Ember Sessions have brought such peace and purpose into my life! More and more it has become blindingly apparent that helping women celebrate their unique beauty is what I feel called to do. We had our very first marathon of shoots in Huntsville, AL and it was a beautiful April day filled to the brim with mimosas (which we drank the majority of... oops!), fresh foraged flower crowns, and the most beautiful women with even more beautiful stories (including my sweet sister!).

What I love most about these sessions is the feeling of complete understanding and appreciation for each person that I always walk away with. Although they are a happy outcome of such a beautiful day, the photos taken and scenes created pale in comparison to the wisdom and insight we each impart on one another. How lucky am I to be surrounded by such amazingly graceful women and to spend my days reminding them that they are SEEN and CHERISHED?!

Thank you Huntsville for making our first marathon so magical! We are headed to Nashville, TN on May 24th & 25th and would LOVE to see you, hear your beautiful story and create something amazing together. Spots are sure to fill up quickly so please head over here to reserve yours and learn a bit more about what we're doing.

p.s. Because Meghan and I want so badly to bring Ember Sessions to as many beautiful and exceptional souls as possible, we have lowered the cost of each shoot to $195. This fee will cover our travel to your amazing city and allow us to keep this movement going. We can't wait to meet you, hug you and tell you how amazingly loved you are!

Hooray! We didn't have to travel far for this week's installment of "Explore". Piper & Leaf Artisan Tea Co. is one of our favorite places to visit in town and I often find myself toting around a mason jar hoping to find one of their many farmers market stalls or downtown stations.

This family operated tea company boasts gourmet blends straight from the garden, farm, forest, and briar patch (my favorites are Front Porch Special and Healing Honeysuckle). Although Aissa, Ginny & I would drive almost anyway for our favorite brews, Piper & Leaf is currently calling Lowe Mill (a cotton mill turned arts & entertainment center frequented by Huntsville's artist community) home and what a beautiful home it is... With handcrafted details like the custom woodworking (done by one of the shop's proprietors) and personal touches such as the take-one-leave-one "little library", Piper & Leaf just might be my favorite spot in town.

The magic happens when businesses truly feel intentional, authentic and have an air of family history supporting them.  I can always count on finding Lydia, our favorite tea master and model (she worked on this editorial with us!), brewing up a little bit of love and goodness. Recently nominted for Martha Stewart's "American Made" awards, these tea people are on an amazing journey and I love following along/stopping by to smell the swirl of sweet tea in the air.

p.s. Don't forget to stop by Aissa's blog for more.

A huge thank you to Piper & Leaf for allowing our little tribe to explore and for always providing the refreshment for our meetings, projects and celebrations!

December is always such a fun month for us! With my birthday (I turned 23 this year) and everything that comes with celebrating Christmas (meeting Santa, decorating our tree, baking cookies with Lo, etc...) the month was filled to the brim with festivity. My favorite thing about being a young family is definitely creating our own traditions and that's why the holidays are such a special time of the year. This December we frolicked through the Christmas tree farm, decked the halls, sent our very first holiday cards and added the sweetest sparkly "J" (because I'm just THAT sure that I'll be a Jackson sometime soon) to our ornament collection. I couldn't have asked for a better month!

for more shenanigans, follow me @chelseaandthecity