Do what you love and the money will follow.  It’s the most important lesson I learned in college.  I took a “Real World” preparation class my senior year at UNH.  It was one of those classes you take just to earn easy credits…not to learn anything.  And it taught me the best lesson I’ll ever learn.  Do what you love and the money will follow.  That phrase led me to photography.  And now I’m calling upon it again.

When you find yourself at the end of an incredibly successful year, you ask yourself how can I make next year even better?  My answer is inevitably, do what you love and the money will follow.

So here I am with a New Year’s resolution I promise to actually complete (but I SWEAR I’m going to loose weight too!).  I am resolved to make my blog into something more than just my professional shooting.  Don’t get me wrong.  I’m very proud of my portfolio.  And I love shooting weddings.  After all, I started working weddings long before photography.  But a blog is meant to be more than a website with a different name.  It’s supposed to be more of a commentary.  It’s supposed to be more personal.

No better time than the present!  Do what you love.  I LOVE New York (all photos by yours truly of course)!  I especially love New York right after New Year’s Day.  Did you know New York empties right after New Year’s Day?  You can get tickets to any show and reservations to any restaurant you want!  More importantly, hotel rates are cheap!  This year, we got a perfect rate at one of our favorite hotels in the city The Empire Hotel in Lincoln Center.  Totally swanky!

One of the reasons I love The Empire Hotel, is it’s location in Lincoln Center.  It’s right across the street from two of Daniel Boulud’s establishments (you’ll find in later blog posts I love food and wine even more than I love New York).

We start at Epicerie Boulud for the breakfast of champions.  The perfect coffee and a lovely croissant.  But you’d never have to leave the area for an exquisite lunch or dinner,

While I could spend all my time roaming around New York eating and drinking, there are so many other things I love about the city!  First, is the opportunity for entertainment.  As many of you know, my husband is a musician.  While he spends his professional career proudly performing in and managing the Kahootz and K2 bands, he’s a true jazz head.  We listened to some amazing jazz in New York!  Best of all, we heard grammy nominated Gregory Porter at the famed Smoke Jazz and Supper Club.  If you listen to only one song of his, it should be 1960 What.  Outstanding!

But Chris is not the only music lover in this couple!  For my part, I always drag Chris to a Broadway musical (normally kicking and screaming…but he always loves them in the end).  This trip was Rock of Ages.  For any of you who grew up loving the 1980’s hair bands, it’s a must!

But as a photographer, I couldn’t skip mentioning the absolute beauty of the city.  New York is host to some of the most splendid museums in the world.  My absolute favorite is the Guggenheim.  The architecture alone is worth a visit!

Speaking of architectural beauty.  New York is truly singular.  Of course, Central Park and The Brooklyn Bridge are some of my favorite spots to shoot.  Can you blame me?