This is the most difficult blog post I’ve ever written…. I’ve started it several times in the past week and then just deleted it all!  I have some BIG news and it’s truly “BitterSweet”….

As some of you may, or may not know, my ex had to move to Pennsylvania in August for a new job and that has left me all alone this fall… as a parent…So it has really been tough this fall to juggle everything (kidddos, work, health…) on my own. If that isn’t enough, last October (2008) I began to experience a great pain in my right arm and hand… my forefinger and thumb stay almost completely numb.  This year I had 2 MRI’s and consulted with a neurosurgeon who informed me that I have almost 3 completely ruptured disks in my neck which are pinching a nerve, which is the cause of the pain in my arm/hand and numbness.  Unfortunately, I may not be a suitable candidate for DISK surgery because the disks are also “curved” and may reject any fusions or disk implants…  (so I’m told) …so the doctors say I will need some really extensive (read: $$$ and TIME) physical therapy to try to alleviate the pain and *fix* it (to a point). I have come to the realization that I will need some extra help with the kiddos and to work less than I do now… So… after considering all options… I have decided that I need to relocate (move!) to Texas to be closer to my family and Kevin.   I really wanted to wait until the summer, but after this busy fall (Christmas) season, I realize I can’t continue to ignore the pain and can’t risk possible PERMANENT nerve damage to my right arm (I sorta need it! *smiles*)  Also, my son Andrew (almost 14! ack!) will be starting high school next fall and I’d really like to get him settled and make some friends before high school starts up in the fall.

This decision has been a HUGE struggle and I’m really hurting about this.   I’m excited to be closer to my family and Kevin… but growing up as a “military brat”, I’ve never lived anywhere as long as I’ve lived here (almost 7 years) and really consider this my “home”. My clients are loyal and AMAZING and have truly become friends and *family*!

I am not *officially* closing my Riverview (Tampa) studio at this point… I am planning to fly back for my shoots here in Tampa every so many weeks.  I will be closed during this transition and will reopen for the time(s) I return. (check blog/newsletter/site to find out when that is!) For you Dallas/Fort Worth peeps…. this might make you smile as I have already made arrangements to rent studio space there. I’ll be “biCOASTal”… except I don’t think Dallas has a *coast* (smile…. maybe a lake??)

For my current clients…. this is another reason for the December 15th (today!) cutoff… I am organizing EVERYTHING!  Please let me know asap if you need any orders by December 25th! Christmas!

Sorry to be longwinded…This has been a difficult time. I wish you all an AMAZING holiday season and the BEST for 2010!  Don’t hesitate to email me anyTIME! I’ll be around!! I am grateful for the most wonderful friends, photographer *friends*, clients & family!  Thank you for all the thoughts, prayers and wishes from those who have known the pain I’ve been enduring.  I love you all!

And b/c I should always include a PICTURE… here’s me with my beautiful *babies* (one who now has facial hair… no! not Gabriela! LOL!). From last spring in Anguilla! Paradise!  They are the reason I KNOW I can’t be a good “MOMMY” unless I take care of ME and my HEALTH!

Today’s the day… Get your holiday orders in today and they’ll make it by Christmas!! I may be able to accept orders as late as this weekend, but there with be a rush charge and that’s no fun!

Also, for those of you who were on the fence about prior sessions/orders… The hard drive PROJECT begins tomorrow for me, so you still have today to get me an order before I “clean FILE house”! (I should take a picture of the ROWS of External hard drives I have–in addition to the MINI’s! crazy!)

I will also have a BIG announcement this afternoon… Stay tuned.
Also, if you are someone who is expecting your proof album or DVD slideshow… They are all being assembled as I type and will be shipped out no later than next week…so YES….you will have it by Christmas!

And because a blog post should have a picture… here’s a recent Christmas cutie!

Joy to the World Websummit

28 speakers. 14 hours. Serious Money Making Ideas.

‘Tis the season to give and reflect on how thankful we are for our friends and family, clients and staff. All year, you’ve given your clients beautiful images for their homes and families. So how about a gift for you that may be the best gift you’ll receive in 2009.

Please join me and 27 other industry leading photographers for The Joy to the World FREE Marketing Websummit on December 28, 2009. We’ll each share our best money-making ideas for your business in the new year. From promotional ideas, to earning a larger investment from each wedding client, workflow improvements and more, you’ll learn so much in these 14 FREE hours to substantially grow your business in 2010. At the same time, we’ll be helping fund smiles for children in need of cleft lip and cleft palate surgeries through PPA Charities.

Want to know more?

Over 10,000 professional photographers registered for our Master Photographers Free Marketing Telesummit in September. You raved about how much you learned so we thought why not do it again to help you get off to a strong start in the New Year…and make it BIGGER and BETTER! This time, you can learn from David Jay, Sam Puc, Julia Woods, Jerry Ghionis, Scott Crosby, Will Crockett and more! The Joy to the World Websummit promises to provide you with serious money making ideas for your business.

