Jessica Smith Photography

next stop, Montalcino!

Jessie — Fri, 18 May 2012 17:54:03 +0000

After a quick two days in Rome it was on to our main destination for the week, Montalcino! Montalcino is a small town in Tuscany, most famously known for its wine production and Brunello di Montalcino. Every home we passed they would tell us “He is a wine producer.. and HE is a wine producer.. and he also is a wine producer, but that one is a crazy horse!” :) safe to say, the town runs on grapes! Last time we were in Italy our day in Tuscany was by far my favorite, as I much prefer the “small town” feel to the huge tourists areas, so I’m really glad we got to spend so much time here. This was one of the main locations where the movie “Letters to Juliet” was filmed and after walking around the city for about 2 minutes you can understand why! This first photo was literally the first thing we saw when we got out of the car: Lots of small shops and yummy restaurants, shouldn’t all restaurants look like this?! I also think all alley ways should look like THIS instead of how they typically do here :)
and all wine menus should look like THIS! lord have mercy, it was a novel! and hey while you’re at it, a back yard that looks like this wouldn’t hurt! This photo was taken standing by the doorway to the kitchen on the back of the villa: so naturally, I made Katie throw on her dress and we walked around the property and took advantage of the incredible location and gorgeous evening light right away :) more of these to come soon, they get their own separate blog post :) Then the next day we went to Florence! Unfortunately it rained just about all day long, so I have very few pictures to share from Florence, but here are a few favorites! all of the detail on the buildings just blew me away! then it was back to Montalcino for dinner, and more importantly, GELATO! :)
Happy Friday! More to come next week! :)

when in rome

Jessie — Tue, 15 May 2012 16:54:09 +0000

Last time we were in Italy we spend the majority of the week in Rome, but this time we had to pack everything into the first two days of our trip! Now, there is LOTS to see in Rome- an overwhelming amount even. Add to that the 6 hour time difference and only about 1.5 hours of sleep, and I’m sure we were quite entertaining to watch trying to navigate our way around the city. We managed to fit in all of the big things, the vatican, the colosseum, the trevi fountain, and one of my favorites, piazza novanna, but you’re just sort of in awe of everything every direction you look. Whether its a marble statue that has been standing for 2000 years or the window box full of flowers and ivy growing up the wall, its all incredible, and I’m so glad I had the chance to see it all again!

There are WAY too many photos from the week to share, so this is the first of many Italy posts coming your way! First stop though.. Roma! :) Enjoy!

Passport stamped.. done and done! :)
The hotel we stayed at sat directly at the top of the Spanish Steps, and this is the view looking down: Its incredible to me that you can stand in one spot and look to your right and see something so elaborate like that building, and look to your left and see things as simple and gorgeous as that window box. Piazza Novanna, complete with lots of restaurants and plenty of art vendors selling their work: This was the one thing we wanted to tour but weren’t able to, it was already closed by the time we got there. but it was still crazy to see from the outside! the Trevi Fountain, here’s hoping this wish comes true like the last one! :) St Pauls: and last stop was the colosseum! that shot on the left is Katie’s “roman look” :) she’s ready for the games!
Next stop, Montalcino! :)

a morning at Biondi-Santi

Jessie — Fri, 11 May 2012 14:29:41 +0000

A morning spent at the Biondi Santi home and winery… doesn’t get much better (or prettier) than this place:
Happy Friday :)

the past few days…

Jessie — Tue, 08 May 2012 22:26:40 +0000

the past few days have included the following…

spending a rainy day in Florence: touring 4 gorgeous wineries all around Montalcino: a few more rain clouds here and there: taking bridal portraits of Katie at the most incredible church built in 814 AD: and today was spent in Siena and Firenze:
yes, I’d say its been a very, VERY good week :)

Meet Lily Reagan – Hampton Roads VA Newborn Photographer

Jessie — Mon, 07 May 2012 12:24:34 +0000

This post is going to be really quick since my internet access is super limited, but I’m really excited to share baby Lily’s newborn photos! Tina and Chad are the best parents and I know they have waited to add sweet Lily to their family for a long time now. It is such a sweet gift to watch my clients transition through different seasons of life, and I can already see how this is going to be the best one yet for their family. Lily is absolutely perfect and I cannot WAIT to watch her grow over this next year! Enjoy lots of favorites! :) little princess! :) I can already tell how ticklish Lily is, every time I would touch her at ALL she would wiggle :) So I was super impressed she slept through me setting these on her back! She did a great job :) Chad has the ultimate “guys room” in their house, complete with an entire DVD walk in CLOSET! its incredible! so I wanted to make sure to grab a few of Chad and Lily, and this next one is one of my faaavorites :) seriously?! how crazy is that closet?! oh and did I mention that each one of those is alphabetic order? :) I think the cute baby is a nice addition :) so sweet! :)

