Where oh where have I been?

Here is the short version:

I met with my favorite album company, the ONLY company I trust to make my wedding albums, Forbeyon! I am really excited to announce that I will be one of their Sponsored Photographers this next year. Anyone who knows me that when I have very good service or very bad service, I am extremely vocal about it, and my service with Forbeyon has been nothing short of impeccable, so I am more than happy to spread the good word about the great people at Forbeyon and their handmade, top of the line wedding albums. I have been singing their praises to anyone who will listen for years now. If you’re a wedding photographer and you’re looking for an album company, shoot me an e-mail and I will tell you exactly why I adore Forbeyon!

Then I jet-setted to Toccoa, GA (by way of Atlanta) for the much-anticipated wedding of Jaclyn and Mark, which I shall be sharing with you verrrrry soon! Here is an extremely unattractive photo of the loverly couple, me, and my second shooter extraordinaire Kelly Niemann, courtesy of my little point-and-shoot and some random car’s roof.

I came home to find the best gift ever, a pair of awesome Luxe Deluxe earrings from my new favorite bride ever, Mrs. Nikole Bordato!

I treated myself to a day of girly fun, including a new set of highlights and some side-bang, although sadly I have no good photos of it Then it was off to little ol’ Ruston, Louisiana to spend a weekend with Jason’s family. While we were there, we got to catch a Louisiana Tech game, Jason and his brother Joey’s alma mater. Have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE college football? It borders on an obsession.

Tragically, my own alma mater did not fare so well that day… I don’t want to talk about it… But thankfully Jason’s nephews Drew and Chandler were great distractions, and kept me laughing through my tears all weekend.

Jason and I took Sallie Mae on a tour of the Tech campus, and we found Jason and Joey’s bricks! Louisiana Tech has an awesome tradition of getting a brick inscribed with the names of each graduate and placing them on campus in a walkway in chronological order. So cool!

Then it was off to Joey and Jana’s new house for some delicious multi-flip burgers. Their friend stopped by with a surprise - her new pet squirrel! So random, but very very cool! (Side note: To anyone seeing this and thinking how cool it would be to get a pet squirrel, think again.. This squirrel was rescued, and is being taken care of until it reaches maturity and then will be released into the wild. In many places keeping a squirrel as a pet is illegal.. Stick to hamsters and gerbils instead!)

I also had the chance to have lunch with the fabulous Kelly Moore while I was in Ruston. I have admired Kelly’s business and her photography for a long, long time, but she also just so happens to be Jason’s good friend from high school and college! Coincidence? I think not! A lot of people ask me who I would hire to shoot my wedding photos if I were a bride, and the answer is definitely Kelly. Her style is, in my opinion, classic and timeless and very unique (which is a tough thing to achieve these days). She constantly inspires me!

When I got home, partially inspired by Kelly and partially exhausted from four months of 80-hour workweeks and not having a true weekend off since May (I still haven’t, really), I decided to sit down and revamp my schedule. From now on, I am officially taking all Mondays off. The only photography-related thing I will do on Mondays is answer critical e-mails from clients or respond to new inquiries, but other than that, I am taking Mondays to myself. My Saturdays and Sundays are almost always filled with weddings or portrait sessions, and if not, I am usually scrambling around the house to get other projects done. No mas! Mondays are now Fundays! Maybe now I can catch up on all those episodes of Bridezillas saved on my Tivo….

This past weekend I drove down to Houston to shoot the wedding of my old college roommate Alli and the man I drunkenly introduced to her, Matt. I will share that story later, but keep an eye out for her bridal photos in the next week. She is stunning! I also got to shoot a great engagement session with Jennifer and Anthony/TJ/Teej, who are two extremely fun and friendly people. Now that I have finally met them and seen firsthand how cool they are (although their friends have already e-mailed me to confirm their coolness), I can’t wait for their wedding!

This week I took my first Monday Funday, and predictably enough spent virtually the whole day cleaning. I enjoyed it though, so that’s all that matters! Last night my mom, sister, and I went to see the touring production of Mamma Mia. To say that my mom is obsessed with this show would be the understatement of the century. She has seen the movie probably 20 times (it’s still in theaters, by the way, and yes, she is STILL going to see it) and saw the Broadway show while we were in NYC, but she convinced me to come along and see the tour during its stop in Fort Worth. I’m so glad I did, it was hilarious! Do we look related?

I have quite a bit of catch up blogging to do.. Zi and Gary’s engagement session, the Kelly/Elkins wedding and Day After session, Alli’s bridals, Laci’s bridals, Jennifer and Anthony’s engagement session, Sarah and Drew’s Day After session… Whew! Stay tuned!

Check out this page on college news website Palestra.net and make sure you go to the list on the right side of the page and click #6, Missouri. Do any of those band members look familar? Here’s a hint…

It’s former Juliana Theory member, current Confident Years drummer, and my most rockstar groom ever, Neil Hebrank (and two of his groomsmen)! Woohoo, congrats Neil!

….was a very very very good week.

I came home from a weekend in Houston to find these waiting for me (I LOOOOOOOOOVE fresh flowers):

And this in the mailbox (I love clients who use their photographs in unique ways - in this case, brilliant and beautiful thank you notes):

I ordered a jar of this (nom!):

And then Jason and I spent the weekend turning our drab puke-green bedroom with no light and mismatched furniture into THIS:

And then I followed a guide I found in my beloved Real Simple book to create a pretty bulletin board for the closet, with all the little things I might need for a clothing emergency:

Oh, AND I turned our dirty comforter that was too big to fit in any washing machine known to man into a DUVET COVER that we can slip off and wash any time we want that fresh laundry smell.  Woohoo!

