The Forum will be accepting entries through August 27th, so hurry up and take some cute photos of your pets! There will be online voting so make sure you let all your friends know how they can vote for your pet. You can find more info about the contest and voting, as well as all the rules/regs here, and enter your pet’s photo here.

P.S…. Look for Emme and Mya’s photo in the Forum on Sunday, August 22nd… I submitted a photo of my babies to be published in the “Unleashed” feature of  The Forum. What a proud [and nerdy] puppy mama I am.

These were the winning submissions; Kailey, Saathvik, and Avery. You can read a little bio about each of these darling kiddos in the magazine!

All of the styling and clothing was provided by Kris at Pout Baby Boutique…

It was a fun-filled baby-photographin’ day!

Happy Monday all!

~Ria

So as I was thinking about how I could tie in my anniversary giveaway with something that would make a difference in the life of a child, I got a surprise call from my cousin, telling me that The Children’s Miracle Network telethon was being held the first weekend in June, and they were interested in showing a slideshow I created with images I took of her little boy during one of his chemotherapy treatments at Meritcare Children’s Hospital. You may remember me mentioning the surgery he had to have a tumor removed from his lung here. The CMN telethon was taking place the same weekend as the studio anniversary? Perfect.

So… here’s the scoop. In order to say thank you for these last two years of amazing business, and also to help raise money that will make a difference in the lives of children in our area, I am giving back.

I am offering a free session plus all the digital files from your session to one person who donates to Children’s Miracle Network during the telethon this weekend.

Contest Rules/Eligibility:
1. Session will take place in August 2010.
2. This shoot is for a family/child(ren) or pet. No large groups, seniors, engagement sessions.
3. Proof of your donation to Children’s Miracle Network
4. Donation of $10 or more.

Here’s how to enter:
1. Make sure you will be available for an August 2010 photoshoot.
2. Make a donation here.
- choose to direct your donation to Meritcare Children’s Hospital
- check the box to indicate you want to make the donation in memory or honor of someone
- in the ‘in tribute of’ box, you can enter my cousin Keagan’s name, or the name of another child that has benefited from The Children’s Miracle Network. Indicate you want the letter sent to rialee photography at 505 N. Broadway Suite 205, Fargo, ND 58102. This way we will be able to keep track of how much is raised for CMN through this contest, and it can also serve as your proof of donation.
3. Leave a comment on this blog post.

Make a donation and spread the word… the winner will be drawn the first week in July! Good luck… and just in case you need some inspiration for donating, I’d like to introduce you to Keagan. [click on image below to play]

She was practically begging me to just stay home and take photos of her all day instead of going off to play with other “kids”. Poor girl.

Speaking of pet photos, did you know that 4 Luv of Dog Rescue is holding a pet photo contest right now?  I’m thinking of entering a photo of my girls. The prizes are great… First Place: One $25.00 gift card for PetSmart; One Small Dog Gift Basket ($35.00 value) of homemade treats from Waggy Tail Treats; One $25.00 gift certificate to shop on-line at Waggy Tail Treats; One 4 Luv of Dog T-shirt (navy, Large, $15.00 value). Second Place Winners: One $15.00 gift card for PetSmart; One toy/treat bag from Natural Pet Center ($30.00 value); One custom made aluminum i.d. tag from BowWowzerZ ($10.00 value). You can click here to enter your pet portrait!

I mean, this is an animal that chews apart phone cords, flipflops, pottery barn rugs, and many a toilet paper roll. She follows me so closely around the house that I regularly trip over her.

She refuses to poop outside. She barks at golfers in the backyard, walkers on the street and every little noise. But seriously? Everytime I see that sweet little face, (that sometimes I SWEAR is smiling at me) I just can’t help but say… “Oh, my little lovey-dovey-sweetie-punkin’-pie-peanut-butter-cup… your mama wuvvy-wuv-wuvs you!”

***Edited to add: No lie. This is what I came home to on the day I posted these photos.

We keep the dogs in the laundry room while we are gone during the day. I have a storage shelf where I keep extra paper products and had to clear everything off the first shelf when I realized that Mya would tear anything apart that was stored there. Apparently she can now reach the second shelf. Thanks Mya.

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A couple of other things for today…. I was so surprised and honored to find out that my blog has been nominated for a blog award over at i am mommy.  Woo-hoo! If you are interested, you can vote for “Awesomest Blog Awards” by clicking the link. Go ahead and see what other blogs were nominated and, if you want, vote for me under the “Awesomest Photography Blog” category. {I am up against the likes of Pioneer Woman and Sheye Rosemeyer, so let’s be real here. I’m going to need all the votes I can get.} The polls will be open for voting until Sunday May 9th.

Also, I am looking for someone local to do a little bit of sewing for me. So, if you have that talent and a little bit of extra time on your hands let me know!

Have a great day!

