Melissa Oholendt | Minnesota Wedding & Lifestyle Photography

There’s been a lot of talk on the blog lately about kids and babies and the lack of which my womb desires either one. (Yup, just said womb on the blog.) Sometimes I wonder if I do have a biological clock or if it is possible that I could have been born without that innate desire to procreate and fill the Earth with little Melissa’s and their nine year old propensity towards perms, glasses and koolats. But every once in a while, a family comes along that gives me license to believe that if I could be a mom & wife and have THAT kind of child and still maintain a sense of self, love and style then maybe, just maybe, I could be there one day too.

Before I knew Lisa as a mom, I knew her as Lisa Mallaiah, the very fabulous and stylish writer of My Inner Fashionlogue; hands down one of my favorite style blogs. But it wasn’t until I really got to know her that I discovered that not only is this woman fiercely fashionable & gorgeous but she also has one amazing, giving heart to back it up. And then I met Miles (also know as the baby who may change my mind about babies) and her wonderful husband Mitch and I started to feel the desire to make a case to be adopted into their family. I LOVE this family. Insta-love. And I’m really not ashamed of it.

So, guys…about that adoption thing…

Back in 1998, an album came out that changed my teenage life as I knew it. I was a sophmore in high school and ever-so-slightly obsessed with a certain boy band named N’Sync. (And by ever-so-slightly I mean to say that I recorded every [and I mean every] TV show they made an appearance on, hung posters, bought books, maybe/might have even memorized the dance to “I Want You Back”. No biggie.) For you non-N’Sync junkies, 1998 was the year the Home for Christmas album hit the shelves and infiltrated the hearts of preteens (and 15 year olds – don’t judge) everywhere.

Track #2 was a little gem called “Under My Tree” and if you haven’t listened to this song you are truly missing out on lyrical genius. For example, I give you the chorus.

No one else but me and you
Nothing I would rather do
Then hold you all through the night
Under my tree
Bring along the mistletoe
Keep the music nice and low
I’ll show you how good it could be.
I wish that Santa could be here to see
It’s beautiful
Under my tree

Amazing, right? Think about it: twinkly lights, soft Christmas music, warm fireplace, cozy cable knit blankets, evergreen scented everything…Justin Timberlake… Who wouldn’t want to be under a tree? For this 15 year old, it became my idea of romantic perfection. Some place I wanted to be one day; some place, God-willing, I would be one day.

Earlier this Christmas season as I started to feel the struggle with the busyness and responsibilities of adulthood & running your own business, I found myself standing in my family room with the N’Sync Home for Christmas album in hand and a finger over the repeat button. I grabbed a pillow off the couch, slid under the tree until I couldn’t see anything but lights and ornaments and I sang my little Grinch heart out until it became the big Grinch heart. Repeat by repeat, I serenaded the dog (who was very, very confused but mostly excited I was on his level) and finally felt that familiar sparkly Christmastime feeling I had been missing. It wasn’t until then that I realized that the guys of N’Sync had gotten something completely and totally right.

Everything really is better when you are singing to someone you love (or in my case, singing to a dog you love) from under a Christmas tree. There are some things that will never stop being good for the soul and that might actually be one of them. Don’t judge until you try.

Merry Christmas from our little big-Grinch-heart family to yours. xoxo

Welcome to the brand-new-and-highly-(highly)-improved Melissa Oholendt Photography. This day might actually be the most exciting day to happen in my life so far. And yes, that means it trumps the day I was born, the day I got my drivers license and (just barely) the day I married Matt. It’s likely this could also be known as the project that has occupied every single piece of my brain and has been eating up all my sanity over the last 11 months but I could not be more thrilled to share and I could not be more proud of the results. I also really could not have done this alone.

My brilliant designer Taylor Pemberton is the genius behind the cohesive brand that I am so in-love with and became one of my closest (and definitely one of my most handsome) friends in the process.

Calligrapher Grace Edmands brought the gorgeous (gorgeous!!) calligraphy to life and even sent me a Christmas card (!!).

My absurdly talented web designer Phil Joncas built, coded and styled the crap out of my amazing website from the ground up and gave melissaoholendt.com the upgrade of a lifetime.

My stunning photo-bestie Gina Zeidler put me in front of her camera and somehow managed to get my best side from every side even despite my frequent attempts to look ridiculous.

And to every single person who has sent encouraging texts, emails, tweets, facebook messages and phone calls over the last 11 months? You made this happen. No lies. I owe you a macaron date (or five).

Heart this day times a million.

(That is a happy face, my friends. Photo by the effervescent Gina Zeidler.)