I had such big feelings being back in Seattle after a few years. Seattle was the first place that I lived as an adult away from my parents- it just felt like mine. I loved living amongst the tall buildings in a vibrant and creative community on Capitol Hill while I danced eight hours a day at Cornish College of the Arts. I moved away from there to NYC almost 20 years ago, after chronic injuries ended my ballet career and I had to find a new life adventure. As I write this, I’m actually nursing my ribs back to health- with one of the very same injuries that plagued me during my dancing years. If someone had told me then that in a decade I would be photographing dogs for a living in Portland, I would have been bewildered…and DELIGHTED! It’s amazing where life will take you, especially when you haven’t exactly planned for it. I won’t lie though, it was a hard transition from being a dancer for 13 years to trying to figure out a new life, but I made a commitment to always following my dreams, no matter how hard it is. After moving to NYC, I started doing makeup professionally, which I did for 15 years. Some transitions into new careers are forced like with ballet, and some you just decide to let go like I did with my makeup career, because they just don’t feel right anymore. That one was a slow transition though, since I started my photography business 5 years before I stopped doing makeup. I’ve been a photographer for 10 years now with no plans of ever stopping- don’t worry, haha 🙂
It was really amazing to be in Seattle again. Instead of feeling sad about not being a dancer anymore, like I did for SO long before, I felt strong and proud of what I have accomplished since I left and where I am now. I met up with Mary in downtown Seattle recently, with her tiny but hugely adorable little pup named Coby, a chocolate parti Yorkie. She is going through her own life transition, having left her corporate job (in one of the buildings next to where we were doing our session!) to follow her dream of starting a dog café in the city. She has launched Coby’s Pup-Up Café, which for now is done by quick-to-sell-out pop up events, but she hopes to have a brick and mortar location in Seattle soon. You can follow her on Instagram at @parti.with.coby and @cobys.pupup for more info on her events and for daily doses of her unbelievably cute dog Coby. I feel a kinship with Mary and her journey and I know what kind of awesomeness can happen when you just keep going with your dream, so I am just so excited for her
Check out some of my favorite photos from our downtown Seattle session. How awesome are all these buildings? How insanely cute are these two lovelies??
