Monica & Morris's Wedding

Congratulations Monica & Morris!

After a really fun engagement portrait with Monica and Morris, I was super excited to document their wedding. Set in the beautiful neighborhood of Oakhurst, just 5 minutes from Decatur, The Solarium provided the perfect backdrop for their intimate wedding. About a month ago when we met to do a walk-thru with all the vendors for the wedding, Monica told me that The Solarium has become a very important place in her family. Her mother remarried there just a couple years ago and in May of next year, her brother is getting married there. We all figured that they are entitled to a generous family discount!

Venue: The Solarium
Wedding Coordinator: Margie Sikes, Affairs of Elegance
Catering: Cathy Conway, Avalon Catering
Cake: The Baker's Man
DJ: Kenny Zail
Hair and Make-up: Salon Red, Decatur
Florist: Dina More, Event Cafe

Margie Sikes coordinated another wonderful wedding and it was great to work with her again. The cake looked amazing. (I may have to steal the design for my own wedding next year) It's rare to see a brown chocolate wedding cake but it fit the fall colors of the wedding perfectly.

After helping my friend, Ben Vigil, photograph a few weddings over the summer, it was great to have him by my side for one of my own. I just love how we can both witness the same moment but capture it completely differently. It adds so much richness to the coverage.

Take a look at the slideshow below.

And congratulations Monica and Morris!

Tiny Chambless

When I arrived at Elizabeth and Tom's home last Friday morning and walked to their front door, Tom answered and welcome me inside. As soon as I stepped in, I saw tiny Chambless cozy in her scoop chair on the coffee table. (Love how everything, including furniture, gets a new purpose with the addition of a baby) I was instantly struck with how small she is. Only two weeks old! So adorable. Little fingers, little hands, and big beautiful eyes. She managed to stay awake throughout the entire time I was there, much to her parents' and grandmother's surprise. This home was buzzing with excitement for the new addition to the family and I couldn't be happier for them.

At two weeks, little Chambless needs a lot of help from mom and dad. Good thing they love to hold her! I mentioned that she has so many expressions and movements that I could stay there all day documenting her, and her parents agreed that they too spend hours just watching her.

Here's your slideshow! Thanks again for opening your home to me.

Monica & Morris in Decatur

As the day (and week) winds down, I am gearing up to see Monica and Morris again...this time at their wedding tomorrow! Last night we managed to avoid the rain and did a Lifestyle Engagement Portrait in downtown Decatur. I asked them to tell me what they liked to do when they're doing nothing. You know, on a Saturday morning when you have no other commitments, what do they do? Doing things that they like to do together during the portrait really helps personalize the session and makes for a lot of fun. And I love what they chose.... wine and dessert at Java Monkey. Mmmm.... I'll post their slideshow soon, but in the meantime here are some favorites...

RSVP Deadline for October Portrait Days Extended

We've extended the deadline for October Portrait Days in Piedmont Park. Contact us by this Wednesday the 17th by phone or email to schedule your appointment.

Appointments still available on:
Friday, October 26th, 10am - 5pm
Saturday, October 27th, 10am - 3pm

Join us for beautiful and fun portraits of your family, kids, baby or hubby. Stay after your portrait is complete to meet other families and enjoy some food and drink. It's guaranteed to be a fantastic time.

Call us at 404-966-7272 or email us at sara@saraphotography.com to schedule your appointment.

Chocolate Chip Cookies for a Chocoholic

I was checking email at Yahoo today and when I logged out I was greeted by this beautiful picture of the most scrumptious looking chocolate chip cookies.


The title of the article declared that this was THE BEST chocolate chip cookie recipe. So what else is a chocoholic to do? I clicked for more. Since I know that I'm not alone in this love of anything chocolate, I thought I'd share the recipe. As soon as I have a chance I plan to make these and see if the rumor is true. If you decide to make them, let me know how long they last in your house. :)
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Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Published: January 1, 1996
Cook's Illustrated.com

Makes 1 1/2 dozen 3-inch cookies

These truly chewy chocolate chip cookies are delicious served warm from the oven or cooled. To ensure a chewy texture, leave the cookies on the cookie sheet to cool. You can substitute white, milk chocolate, or peanut butter chips for the semi- or bittersweet chips called for in the recipe. In addition to chips, you can flavor the dough with one cup of nuts, raisins, or shredded coconut.

INGREDIENTS

2 1/8	cups bleached all-purpose flour (about 10 1/2 ounces)
1/2	teaspoon table salt
1/2	teaspoon baking soda
12	tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), melted and cooled slightly
1	cup brown sugar (light or dark), 7 ounces
1/2	cup granulated sugar (3 1/2 ounces)
1	large egg
1	large egg yolk
2	teaspoons vanilla extract
1 - 2	cups chocolate chips or chunks (semi or bittersweet)

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Adjust oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions. Mix flour, salt, and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.

2. Either by hand or with electric mixer, mix butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Mix in egg, yolk, and vanilla. Add dry ingredients; mix until just combined. Stir in chips.

