I can’t remember the exact moment when I met Gretchen, but I do remember our first phone conversation.  It was about keys.  I had signed a lease to be the 9th girl to live in a huge house in our college town.  Gretchen was the girl in charge of the money and the keys.  I wanted to get into the house to move some of my stuff in, but for the life of me, I could not open the door.  The key was supposed to unlock the front AND back door.  But it just sat there in the key hole.  Staring at me.  And my anxious parents.  We had driven 2 hours to move my things in the house and we couldn’t get the door open.  So I called Gretchen.  She assured me that this happens a lot, and you just have to work it.  We did. And finally, in we went.

Gretchen, I learned, is SO funny.  She has a great sense of humor, and has the ability to deflate any heated situation with her words.  And her words are what makes her newest accomplishment so much fun.  Honey I Shrunk the Gretchen is her blog, and it is a weight loss blog.  It is real. It is full of laughs, tears, successes, and not so successes.  To Gretchen, there really isn’t any such thing as failing.  She does this thing at her own pace, and so far, her own pace has been a loss of 35 lbs.  Start following her!  It is a hysterical read, and a dose of reality as she  works to conquer laze, cravings, illness, and living in a city where there is great food all around.

I went up to Northern Virginia and did a portrait session with Gretchen a few weeks ago.  She rocked it…

Before our shoot, I told Gretchen to “amp it up.”  Wear the shoes you’ve never worn.  That lip color that is almost too bold.  Well, she ba-rought it.  Get it, girl!

The shoes?  And I quote, “I’ve never worn these outside of the house.” So cute.

This is a girl who has lost weight, “This is my favorite ice cream store.”

And the furry friends…

I can’t wait until our session in the spring!