Thanksgiving with the Kaczmarski's

This was year #3 that Geoff and I spent Thanksgiving with the Kaczmarski Family here in Charlotte. Since I'm from California and Geoff is from Illinois, we save the traveling for Christmas - which lands us here in NC. The Kaczmarski's are kind enough to adopt us for the day and feed us incredible amounts of food. Geoff and I are beyond blessed to have the opportunity to spend the day with an amazing family when we can't be with our own. Thank you guys!

To start, here are the Kaczmarski dogs - two of the cutest dogs in the world...

Claire


and Chloe (hanging out underneath Geoff's chair)


Prior to dinner, everyone played some cards....












Then came the carving of the beautiful turkey.....


I think this one is cute of Jon's mom....


These are Mrs. Kaczmarski's FAMOUS (declared by me) stuffed artichokes. Man, was I excited to eat up one of these....they were ENORMOUS this year!


After dinner we headed out back for a mini photoshoot (much to Jon's dismay of course).

Here is Jon and his little sister - Kristina. She graduated from high school last year, but we're still going to set up a shoot for her senior portraits...I can't wait...she's BEAUTIFUL!





And to conclude the Thanksgiving Day post, here are a few I got of Jon and Lauren....cute!

Happy Birthday Mustang Sallee!

Today is the day that my mother turns forty-something (I can't remember which forty it is this year...but I know that it's not yet 50...I know, I'm a bad daughter). Anyway....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOTHER!!!!!!!!

Geoff, Ellen, and I love you and can't wait to see you at Christmas. Have a great day basking in your fortiness. :)

(Kristin Vining Photography took this one)



In addition to it being my mother's birthday, it is also the day that Geoff and I closed on our first house! AND, poor Ellen had to be spayed yesterday, so we picked her up today as well. That's how we do it - we like to keep things busy and try as hard as possible to drive ourselves totally out of our minds. :)

"You're the One I Wanted To Find"

It happened! On November 3, 2007, Christy and Zach got married in Phoneix, Arizona. Not only was this exciting because of the wedding, but it was also my very first trip to Arizona! I love seeing new places - I just hate to fly to them.

Christy was my roommate while we were in graduate school in middle of no where - Macomb, Illinois. And trust me - I'm not exaggerating...it was in the middle of NO WHERE. We would have to drive an hour and a half to the Olive Garden, which was a restaurant we frequented often despite the drive.

Christy and Zach met in graduate school also - he was a first year when we were second years. Today they live in Tucson, AZ with their pup (Gertrude) and both work at the University of Arizona. I mean, I'm sure Arizona is great, but I personally think they should move to Charlotte and be our neighbors.

I was honored to be one of Christy's bridesmaids for her wedding day. Although I didn't photograph the wedding officially, I certainly didn't hold back from bringing my camera everywhere I went to still get some shots.

Congratulations Christy and Zach! Can't wait for our couple's cruise! :)))

This picture below is HIL-ARIOUS to me. My friend Brandon (AKA Cutlery) and I looking absolutely ridiculous together.

Love you, Christy! Always!

Headshots: Caroline

A couple weeks ago Caroline came to my apartment complex to do some headshots. She is pursuing a career in acting, so she needed some updated photos. You might remember her from my shoot with Charlotte's improv troupe - Shahrazad.

Caroline has also done work doing makeup for brides - shoot me an email if you're interested in her services and would like to see some samples of her fabulous work (it's really good!).

David and Lara - Engaged!

Geoff and I had a ton of fun with David and Lara for their engagement shoot....I laughed A LOT....especially when we made David pretend to be a dog (see last picture). The four of us spent a little over an hour at The Green in Uptown Charlotte. Lara told me that right before the pictures she almost went and got her hair chopped off - I'm sure it would have been cute, but I'm so glad she didn't....I love her long hair! Makes me miss mine. :(

I met David through Geoff - they went to SCAD together, work at the same studio, AND were roommates for a year before we got married. I first met Lara shortly after Geoff moved to Charlotte - the four of us went on a double date to Carrabas - I liked her immediately. :)

Editing these were especially fun, as I recently purchased the Totally Rad Actions. And yes, they ARE totally rad.

G-off and I can't wait for July...road trip to Virginia! Looking forward to shooting your wedding, guys!