Adventures of a Big Girl

Hello blogger-land!!!! It's a beautiful Sunday afternoon here in Atlanta, which is such a blessing as I'm sure you've heard about the flash floods we've been having for the last couple of weeks. Everything seems to be dried up today and you wouldn't even know that as of yesterday at about 7pm you couldn't see 2 ft in front of you for the cold-grey-sideways-rain we were having!

We made it!!!! Atlanta is no longer underwater, which is great because last night some girlfriends and I had tickets to Sugarland (for only the second time they have come to atlanta) and if the concert had been underwater, it would have been a lot harder to enjoy (but know that we still would've gone, we ain't above little swimmies..ya heard?)

Sugarland was great, probably the 2nd best concert I've ever been to in my life, the first best being Boston (also at an amphiteatre). I wanna give a shoutout to Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre for having one of the best amphitheatre setups... simply because every seat is a good one (no seriously) and they rent chairs for a mere $5...totally worth it. The chairs aren't necessary for all concerts, but they were for us since our 'waterproof' blanket was quite the opposite.

Second shoutout of the weekend goes to Hyatt Place Hotels for being freakin' awesome. We were treated like queens in this boutique-like hotel that markets toward business travelers but is really for anyone who wants to forget they are in an actual hotel and pretend they are in a lush Manhattan loft.

This was our first outing as 'big girls'... freshly graduated, real-world women... and I think we did well. This session of 'adventures of a big girl' was done right, so much that all other sessions will have to at LEAST include a stay at the Hyatt...

Just meant to be, I guess...

As I circle the block for the 7th time, hitting every pothole on the way and probably some pedestrians too, I think to myself "if I circle this block one more time, it's a sign". And as I continue to pass all of the parking lots proudly displaying their "LOT FULL" signs, sure enough, I circle that block one more time, and I stick to my own convictions because really... who am I to deny a 'sign'? This is divine intervention of the most serious of implications. So as I circle the block one more time my little car breaks free of the monotany and stays straight ahead, headed to the nearest coffee shop with a killer acoustic soundtrack. "I guess it's just not meant to be, I guess I'm just not meant to go to class today" I say -that's right, class. Not meant to go and I feel great about it. Didn't I tell you it was of the most serious of implications?

So here I sit at a crazy awesome Atlanta coffee shop, void of all starbucks cliches (for the record I am not against starbucks, I just need some free wireless and natural light and Octane is perfect for that:)) Knowing that I really was meant to not go to class today because of the peace of mind I have right now, that feeling that nothing is rushed and life is good. I have a cup of joe, a killer acoustic soundtrack, natural light, and peace of mind. It was just meant to be, I guess...

Piedmont Park Portrait Session? Um YES PLEASE!!

So with Christmas being right around the corner (and by around the corner I mean 4 months away, respectively) it's time to start thinking about those ever-so-talked-about Christmas Portrait cards that are collected by our closest friends, family, bosses, car salesmen, dog groomers, sorority/fraternity members, and chiropractors (what, you don't send a card to your chiropractor? shame).

Of course, Christmas is not the only reason to break out a smile and pose, maybe the last time you had a portrait taken you were still modeling the fashions from Dawson's Creek or the early episodes of F-R-I-E-N-D-S, in this case, a 30-minute smile and laugh session would be great, and you wouldn't have to hide your photos each time you have company.

Where can you get a 30 minute pain-free portrait session you ask? Fantastic question, and we have taken care of it! Introducing: Portraits in the Park

The fabulous Joy Wilson and I have collaborated to offer a quick-fire portrait session in Piedmont Park for as many of you as we can fit inbetween 1-5pm. Bring your dogs, your friends, your children (or your friend's children), your family, a frisbee, water balloons, whatever! We are up for anything if you are!

Email us to book a time slot now! Click the little arrow on the top right of the flyer to make it readable :)

Natalie and Beau- Engagement

I have been sitting on these images for a little while, knowing that I really wanted to blog them, but never having the super-developed eloquent and witty prose to add to the pictures. I'm sure that never happens to anyone else.

I'm blogging them now because I realized that sometimes, you can have too much! Some sessions are enhanced by the love story that accompanies, and some stand fine on their own. Natalie and Beau happens to belong to the latter party.

So here they are, this gorgeous couple, all smiles and laughter, beautiful skin, Crest-kid smiles, and a love to rival them all. That's it, and that's them.

Parlez vous francais?

