Lauren and I had been talking about this shoot for ages. At my last job, I didn’t go into the office on Fridays, and that meant that most Friday mornings were spent at this lovely lady’s home with her then only child, Evynn. Those closest to Evynn have the privilege of calling her Evy, and I am one lucky lady because not only do I get to call her by her favorite nickname, but she calls me by my name! It’s the cutest little noise in the world!

Most of those mornings, Lauren and I would just talk… with the occasional interrupting question about a book or a horse from Evy. She’s quite the inquisitor. I like that. But we would spend those hours often talking about our insecurities and how that has affected our relationships. Maybe you’re like me and a couples photoshoot sounds just dreamy but you are terrified of seeing your arms or your double chin on camera (because, after all, supposedly the camera adds ten pounds… spoiler alert: it doesn’t if you know what you’re doing). A couples photoshoot seems out of the question because we don’t feel beautiful. We don’t believe anything about us shines. We just dream of a day when the scale finally shows us a number we can be satisfied with, the girls are finally an attractive size and we feel skinny.

Because “skinny” is beautiful. Girls of all shapes and sizes, from 95 pounds size 00 to 300 pounds size 26, no matter where you are on the scale, someone is always pointing a finger at you telling you it’s not enough. Being healthy is important, but aiming for something for the vanity of it, for someone else’s approval is not healthy. And even though I’m in a loving relationship with a man who sees me at my heaviest and consistently tells me I am the most beautiful girl in the world, it doesn’t eliminate the insecurity. He tells me sweet things and I reject them… he feels defeated. It breaks my heart. “I wish you could see yourself the way I see you,” Michael tells me.

You’d actually be surprised how much a couples photoshoot brings out the confidence in you. Lauren and I made a trip to Nordstrom to pick out some dresses and that just about did it for her. She tried the first one on and her eyes lit up: “I feel like a princess!” She put her hands in her pockets, twirled for a good 60 seconds, texted a picture to Brad and got several heart eye emojis in return. BOOM.

I can’t even count the number of AS clients who’ve expressed an insecurity before a shoot. Anywhere from weight to shoe size to height to hair color to teeth to ear size and everything in between. I’m no exception. And it all just motivates me to prove that you truly are beautiful. You truly shine. There is no scale of beauty. Its all there. Right now.

Thank you, Lauren and Brad for being such a real, loving couple. Our Watsonville beach couples photoshoot was a blast and those outfits are FIREEEEEEE (not to be confused with #fyre). Lauren, you really do look like a princess. And I’m so glad you two got to enjoy just being you. No kids, no jobs, no nothing. Just you. And it was perfect.

Love,
A&M