~Ria

I had such a fun time looking through all of the entries that came in, I’m thinking of maybe doing a little blog contest where you all could send in your best photo (that YOU’VE taken) of your child for a chance to win something fabulous. One of my favorite bloggers, Pioneer Woman does contests like that all the time in the photography section of her blog and it’s so cool to look through all of the amazing photos that are entered. What do you think? Would you all go for something like that?

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Oh yah… I’m sure you’re all anxious to find out who won the Georgia Grace giveaway as well! It was lucky commenter #59, Stevie! Congratulations and have fun finding something completely adorable from the shop.

…to enter YOUR cute baby!

Just two more weeks to get your entries in!

Still haven’t entered your baby? Enter HERE.

Here are some of those cute faces. Oh man, choosing the finalists and winner is going to be so hard! Click here for all of the contest info.

Also… we will begin taking appointments for the months of June, July and August next Monday, February 1st. If you have a specific date or time that you want, I suggest you e-mail us early as the summer sessions really fill up fast! Have a great Wednesday everyone!

~Ria

On The Minds of Moms, rialee photography, and Pout Baby Boutique  are sponsoring this fun photo contest for babies age 0-36 months. We will begin accepting entires today! To enter and read all the contest details go to OnTheMindsOfMoms.com/contest. Keep in mind that all photos must be non-professional and taken within the last 6 months. The winner will receive $150 to Pout, a free photoshoot with ME and a 16×20, and be featured in the summer issue of OTMOM. How cool is that? Two finalists will also receive free photoshoots. So send us your photos… I am hoping to be able to feature some of the entries in the coming weeks on the blog. Good luck!

This sweet little girl and I had such a fun time looking through my closet and dressing her up for her photos.  Isn’t that scarf just the cutest? I got it at none other than Target!

Here comes the random stuff…

For any of my readers that were born in the mid-70’s… you have to check out this post by Patina White. (Her name is really Beth, not Patina White, but I like calling her that anyway.) I just giggled and had such fond memories while reading it. And I can’t believe she hung onto all of those things… what I wouldn’t give to still have my first Le Clic!

Second… for any of you that get into “contest type” things, WDAY is currently running their BEST IN THE REGION contest. And guess what? They have a ‘Best Photography Studio’ category and I guess, well, if you are into that sorta thing you could vote for me if you wanted to. [I could never run for office.]

Here is the link to all of the categories: http://www.wday.com/pages/bestoftheregion. The photography category is under “Service”. Okay there. Vote for me. Rah rah sis boom bah.

And finally… stay tuned for a rialee photography “special” coming in the next couple of weeks!

To celebrate I am going to give away a free children’s session to one of my lucky blog readers! Just leave a comment on this post and I will randomly choose the winner around 11am Monday morning! In honor of the big day, I am posting ONE YEAR photos of little “S” [yes...ANOTHER little girl whose name starts with "S"!]… she was just so yummy. Her auntie gave her this fabulous Anthropology dress for her birthday… I absolutely LOVED it!

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And, I need to say a big thank you to everyone who has donated to our Feed the Forgotten project. As of yesterday, we had raised over $8000, which translates into 57,000 meals for starving orphans in Uganda. Thank you so much! For more info on creative ways to GIVE… click HERE.

The Professional Photographer Magazine is holding a “fresh blog” contest and since my tagline IS modern.simple.fresh… I thought I should enter! If you want to vote for me, click here.

You’ll need to go to page three to find the thumbnail of my blog, click on it, and then click on “vote for entry 0109″ and you’re done! Voting ends February 15th.

If you see a blog on there you like better and want to vote for it instead.. that’s okay. I understand.

 [not really... vote for ME!] 

The ”Mom” basket… Megan Benavidez.

The adorable Zutano hat and socks from Pout, and sippy and stacking toys… Deb Griffey.

The “Toddler” basket… Holly Flach

The kids “ART” basket… Joy Thomas.

The 11×14 Canvas… Nancy Callendar.

The iPod… Cora Turner.

The Pout gift card… Melanie Unser.

And the Grand Prize of the free “Evy” collection went to Joan Kirk.

Congratulations to all the winners. You can come up to the loft and pick up your prizes!

In other news….we have a winner in the “Find the Photos” contest! Meredith Johnson spotted them at Stride Rite at the mall. Congratulations Meredith…you’ll be receiving your $50.00 gift certificate soon.

Also…the launch of the new website should be THIS week! I am trying to think of another fun contest or giveaway to go with the big announcement…so stay tuned!

Each table designer had to decorate a table around a theme…mine was photography of course! The name of my table was “Capturing Life” and for my centerpiece I used a photo tree surrounded the cutest little sqaure canvases! We had to include the place settings, table and chair covers, a little favor for each guest at our table and a dessert…mine was “Cheese”cake. It was a great idea for a fundraiser and all of the table designers were so creative!