This is Halloween....

So first of all, when I think of Halloween, I instantly think of Tim Burton's "Nightmare Before Christmas" - so one of the best movies ever. Anyway, I immediately get that damn "This is Halloween" song stuck in my head for days around this time of year!

This weekend I'm heading to Georgia so I can party for Halloween weekend with the bestie! The Winery is throwing the annual Hallowine bash, and I can't wait! I picked up my costume this week, and let me just say: I had a hell of a time deciding what I wanted to be! I got a feel for costumes online, but I really hate buying them without trying them on - because contrary to popular belief, one size does NOT fit all, and Medium and Large are not the same size. Whoever sized costumes should be punched in the face for making it so annoying.

I did what any good Nashvillian would do:  I went to Performance Studios! If you've ever been here, you've probably seen it - it's the biggest costume store I've EVER been in, and they have everything under the sun. You can rent or buy -- it's an amazing place. (So go like them on facebook: Performance Studios

I went with a few ideas, first being Sally from the Nightmare Before Christmas! And the costume I fell in love with was:

Cute, right!? Except I wasn't happy with the back of the costume - it wasn't the same as the front, it was solid and cheap. For $60 though - I wasn't cool with that.

I had an idea of a Stewardess after that, but um.....it's hard to look like a cute stewardess without looking like I'm running the Mile High Club (or completely boring. Why can't there be an in between costume for this? A mix between slutty and boring!?)

Sigh. 

I tried on 9 costumes I loved and wouldn't you know, the very last costume was the one I put on and squealed and LOVED. (And no I'm not posting a picture until after the weekend!) Success! I spent way more than I intended once I started grabbing all these fabulous accessories to go along with it, but when I put it alllllll on tonight to check it out, I was totally sold and convinced it was money well spent! Rita and I have already started planning our costumes for next year too - I cannot wait!

Before I leave for Georgia, the sis and I are going to see Alanis Morrissette at the Ryman! Totally listened to "Jagged Little Pill" a million times as a kid, thanks to my big sis. Neither of us have seen her live before, but looking forward to it - especially at the Ryman!

Pinterest Love....

I love Pinterest. Seriously, it's the most ridiculous obsession ever. I totally dogged it in the beginning "WTF is the point of this??", and now I don't go a day without it ---- I know, it's a serious addiction.

But I truly find some of the most amazing ideas on there, not to mention gorgeous quotes.  I stayed home sick today and never left the house - which meant pinterest was a fabulous time killer.

So a few of my recent pinterest loves:

Am I the only one who thinks this pot clip is the most amazing thing ever? It's only $4, right here, and it's so adorable it makes me want to actually cook a little more hahaha.

Clearly, this is the best pumpkin EVER!!  I'm heading to my bestie's house in Georgia for the weekend so I already have in my head we are TOTALLY doing this. 

And some of these quotes are so great --- I really need to come up with a great way to put them up somewhere, on post-it's, printed out, anything. In the bathroom mirror, bedroom mirror -- wherever. I just love some of these.

I wish more people would grasp this.

love.....

And, one of my all time favorites:

This is one of the best things I've ever read.

And in honor of Wednesday being Modern Family night, one of the best images I've found on pinterest -- and totally agree with! (I love Cam! And how right is he?!):

Wedding Weekend!

Shooting weddings is hard work, I'll admit it. Sometimes I get stressed by doing them and forget how much I love photography during them --  so I've majorly cut back on them.

This past Saturday I shot a wedding I have been so excited about! I should back up I guess, and explain who everyone is ---

One of my very first friends when I moved to Tennessee was Leslie. We got jobs together at K-Mart, and once we had cars, she was my partner in crime. She was with me when I got my first speeding ticket (oh how we rushed to her mom's house to try to see if it was from a cop she knew to get me out of it! I did NOT want to tell my dad I had gotten a speeding ticket!), and I was the one she called when she found out she was pregnant, and was terrified to tell her father with just her boyfriend. The maid of honor in her wedding, and there when her first baby was born, we went through a lot together crammed in a few years!

High school days - we took a cue from my sister and her best friend and thought "OMG let's get pictures done!" -- apparently so later on we could be like OMG look at us! And might as well share all the embarrassing details, the back is inscribed with our lovely "Leslie Beslie and Colie Bolie" nicknames. Wow. 

Anyway, her cousin Tell got engaged last year, and since I do all Leslie's family portraits, Tell and his sweet fiancee came to me for their engagement photos, and then booked me for their wedding.

