A Holiday photo shoot...

How do you think you would prepare for a photo shoot? I am sure such you would want to put forth your best effort and dust every surface, polish wood floors, touch-up paint and make things sparkle, right? I think that is a good plan, too, but it just didn't happen that way for me when Matthew and Jenny Mead arrived to shoot a holiday feature at my home. With five stories due to Matthew (by noon on the day before he was to arrive) for the gardening magazine we are working on, I had been basically chained to my desk all week. My house in a relative shambles, I hit send - files attached - jumped from my chair (my daughter in tow), and raced to the grocery store for *luxuries* like bread, milk, and eggs. Back home, I gathered up a few pretties and headed out to the little cottage by the sea which Matthew and Jenny were renting for the upcoming week. There, I made up a bed with a pretty quilt and sheets, threw open some windows and stocked the fridge with some Canadian goodies like (real) Cadbury chocolate and Kraft peanut butter. You know, the basics. Once home, I began to declutter (not clean) the house while my husband set to cleaning out the garage to make room for the props...

**For the rest of the story, head here!**