jessica & joe

my connection to jessica and joe is actually made up of a few layers... jessica and joe were guests at natalie and jeff's wedding last year. both natalie and jessica went to my high school. at natalie and jeff's wedding, a man came over to me and asked if i was 'michelle arlotta' and of course i replied that i was, not recognizing the man, i wasn't sure if it was good or bad that i was michelle arlotta. it turns out that man was jessica's dad and jessica's dad worked with my father back when we were kids. you can poke through my blog if you want to understand more about that part of me, but my father died many years ago on a business trip for the company that jessica's dad and my dad worked for.  i immediately felt a warmth and sympathy from ernie and his wife, lois. 

a few months later, jessica wrote me because she was getting married and wanted me to shoot her wedding... her wedding took place a few miles from where i grew up in ny in slate hill at catlin gardens

love this...

the girls get together for a pic for ernie...

sister shot...

beautiful windows and a beautiful bride...

unfortunately joe had to have his picture taken while his friends all stood there and watched, but i think he did a great job...

this often happens when the bride is walking down the aisle... at some point dad looks over and takes in the moment and the smile of his daughter...

i love how they are both smiling through their kiss...

such a shy crowd...

this guy is all sorts of happy and i love it...

lois gets whisked away...

when jessica and her dad finished their dance, lois came right over to me and gave me one of the warmest hugs i've ever received. i was so touched to have someone take a moment out of their very special day to think about me. thank you, lois...it meant the world to me...

a very sweet and tender dance between joe and his mom...

{insert joke about hand gesture here}

 ...and then i got punched...

 i had such a wonderful time working with jessica and joe and their families. it's always fun to see past brides and work with people you have many connections to... always a unique experience. 

bad little sister

i've been a bad little sister. 

i haven't formally announced (but i guess i'm about to) on my blog about the fact that my sister and i founded an animal rescue organization over two years ago. our organization is called karma cat + zen dog rescue society and it is the product of over 10 years of my sister and i envisioning helping animals.

my amazing sister left her engineering career to be the executive director of karma cat + zen dog and she has done a fantabulous job so far. i can't put into words how proud i am of her for getting our organization off the ground and running so well. we have adopted out over 250 cats so far with the help of some amazing and dedicated volunteers and donors.

christie, my sister, is often faced with tough situations when taking in cats. when she decided to take in kandy, it was discovered that she was FeLV/FIV positive and she had a couple of infections and and some veterinarians suggested euthanizing her, but my sister would not give up on kandy, or kandy pants as we like to call her now. 

you can read christie's blog from 2011 about kandy here. 

christie holding kandy in june of 2011...

but maybe you are still wondering why i am a bad little sister?

i'm a bad little sister because i took these much-needed updated pictures of kandy pants 4 months ago and i am just now presenting them to my sister. some people think, 'ooh, how fun that you have a photographer in your family'... my family thinks, 'i hope i get to see the pics you took the other day before one year has passed' or as my other sister says, 'do you think i can see the pictures of the kids from christmas 2008?' my family understands that i am busy fulfilling work for my clients, but i will yell it out to interweb that I WAS A BAD LITTLE SISTER because my amazing sister deserved these pictures months ago. 

so here are some updated pics of kandy pants... who is still up for adoption to a loving home that can understand her condition...

not bad for the kitty that was once fighting for her life, huh?

this shot cracks me up... she just kinda appeared into my frame surprised to see me there...

umm, freaking adorable. you might think there are too many pictures of cute cats on the internet, but come on now... just look at her!

because she is FeLV/FIV positive, kandy pants needs to stay separated from other cats who are not FeLV or FIV positive so that she isn't able to transfer the virus to the other cats, so she has become christie's office cat. she might look like she is at home, but we both know she'd love to be able to roam around an entire house puking cuteness everywhere...

i love you, christie. you have done an phenomenal job bringing our vision into something beautiful that has changed the lives of kandy and many other cats. 

i'm sorry i was a bad little sister. please don't tell mommy on me...