Sunday in the Park

One of the problems of living in a 100 year old house is that we are a bit slavish to the elements. When it rains, our internet disappears, and then we try and do things like the occupants here 100 years ago did, like read and comfort eat and complain that the internet had yet to be invented.

So happily for me and Stacey, I awoke to find that we were back in the Interweb God's good graces. So here are long awaited pics!

Sunday was frigid, so we started our Team Greenberg/Oster/Ross shoot at Cafe Eclectic where the table was piled with sugary sweets, perhaps to balance out the sweet perfection that is Miss Natasha.

Adorable, right?





The boys didn't seem to mind the camera so much.








Nor did Natasha mind all the attention.







We trekked out to Overton Park in the frigid temps for a family pic that never really quite came together. But it wasn't all for naught:










Thanks for letting me hang with y'all - and letting me steal your gloves, Stacey!

Kid in a candy store

Selena may as well as be my patron saint. She was responsible for my first (solo!) photo show and helped launch my fledgling career, so I was thrilled when I could help return the favor. I got to spend a morning running after her and her insanely adorable daughter Taylor with my camera in the yummiest place on the planet - Dinstulhs. In a bad mood? Just spend five minutes breathing in the homemade caramels and chocolate santas and cheese straws and all is well with the world.

Christmas card 2008

our Christmas card, originally uploaded by medusahead.

My parents know a lot of people, particularly those with a fondness for sending Christmas cards, newsletters, and mailers by the bushel. So much so that an official Basket was purchased to accomodate the yearly haul, and over the years I've enjoyed - and let's be honest - sometimes giggled over the images of rigidly posed kids I'll never meet, families in matching outfits, pretty color schemes, maudlin family newsletters and dogs in sweaters.

But one card always stood out. One of my dad's fraternity brothers from college has consistently upped the ante, forsaking traditional poses to demonstrate his family's creative flair. The first year I took notice was the year of accordion foldout, each page showcasing his family on the tennis court demonstrating a strong backswing or jaunty serve. I didn't know if it was horribly classist or supposed to be serious, but I had never before seen such an inventive spin on the family Christmas card.

In the years hence nothing has really touched the Tenenbaum-esque genius of that first card. There was the very controversial family in the hot tub, the Let's All Pile Into the Vintage Woody with Surfboards, this years flat out weird and boring Let's don painters' suits and splash a giant tree and each other with day glo pinks and oranges. Regardless of their dip in inspiration, all I knew is that when I ended up with a husband and a kid and an excuse to send out actual holiday cards, there was no way I could settle for a run of the mill pose.

My mother informed the sender of the card that I was personally challenging him to card competition, and his response was that his next door neighbor always takes the photos for him. A guy that shoots for Vanity Fair.

So. It's nothing you'll see in some pish posh society rag, but here is the Sweazy's second family Christmas card, spreading Christmas cheer and some healthy, vicious competition.

sick day

sick day, originally uploaded by medusahead.

Things We Lost in the Ice Storm of '08.

1. Our Minds. My thought as I made the mistake of Krogering just after the Pronouncement.
2. the location of Memphis on the map. At last check, no where near Minnesota.
3. Decorum. Really, was it necessary to just abandon carts in the middle of the aisles and around the check out stands? Oh wait -. Did I miss the Rapture?
4. all of the white bread at Kroger. Judging by the topped out carts, this and Doritos will sustain you through the Icy Apocalypse.
5. the ability to drive. Hats and scarves and gloves and ski jackets apparently make it difficult to spot pedestrians in the parking lot.
6. Ice.

The Clines

Clines, originally uploaded by medusahead.

Yesterday I headed out to photograph one of my favorite mamas, Andria, and her two kids Meredith and Abe. Our original plan to hang at Cafe Eclectic and eat sundaes was foiled when the cafe had the audacity to close at 3 when they normally do. It was cold and blustery, but there was a playground nearby, so our Plan B involved slides, bagpipes and a Burundi soccer match. It got dark and cold fast, but those little Nordic wonders are built from hardy stock. On with the pics!

Lindsey's 30!

Lindsey's party, originally uploaded by medusahead.

My gorgeous baby sister isn't such a baby anymore. She officially turned 30 today, and we celebrated last night with a wild, debauched evening of creme brulee and bedtime by 11 PM. At least we - and the food - were fabulous.

Can you believe this girl is a mother of two?

Lindey's invitation

Lindey's invitation, originally uploaded by medusahead.

Tonight's the night!

gift certificates

gift certificate, originally uploaded by medusahead.

If anyone is still interested in purchasing a discounted holiday gift certificate, they are ready to go!

Nothing like hole-punching for an hour as an excuse to sit around and watch trashy TV.

Outtakes

This year was going to be big. So was last year, but the plans got scrapped last minute. Turns out this year is no different. We had a killer location set up for out Christmas card with an actual professional to shoot it, but too much waffling at the last minute cost us our shooter. Appropriately, it's a DIY card this year.

