I said "YAS" | Atlanta Boudoir Photography

Recently I took a dream vacation to Greece, Europe, Planet Earth. While I would now love to flood your eyes with images of the Aegean Sea, cobblestone streets, and cities older than Jesus, I will use self control (that being said, go ahead and let me know if you want me to talk your ear off about the trip and show you beautiful photos through my cracked iPhone screen).

The Greece vacation was a major result of a minor decision.

Sometime in December 2016 I had a series of margaritas with a boudoir client-turned-margarita partner. We bonded over recent breakups, past boudoir sessions, our love for tiny dogs, and the inescapable feeling of wanderlust. Maybe it was the impending new year, maybe it was the margaritas, maybe it was Maybelline, but we declared 2017 to be the ‘year of YAS’.

That’s ‘YAS’ with an ‘A’, because that’s how you say ‘yes’ when you realllllly mean it.

Walking out of that conversation had me feeling a little drunk and a lot inspired. Saying ‘YAS’, or ‘yes’ for the remainder of this blog post, for this year seemed absolutely terrifying to my very-comfortable and predictable life. At the end of our time together my friend asked me “Hey do you want to go to Greece in May?” and not wanting to completely void the last 2.5 hours I enthusiastically responded “Yes”.

Fast forward to today, we’re about 6 months removed from the margarita madness and ‘Year of yes’ blood-pact and I’m proud to say that I have lived fully, wonderfully, irresponsibly, thoughtfully, creatively, and openly. I’m not sure what my next ‘YES’ will be but I recently said ‘yes’ to being in a new relationship, and that has been as much of a whirlwind-mind-blast as it could have ever been. Saying ‘yes’ may have the same effect on your heart rate as 12 cups of coffee and a 5hr energy drink, but it has a greater chance of opening you up to a wider variety of positive experiences in your life.

There aren’t ever really any signs of what you might miss out on, there is only hindsight. A year, or a season, or a DAY of ‘yes’ can be a great thing for all of us.

Whatever it means for you, let’s all “Say yes to your OWN adventure.”

Say ‘yes’ to: new relationships, tap dancing lessons, volunteering, trying new foods (unless your allergic), seeing a movie alone, making a life change, being photographed (hello boudoir!), cutting negativity out of your life, moving across the country, etc.

After all, this is your OWN adventure.

In love and spontaneity,

Sarah

I am not alone | Atlanta Boudoir Photographer

If you've spent more than 5 minutes with me over the last 5 months then you've heard me talk excitedly about my newfound single-hood. There has been a LOT of traveling, in fact one of my BFFs asked me if I even lived in Atlanta anymore. (The answer is 'yes' I do still live in Atlanta, and I also live at the Atlanta airport. Shout out to the SkyClub at concourse B!)

This stage in my life has been named and re-named a few times and to be completely forward with you guys.. the current operating title is 'Hoe phase'. ;) I'm out there letting my freak flag fly and enjoying every minute of it. Don't get me wrong, cashing 'flirt' checks isn't how I fill the entirety of my time, but it holds a pretty big piece of the pie-chart.

For the first time in five and a half years I am living life on my own, but I am not 'alone'.

I'll admit that even though my relationship ended amicably, at first I was a little bitter and lost. My ex got to 'keep' our circle of friends. He 'got' to keep the apartment. Outside of no longer having me in his life (which as we all know is a terrible thing since I am so amazing hahahahaha) it seemed as if he didn't really have anything that changed. He owns a lot of clothes so at the very best he got to take over a second closet. I was the one that was immediately thrown into finding a new circle of friends, creating new routines, and frequenting foreign coffee shops.

It took me all of about a week to get over the feeling of eye-rolling bitterness. To my surprise, the relationships and experiences that I have had over the last 5 months have been extraordinary. It really is fascinating the experiences that are easy to say 'YES' to when you have zero commitments telling you to say 'NO'. Of course right now my only voice-of-no is my wallet ;) I've met more people, travelled to more places, and tried more new experiences than I did in five and a half years.

I say this to say. I am not 'alone'.

A girlfriend and I had dinner a few months ago and she asked me if I was worried that I had spent 5years of my life with someone and had to 'start over' by being alone in my 30s. Let's all give her a bit of grace and assume she didn't mean that in a completely demeaning way. Had I not known this girl for 25 years I probably would have been offended, but I wasn't. There are as many different values as there are people in this world, and I've never been one to really have a romantic relationship as a top value.

The idea of not really caring either way about having a relationship with someone else is a foreign concept to some. With regards to the subject of boudoir, I'm often met with puzzled faces when I mention that a boudoir session is often done because my clients want the photos for 'just' themselves.

"Just".

Fuck that word.

"Just" yourself is enough. There is no one on this earth that you should love and honor more than yourself. It is wonderful to love someone else and to be loved by someone else, but you are also enough when you are "just" you. If you aren't in a romantic partnership you are not alone. I am not alone. If you ARE in a romantic partnership, you are not alone. I am not alone. We are living our lives. We may go to bed solo or *feeling* solo, but we are not alone. We have a world of common interests (I mean, you are reading this blog... presumably with like ONE other person) that gives us community.

My girlfriend I was talking about is constantly trying to hook me up with any single male she meets.

"Just go on ONE date" she says.

"I do not want to date anyone" I say.

"Just ONE" she says.

::there's that word 'just' again::

"I do not want to date anyone" I repeat.

"Ok well keep thinking about it" she forces.

::eye roll::

I am not alone. I am ME. And I am enough. You are not alone. You are YOU. And you are enough.

And because I guess I am a photographer, here are some pics of me at some of my sessions... every image was taken for me and "just" me "alone". ;)