All in all, a very productive weekend. We have been meaning to redo our bedroom for awhile now, but since I have been working every weekend since May, we didn’t really have a chance until now. I can’t tell you how much I love our bedroom now. I pretty much never want to leave it! It makes me happy just to stand back and look at it Obviously we still need to get art up on the wall (a big canvas over the bed, an arrangement of black and white images in black frames on the window wall, and possibly something above the TV) but it’s a vast improvement.

This weekend I am off to tiny Toccoa, Georgia to photograph a wedding I have been excited about for a loooooooooong time.  The bride and groom are crazy cool and I can’t wait to share more details about them when I return!

As most of you know, this past week I jetted off to my new favorite city in America, New York! Although I was there to do some awesome destination portrait sessions that will be revealed at a later date as well as meet with a few potential clients, I also got to spend some quality time with my family, which is a far too rare thing for me these days. In the past few years, my mom has become my traveling buddy, flying to crazy places like China, Italy, and NYC to keep me company while I work, and we always have a ridiculous amount of fun together. This trip was no exception! And my sister Candy came along for the ride, as well!

Here is a little visual buffet of some of the things we did:

And a little explanation….
Row 1: I got to see Legally Blonde: The Musical’s brand new leading lady Bailey Hanks - TWICE! I am so in love with this musical, and with Bailey. One of my new favorites!! Notice my awesome hot pink dress - When in Rome…
Row 2: I had to take Mom and Candy to see my 2nd favorite musical, and it just so happened to fall on the 5th anniversary of Avenue Q’s opening night. It was a really cool experience, from posing in a huge furry birthday cake to being serenaded with a special song by the cast and crew to GETTING A PHOTO WITH HOWIE MICHAEL SMITH!! Eeeeee!
Rows 3 & 4: Being a cheesy tourist with mom, including taking an infamous Duck Tour, riding through the city in a double decker bus, and stopping at a street fair for pashminas, purses, and yummy food.
Row 5: Getting up at 5 AM in the morning to stand in line for Regis and Kelly - and being among the last few people to get in!! We got to see two shows get taped, including - purrrrr - Anderson Cooper.

Other fun things I managed to squeeze into my schedule:
-Staying at the Renaissance Times Square, the best hotel in Manhattan
-Running into my fellow Aggie, fellow graphic design class victim, and American Idol superstar Jason Castro at Central Park
-Waiting outside various stage doors so my starstruck mom could get to see a real-life celebrity
-Nearly getting into a fist fight in the Regis and Kelly line with a horrible man who had no respect for women
-Picking up a new set of Chanel specs - my weakness!
-Dropping $1,000 on Wicked tickets and getting to see the incomparable Kerry Ellis and her uber-talented understudy. I have now seen four different Elphabas!

Finally I am home again, but not for long. This weekend I am headed to Houston for a bridal session extravaganza. If you are in Houston and need to meet me for a consultation, schedule a portrait session with me, or otherwise hook up with me in person, please contact me ASAP as my schedule is filling up very quickly.

Coming soon: Nikole and Chris’ killer destination wedding in Puerto Plata!

Note:  this was supposed to show up last Wednesday, so you guys would have something to look at while I was gone, but for some reason it didn’t.  Bummer :(  So here is last Wednesday’s humpdates - another to come tomorrow!  I am so happy to be back at home!

So last week was, obviously, all about the Dominican Republic! Jason and I headed out to the beautiful Cofresi area of Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic to shoot Nikole and Chris’ wedding and get some quality time in, away from computers and TVs and cell phones and work. So what did we do the entire time we were there? Watch TV, movies, check our email and voicemail, and work. We’re pathetic!!! Okay, so we didn’t do that the ENTIRE time.. But here is what our average day looked like:

9 AM - wake up, roll out of bed, and head to the buffet for breakfast
10 AM - swim in the main resort pool
12 PM - lunch at the buffet
1 PM - go back to our room and take a nap, watch TV, and check our email
4 PM - swim in the main pool again
6 PM - dinner at the buffet
7 PM - back to the room for more napping, TV, and e-mail checking
11 PM - bedtime

Seriously, aside from shooting, that pretty much sums up what we did. There were plenty of cool activities included in our package - horseback riding, tennis, basketball, spanish lessons, a dance club, a movie theater, games on the beach, a spa and fitness center - and even more fun excursions around the island, like a city tour, river rafting, jumping off the waterfalls, helicopter tours, swimming with the dolphins, and a monster truck safari. And we did genuinely talk about doing some of those things. But honestly, after months of non-stop traveling, activities, workshops, and a jam-packed social calendar, swimming and napping was pretty much the most glorious, relaxing thing we could have imagined!

Here is the place we spent 75% of our free time:

And here is what made up 75% of our diet - Banana Mamas and Pina Coladas!

Since I take photos so much all the time, I actually take zero personal photos when I go on vacation, so I don’t have much else to show you. You’ll just have to trust me when I say we had a blast! If you’re looking for an amazing destination wedding or honeymoon location, or just a nice place to get away, Sun Village Resort is a great option. The staff was incredibly helpful and friendly, virtually everything was included (the only money we spent was on souvenirs), and the resort was in a killer location. Highly recommended! I want to go back already

Now I am off to NYC to do some shoots, meet with some clients, and have a good time. The number one thing I am looking forward to is seeing BAILEY in Legally Blonde on Broadway!! She was my favorite the entire season on Legally Blonde: The Search for Elle Woods, and I can’t wait to see her. We’ve also got tickets for Avenue Q (this will be my third time to see it!) and working on Wicked tix (again, third time!). Any other Broadway recommendations? We’re considering In The Heights and Spring Awakening, and we just might be on Regis and Kelly on Thursday, too!

I’ll be back next Tuesday… In the meantime, here is another preview from Nikole and Chris’ smokin’ hot Day After session!