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Get to know your Orange County boudoir photographer, Jeni!
What is your favorite food?
Right now, it’s plantain chips and guacamole. It’ll change next week ;)
One guilty pleasure in life?
Shopping
What is your favorite piece of clothing?
Comfy tees
What's one song on your playlist?
" My Fault “ Imagine Dragons
What's your favorite movie genre? Example?
Right now, its comedy … Bad Moms was pretty hilarious!
Favorite shoes to wear?
My pink Toms
What are you currently reading?
The Girl on the Train
What do you usually do when you have leisure time on your hands?
What is leisure time???? LOL. I like to ride bikes with my family or just my husband – even if it’s just in our neighborhood.
Do you have any strange phobias?
I am always afraid of getting stuck on an elevator. I’ll take the stairs often, especially if it’s an older building.
What, if anything, have you ever re-gifted?
Lotions, perfumes, candles ... I get headaches easily with certain smells so I’ll just give those away if they’re too potent for me.
If you could go anywhere in the world, where would that be?
I’d go back to Spain but with my entire family
If you could go back and do over anything in your life, what would that be?
Nope, I don’t do that. My life wouldn’t be the same if anything changed.
Would you rather vacation in Hawaii or Alaska, and why?
Hawaii – MOST DEFINTELY. I’ve been to Alaska, and it’s beautiful, but I’m a warm weather kinda girl.
If you could meet and photograph someone famous, who would that be and why?
Emma Stone … she’s cute as a button with her freckles and seems so down to earth.
What do you struggle with the most in life?
I’m kind of a perfectionist and I over analyze EVERYTHING. It's why my husband hates grocery shopping with me.
If you could have any one superpower, which would you choose?
Teleportation. Because, traffic!
Are you married, single, have kids, husband? Is life a juggling act for you?
I am married (going on 15 years!) and have 2 boys (7 & almost 13). Every day is a juggling act between sports, school, hubby, home … and oh, yeah, myself!
Who inspires you the most in life?
My family inspires me most.
If you could provide one single piece of advice to influence a young person's direction in life, what would that be?
You will never get a better return on life than when you truly invest in yourself. :)
Be Soul Food | Grace and Lace Boudoir | Orange County Boudoir
Over 4 years ago, Sarah and I sat down and had a meeting about our new business venture together. We were not new in our prospective careers - I'd been a photographer since 2002 and Sarah had been a makeup artist for nearly as long but we were joining our two forces together. We'd been friends for 6 years at the time and we KNEW that we wanted to do this together and so we sat down, had a meeting, and we were excited! So excited that we came up with our business name THAT day - Eye Candy. We'd jotted down about 10 other names or so but at that time, we didn't really have a plan of just being a boudoir studio, so to us, eye candy meant pretty things and incorporated the best of both our worlds (photography & makeup). Well, in our naivete, we went with it. And then realized, rather quickly, eye candy dot com is not available. Ok. How about eye-candy dot com?? Nope. How about eye-kandy dot com? Well, you know the answer to that. You'd think we would've moved on by now, right?? Nooooo, of course not, we were stuck on some version of eye candy. So, we finally realized eye-kandie.com was available and so we went with it. Now you know the backstory of our name. Deep, riiiight??
So we created business cards, a logo, a website, a facebook page and we went to work. And we started shooting everything and anybody who would let us shoot and put makeup on them. But over the years, both Sarah and I felt like we were being led to shoot solely boudoir photography. It fit us so well, it was our speed - getting to know our clients on a deeper level, we both LOVED doing it more so than any other genre, and so we dedicated Eye Kandie to solely boudoir. Over the years, though, we started to feel like our name was amateurish and we were increasingly becoming more insecure with it. We thought about changing it but oh! the work that would create for us. Neither of us felt like starting over. It's a LOT of work. Like, A LOT of work. But a few months ago, it started to weigh heavily on me how much I dislike our name; so much so, I wouldn't even use it in a sentence. I struggled with this because what does that say about me? About my business? I'm not ashamed of our business, Sarah and I have built a solid foundation and we have had some AMAZING clients come through our studio. But I couldn't bring myself to use our name in conversation. I just really wanted our name to mean something more.
Then I read this quote
““Don’t be eye candy. Be soul food.””
Oh, the gut punch. All these months of prayer over whether or not we should change our name and there I thought, did God just answer me with a quote? Yes, He did. I didn't think of our clients as eye candy, they were so much more than just a "pretty thing" to us. We strive for our clients to love and appreciate their bodies for all it does for her but also to see themselves beyond their physical self. We want her to see what we see and what her friends and family see. Not just a pretty thing, but a woman who allows herself some grace and does not spend time dwelling on the past and living with regret, but works toward what she wants; a woman who values quality over quantity and understands the investment of portraiture; a woman who loves and respects her husband or fiance; a mother who teaches and loves her children but knows she should nurture herself as well. We want her to see she is a woman of worth & beauty to us and those around her.
And so, Grace and Lace Boudoir was born. We still have a few loose ends to tie up around here, mostly on the back side of the business but we are so happy that Grace & Lace is live and that is what we will be going by from here on out!
Thank you to all our clients for their support along the way, for reading our blog, for trusting us with your own boudoir experience and for sending us your referrals.
Our business is booming and it is ALL because of you!! So thank you! We love you ALL!
~Jeni
Some motivation for your Sunday.
A little Motivation for your Sunday!
This is Kara, She posts all of our Fitness Fridays. Kara started her health journey a few ago. She has always struggled with her weight, I know this because we have been best friends for 22 years now. She works hard, Really hard. Shes passionate about fitness now, she quit her job of working in retail for 15 years and is now teaching TRX classes and Yoga. She's an inspiration to me, and hopefully to you to. <3
Lingerie doesn't have to be expensive!
I know it can be easy to get stuck in the Victoria's Secret rut when trying to find beautiful lingerie pieces, but there are so many other stores that sell these same beautiful pieces for amazing prices! Here are some of my favorites.....
H&M Lace Bra $17.99
Yandy Fishnet Bodysuit $23.95
Yandy Lace Teddy $16.95
Yandy Chemise $25.95
Amazon Teddy $11.00
Amazon Lingerie Set $33.90