This is my neighborhood in New York City. All my Minneapolis friends, please come visit me!

I’m bursting at the seams! So excited to share and officially announce to my blog readers (I hope you’re out there!); I’m fulfilling a lifelong dream and moving part time to New York City!  Of course, I still travel the country (and the globe!) for weddings, but my home bases will now be in both Minneapolis and NYC!

Moving to NYC has been a dream of mine since I was a little girl. I always dreamed of living in the big city, all sophisticated and fashionable, making bazillions of dollars. Just a small-town girl from the midwest, living the dream. With 8 million other dreamers. It’s funny because I also love the country. I guess I’m an extremist. I’ll either be a hermit in the middle of nowhere, living off the land, or in the midst of the most action I can possibly create for myself. My husband and I have been living in Minneapolis for nearly 5 years now, most of that time spent living in our house, and believe it or not, this feels like an eternity for me. I actually miss the college days where we moved every 9 to 12 months. I crave change and I love a challenge. That’s probably why I went from architect to graphic designer to photographer to photographer/business owner all in the span of the last 6 years. I believe in setting goals and going after it. I always want to be the best, push for the best, do big things. What’s the point of setting easy, obtainable goals? Goals are constantly evolving, and even if one thing doesn’t come to fruition, usually something even better happens in it’s place and because of this I truly don’t believe in failure.

I hope this isn’t misinterpreted (on any number of different levels). Although I love change, I am 100% content being a photographer and just want to explore other avenues of photography and creativity. I absolutely, with my whole heart, love my job. I ADORE MY JOB. I am so grateful that I get to do something I love; be with people on one of the most important days of their lives and help preserve family history and memories. I admit, there are times when I feel like I’m in a creative rut, but the feeling is quickly lost the second I see a bride or groom on their wedding day. It sounds super cheesy and over the top, but I somehow become immersed. I am inspired. I love weddings and although I’d love a Saturday off sometimes, it doesn’t get old. The lifestyle my job creates is just a huge perk- making my own schedule, being my own boss, mentoring others in the industry while simultaneously being mentored. I feel so lucky to spend my life doing something I love, surrounded by amazing people.

Perhaps the biggest perk of owning your own business is flexibility. My husband and I love to travel, so I purposely decided not to book winter weddings this year with the intention of moving to South or Central America to study Spanish. I studied abroad in college and it was one of the greatest experiences of my life. I was 22, not a care in the world… decided to jet off to Spain, with almost no Spanish experience to speak of. I didn’t know a soul. I was terrified to leave my then boyfriend, now husband, but I threw myself in 100%. There are a few things I wish I could go back and tell my 22-year-old self… things I would have done to take even more advantage of the amazing opportunity I was afforded. But no regrets.

Fast forward to 2010, quickly approaching my 5 year anniversary of living in one city. I’ve been feeling landlocked in Minnesota and was coming up with crazy ideas of doing some sort of adult study abroad program while at the same time improving my Spanish language skills. I was going to do it… I still am, maybe in winter of 2012, but a trip to NYC in July altered my plans.

A fire was lit within me. I thought of my childhood dream. I thought about how I already had FIVE MONTHS with no scheduled shoots this winter. I thought, “I could go to Argentina, Costa Rica, Mexico…or, OR, I could fulfill my lifelong dream and go to New York.” Why not? The gears started churning.  I saw this amazing opportunity to expand my business and charge my creativity.

Since then, everything has fallen in place. I’m going to summarize because this post is becoming really long, but my college roommate, who I love to death and don’t see nearly often enough, suddenly had a vacancy in his apartment as his roommate is temporarily relocating. The same exact dates that I wanted to come to NY. People from NY or wanting to shoot in NY have been popping up on my radar left and right. I’ve been building connections with some amazing photographers, stylists, and designers. People have been reaching out and helping me… people I don’t even know. It’s so humbling and amazing. Even yesterday, after a discussion about my business and photography, a random person told me I should move to New York without any mention of my plans! Little signs have been popping up constantly, all telling me that this is the time in my life to do this. Why is everything falling into place so easily for me?! The icing on the cake is that I have amazing friends out in NYC and a built in support system (here and there).  But you know what they say, if you want something badly enough, all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it. (Or something like that!)

So, what am I going to do in NY? Test, test, test, test. Shoot a ton of film. Work on a book I want to publish in the future. Assist, learn, and grow. Work on personal projects. RELAX. EXPLORE. I’ll also be Skyping (a lot) with existing and potential clients. I’m so grateful to have so many awesome weddings on the books for 2011 and I hope future potential clients will be OK with Skyping! For my current clients, I’m still there whenever you need me. I’m still working, my office will just be in my fab apartment (with a doorman, and a cleaning lady, and laundry, and a gym, BOOM!) in lower Manhattan. (Sorry, a bit excited! After countless nights stressing about the Craig’s List finds, I really hit the jackpot with the apartment situation.) I’ll be coming home periodically throughout my 4 month stay and I already have engagement sessions scheduled (or tentatively scheduled) with all of my current 2011 brides and grooms.

If you’ve made it this far. Thank you. I appreciate your time. This is a glimpse inside my head. I feel like I’m exposing myself and laying it all out there for the world to see. I may or may not have proofread this a hundred times and I’m sure it’s still full or grammatical errors and typos. During the planning stages of this temporary move, I thought about money, paying a mortgage and rent, not having one single job booked in NYC, all the what-ifs. BUT, after laying this all out here on my blog, I’m strangely at peace. I’m not scared of failing, or hitchhiking home in mid-February with a few pennies and lint in my pocket. I just can’t fail because I feel like this is destiny. :-)

“Concrete jungle where dreams are made of.”

If you live in New York, will live in New York, or will be visiting New York, please contact me. I would love to meet. I’m so ready to make new friends and make things happen.
xoxo, Laura