint Cupcake cupcake kit”!!! What the heck!? Completely amazing.

Six un-frosted cakes, 6 containers of different flavored frostings, six spreading sticks, and six little baggies of sprinkles! No sparing on the presentation, this is completely adorable and to die for! Not to mention tasty!1

Naturally, I had to take some fun photos of my kit before indulging

Hot fudge!? That’s my fave!!!!

pink, pink, and more pink!!!

a pile of frosting cups!

Thank you SO much Mr. & Mrs. Thiel & the Davis’s!!! You totally made my day SO much sweeter (literally & figuratively!) You rock, and I was honored to be a part of your special day!!!

Now, something sweet for you… a sneak peek pic from your wedding day!!! Enjoy!

Now if you’ll excuse me, IT’S CUPCAKE TIME!!!!

<3 <3 <3

I just realized that I haven’t posted this yet. I didn’t order enough this year to send to everyone, even though I thought I ordered more than enough… but that’s the way it goes I suppose… so if you didn’t get one, please know that Mark and I still love you.
Here is our Christmas card for 2009 <3

*photo by my friend Kevin Russ!

Meet Jenn + CT!

Jenn + CT (Chris) are friends of mine from Michigan. This is their second autumn/winter in Portland, and they wanted some “Portland-y” photos, so we decided to shoot along the Portland waterfront. Shooting outside in Portland is always an iffy thing, however the weather held out for us, and we pulled off some great photos!

I am out of words tonight, so I’ll let their photos speak for themselves

To a beautiful couple, Jenn and CT, enjoy!!

This next photo was all CT’s idea! I absolutely adore it, and I love when clients come up with fun poses!!!

Newborn sessions have a special little place in my heart. If you know me, then you know that I was born a mother, and for as long as I’ve lived I’ve looked forward to being a mother. (In fact, when I was 5 I remember telling my mom that I wanted 100 babies when I grew up. I imagined having them in a hospital-nursery-like setting. Of course, that was before I knew how babies came into the world…)

A lot of the photographers who inspire me the most are newborn photographers. So to say the least, they are always some of my favorite sessions!
This little bundle of love was 7 days old on the day we had his session. I couldn’t believe all of the hair he had! Such a darling little baby boy. His name is Evan Grey, and I could just eat him up! Congratulations Rachelle and Brenden, your little baby boy is perfect

And my personal favorite from the session… it was a tough call, and the monkey pic is another fave… but this one makes my heart melt…

As many of you who follow my blog know, I have a very good friend– Tonja, who owns her own boutique lingerie line- Knickers Lingerie.
And if you know that, you probably also know that she has a very beautiful daughter– Madi.
And you probably know all of that because you are my most faithful and loyal followers, and have been following my stream for quite some time

But for those of you who didn’t know, let me introduce you to two of the lovliest ladies who always leave me smiling- Tonja & Madi.

Tonja is a fashionista, seeker of beauty, and an extremely talented apparel designer. While she has recently launched her extremely gorgeous lingerie line, Knickers, she also gets to use her talents at her day job! During the 9-5 (and sometimes after-hours), Tonja is an Assistant Designer for Nike’s swimwear line.

Her daughter Madi, short for Madeline, is a beautiful, curious, intelligent and fun-loving five year old. She just started kindergarten this year, and while I’ve only known her a bit less than two years, it’s simply crazy to see how fast she grows! She loves animals, faeries, playing solitaire, and her favorite princess (also her most recent Halloween costume– which Tonja made from scratch btw) is Aurora from Sleeping Beauty.

Now that you know them a wee bit better, onto the photos! Oh yea, we met at Starbucks, LOVE those pumpkin spice lattes! lol

Every year my sisters and I get our photos done about this time of the year to give out to our family for Christmas. (I wouldn’t say anything, but it’s been about 5 years since we started this tradition, so honestly, I’m sure it’s no surprise to anyone who may be reading this ) So when the beautiful Holli asked me to do photos of her and her sister for their family, I was quite excited! I do a lot of couple shoots and group family groups, but not so many “sister shoots”.

We decided to shoot at Laurelhurst Park, since it’s one of the most beautiful locations in the Portland area during this time of year. The trees, leaves, and entire setting is just picture perfect! Plus, while Holli and her family have lived here in Portland for a few years now, they are originally from New Orleans– so I thought it would be the perfect landscape to capture some memories!

Holli and her sister Lindsey are so gorgeous, they made my job really easy!! I’m really happy with their photos

(random side note- I got my passport this weekend!!!! AHHH!!! I’m so excited!)

Ok, now onto the photos!!!

Melissa and Mark are a very sweet couple! Melissa is a pure doll, who claims she was born in the wrong era. She’s got amazing style, and I am so very excited to be shooting their wedding this July! They want to go for a 20′s/30′s era theme, so we had a lot of fun on their engagement shoot!
We shot downtown Portland in and around the Hotel Delux. That place is beautiful!!! I wish there would have been more light inside, but we still ended up with some amazing pics!! Here are my favorites from the shoot

Thanks Melissa & Mark! Enjoy!