They are absolutely perfect together, and couldn't have planned a better wedding. I truly had the best time capturing their special day, and seeing them so happy. You can't help but notice how Tell's face just completely lit up when Angela was in the room, every single time.

the happy couple

The ceremony was held at the gorgeous Belle Meade Plantation - oh how I love that place. If you've never gone, it is worth checking out the grounds (and paying to see the house!), going to the winery, and just spending some time there. They were married in the garden, and the reception followed at the unique carriage house. 

I always take my niece with me to weddings to have an assistant -- gotta have someone to hold those reflectors! It's good for her to earn some extra cash, plus this time time was getting away from us -- the second everyone arrived, we jumped into decorating. I was so proud of Paige, she did anything anyone asked. AND, she even posed for me when I wanted to test lighting. My beautiful girl is growing up:

We had so much fun at the reception - in the midst of shooting, Paige got out on the dance floor with Leslie's kids, and we even managed to steal sweet baby Abigail for a little awhile! (I should say Paige did - she must've held Abby for an hour!)

2012 version -- although we're pretty damn tired, since this was after a very, very long day!

Me & Cayce. I feel so old....Cayce was born the month after we graduated. I remember walking into the hospital to snuggle with this sweet girl. Now she's 11 and such a wonderful kid!

Paige & sweet baby Abigail!

Why do I feel like my weekends are going so much quicker lately? This coming week I've GOT to get Kadin to the IMAX Theater to see Frankenweenie - he was sure to point out today that he is "waiting on me". I love that kid!

Weekend....

Happy Sunday! It's a cold start here - thank goodness the rest of the week will warm up! It's totally unfair to let me come home from FL to a ridiculously cold weekend!

We did at least have a great Saturday -- which was our Heart Walk! Surprisingly, the rain went away and it was a really cold start, but warmed up as the day went on and we started walking. I didn't see what the total amount raised was, but I did see the attendance record was the highest it had ever been!

As we walked, my niece commented multiple times about how a few people had their son written on their tribute stickers, or small children had their own name on their stickers -- shocking her that such small kids were survivors of a Heart Disease. As we walked pass Vandy Children's hospital, she asked if we could go by one day and visit some of the sick kids or deliver stuffed animals to them. She is a teenager with an attitude these days for sure ---- but she has a big heart her Great Granny would be so proud of!

I love the boards where you can write notes for the people you're walking in memory of, or in tribute of. These were new last year, and they returned this year. 

Paige's part of the signs

And in the "melt my heart" category, Kadin picked up a marker and wanted to do his own message this year. He grabbed it and said "What do I have to write?" and I said "Just write something about how you're doing this for your Great Granny!"

This was Kadin's message - and he came back afterwards and drew a heart underneath it and colored it in. Seriously, he's the sweetest little boy ever

My sister's note!

Getting the face paint done! We get hearts put on our cheeks each year - they have a lot of other stuff, Paige also got stars on the other cheek, but we definitely rock hearts for our Granny! 

Putting the tribute stickers on! I save all of mine. I have no clue where I'll put these after awhile hahah, because right now they are just lined up down my bookcase.

My sis & I rocking our new shirts! I designed this logo last year, but not in time to have shirts made so we just did iron on shirts last year. This year, I ordered them through a printer. Apparently we need to have hoodies made for next year too so we totally match if it's cold again.

And then Paige took this one of us  -- Kadin was totally in love with his new glasses that light up. He told EVERYONE "I hope you like my glasses" (and when I say everyone, I mean when we stopped at a red light after we left, he rolled down the window and shouted "I HOPE YOU ALL LIKE MY GLASSES!!!"), so he rocked them the entire walk. The Heart Association told me they liked the "cool dude look" haha.

The Heart Walk was a great success this year, and I truly appreciate all of you that donated to our Team! Next year I am going to get a super early start and see if we can make Team Marcella an even bigger success - I usually register the team around January, so if you'll be in Nashville the first weekend in October next year and would love to walk, please shoot me an email so I can let you know when you our team is set up! 

Thank God for Hometowns...

Going to where you grew up is so bittersweet. I was born in Ohio, and we moved to Florida when I was little, so I usually consider Sebastian, FL my hometown. I'm such a kid when we go back - it's the one place I can visit and still view it in the eyes of a 10 year old.   We spent 5 days there this week for a visit.....I hadn't been back since 08! My mom hadn't been back since we moved -- so she had not seen her brother in 15 years.

