http://www.shawnanoel.net/ Shawna Noel Photography Blog en-us http://www.shawnanoel.net/index.cfm?postID=532 http://www.shawnanoel.net/index.cfm?postID=532 Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:03:00 GMT

]]> http://www.shawnanoel.net/index.cfm?postID=539 http://www.shawnanoel.net/index.cfm?postID=539 Fri, 27 Jan 2012 01:01:00 GMT
I started baking chocolate chip cookies when I was a sophomore in high school. It wasn't any sort of fancy recipe; I think it was the recipe on the back of the bag of chocolate chips. I do remember rushing home during my lunch hour to bake a quick batch of cookies to bring back to school (after all, cookies made my afternoon classes way more fun). Or sometimes, I would bake cookies for dinner. Yep, a totally healthy and complete meal :)

I went through a health food phase in college, but I still wanted my cookies, so I tried making them with every type of low-fat, no-fat, no-sugar, wheat-flour combo ever. That experiment didn't yield any lasting results. Moderation, perhaps, was better than eating 20 low-fat cookies at one time.

As I grew up, I tweaked the recipe and started using better ingredients. No more Blue Bonnet margarine. No more Nestle chocolate chips. I learned that refrigerating the dough overnight produces more caramel-y, delicious cookies. A cookie dough scoop means each cookie bakes evenly.

Now, about 15 years after I started making these cookies, I'm ready to share my super secret cookie recipe! I hope you enjoy these as much as I do. Heck, you could even make them for dinner tonight!

Shawna's Chocolate Chip Cookies

This recipe yields a chewy, chocolatey cookie.

2 cups all purpose flour (I use King Arthur Flour)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt (I use Morton's Kosher)
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
1 stick of butter (1/2 cup), softened (I use unsalted organic butter)
2 eggs
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract (I love vanilla, so I use a full tablespoon. Call me crazy. Nielsen-Massey is the best!)
1 package (12oz) chocolate chips (I use Guittard)

First, preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.

Then, in a medium-sized mixing bowl, stir the flour, baking soda and salt together. Set aside.

In a separate mixing bowl, cream together the sugars and butter until smooth. Add in the eggs one at a time and mix well. Stir in the vanilla.

Add the flour mixture into the sugar/butter mixture in small batches. Mix in those tasty chocolate chips.*

Drop batter in spoonfuls (I use an Oxo small cookie scoop so they are all about the same size) onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes or until edges are nicely browned. Do no overbake (or do, if you like crunchy, sorta-burned cookies!).

*At this point, I cover the top of the bowl with some cling wrap and refrigerate the dough overnight. If you are feeling impatient, then you can certainly omit this step and still have tasty cookies. But chilling the dough overnight will give you extra-delicious cookies. I swear.

]]> http://www.shawnanoel.net/index.cfm?postID=538 http://www.shawnanoel.net/index.cfm?postID=538 Mon, 23 Jan 2012 19:26:00 GMT
When we arrived, it started to snow/rain. Uh-oh, I thought. But Liz, in her fabulous blue open-toe shoes, said, "I'd love to go outside, Shawna" when I asked her if she maybe, sorta, couldn't, wouldn't mind heading over to this great barn area for photos. So we bundled up and headed out!

I love that Liz and Scott were so willing to freeze (just for a bit!) outside so we could snap photos of them. And then, even the wedding party came and froze their behinds off for some photos too. That's what we call true friendship, blog readers. True friends :)

Here are a few of my favorite photos from Liz + Scott's big day ::

These draped, monotone carnation spheres were elegant and simple. I loved this look!

After the ceremony, Kory took the limo with the wedding party and I sped to the Alerus Center. It looked amazing! Flowers and decor by Sadie of Sadie's Coutour Floral and Event Styling (she's amazing!)

]]> http://www.shawnanoel.net/index.cfm?postID=537 http://www.shawnanoel.net/index.cfm?postID=537 Fri, 20 Jan 2012 21:26:00 GMT right with some fun (and funny) photos from Liz + Scott's wedding photo booth. We love a great photo booth, of course, and Liz + Scott's family and friends really delivered :)

More photos from Liz + Scott's wedding will be here on Monday. Yippee!

Happy weekend, friends!

We also put a slideshow together from all of the photo booth photos. Check it out here ::



]]> http://www.shawnanoel.net/index.cfm?postID=536 http://www.shawnanoel.net/index.cfm?postID=536 Wed, 11 Jan 2012 16:01:00 GMT
Well, this summer he finally got the chance to make his road trip dream a reality! He drove from North Dakota to Seattle, then from Seattle to LA. For the final leg of his trip, he drove from LA to Las Vegas, where I met up with him and his shaggy beard. (Yay for cheap flights from Grand Forks to Vegas!). We then spent some time in Vegas, Zion National Park, and Denver before heading home.

We stayed at the Cosmopolitan our first night in Vegas and had an awesome view!

After two fun days of relaxing (and shopping!) in Vegas, we hit the road to Zion National Park.

I snapped this photo for my mom. She adores cows. (Hi mom!)

Zion was breathtaking.

We hiked "the Narrows," which involves dunking yourself into cold river water repeatedly.

This is my "thanks for taking a photo of me, boyfriend" face.

After our fun adventure in Utah, we drove to Denver (to go to the My Morning Jacket concert in Red Rocks) then raced home so we could both get back to work :)

]]> http://www.shawnanoel.net/index.cfm?postID=535 http://www.shawnanoel.net/index.cfm?postID=535 Mon, 09 Jan 2012 12:16:00 GMT
Today I'm excited to show you the fun and colorful wedding of Natalie and Leo. They tied the knot in Northwood, ND at Draxton Farm. It is no secret that we adore Draxton Farm. It is the perfect backdrop for vintage-inspired weddings (or really, any wedding at all!).

Natalie has such a warm, welcoming personality and Leo is a a down-to-Earth, charming fellow. I can see why they get along so well :) Despite a slightly rainy day, we had a wonderful time running around the farm (in galoshes!) with Natalie, Leo, and their friends and family!

Here are a few of my favorites from their big day ::

Love isn't a strong enough word for how I felt about Natalie's shoes. They are so wonderful!

Oh hey, still love these shoes!

Another shoe photo. I just can't stop.

]]> http://www.shawnanoel.net/index.cfm?postID=533 http://www.shawnanoel.net/index.cfm?postID=533 Wed, 04 Jan 2012 20:49:00 GMT
So they decided to pushed the wedding back to 2011. I'm sure moving the wedding was a difficult choice for Chrissa and Josh. But, the upside was that we had an absolutely beautiful day, weather-wise. And, because most people knew the story of these two love-birds, the wedding was such a festive celebration of love and happiness.

On the tables at the reception, Josh and Chrissa printed out quotes from letters and text messages they exchanged during their courtship :) One table's message read "The love of my life, the man that would do anything for me and puts me before himself, the man that makes me laugh, gives me goosebumps and shows me love every single day. I am SO lucky!" -- Letter to Josh from Chrissa, the day Josh left for deployment

I must give a big thanks to Chrissa and Josh for inviting us to capture their wedding. It was well worth the wait :)

Did I mention Chrissa is absolutely gorgeous? Well, she is!

]]> http://www.shawnanoel.net/index.cfm?postID=534 http://www.shawnanoel.net/index.cfm?postID=534 Tue, 03 Jan 2012 16:09:00 GMT very hard to get back into it. :)

When I first started blogging back in 2005, it was a way for me to share what was happening in my life with my friends and family. As my photography business took off, my blog became more business-like and less personal. I'd like to return this site to a place where I can share what I'm photographing, yes, but also what I'm cooking, decorating, listening to, feeling inspired by, etc. My interests certainly extend beyond photography and I would like to share more with you than simply photos from our commissioned photo sessions.

To start off this new year I'll be reviewing all things 2011 (mostly because you've barely seen a thing I photographed in 2011!), including lots of weddings, and family sessions, of course.

I hope you'll stick around with me to see what's to come :)

First up in the my year-end review is music! We listen to a lot of music around the office while we are editing and working (in addition to all of the TV we watch, too, but that's another blog post!). Here are a few of my favorite songs of 2011 ::

(embeded object)

Love the Way You Walk Away by Blitzen Trapper
Whole Love by Wilco
Gold On the Ceiling by The Black Keys
Lost In My Mind by The Head and the Heart
Holdin On to Black Metal by My Morning Jacket
January Hymn by The Decemberists
How Come You Never Go There by Feist
Helplessness Blues by Fleet Foxes
Wonderful (The Way I Feel) by My Morning Jacket



Here's a terrible cell phone photo from the My Morning Jacket concert we attend at Red Rocks near Denver. After this concert, I could never get "Holdin on to Black Metal" out of my head!

And another terrible cell phone photo from the best Wilco concert in Minneapolis in December. It was beautiful in sound, sight, and company :)

]]> http://www.shawnanoel.net/index.cfm?postID=531 http://www.shawnanoel.net/index.cfm?postID=531 Tue, 27 Dec 2011 10:56:00 GMT
]]> http://www.shawnanoel.net/index.cfm?postID=530 http://www.shawnanoel.net/index.cfm?postID=530 Thu, 08 Dec 2011 22:48:00 GMT
]]>