Kristin Hillery Photography

Since middle school, I’ve held on to just about every note ever passed to me and every letter written to me — and now I’m scanning all of them so the Internet can share in the hilarity (and my embarrassment).

Check it out: Letters to Kristin.

Something really weird happened the other day when Lily and I went to my favorite cupcake shop in Austin, Hey Cupcake.

She actually wanted to take photos. And she did poses!

She even said things like, “Ohh, this will be perfect for my Valentines!”

She is so awesome.

(And so were those cupcakes.)

Mini-road trip for a photo client led me to Waelder, Texas, where I drove by this old dance hall.

Julie, Kelly, and I met for Chinese food months ago so they could tell me the details of their ceremony. I knew it’d be stylish and fabulous and crazy and classy and whimsical and anything but forgettable.

“I’m going to come down the aisle in a black veil to ‘Back in Black,’” Kelly said.

“Okay, this isn’t just a wedding,” I said. “It’s a production.”

“Exactly!” Kelly beamed.

The ceremony was held in the lovely candlelit courtyard of the Austin Women’s Club, an old mansion downtown.

The flower girl was nervous about her duties, but she pulled it off with flair after getting a peptalk from several people, including me. “You were my flower girl before you could even walk. You’re a seasoned pro,” I told her.

This is my favorite picture from the night. Pure happiness between two people in love who are surrounded by all of their friends and family yet only see each other in this moment.

I learned something that night: That my great aunt Marlys (right, glasses) cuts a seriously mean rug.