Happy Monday! Hope you had a great weekend!

the current view

Jessie — Sat, 05 May 2012 20:49:22 +0000

currently this is what I see when I look out the window closest to the chair I’m sitting in. yep, i think i’ll stay :) in other exciting news, somehow I managed to convince Katie to haul her dress all the way across the world, but I gotta say just based on the few pictures I’ve looked through from tonight that it was TOTALLY WORTH IT! :) cannot wait to blog these!!
Happy Saturday! :)

sunshine, mozzarella, and 2,000 year old arches

Jessie — Fri, 04 May 2012 23:13:21 +0000

It has been sunny and 70 degrees the past two days, with the occasional light breeze gracing us with its presence. There has been bread (and lots of it!) complete with mozzarella and prosciutto, pizza, desserts (though one was not so pleasant and may have drawn a few tears from Katie), and wine. lots and lots of wine. There have been paintings and sculptures to learn about and incredible 2,000 year old structures to stand in awe of. Laughter and fun conversations, oh and a few home videos along the way.. definitely can’t forget those :) and its just going to get better since tomorrow we head to Tuscany for the next 5 days! its a happy world to live in :) Here are a few quick snapshots from the day for any inquiring minds:

adventures in italy

Jessie — Fri, 04 May 2012 05:29:23 +0000

2 flights, 12 hours of traveling, one life-threatening taxi ride, 2.5 hours of sleep in a 40 hour period, a few glasses of wine and one yummy gelato later, WE’RE HERE! :) It was a crazy long, but absolutely beautiful first day in Italy, and at the end of it all I tossed another coin into the Trevi Fountain, closed my eyes, and hoped that this next wish would come true as easily as the first did. The city is just as gorgeous as I remember, and I can’t wait to head to Tuscany on Saturday.. I think there’s a good chance I might just have you all ship my stuff over to me here and stay forever. I’ll keep ya posted :)

Since I was able to grab internet real quick at the hotel, here are two of my favorite photos from today for your viewing pleasure :) The incredible Trevi Fountain: and my sweet friend who I’m so thankful is along for all of this week’s adventures! :)
Have a great weekend! Ciao! :)

when you wish in the Trevi Fountain…

Jessie — Wed, 02 May 2012 11:00:39 +0000

So apparently when you wish in the Trevi Fountain, it really does come true! Two years ago I stood next to the Trevi Fountain, grabbed a penny and threw it over my shoulder, and this week I will get to do that again! I just might throw two this time around, you know, for extra luck :) Let me know if you want me to toss one for you too! :) For the next week I will be out of the office spending a few days in Rome and a few days in Tuscany with my parents and sweet friend Katie and I could not be more excited! So for the next week or so the main things on my agenda are taking photos of everything in sight, AND pizza, pasta, and lots of other carb-alicious necessities when you’re in Italy.. OH, and gelato. lots of gelato :)

Hope you have a great week! :)

Meet Joshua- Ashburn VA Newborn Photographer

Jessie — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 12:11:17 +0000

I think everyone knew what Josh was going to say when he walked into the waiting room, “its a BOY!” All throughout Crystal’s pregnancy I never heard anyone think the baby was going to be a girl, everyone knew that Lucy was going to have a brother, and sure enough, Joshua Heaston Whitlow Jr. arrived on April 19th! It was so sweet to see how excited Lucy was about him when I went over for his newborn session last Friday. As soon as I walked in the door she made sure to point out “Baby Josh!” and introduce me to her baby brother. She was more than willing to hold him and give him kisses, and I can already tell they are going to be best buds before you know it! Hope you all had a great weekend! Happy viewing, friends! :)

ps if you missed Crystal’s ‘embrace the belly’ session make sure you go back and check that out HERE! :) look at that sweet face! i think he looks JUST like Lucy :) hands down my favorite! they have a picture of Lucy as a newborn in Josh’s guitar case, so this next image seemed very fitting :)
Since they didn’t know if it was going to be a boy or a girl the nursery is still a work in progress, but I love that we were able to incorporate pieces that will be in his bedroom into the pictures! daddy’s hat is just a LITTLE too big ;) so crazy how Joshua and the football are essentially the same size :) for now anyway! :) love that last shot on the right!
Happy Monday!