Yesterday was a fantastic day. It was Sunday, which is one of the days I long most for during the week simply because it is a day of rest for me. as tempting as it may be for me to open up my computer and start-up photoshop, organize future sessions, or rearrange every piece of furniture in my house (I do get the urge)... I know that unless I take the day to actually rest, enjoy life, and stop moving the week ahead will be an unfocused blur.

Take a day of rest.

You'll need it.

p.s. I know this has absolutely nothing to do with speaking french, but I had to ask.

Sometimes, that's all you need...

Sometimes....

Oh sometimes....

Sometimes happens a lot for me, and the circumstances that happen sometimes, are not always the 'sometimes' that I want. are ya following me here? Good.

But today's sometimes was great. Because today was the end of a week, and the beginning of a weekend. Yep that's right, my weekend starts tomorrow :) Tomorrow my mom and I are going to get to hang out for a little while... we'll stroll the kiosks of the Yellow Daisy Festival in Stone Mountain Georgia, go see a movie, and hopefully be able to breathe for the first time since Sunday.

Friday will be a fabulous day off. and sometimes, that's all you need.

A walk in the Park

"Life ain't just a walk in the park"...

How many times have you heard that one? Growing up with two very realistic parents, I had that drilled into my head, and they didn't leave the other bases untouched either... life is also not "a free lunch" "a bowl of cherries" "fair" "an easy ride".. you get the picture. If you can add onto the mantras then a cookie for you... or maybe a box of chocolates, since that seems to be the only thing life actually is.

I've lived by these little nuggets of information most of my life, and truth be told it has proven helpful in many situations... I was never the girl with unrealistic expecations for my boyfriends, if it ended... well, "life ain't fair". Whenever something drastic happened, a death, job loss, driving in teh wrong direction for 234 mi, etc.... It was always easier to not panic if you knew that life "isn't a bowl of cherries" (although I would strongly not reccommend saying that to anyone who happens to encounter one of those situations or life may come to an abrupt halt for you :))

The other day some friends and I were enjoying the beautiful weather in Piedmont Park. The sun was shining, the air was cool, if there had been birds then I think they would have been singing... We pulled out a frisbee and had many failed attempts at hand-eye coordination, but we had fun. Then we took a walk. Yes, a walk in the park. We strolled along the faded asphalt of the bike paths, watched mothers and their children feed the ducks by a Grecian Gazebo, commented on the beauty each dog being thrown a frisbee by its master, and watched with excitement as a couple taking their engagement photos set out on the journey of marriage.

Though the world around us was far from perfect that day (it is Atlanta after all)... when we stopped to take in what was around us, stopped to stop worrying about what was next for us and for others, stopped to realize where we were in life... and you know what, at that moment life really was a walk in the park.

One of those Days...

So yesterday was a bad day. Nothing went right... woke up late, didn't get to shower (and realized later that I'd also forgotten the deoderant :/ sorry classmates!), found out that I couldn't log in to my GSU account due to the fact that I was one out of 30000 that was randomly selected for review, my car got booted for $50, and found out that I will have to pay an extra $500 for a class because of supposed late registration. It was a wine-at-3:30-in-the-afternoon day. A very. Bad. Day.

So after I got into my car, waiting on the boot-man to get there, I tried squeezing out some tears... I felt like Cameron Diaz in 'Holiday', they just wouldn't come. I squeezed for a good 5 minutes before I gave up... feeling defeated even by my own emotions! Then it hit me... I wasn't supposed to cry and sulk over my circumstances, I needed to DO something about them. And the only thing I knew to do was go to the Lord. It's an amazing feeling to know that your heart is being called by a higher power... to know that even after all of your failures and sucky attempts at success and reckoning someone still believes in you, and wants to know you. I didn't even want to know me yesterday.

So I took a breath after my squeezes (which left me breathless), and pulled out the word expecting nothing but believing everything... that no matter what I was reading it would in some way be relevant to my situation, it would be a word of love and a song of encouragement from the one who knew me best.

It did.

Habakkuk 3:17-18

¹⁷ Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,

¹⁸ yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.

This GOD knows what he is doing. He made my bad day better. No it wasn't "everythings-fixed-as-if-this-day-didnt-happen-and-I-got-a-new-car-too kind of better, but it was better because though the day was still sucky, I had a certain peace that it wouldn't last, and I would...and COULD... survive.

The day ended up being a good day. It was just one of those days....