A trip to the National Zoo // Izzy's first

On Saturday we ventured down to Washington, DC for a couple of reasons... One of them being that I was dying to take Izzy to the zoo - the National Zoo.  

It was a lot of fun to get out of town and do something different for a change.  

"Makin' memories" as Will says. ;) 

And  of course, seeing Izzy's little face light up when she spotted a cow, and when she found the rocks that lined the walkways {pictured above}... Oh and she loved people watching.. 

But Izzy!! There are monkeys!  And elephants!  And.. so many otters and seals!!!

Ahhhhh, toddlers. They are such special creatures.  

Although we did have a really special monkey moment.. There was one - a gibbon I think? Just hanging out kind of on a chain link fence, less than five feet from us, staring out.  Seeing that monkey and Izzy just watch each other, and connect with eye contact was pretty darn neat..  

We also saw lots of otters.  

So many otters.  

It was a great day though, and that was just our first stop.... 

Next stop: Georgetown Lou Lou for a little window viewing!  

;) 

XX, 

Cassie 

Playing dress up // Lou Lou Boutiques

Sooo, last month I got to do something really fun... And it's been turned into something that is equally as fun.  An old friend of mine is the creative director for Lou Lou Boutiques, and when he emailed me asking me to do something for the store and a photoshoot, I was expecting that he would to ask me to take pictures, or something along those lines.  SO when he asked me to be the model {?!?!?!!} in one of their shoots, I was totally dumbstruck//flattered//and horrified....I've done a little bit of modeling, pre-baby, but not much... and definitely, have not done any sort of modeling post-baby... 

AND DEFINITELY nothing post-Hair-Cuttery-butchered up- bang job... 

{it was not pretty, trust me.. and oh yes,  bangs become especially nasty in this hot hot summer heat}

 I mean, I think that these dang bangs contributed to about 70% of my fear. 

Gross. 

Where was I? 

Yes, so anyway, my dear friend Manuel talked me off of that frizzy bang enduced ledge, thankfully. 

The actual photoshoot was SUCH a blast, because it involved getting to try on lots of fab jewelry and clothes, while spending the day with Manuel.  Hashtag, the perfect day.

Also he's got that creative genius thing happening.  In his sleep, he can put things together in a fresh// chic // modern // timeless// elegant way {and always with a wink}... he's amazeballs.  

{did I just use that word? whoopsie.}

SO.. now... the photos are being used in email blasts, on their website.. and this is best part.. A handful of the photos from that shoot have been blown up {size giant} to  head up the window displays in their 20ish accessory boutiques.. Richmond, Charlottesville, Fairfax, Georgetown, Dupont Circle, Alexandria, Middleburg, Boston, Reston, Bethesda, Annapolis.... 

{Exqueeze me??}

So, contrary to my initial fretting.... My bangs {I guess} weren't too horrible, and I didn't ruin the Lou Lou shoot. 

Mission accomplished!

Here are some photos!

#HowMamaGotHerGrooveBack  ;)

XX, 

Cassie 

PS

All of that amazing jewelry {and the bag!} is available on the Lou Lou website, and in their stores. 

So go!  

Summertime Catch Up

this pic is from may! but i just came across it, and love it :) 

Whew!

So this old blogging hiatus has continued... This summer has proven to be really busy.. In all the right ways.  

We've taken a couple of nice little vacations {and there are some pictures here on the blog from one.. the others I think I'll share this week??}... And I've been putting most of my after-work, after babytime energy into my little sapling of a photography business!  {Anne Gassaway Photography}I love it!

Also also also.... I am starting a brand new job tomorrow... Leaving my old job was so tough in many ways.. I'd been there for almost four years.. Forming some close bonds, with I'd have to say, the most supportive colleagues I'd ever worked with..  But my new job sort of fell into my lap....and I couldn't turn it down. 

So tomorrow is the first day of the new jobby. Last week felt a little bit cray, trying to wrap  up everything at my old place... {and this was the sort of job where no one ever was caught up... so i tried my best to finally catch up.....hellloooo, can you say exhausting??}

Oh!  A few weeks ago, I also got to do a really really super fun photoshoot, where I was actually in front of the camera! Those pictures will be coming to the bloggy too. 

And if you're with me on Instagram (@_cassie_h)  all of this is obviously old news....

So anyway... Just wanted to start getting the blog things caught up with the real life things.. ;)

xx

Cassie 

young // wild // free

A swing built by grand-dad ;) 

xx

Cassie