There were so many moments where I thought "Oh man, I don't want to go back to Tennessee, I miss it so much here!" I am super settled here, and can't imagine leaving Nashville ever again --not to mention I would never want to be away from my sis & the kids --- emotions took over after being home for a couple days and I just didn't want to come back! But, as I sipped on wine outside listening to the Palm Trees sway with two of my friends that grew up down the street from me, went to Elementary School & Rode the bus with me -- I felt at home and wanted to stay put! (No worries, it was great to come back to Nashville to my own bed and be with my friends!)

And now, for my trip home pic spam and commentary, a mix of some of my good pics and my iPhone pics haha....

I see palm trees all the time on road trips...but I'm such a nerd, there is nothing that compares to seeing my palm trees back home. 

My sisters long time best friend had her first baby last year, and this was the first time we had the chance to meet her!  She took to Paige instantly - and they were so cute playing the piano together. 

I'm such a sucker for baby's fingers and toes :) 

We hauled it to the Beach the day after we got there. It felt so great to not only go to the beach, but take the familiar routes to get there -- crossing my favorite bridges to A1A. I'm a sappy nerd, I know!

Hahah, S.O.S says Kadin! He made Sand Angels too, even though he kept calling them snow angels!

Hola from Florida!

He's such a little fish. He is so crazy about the beach.....and was NOT happy when we had to leave! (Which is what we used to bribe him the whole trip. He is such a homebody, he HATES leaving Tennessee.....since he fell in love with the Beach, we used that to make him behave throughout the week!)

Ahhh, the walkway to South Beach!

with my sissy on the beach! 

I show my Kentucky love everywhere we go! Even with a crappy football season - I still love my big blue!

Little T! Oh the joys of being a beach baby! 

Mom & K-Man enjoying the water -- it was so amazing, not too cold, not too hot. We couldn't have asked for a better day at the beach. The temps were in the 90's too, so clearly, I was in heaven.

Back at the beach the next day to just walk the boardwalk and hit giftshops.....Mom & Sis posing on the boardwalk.

Even the bro in law came this trip! We made it a full family vaca this time, it's normally me, the sis and the kids, so it was great to have everyone come! Well, my sisters dad stayed home and kept an eye on the house, haha, but still. 

Such beauty - I mean seriously, who wanted to leave this?! Morning at the beach is just amazing. 

:) South Beach in Vero

So, this was the last house we lived in before we moved to Tennessee. I loved this house, by far my favorite home I've ever lived in. It looked much prettier when we lived in it :( I miss this entire neighborhood. I used to ride my bike like crazy in this area - this was where we lived when I ran over a snake riding my bike barefoot. That was definitely the last time I went shoeless on my bike rides :P

Another old house....they painted it, so I totally think it looked better when we lived there ;) Isn't it funny how you can associate certain memories to certain homes? We lived here when Hurricane Andrew was on the way. I remember my Granny and Aunt having to cut their trip short so they could get away before the Hurricane, and we had to board the house up.

We hit up Wimbrow Park while we were there --- my sister and I came here all the time as kids to look for Alligators. I was SO bummed we didn't see any while we were there. I totally wanted one to pop up in our pic behind us haha. 

Meanwhile, my niece wanted to move further up in the grass because she didn't want to get that close to the water. Haha, you can tell who were the Florida girls were. 

We visited Captain Hiram's in Sebastian for lunch with my Aunt & Uncle. The exciting thing about this was it was my first time to go to Hiram's and be able to drink, hahahaha. Last time my sister drank so I had to be the DD -- someone had to get us back!

In a great moment, my mom and my niece were playing the Lobster Claw game when my Uncle got there -- and didn't even realize they were standing there and walked right by! When he saw my sister, she took them over and mom saw her brother for the first time in 15 years. They both cried -- a really wonderful moment.

I'm such a sucker for piers. There is nothing more gorgeous than the reflection on the water!

Mom & Uncle Dennis....Mom had a hard time leaving, but since my Aunt & Uncle are moving to Middle Tennessee, there will be no more 15 years in between seeing each other! 

My beautiful Sebastian. I wanted to use my ollo-clip on my iPhone, and this was the perfect time to do it. The fish eye lens rocks my socks.

So wonderful to visit....and I'll be back in May! Thank goodness.....

Seems fitting to end with this, Thank God for Hometowns by Carrie Underwood: