Chris and Carolyn's Wedding in Chapel Hill
The whole family (Mom's side) came together for the beautiful wedding and reception of my cousin Chris to his now WIFE, Carolyn. They had a beautiful ceremony in the church and it was sweet and short, just like we like it! Paul caught a few nice images, and there's more where this came from!
The reception followed at a very cool restaurant in Chapel Hill called La Residence Restaurant. The reception was on their tropical-like patio and it provided a very nice ambiance!
We got some shots of some family members... Paul caught a picture of me and then my cousin Kim. There's definitely a resemblance there! Also got a good picture with my brother, my parents together and of course me and my Paul Paul!
The dinner was very nice and the cake was even better! I am ALWAYS looking forward to wedding cake! YUMMMM! And of course the newlyweds looked so great! Such a sweet couple!
Every time the family gets together we like to get a lot of fun pictures! Specifically my two cousins, Beth and Marissa, and myself. We have been a little trio since we were kids, and here is a little photo montage of the three of us over the years, ending with Chris and Carolyn's wedding! I think we are all aging well! I definitely like how I look better in the later pictures than the younger ones!
Overall it was a great weekend! So great to see all of our family, catch up and of course celebrate the union of Chris and Carolyn! Congrats to the happy couple!
Productivity has NEVER been more fun!
So this weekend was a busy weekend for both Paul and I! While we clearly made time for fun, and those are certainly the highlights of the weekend, for a weekend we spent so much time with friends it was probably the MOST productive weekend we've had in a while!
So Friday night I was with my friend Kristin (Storey) helping her pack up her apartment for a move to a newer and nicer place! I was out with her hanging out and packing things up until about almost 1AM! After leaving her place, I went home to meet up with Paul, Elaine and John!
I wasn't able to spend much time with Elaine and John, but it seemed as though Paul had a really good time with them, and it was nice to see them after they've been away for a vacation to the beach! Elaine had a very nice tan!
Then onto Saturday! On weekend's we're never really early risers, but when we did rise it was time for business! We spent the entire day doing a major cleaning on the house, top to bottom! It was actually quite nice to walk through the house looking so immaculate! We did laundry, vacuumed, steam mopped, cleaned counters, did dishes, and much more! It will be so nice to chill this week in such a clean space!
After knocking out ALL of that cleaning, we had Desi and Tristan over for dinner, drinks, and a whole lot of fun and games! Just a plain good time! It was nice to cut loose and not worry about anything! We talked about anything and everything, played a couple of games and just enjoyed each others company. Tristan was the first to drop off, Desi, Paul and I stayed up a little longer but it wasn't long before we were all off to bed! But it was still another late night ending around 1 or 2AM!
Sunday rolled around and we decided to treat ourselves to lunch at Jimmy Johns (they are AWESOME!) on our way over to see my parents! We had to drop off my Dad's van (Paul calls it the race van!) We visited with the parents for a little while and caught up with them, then we were back off to Kristin's again! This time to help her get unpacked and settled in!
When we got there it was just chill, watching TV and chatting and then we got busy emptying boxes! Paul and I must have been on a roll cause we have to have emptied and broken down 20 boxes or more in NO time! Paul hung some stuff for Kristin, and we got some of her electronics set-up. We made some MAJOR headway prior to getting a call from our friend Curtis!
He was getting off work and was ready to party! He stopped over to Kristin's to say congrats on the new place and get us pumped to party with him! It was to be a Hooters' evening! Curtis had a friend/co-worker meeting him at Hooters' so that was the next move! And I have to say, it was the highlight of the weekend!
Paul, Kristin and I met Curtis and his friend John over at Hooters'. The evening started off slow with two pitchers of Stella and some ok food. But once we got through that third pitcher things were starting to get good! Unfortunately John left before Curtis "blew the weekend up!"
Now the ladies at Hooters' get some free time here and there to hoola hoop! I've not seen this before, maybe it's just the location we were at, but Curtis wanted to see some "Hoola Action!" He asked our waitress to show him some hoola action and she was a PRO! And then she told Curtis he had to try! And this is where the fun begins!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj7Fnsp3_rQ&w=750&h=563]
Curtis was HILARIOUS! And honestly a good learner! I don't think I could have picked up on it as fast as he did! This was truly the highlight of my weekend! The best end to an awesome weekend ALL around!
And I'm sure you're probably wondering what the frog is about... following Hooters' we dropped Curtis off at his place and hung out for a bit. When we got there we were greeted by Fred the Frog (he's apparently a neighbor of Curtis'). Paul got that awesome pic on his iPhone and then got this super cool video on his iPhone too! So, meet Fred the Frog!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEsb_hjD_k8&w=750&h=563]
Until next time... :)
Two Weekends @ Lake Oconee!
Paul's parent's have a beautiful house right on the lake at Lake Oconee, GA, and we have been lucky enough to spend time down there not once, but twice in the past month! We did a spontaneous one night trip down with our good friends Desi and Tristan, and it was a nice "pre-Memorial Day" weekend getaway! It was nice as we were able to test out the experience with Chewie, and Arnie (Desi and Tristan's little ones) and it was their first boating and lake experience! It was a gorgeous weekend and we were wishing we had thought to go down sooner!
We were greeted by the neighbor's dog Sam (the beautiful black and white boxer pictured above), and he was super excited about having not only Chunk to play with, but two new pups! We spent as much time on the lake as possible! Getting out as soon as we got in and and settled and back out the next morning for a full day on the lake! The boys did great, Chewie was a great swimmer and Arnie was getting the hang of things but definitely preferred to be on the float or on the boat! Chunk too took a couple dips, but definitely enjoyed the beautiful breeze!
We were also able to catch a guy on a really unique seated ski called a "sit-down hydrofoil." Paul caught some awesome shots of him flying big time! It looks like a lot of fun! I'm not a skier myself, but I honestly think I'd be willing to try this. We talked to the guy after we caught these pictures and he said it was actually pretty easy! Probably easy for him to say, but it seems pretty cool!
And then we were back for Memorial Day weekend, and it was just as good if not better! We stocked the fridge with tons of good eats and this time we were not only hanging with Desi and Tristan, but also our good friends Derrick and Jesus came down from Charlotte and it as a great gathering of good friends. We all hadn't been together since Paul and my wedding over a year ago! We spent the entire long weekend relaxing on the lake, drinking delicious beverages and eating even better meals! It was AWESOME!
It was so hard to leave! We are so thankful that Paul's parents allowed us to take over the house for the holiday weekend and couldn't have asked for a better time with great friends. Can't wait to get back down there again soon!
Korean Aquarius Throw-down!
This past weekend was both Paul's Birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAUL!!!) and Chinese New Year! Our friend Trapper planned a get together for the Chinese New Year and we naturally thought it would be a great opportunity to bring our friends together to celebrate Paul's Birthday as well.
So our evening started at Tofu Village Korean BBQ in Marietta, GA. Yes, we celebrated the Chinese New Year with some Korean BBQ! Paul and I have had Korean BBQ before, but it was a new experience for a lot of our friends, and we are definitely glad that so many were open-minded to the experience!
There was options to order entrees or to order BBQ where they cook the food on a grill in front of you. They also have an array of unique veggie and meat options like Kimchee (love it!) and cow tongue (never tried that...). Paul even had some rice wine (Gluten free!!!)!
After dinner, we headed over to Melody Karaoke, where we had a private room for our group to cut loose and sing! It was the first time Paul and I had done the private karaoke room, and it was awesome! Definitely an evening of experiences! The music was Korean-esc, with reverb microphone effects and an Asian twist. There were flat screens around the room that displayed anything from Asian Music Videos, to floral scenery and more...
It was surprising how many music options they had, and with the bar just outside the door, the beer and Saki were flowing! Some of the crowd started to trickle out and we then decided to move the party somewhere where everyone could dance! Luckily there was a bar called "The Place" in the same strip mall, and we decided to check it out!
It was actually a great option, as they had plenty of dancing and obviously plenty of drinks to go around! The party just kept going, and everyone was dancing and having a blast. I was surprised it was so easy to find a good option so close by! "The Place" it totally was "The Place!" haha (see the site and you'll understand why...)
Our crowd slowly fizzled out and we decided it was time to soak up some of the alcohol with Waffle House! While this didn't get everyone sober, it totally hit the spot. After the awesome service and food, we took some time to get our friends home safely and then headed home ourselves to crash.
It was an awesome evening, thank you to everyone that came out to experience the Chinese New Year and Paul's Birthday at Tofu Village, Melody Karaoke, and "The Place." It was a blast to see everyone and celebrate!
Happy New Year!!! 2012 Is Already Looking to be a GREAT Year!
We celebrated New Year's Eve and New Years Day 2012 with some great friends this year at Sheer Atlanta's NYE 2012 Celebration at Shout in Midtown Atlanta. Thanks to our good friend Matthew Levine, we got hooked up with a great party and Paul and Matt were able to "WOW" Jonathan Sheer and his guests with some awesome photos!
For a good part of the evening Paul and Matt were all over the place snapping shots, from the red carpet entrance to the party inside. Luckily I wasn't alone while they worked! We had a lot of great friends join us for the evening.
We rode down to Shout with our friends, Stephen, Frank and FUN Ron! Met up with Ashley Cash and her 30th Birthday Entourage (Shane, Susan, Kendra, Kendra's Husband, and Kim) and I was also joined by some new friends Gina and Kristy! What a fun party!
