My husband and I both work full time and we have two young children. On a rare night when we were both still awake enough to have a conversation; my husband mentioned that he had an appreciation for Pin Up style photography. Even after 25 years of partnership you can still learn a thing or two about your other half. It so happened that earlier that week I discovered Grinkie Girls via the Border Town Betties. Christi had taken a Bettie’s profile picture and I liked her work, so I started to follow her on Facebook. I showed my husband her portfolio. We both agreed it was cool and it was something that we could do “someday.”
The pandemic has made things challenging for everyone. For me, I felt like I had no time for myself, no time with my husband and I was tired of making plans that almost always got canceled. Then Christi had a Black Friday sale and my husband and I said, “Let’s do it!” The spontaneous- for- us decision was exciting! We decided that we would travel the two hours south on a Saturday and do the shoot on a Sunday to make a weekend just for us. It took planning; finding an Airbnb, finding someone to watch the kids and the dogs overnight and keeping our fingers crossed that no one got sick…Finally, the weekend was close and I was nervous, excited anxious and in disbelief, “I can’t believe I’m doing this!!”
Christi’s studio is in a beautiful old brick warehouse with a craft brewery right next door. Awesome! We walked in the studio and we were greeted by Christi’s familiar- to-me face as I had been closely following her Facebook page while I patiently waited the several months for my shoot. We also met my stylist for the day Livi. Both of these ladies clearly love what they do. And best of all they made my husband comfortable enough to jump in to a few photos! The last time we had pictures together was when I was pregnant with our second child…very pregnant and bloated. Don’t get me wrong, these photos have their place!! But, dang, the pictures that Christi took of me and my husband have their place, too. And I’m grateful that she made the suggestion to get some “just us” pictures.
This studio is a place to be loved, to be comfortable and to feel empowered. I was in tears a couple of times throughout the day….Good tears! I felt validation. I was hearing things that hit home for me, things that I knew were true, but wouldn’t let myself acknowledge. Christi is a photographer and a therapist. Seriously. There were so many things she said to me, but the one thing that stuck was, “You’re being critical of your smile. But everyone else sees your smile and it makes them happy.” I don’t think anyone has ever said anything like that to me before.
Please do a photo session. You deserve it.