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!!!
We Did It!!! It's Our Photo Heart!
I've been wanting to do something with our HUGE accent wall in our bedroom for some time now, and to buy art or print large canvas photos for this wall would just cost too much money! I was torn because I wanted to be able to feature images that were meaningful to Paul and I, so I either wanted pictures of us, or photographs Paul has taken.
I found this idea on Pinterest, and fell in love, and was determined to make it happen! 
I calculated costs for frames, printing prints, and nails to hang everything, and it wasn't bad (about $120.00 total). Now our heart is about 5 ft wide at the widest point and about 3.5 to 4 ft tall from the bottom most point to the highest point. To purchase canvas prints to cover that approximate space, we would need at least two and at Paul's cost it would be a minimum of $300 (not including shipping)! So doing this cool and sentimental design, not only did we save probably $200 or more, we now have a very cool piece of art that is all about US!
From conception to completion, it only took us a few hours, not including the time it takes to purchase the frames and time waiting to get the prints in the mail. We bought the frames at IKEA ($1.99 a piece), and got the cool metallic prints through Paul's Photography Vendor Smugmug. We got a deal b/c Paul is a photographer and was able to get them at cost, but we did splurge a little for the metallic prints, so you could easily do it for as much or less than we did! And Paul, being very meticulous about design laid out the design on our computer with exact measurements. It was great for us to be able to visualize how it would look! He just took a picture of the bedroom and digitally put in frames with pictures so we could measure out how many frames would fit, based on the size of the wall and the 5x7 size I chose! With the upfront work that Paul did, it only took a small amount of time to hang! I think I spent more time putting pictures in the frames than he spent hanging them. Paul was definitely leery about putting 28 holes in the wall, but as you can see, it was totally worth it! It is AWESOME!
And you know what I love most about this!?? It can totally be a living piece of art.... as we get new pictures or grow our family, I can swap out old pictures for new ones. I absolutely love that!
Santa's Back! Get Your Santa Pictures with Our Favorite Santa
Last year we did a photo shoot with Santa (at our house) and he's back again this year! I'm definitely planning to get some family shots (Paul, Chunk and myself... the cats aren't really into pictures).
Chunk really enjoyed getting his picture taken with Santa, and I know he will be excited to visit with him again this year! Check out some of the great shots we got last year!
Paul is working with the REAL Santa Claus and they've got some great packages for your holiday photos! And if you just want to give your kids a great Santa experience, it's totally FREE! The only cost you would incur is if you want to walk away with photos. Either the sitting fee cost (for those that choose to bring your own camera) or you can buy photos, discs and holiday cards.
The atmosphere will be warm and cozy at the festive Perdue Mansion with great holiday sounds and complimentary Milk and Cookies! Oh YEAH!
Definitely check out the details at SantaShoot.com or contact Paul directly at 770-316-2812 or [email protected]
Also you can check Paul's photography out at PaulPerdue.com!
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!
Who Says You Can Only Wear Your Wedding Dress Once!?
I was married almost a year ago, and not more than a month before my wedding, my good friend Yarden was also married. We spent a lot of time together in the process of planning our weddings and after it was all done, we thought "this can't be the last time we wear these awesome dresses and shoes!!!
So we agreed that we would plan a photo shoot where my husband Paul (the photographer) would photograph us throughout Atlanta in our awesome dresses and shoes! We originally thought we would do it in the spring, but time kept passing and we never made an official date! But it worked out because this past July another very good friend of mine, Desi, got married to her long time love Tristan! And so now we had three gorgeous woman and three gorgeous dresses waiting to be stars yet again!
You always hear about groups of brides getting together for a night out on the town, but never have I heard or seen really awesome fun photos, and that's exactly what we've got!
Thanks to Paul (my wonderful husband and AMAZING photographer) and our friend Natalie Webb (who has been cranking out some awesome work since her recent break into the photography world). They both have an amazing eye, and I have to say it was hard to narrow it down to the 30 or so pics I included in this post! So definitely check out the full gallery!
We had such a blast, I would totally do it again! Check out the online gallery here, and definitely email Paul is you're interested in doing a shoot like this, he can even include a limo!
Thank you so much Desi, Yarden, Paul and Natalie, this was awesome!
A Georgian Terrace Maternity Shoot to Remember!
Paul had his first Maternity Shoot yesterday with a previous client. He had worked with Paige for her vow renewal (wedding ceremony) in Peachtree City at the Wyndham Peachtree Conference Center, and she loved those pics so much she called him up for her maternity shoot!