The evening started off with some red carpet shots... I missed out on this part... but it's all good, we got plenty of other photos elsewhere. I think I may have been chowing down on my New Years Eve dinner (Sushi Sushi Sushi! I love Sushi!).
As people started to file in, the party just continued to get better and better! This is by far one of my favorite New Year's Parties yet! Here we have the Birthday Girl and her hubby Shane, and the rest of us getting warmed up by beverages on the outside veranda!
Things just get better and better as everyone gets their drink on! Ashley's group chipped in on a cabana inside, and luckily it wasn't half the price they quoted her in advance. It was honestly pretty reasonable split among their group! Ashley definitely had what I would consider to be a great 30th birthday!
I was surprised how quickly midnight rolled around and I had to find Paul for our midnight kiss! Gina accompanied me downstairs to find him with no luck! I totally thought it was possible that I wouldn't get my New Year's kiss, but luckily Kristy found me and brought me to my man and we started our New Year off just right!
I got my New Years Kiss! YEAH!
We ended up closing down the bar... I was chilling by all the equipment when I heard the announcement for last call. I couldn't believe we were there ALL night!
After the guys packed everything up, we headed out and couldn't end the evening without the customary morning drunk meal so we stopped at the Georgia Dinner in Duluth, GA where I got Challah Bread French Toast with Crispy Bacon!!! It was amazing... YUMMMM!
We all had such an awesome time! Thank you to all our friends that celebrated with us, we are looking forward to an AWESOME 2012! Hope you all had a great NYE Celebration!!! Oh and Thank You Matthew for driving, that made the entire evening that much better!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Bagel Bash 2011: Cruisin' with Awesome Friends!
Our friend Matthew Levine has on several occasions made it a point to plan a cruise around his birthday and this was our second Bagel Bash Cruise so far! Last year there was a break, as Paul's bachelor party was a bachelor cruise!
As with the last Bagel Bash, we planned an inexpensive, 3-day Cruise with Carnival to the Bahamas. We had a nice little group, Matthew of course, Paul and myself, one of my best friends (and my maid of honor) Ashley, and now new friends to Paul and I, Earl and Ron! It was a nice convergence of people, and we had a blast! The weather was wonderful, and the fun was unlimited starting with our first picture... Me having a bit of fun in our cabin!
We were on the Carnival Sensation, a very nice cruise ship! I think between crew and guests it has about 4,000 people on board - don't quote me on that, but it's pretty darn close!
We got on board and immediately the party began! Awesome fruity drinks and great food! We enjoyed just chilling out as we waited for the boat to leave port.
The first night we celebrated Matt's 34th birthday (OLD MAN!) haha. I think every night of the cruise, we had our fine dining experience, and there were at least a half-a-dozen birthdays, and if it wasn't Happy Birthday the crew was singing, it was Happy Anniversary! The meals were awesome, and you could eat anything and everything you wanted. You could order one of everything on the menu if you really wanted!
The first full day, we docked in Nassau, Bahamas and were off the boat by 12 or 1 PM. The weather was gorgeous, you couldn't have asked for a better day to tour around the island.
Of course our first stop was Senor Frog's cause there's always a party there! We had a blast hanging out, munching and of course DRINKING a LOT! Paul even did a beer drinking contest!
And he won!!! We had two LARGE drinks and some shots, we left Senor Frog's pretty toasted! And naturally what would anyone do but get their hair braided when you've got a nice buzz on in the islands...
After braiding, we went to the beach, and met a friendly little beach cat! Such a sweet one... and got a little bit of beach time before we caught the bus back to the boat.
We had a pretty fun day on the island and were headed back to formal night to do dinner and get pictures! Matt was determined to get a nice group picture for his wall! I unfortunately don't have it for the blog (maybe I'll try updating it later with it), but we went to three different stations to get pictures before we were ready to cut loose in the club!
Paul and the guys had a lot of fun this evening, and ironically the ladies cut out early. But Paul did pretty good in the casino's so it was ok that he stayed out a bit later!
The next day Ashley and I were dead set on getting our chairs to lay out ALL DAY LONG! And that we did! We scoped out our spot after breakfast, and then got ready for our day in the sun. Paul and Earl joined up with us around lunch and Matt and Ron were sleeping off their wild night ALL DAY!
But toward the end of the day, Paul, Earl and Matt decided to give the water slide a try! They said it was a lot of fun... I'll take their word for it. I heard it was very cold, and that it was a little painful if you hit the seams the wrong way. But it looks like Paul enjoyed it!
Overall it was an awesome time! Ashley finally got used to the rocking... it was definitely more rocky than normal. And the guys had a great time drinking, eating and gambling. I think our next cruise will be longer, and maybe to somewhere new like the Mediterranean or something! Oh and did I mention, Ric Flair was on the cruise! I included a pic of Paul with him. Matt, Ron and Paul all go pictures with him, and he was a good sport about it!