Here's what a bottle of wine, a sheet, and two vainglorious dorks will create during 30 Rock commercials.

more shower details

shower invitation, originally uploaded by medusahead.

The invitation I designed

baby pics! I'm dying to know where this was taken



The lovely Aja, cupcaketrix:

Caroline's shower

Caroline's shower, originally uploaded by medusahead.

It was a very Caroline-centric weekend as Sunday was the day of her baby shower. My parents loaned out the loft, and my brilliant co-hostesses Macrae and Aja, a professional chef and baker, respectively, whipped up an amazing spread. The champagne flowed, gifts were racked up, and yummy food was eaten. Yes, people attended the shower, but seriously, check out this food!

h

Rafe & Caroline

Rafe & Caroline, originally uploaded by medusahead.

I met Rafe in Los Angeles when he was Mr. Hipster boy, and happily for me, he returned home to Memphis to become Mr. Hipster Hottie Dad-to-be with his gorgeous wife Caroline. They are due next month with their first baby girl, and for their session, I wanted something different. They are both so put together and sophisticated that I wanted a location to showcase that.

And then my Anthropologie catalog featuring the couple on the train arrived in my mailbox, and I had my inspiration.

On Saturday we trekked over to the Collierville town square and did a photo shoot at the Tennesseean, a beautiful deco train that has been refurbished into a restaurant on wheels. Unfortunately it was rather cold and the owner wasn't willing to let me inside until right before dinner was served, so we played outside until the chill forced us indoors.

I have so many amazing pics...here are just a few!

*edited to say, wow that sounds rather boastful. Rather, more pics of my amazing subjects to come...

My girl

I had quite an action packed weekend with lots of photos to post, but right now I'm being selfish and putting up a very rare sight - me and my girl, together in front of the lens.

Some random questions for you.

1. How to convince your child that your leg is not made out of salami?

2. Is it ok to laugh when you find your child on top of the dining room table?

3. Am I the only one that turns a song on the radio and then lip syncs it in front of their child in the pathetic hope that they will be convinced you sound exactly like Neko Case?

The Gentle Senator from Bathsbury

Harlow likes babies. She likes saying hi to them, whether they be of the real or televised variety. Lately she's really gotten into the youtube where we watch videos of "funny babies." (Anything to not watch rapper Chris Brown and Elmo duet) With about 4,277,345 funny babies to choose from, she's always entertained. This one is my new favorite.

Yoursly, Melissa

I don't know. I'm a bit skeptical.

But how can I not contact Secretary Prince Nike?

Hello My Good Friend,
I'm very happy to inform you that i have trans fered those funds, with help of a friend from Australia,I appreciate your efforts to help me though we couldn't realizeit together,
I kept $1,500.00.00 us dollar in a cashier check for your compensation.

Contact my Secretary prince nike on his email below(princenikeo@yahoo.fr) and provide him your full address for immediate sending of the check to you alright.Let me know when you get itforus to share the joy ,I'm busy here with my investment projects that i have at hand now, I have forwarded instruction to him concerning your bank draft check,

Sothat he will send it to you with out any delay.
Yoursly,
peter john

I'd like to shoot your family

Seasons greetings, y'all!

Still looking for that perfect gift? How to give that awesome hair day, the way your wife looks in that blue dress, the way your kid smiles when he spies a plate of cookies, the way your grandparents look at each other after all these years?

I might have an idea.

Give your loved ones their favorite memories with a lifestyle session with Melissa Sweazy Photography!

A "lifestyle session" is just a buzz-y way of saying no more formal, rigid poses of yesteryear. It's forgoing silly backdrops and capturing you and your loved ones in your preferred environment, allowing YOU and your awesome hair and spirit and family to be captured on film - or digital - forever.

Are you about to celebrate an anniversary? A birthday party? A regular Friday night cocktail hour? Do you look so much foxier than your ten year old wedding photos suggest? Do your kids have an adorable weekly playdate that the grandparents would love to see? Truly the sky's the limit of when and where your lifestyle session could occur. (And I suppose that is really true. I have yet to be asked to document a skydiving session. Yet.)

I'm offering a discounted sitting fee rate of $150 (normally $200). Gift certificates will be delivered on rich, buttery cardstock with yummy font and logos.

Happy Holidays!

Hood Family Slideshow

It's here!

It's adorable!

It even has adorable music!

Enjoy!

Things to be thankful for

Things to be thankful for, originally uploaded by medusahead.

A family so beautiful and athletic that it makes me feel like I'm living a Ralph Lauren ad - as the photographer, of course.

Unlike her mother, my daughter's love of the game.



And that she's finally getting hair



For Grandpa John who bought vintage Super Mario Brothers and for the dents in my thumbs from playing it all weekend.



For bird formations that look like broken necklaces in the sky and barren trees and winter light.



For family, and my sweet Leica that makes them and the world they inhabit so darn pretty