3. Form scant 1/4 cup dough into ball. Holding dough ball using fingertips of both hands, pull into two equal halves. Rotate halves ninety degrees and, with jagged surfaces exposed, join halves together at their base, again forming a single cookie, being careful not to smooth dough’s uneven surface. Place formed dough onto one of two parchment paper-lined 20-by-14-inch lipless cookie sheets, about nine dough balls per sheet. Smaller cookie sheets can be used, but fewer cookies can be baked at one time and baking time may need to be adjusted. (Dough can be refrigerated up to 2 days or frozen up to 1 month—shaped or not.)

4. Bake, reversing cookie sheets’ positions halfway through baking, until cookies are light golden brown and outer edges start to harden yet centers are still soft and puffy, 15 to 18 minutes (start checking at 13 minutes). (Frozen dough requires an extra 1 to 2 minutes baking time.) Cool cookies on cookie sheets. Serve or store in airtight container.

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Interesting about breaking the dough ball in half and reforming it. Never seen that before in a recipe.

Patrick's First Birthday

On Monday, I visited with Sandra, Roger and Patrick again. They chose to document Patrick's first 18 months with the Growing Baby Portrait Package which includes three portraits. So for this second portrait I met them at their house. Patrick has grown quite a bit since I last saw him and if I'm not mistaken, I think he remembered me. Ok, maybe not, little one's don't have much of a memory for their favorite photographer who comes once every 6 months. :) But he did seem to take to me. I know that my kids like me when they are in the middle of playing with their toys or climbing the stairs and turn to look at me and wait for the "click."

Patrick was full of adorable smiles. He wasn't afraid to show off those cute new teeth. And as with most kids his age, he had a couple moments of tears. Although many parents don't exactly want to remember their kids being sad, I do love capturing those moments as well as the happy ones. I think they really express the range of emotions that they experience every day. As we get older, I think we still have those same feelings, but we aren't as apt to share them so openly. The few shots I got of him crying are so intense and emotional that I just love them for their rawness.

Anyway, Sandra and Roger are going to have a ton of pictures to narrow down for the framed collage they'll be receiving at the end of the portrait series. The 9-image collage is a wonderful way to take three photos from each portrait and display them as a series.

Here's they're slideshow...

White dresses galore!

My parents arrived last Wednesday for an intense 4 days of wedding stuff. Florists, wedding coordinator and my favorite, dresses! We got so much done, well more like thinking about all the possibilities and narrowing down the immense options to what will work best for our October 2008 wedding.

I think I may have scared a few of the bridal shop owners when I said I wanted something completely non-traditional. I'm not a strapless, poofy dress kinda girl, so it was kind of a challenge to find other options. But after three bridal shops, Bridals by Lori, La Raine's and Kelly's Closet, I had found 2 dresses that I absolutely love. Either one will be gorgeous and totally comfortable, which was number two on my list of must-have's. I am still trying to decide...

I met two fantastic florists who came highly recommended - John at Twelve, and Susan at Little Sparrow. They both had amazing ideas for flowers and decor and I am so excited with all the options. Suddenly I have all these ideas for the way I want guests to feel when they enter the ceremony and reception and I know that both florists would be able to do an unbelievable job.

The other exciting thing that happened this week was some more major advances in the kitchen remodel. We now have countertops and they are amazing! It's unreal how much the kitchen changed once they were installed. It actually looks like a functioning kitchen now and with the newly installed cooktop it is completely functioning. Yay! Our first dinner on the cooktop was ravioli. Tonight, popcorn is on the menu for a late night snack. With the countertops came the sink and fancy extension faucet which we love. Nick actually loves the faucet so much, he posted on his new blog about it. I'll post some more pics soon of the latest additions.

Countertops and the 'rents

Today is a big day. The kitchen countertops arrive! The countertops are a seriously welcomed addition to the kitchen remodel. Since mid-June we've been under construction and I am so excited to have counters to prep food on and even just pour a drink on. Once the countertops are in, I get my cooktop so hello to spaghetti and eggs! Not together, that would be gross.

In this pictures, the bare wood at the front is our new breakfast bar. As soon as the countertops are in, I plan to slide a bar stool up and start demanding a drink from bartender Nick. I hope he'll oblige.

Plus, this evening my parents arrive for a long weekend to do some wedding stuff. Florists, wedding coordinator and DRESSES! So excited to try on dresses! After being engaged for 9 months, you'd think I'd already been, but I really did hold off on any planning until about a month ago. This I think will be the most fun part of planning the wedding. It will be a girls-day-out on Saturday when my mom and Nick's mom come with me to some shops and we grab lunch in between. I just read in a bridal rag that wedding gowns sizes fit smaller than normal clothes. How does that make sense?! Why would dress designers want to upset their customers by making a size 6 wear a size 8? Ok, ok, I won't look at tags, but seriously!

My face on Facebook

I recently joined Facebook and have been loving reconnecting with so many old friends. In the first few days, I "re-met" a friend from college at the University of Rochester who had just that week moved to Spain. Hadn't been in touch since graduation so it was really nice to catch up. It's hard to believe that next year will be my 10 year reunion at college...but that's another topic for another day... ahh, depressing!

Anyway, if you're on Facebook, be sure to look me up and send a friend request. I'm already so addicted and I love adding friends to my network!