Paul met Paige at the Georgian Terrace Hotel downtown Atlanta, just in front of the Fox Theater, and the had an amazing shoot! Paige will surely be even more impressed this time around.
Check out some of these gorgeous images, this is just the tip of the iceberg!
You should definitely get in touch with my Paul Paul for our next shoot! He does it all and he does an awesome job!
Check him out... paulperdue.com
Day Three of Mini Vaca: My Cousin Vinnie is Married!
The last evening in the D.C./Annapolis area was for my cousin Vinnie's wedding!
The day started early at Renditions Golf Club in Davidsonville, MD. While it was a dreary cold day, we had a blast! Theresa was all smiles and everyone was super excited for the big day! Paul did a great job, and we've got tons of great images for Vinnie and Theresa to choose from!
Here's a peek...
Theresa had three bridesmen, and they were great! I was surprised how attentive they were!
My cousins, the Sisca brothers, Nick, Vinnie and Damien.
Congratulations Theresa and Vinnie! It was a beautiful wedding for a beautiful couple! We love you guys!
Click here to view the full gallery...
Day Two of Mini Vaca: Perusing Downtown D.C.
Day Two we started the day with my cousin Vinnie's Wedding Rehearsal, but that was a short time before we headed back to D.C. to meet up with friends for dinner, drinks and FUN!
Check out some of our evening festivities! 
We went for Sushi, Hookah and Drinks at Gazuza Lounge in Dupont Circle, and it was amazing! I'm not a hookah person, so I did not partake in that, but I did absolutely enjoy the sushi! The Sabotage Roll was the best! It will set your mouth on fire!!!
Me and Ashley enjoying the atmosphere! Paul was able to get some fun shots!
Then we headed around the other side of Dupont Circle to Eighteenth Street Lounge. A hip bar with good music and lot of interesting people (great for people watching)!
Jeff and his friends, Aliya and Cat... having a good time!
One of the only pics of Paul and I together on the trip! Thank you Ashley! :)
Me and Ash getting our buzz on!
Paul, doing the Jeff pose! haha
We had parted ways with Jeff and his friends at the Eighteenth Street Lounge and decided to meet back up with them. After leaving Dupont, we headed over to U Street for some more bar hopping. We stopped in one of Jeff's favorite stops, Queen Makeda, it was pretty cool, but a little empty for our taste and Jeff and his friends weren't there, so onto the next stop!
From there we reunited with Jeff and his gang at Black Bird's or Black Cats... I'm really not sure! But it was a really cool spot and a nice place to end our D.C. bar tour!
And last, but certainly not least we stopped into the place that Jeff calls JUMBO SLICE, and had like a quarter of this huge pizza per person! It was definitely a good stop after a night of drinking, of course definitely off our diet. Oh well, it definitely hit the spot!
We made it home safe and sound, and actually woke up in plenty of time to head out to MD for the wedding (it started at 2PM and Paul was photographing so we had to be there early)! This was truly a busy weekend, but it's totally awesome to experience D.C. in new ways every time we go!
Click here for the full gallery of pics!
Day One of Mini Vaca: We made it to D.C.!
The drive up went really smooth, we were able to leave the house around 5AM, and made it into the city by 2:30PM. I think we hit is just right!
We're staying right in the city with a friend, and the house is pretty awesome and in walking distance of Capitol Hill! Thank you Jeff and especially Chantal for giving us a free place to stay! The house is a 1930's home and has so much character! Chantal also has a great garden in the back yard.
Hanging with friends, meeting new people, and catching up on old times! We were enjoying the good company of Jeff and Chantal.
After a few drinks, we decided to head over to the fish market to grab some fresh fish to grill out, gotta love having these kind of things so close!
We ended up getting some fresh grouper, and I was ready to get back to grill it up! I get grumpy when I'm hungry, can you tell??
Well we got back and the guys cooked up some amazing grouper (the best we've ever had!) and corn on the cobb, and it was amazing! After a long day of driving, I crashed, but the boys partied on!
It was definitely a good start to this mini vaca and wedding trip!
Engagement Shoot in Downtown Norcross, GA
This past weekend we had a great shoot with Christine and Sean in downtown Norcross. It was a beautiful day, started out a little chilly and overcast, but the sun came out and it was a great day. We had a lot of awesome shots of this couple and they were very open to whatever. Downtown Norcross is such a great place for photography with multiple parks, a very cute downtown area and just an overall nostalgic and fun feel.
Here are some of our favorites! Oh and Paul was able to do some HDRs too... Click Here for the full gallery.
Can't wait for their wedding in November! It'll be quite the party!!