Fun times! We love cruisin' with great friends!
Our Family Santa Pictures!
Paul, in coordination with Elaine, planned this year's Annual Family Santa Shoot, and of course we couldn't miss out on getting pictures with Santa. We had the privileged of getting pictures with Santa last year, and our dog Chunk has a blast!
So naturally, we have to make a tradition out of it and we got some great shots with Santa for 2011! We had a lot of fun and Chunk really enjoyed visiting with Santa too!
Check it out!
To get more information about the Santa Shoot, go to SantaShoot.com or you can contact Paul or Elaine by clicking on their names!
Anniversary Weekend: Limo, Champagne & ARIA
The first evening of our wonderful anniversary weekend, started with an amazing evening on the town! We checked into the same hotel we were married at and stayed at our wedding night. We were married at Ventanas which was packed with great new exciting wedding events which others will be celebrating for years to come. And connected to Ventanas is the great hotel, HGI Downtown. We were lucky enough to get the Presidential Suite for our anniversary, and it is definitely worth the stay!
Following check-in we got ready for our evening out. Paul reserved our favorite limo driver/service James with .... and we were on our way, limo, champagne and now onto aria.
This was one of several dinner options Paul had thought would be great for our anniversary dinner. We made a reservation for 9:15, and got there in plenty of time to hang out at the cool bar and lounge. It was a very cool experience and moving from the bar area to our dinner table was like transitioning from one very cool space to another even cooler space. It was quite the experience!
aria's menu changes on a daily basis, so you never know for sure what you may be in store for, but every bit of the menu that we experience was extraordinary!
We started with several appetizers, the Thin Sliced Smoked Atlantic Salmon (with red onion, capers crème fraîche, and crispy potatoes), Lemon Ricotta Ravioli (chanterelle, shiitake, sage brown butter and parmesan), and finally the Pan Seared New Bedford Jumbo Sea Scallops (with white corn, bacon, and parmesan risotto). It was all AMAZING! We were absolutely blown away especially by the first two, the smoked salmon just melted in our mouth, and the Lemon Ricotta Ravioli was such a unique and amazing mixture of flavors with the lemon, ricotta and sage butter. You would think this could not be topped, but the entrees were even better!
Paul ordered the Slow Braised Colorado Lamb Shank (with soft polenta, swiss chard, garlic parsley crumbs, and natural lamb jus) and I ordered the Painted Hills Ranch Natural Beef Short Rib (with shiitake mushroom risotto, pea shoots, sugar snap peas, and tender carrots). AMAZING! The Lamb Shank was so tender and moist and HUGE! We needed a to-go box for that, and I cleaned my plate, with a little help from Paul. The Short Rib was absolutely delicious, and accompanied by the unbelievably amazing risotto, I was in heaven! FYI the Short Rib is something they have chosen to keep on the menu for a long time now, so if you aren't keen on change, it's still a restaurant you should check out if not only to try that Short Rib!!!
Before leaving this amazing establishment, we inquired about the very interesting chandelier and apparently it was a piece that was commission specific for the restaurant and has been inquired about by many. I don't know that I need to describe is so much as just show you...
Following that amazing mean, we hopped back into the limo for more champagne and limo photo fun!
And finally, back to the hotel for a fun little toast of the evening and our anniversary! SO MUCH LOVE!
Married 1 Year + Together 6 Years = Super Happy!
Happy Anniversary Paul Paul! Our first year of marriage has been awesome! I feel like this has been one of our best years ever, and I can't wait to see what is to come in the future!
You have been an amazing husband and best friend, and I am so in love with you! We have had a lot of fun this year with traveling, getting things settled in our home, our careers and our relationship and I think this first year has been the beginning of a lifetime of wonderful and amazing moments!
I love you more than words will every show!
Here's to an awesome first year of marriage and many more to come! I love you!
Anniversary Weekend: We Love You MacBook Pro
This is definitely a Happy Anniversary to US both! While I have been grovelling for a new Mac for some time now (since I have been working from a 12 year old Mac Power Book), this brand new MacBook Pro will be a gift that both Paul and I will cherish for years to come.
It will not only help me not to go bald (tearing my hair out with the PowerBook), but it will allow me to help Paul with his business sites, and me to BLOG which has become a new addiction of mine.
And of course I'm finding so many things to talk about, including this fabulous Anniversary Gift! THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH Paul Paul! I love you and together with this awesome new machine, we will embark on our second year of marriage with excitement and pleasure! Hehe And I know we will do so many great things together for years to come.
You have to check this baby out, isn't she a beauty (yes, she is a she, because she is magnificent). Maybe Paul and I should give her a name! Maybe Anni - short for Anniversary?? I know it's cheesy, but isn't that what Anniversaries are all about??
Definitely stay tuned, cause we have a lot more to come with a weekend full of fun!
