“I’ll be loving you, every part of you, even when the good goes bad
I’ll always put you first, just like you deserve, girl, I promise you that
And no matter what’s up ahead, I’ll prove it again and again
I can’t give everything but I’ll give all that I have
I can promise you that”
Trevor Martin – Promise You That
I don’t think it really hit me all at once. It’s been more like these small moments that keep sneaking up on me lately. The kind where everything feels normal, and then it just isn’t for a second. Like it clicks again that we’re actually getting close. Not “sometime down the line” close. Actually close. Before we know it we’ll go from a family of three to a family of five. Life moves so fast and so slow at the same time. That being said we’re back today and for a change it’s just Mackenzie perfectly posed in one of FOXCITY’s newest offerings, Softly.
There’s a lot of excitement, but it’s not loud. It’s more like it’s sitting just under everything else. We still haven’t picked names. We have ideas of some, but nothing concrete. At this point I don’t even know if we’re being picky or if we’re just trying to hold onto that last unknown for a little longer. We’ve gone through so many names that I’ve lost track. Some stick for a day, some don’t even make it past saying them out loud once. We have some we really like but then we get stuck figuring out a middle name that works with it. It’s a work in progress, but we’ll figure it out by the time the twins get here, and as always if she prefers something over what I suggest then her is the one, I’m all for that. She has great choices for names already, we just need that perfect combination for both that its well with their big sister. In time it will come, I’m sure.
A baby boy and a baby girl and somehow one of the hardest decisions we’ve had is what to call them. That feels about right. Charlotte has absolutely inserted herself into the process too. She’s got opinions, she’s got suggestions, and she is very confident about all of them. Some of them are actually good. Some of them are not even close. But she’s all in, and seeing how excited she is about being a big sister makes everything feel a little more real in a way I didn’t expect. Let’s be fair too, she’s only turning three this year so her choices might not quite be what we’d think of, but we’re both here for the big sister energy she brings.
It’s not just something that’s happening to us anymore. It’s something that’s happening to all of us. I ended up taking this photo with FOXCITY’s Softly Photo Booth at Collabor88, and it fit this moment way better than I expected it to. It’s not overdone. That’s the first thing that stood out to me. The lighting is soft in a way that doesn’t wash everything out, just kind of smooths it. There’s this haze to it (thanks Satomi for the EEPs!), but you can still feel the space. The windows, the little details, the way everything kind of sits instead of trying to stand out. Let’s hit the details on it before I continue on.
It is highly customizable to get exactly what you’re aiming for. When it comes to the lighting you can change the lanterns, the ambient lighting, the string lights, as well as the PBR ambiance to fit. You can choose to hide or show the surround outside the window was well as turn the glow on it off or on. It’s also able to be bright or not bright. Endless possibilities. The blanket on the bed is absolutely perfect and can be furry or sleek, your choice! The spare curtain on the back and be hidden or shown (it’s the one on the left over the window in the photo). The Ellie bear on the chair can be hidden if you want to, I chose not to because it fit the scene perfectly. There’s also options to change the look of the coffee table as well as an orchid plant that I did hide for the shot.
It just all feels calm. That’s been harder to find lately in the middle of everything. We’ve had a very busy month and time to just relax and do things like this has been fleeting. I’m not complaining though, things need to get done and priorities are priorities. So when it came to shooting this I didn’t want to overthink the shot. It turns out that I didn’t need to. We set it up and I played around adjusting a pose to fit what I saw and then got the angle and lighting I wanted right off the bat. This isn’t one of those moments that needs to be turned into something bigger than it is. If anything, it’s the opposite. It’s smaller. Quieter. The kind of moment you might miss if you weren’t paying attention. We’ve got a lot of those in the coming days, weeks, and months. I can’t spill all the secrets just yet though so you’ll find out eventually.
I loved Mackenzie just standing there, hands resting where everything is changing, trying to wrap her head around the fact that in a really short amount of time, life is going to look completely different. Not in a scary way. Just bigger. That’s the word I keep coming back to. Bigger in every sense of it and I think that’s why this setup worked so well. FOXCITY has always been good at making spaces that feel like they’re meant to be used, not just looked at. This one feels like somewhere you’d actually stop and exist for a while instead of rushing through to get the shot. It’s comfortable, cozy, peaceful, perfect for the kind of moment I was looking to shoot with Mackenzie. Thankfully she is a very patient and willing girlfriend who tolerates my never ending tweaks and adjustments.
That mattered to me with this one. Because I didn’t want this to feel staged. I wanted it to feel like exactly what it is. Somewhere in between where we were at that exact time and where we’re about to be. No clean lines between those two things, just kind of blending together right now. That in-between ethereal space. We’re still figuring things out. Still going back and forth on names. Still having those late night conversations where we think we’ve decided something and then change our minds the next day. But it doesn’t feel stressful. It just feels like home. Credits for everything can be found below. Until next time…
“I can’t make the sun shine in the rain
Can’t make tomorrow go our way
But I can make one promise that I won’t break
That I’ll be loving you, no matter what”
Trevor Martin – Promise You That
Credits:
~Scene~
Backdrop: FOXCITY. Photo Booth – Softly ~ Little Snacc ~ NEW @ Collabor88 (Mar 8-Apr 6)
~Her~
Head: LeLutka EvoX CAMILA 4.0 ~ Jaden Nova
Hair: /TRUTH/ Collective Daydream / ~ Litterbug Resident
Body: [LEGACY] [BODY] (f) (1.7.1) ~ MeshBody Resident
Pregnancy System: Warm Animations – Warm Bloom – The Pregnancy Morph System 0.5 ~ WarmAnimations Lisa
Arm Tattoos: HORL – Arm Orn 4 Tattoo [FADED 50] ~ Bree Coy
Hand Tattoos: ALBA – Lore Tattoos Bundle (1, 5, 6, 7, 9) ~ Kaiasalvat Resident
Sweater: Elune. Nova Sweater ~ Nina Cutie
Top: Elune. Nova Top ~ Nina Cutie
Shorts: Elune. Nova Shorts ~ Nina Cutie
Necklace: (Yummy) Initial Pendant Necklace – L ~ Polyester Partridge