The Queen of Hearts Photo Shoot: Getting Ready

It was like getting married again. That's the closest thing I can compare it to.   It was one day, one single day that took a ton of pre-planning, stress and make-up.



We started out at 8am, with donuts, juice and a generous bunch of Starbucks drinks.  Jenn, Erin's beautiful sister in law, came all the way up just to do our hair.   Erin was my model. She's NOT a model, amazingly, but an art-teacher, who daily gives her students tons of inspiration and support. She changes lives.  And she was always my first choice to be my Queen of Hearts. She just LOOKS like my Dinah.



Jen worked her magic.  I had no idea that she was so gifted. Sure, she always looks amazing, but I had no grasp of the depth of her talent with hair. 



Erin's hair was amazing.  No - it was PERFECT.  Not close, not almost perfect, PERFECT.  The back looked like a warrior, and the front was a perfect place for the VERY heavy crown to rest easy.   If you need your hair done for a wedding or event, let me know, because Jenn was amazing and I would recommend her a thousand times over!



 I love that Erin is wearing her "warrior" gloves for getting her hair done. When I gave them to her, she was like "I am maybe wearing these gloves all day today, all day tomorrow and for the rest of my life."

My hair was just curled and put into place, super easy, which was what I wanted.  My theory for the day was "Erin First."  If my hair and makeup got done for the author photo shoot, GREAT.  But if we didn't have time for me, that was fine.  Getting the shot for the cover was the purpose for this day.  After our hair was done, we rushed off to stop number two, Natosha Cooke for make-up. 

I have never met Natosha before, but she did the make-up for my Kentucky Derby Photo Shoot, so I knew she was extremely gifted.   I showed her a few pictures of what I wanted and BAM! She was off.  I have never had my make-up done professionally, and so I was absolutely fascinated by her gigantic make-up bag, perfect eyebrows and skill.  First, Erin was air brushed.  Can I just say that I would like to airbrush makeup my face EVERY day??  You can take any level of imperfect skin and then - BAM! - perfect, glowing face.  Incredible!  From there, she gave Erin huge dark eyes and long lashes, evil queen eyebrows, BRIGHT red lips and some harsh light around her cheekbones.  The cherry on the sundae was Erin's small, perfect red heart, drawn PERFECTLY on the first try.  This impressed me to no end.
SERIOUSLY, who free hands a perfect heart on the first try? 



Natosha, that's who.   I was next.  Mine was quicker because it was just basic, pretty make-up, but I was so happy with it, especially with my lipstick.  I had chosen like a deep raspberry pink, "just bitten" look, something that I would NEVER wear in real life because I'm a wienie.  Raspberry colors are for like, I don't know, Kim Kardashian?  We were so happy with Natosha. You can check out her website at: http://natoshacooke.com/

 With nary a minute to spare, we dashed downtown to meet with our photographer.    We got downtown much faster than we anticipated, and had time to grab a quick sandwich, and by "we" I mean Erin, because Ink! coffee does not think it's important to mention on their menu that the Chicken Salad Sandwich is smothered in balsamic vinaigrette.   Um, SICK.  I speak for all the picky eaters of the earth when I say PLEASE put all the ingredients on a sandwich on the menu. No sandwich for me.

Erin chowed the sandwich, and I sipped on a tea until it was time to go.  

The Queen of Hearts has NO MERCY on a sandwich.

We defeintely got some strange looks walking around Little Raven Street downtown with a giant sword, and Erin looking like she stepped out a fantasy novel.  I'm sure the people at Ink! were like "Uhh, a little heavy handed on the makeup today!"  But we didn't care.  She's the Queen of Hearts, darn it, and it was time to get fierce.

The photo shoot was about to begin. To be continued...