All you need is a computer with an Internet connection to join us December 28 (and the latest version of Adobe Flash – it’s free, too). The Websummit will be available for 24 hours beginning at 12:01 CST on December 28. Listen to only those speakers you like best or watch all 28. You can start, stop and pause each speakers’ presentation to learn at your leisure within the 24 hour window. Simply REGISTER NOW for FREE HERE!

Here is a video explaining in detail the Websummit as well!

P.S. If you’re not available on December 28, 2009 or want to get a head start on 2010 planning for your business, you can purchase the Adobe FLASH files of all 14 hours for $89 and receive access to the speaker presentations IMMEDIATELY. A pre-websummit special price of $59 is available until December 27. Just register before December 28, 2009, and you’ll receive this special offer!

P.P.S. The Joy of Marketing has partnered with PPA Charities to change the world – one smile at a time.  Join us in raising funds for PPA’s charitable partner, Operation Smile, whose network of volunteers work worldwide to repair childhood facial deformities including cleft lips and cleft palates. Learn more here.

Wow! Where did this year go? 2009 has truly been a WHIRLWIND of a year for me…. full of many changes. Some good. Some bad. Guess that can be said for every year, however this one feels a little bit more of a roller coaster for me than others. I have a BIG announcement in the works… but you’ll have to check in later for that!

I wanted to send out a reminder than to receive any orders by Christmas… I will need to receive those orders by Tuesday, December 15th!  Yep… That’s about 4 days! So you have the weekend to make your decisions and let me know. I might still be able to accept some orders after the 15th, however, they will incur a RUSH charge based on what you are ordering…and who wants to pay more $$ right now??

Also, as you know, I always archive all files when you purchase your PROOF ALBUM, however, only archive ORDERED files if you did not. I am doing a HUGE external HARD drive overhaul to get organized for the new year and will be purging (that’s DELETING in non photographer terms…ha!) all extra files.  I will start this AFTER the 15th, so let me know asap if there are any portraits you have been thinking about but had not decided yet….

I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful weather here in Tampa today and the Holiday Season! Happy Hannukkah to my Jewish friends and clients!  And on a final note… my daughter has gotten into “playing” on the computer too….ah a girl after my own heart! She “Elfed” us! (you will notice her brother was not included in the Elfing… Kinda funny! LOL!)

Well, per usual this time of year, I’m up to my eyeballs in shooting and editing…. ’tis the season! (actually higher than my eyeballs, b/c I’m pretty short and there’s LOTS of work! ha!)

I did want to make a quick mention of an upcoming event that I’m going to be speaking at, which is for an AMAZING cause, called “Stephanie’s Sunday”…. THIS SUNDAY, November 15th at the Double Tree in Tampa.   It’s only a $50 *DONATION* for a day full of learning and camaraderie! Everyone is donating their time for this and I am looking forward to a GREAT day. You can learn more about the event on the Facebook Fan Page HERE.

In addition to this event, I have other speaking engagements coming up in 2010. You can view them on the educational site:  Rings to Rattles (each specifies who is speaking where! *S*)

I’m super excited to announce that within 24 hours my WPPI masterclass was already SOLD OUT! Pretty snazzy! They do have a waiting list and I know every year a few people are unable to attend for some reason or another, so if you are interested, get your name on the list!

Be sure to check back, as new speaking dates and seminars are always popping up here and there! See ya soon!!!

OKAY kids! I’m a NIGHT person… so I’ll be up ’til midnight AT LEAST…. if you want a digi file from a recent session.. email me now!!  If you didn’t make it, vote for my *KIDS*!! I have the BEST clients in the world! They deserve to WIN!!!!!

The contest is in full swing and the deadline extended until October 20th and now you can enter more than ONE image per child!!  In addition remember anytime the magazine needs a model for one their photo spreads the editors will be choosing from the photos of the children entered in the Cover Kid Search.

12 Children between the ages of 3 months and 15 yrs will be chosen to grace the cover of Tampa Bay Parenting Magazine (starting Jan 2010)! Great gifts will also be awarded to each child/family selected.

If you’ve already been to the studio (within last 3 months for kiddos 1-12 and within 1 month for kiddos under 1), and you’d like to enter the contest, send me an email with the image number you’d like to submit and I’ll send you a digital web version for you to use. If you want to enter, but like to have my recommendation, just say the word!

You can see more details on their site: Tampa Bay Parenting

C’mon! Let’s see if we can fill the every month of 2010 with an Alycia Alvarez Photography portrait! I’m sure I photograph the cutest kids in the Tampa Bay Area (and beyond!!)

You can vote from one computer, one time a day! Spread the word… here’s the FAVS!! Please support these adorable kiddos!

Newest Entries First… VOTE!!!

Ailani: (Client before born! she’s a SASSYmeister now! woah! I’ll have a separate blog on her comments later! love her!)

