photo by ann west

photo by amy twomey

ann's intro

Ok, really, just pinch me. A year ago if someone said I would be collaborating on a project with Amy… well just pinch me. I am so excited to have this project in my life. I have recently closed the door on a 6 year “baked good catering” venture with another great cook and wonderful friend. We had so much fun and success but we were ready for a change. About a year ago I picked my camera back up, started taking drawing classes and began to tap into my creative side. But I needed something more. Some direction, some inspiration, a challenge …. enter Amy and our collaboration and here we are. As many of you know Amy’s photos and life are inspiring. Her energy and enthusiasm are magnetizing. It’s easy being drawn to Amy. I first saw Amy with her family before we even met at a local pool. They were totally hip and cool. Even at first sight – her ease with life, dedication to her family and creativity were evident. Then we met for real at our children’s school and here we are now. I know she has given me a wonderful gift by asking me to join in this project – thank you Amy. I have loved cooking my entire life. I truly enjoy food, trying new things and reinventing old. The most important part about food to me is the sharing that comes with it. Now as a wife and mother of three I am challenged everyday by how to carve time out for us. Having dinner at the dinner table is important to me and so good for our family. It is a time just for us. So hear I am ready to discover food through photos and friendship. I can’t wait.

By the way… Happy Birthday Amy. Funny we are both Libras. This year will be great!

photo by ann west

amy's intro

I am forever grateful for my friend Ann and that she agreed to do a collaborative blog project with me. I recently closed my popular lifestyle blog because, well...something was just missing. I struggled with it for months. I wasn't challenged, or pushed artistically. As an artist, and Mom of three kids under 9, I needed something that was going to keep me real. A little place where I could explore food, and share stories and inspirations. I needed a place where I could go to feel like me. Then I met Ann. I didn't know when I met Ann that this was all going to come about. In fact, I didn't even know that we would be good friends. But here we are, two years later. Ann is everything I needed in my life. She, like me, loves photography, loves her husband and three kids, and loves to cook. I found out that I was Celiac five years ago. This completely changed my world. I now have the challenge of cooking for a family of five and I am the only gluten free of them all. I have been exploring with new foods, and through that my love of photographing people metamorphosed into loving even more photographing food. When I first met Ann two years ago, she was running a bake sale at our kids school carnival. She is tall... like Julia Child's tall, but beautiful and the most amazing red hair you have ever seen. She is stunning, and a baker too! I knew we had to be friends. So that is when our friendship began. A few weeks ago I approached Ann about a blog. I thought collaborating with Ann on a project that would push ourselves on so many levels was exactly what we needed right now in our lives. So here we are. And this is where our story begins. Oh by the way, today I turned 38 and this I know will be the best year of my life!

photo by ann west