Gabriella & Siena (TWINS! and amazing, touch your heart make you cry story about them… stay tuned!):

Olivia: (been my client since she was SIX MONTHS!!)

Collin: (Olivia’s brother…client since before born! LOL!)

Aidan: (woah! how’d he get SOOOO big?????)

Eastin, his baby brother! (again… since *tummy time!… time FLIES)

Olivia: (miss THANG! she’s always STYLIN!)

DJ:

Demi:

Gabby:

Christophe:

Sophie:

Patricio:

Valeria:

Cate:

Sam:

Bella:

Shawn:

Jack:

Alex:

Sam:

Julia:

Anthony:

Alec:

The contest is in full swing and the deadline extended until October 20th and now you can enter more than ONE image per child!!  In addition remember anytime the magazine needs a model for one their photo spreads the editors will be choosing from the photos of the children entered in the Cover Kid Search.

12 Children between the ages of 3 months and 15 yrs will be chosen to grace the cover of Tampa Bay Parenting Magazine (starting Jan 2010)! Great gifts will also be awarded to each child/family selected.

If you’ve already been to the studio (within last 3 months for kiddos 1-12 and within 1 month for kiddos under 1), and you’d like to enter the contest, send me an email with the image number you’d like to submit and I’ll send you a digital web version for you to use. If you want to enter, but like to have my recommendation, just say the word!

You can see more details on their site: Tampa Bay Parenting

C’mon! Let’s see if we can fill the every month of 2010 with an Alycia Alvarez Photography portrait! I’m sure I photograph the cutest kids in the Tampa Bay Area (and beyond!!)

You can vote from one computer, one time a day! Spread the word… here’s the FAVS!! Please support these adorable kiddos!

Olivia:

DJ:

Demi:

Gabby:

Christophe:

Sophie:

Patricio:

Valeria:

Cate:

Sam:

Bella:

Shawn:

Jack:

Alex:

Sam:

Julia:

Anthony:

Alec:

Okay… finally got my snazzy scheduler.  My beautiful, wonderful assistant (and BFF *smiles*) who has worked with me for the past five years part time, got a full time job and so I’ve been having to play alot of phone tag with you guys lately. Sorry about that and rest assured… if you have left me a message or email… I AM working my tail off to get back to you. This time of year gets crazy for me… so hang with me if you can!

So onto the dates & times…

Mini Sessions (30 minutes, kids only, one outfit… details can be seen a few posts back: MINI SESSIONS ) will be held in October only on the following dates: October 20-23 & 27-30. Dates are already filling up (the newsletter just went out.. be sure to sign up for it if you’re not yet!) So if you are interested, you can check the days/times available here:

AVAILABLE DATES & TIMES

I’m still anxious to post my London *travels* but have been so busy since getting back and then jumping into the holiday season! Here’s a couple teasers!!

BIG BEN @ sunset!

Stonehenge… And NO! I didn’t add the BIRD!

I wanted to give an update on the pricing for the upcoming mini Holiday Sessions.  These we be offered the last two weeks of October only.  I’m still working out the nifty online scheduling system to avoid the phone tag once I announce the available days & times. The official dates will be October 20-23 and October 28-30 ONLY.  For these sessions, there’s *NO* session fee, just a minimum prepaid $295 purchase (Basic Collection) to hold your reservation.  I hope to have the schedule up by the end of this week, but if you know are interested in scheduling a mini session, you can email me: alycia@alyciaalvarezphotography.com to ensure a spot because these have limited availability.   Here’s more information about the session and packages, and you can see my “theme suggestions” on the last blog post HERE.

Wow! It’s October ALREADY! Crazy! Life has been fast and furious for me personally and professionally.  I’ve recently been asked to speak at several more conventions, so I’ll blog that one on another post.  Lots of news and suprises coming soon!

But first things first! ‘Tis the season for Holiday Cards and we all know December gets here faster than a fruitcake gets regifted! LOL!

The cutoff for holiday sessions is November 13th (with the exception of newborns & bella baby clients).  I am almost totally booked up for November and most of October.  In order to accomodate more clients and try to avoid the dreaded “waiting list”, I am going to try something new this year and have some “Simple Sibling Sessions”. These are 30 minute sessions, one outfit, one “theme”. Great for those of you who don’t neccesarily want to have the entire family in a session and really want to gear the session for your Custom Holiday Cards and a few prints for grandma & grandpa.

I will announce pricing details next week, but there will be limited availability to these studio sessions and they will fill up quickly. I’m working on setting up an online scheduling program so that you can see the exact times/days available to avoid playing “tag” during this crazy time.

So while your waiting for further details and specifics (and my new nifty scheduler), you can start thinking about your “one outfit” for the session. To help you out, here’s some that are tried and true!

Also… some new cards have been added this year to the custom templates (they are on the last pages)… Check them out here:  CUSTOM HOLIDAY TEMPLATES