Weddings | The Dilemma of Indecision

I'm quite possibly in the world's top percentage of indecisive people. Making swift decisions has always been tough for me, and the narrowing-down process can be brutal, stressful, and time consuming. At least when it comes to artistic endeavors that will result in a finalized finished product that will be archived for years and years to come. Like, for instance, scrapbooks. I love scrapbooking and used to spend a good deal of time putting together creative, artistic, sentimental scrapbooks, especially for 4-H (for which I took home the Grand Champion and Reserve Grand Champion titles several times). Yes, I know, it was just 4-H. But that was often the highlight of my summer and winning at something that I put painstaking time, effort and stressful decision-making into was rather gratifying. My dad still jokes about the many hours that I would just sit at the kitchen table with my scrapbook stuff strewn about, a mock layout all set-up....and just stare at it all, trying to decide if I liked it enough to start permanently sticking things to the page. Permanently, people! Talk about pressure! Once those photos were cropped and matted, there was no going back...

Well, oddly enough I've found myself in that same sort of situation as I've been trying to narrow down the photos to put together for a Studio Sample wedding album to show to clients. My wonderful friend and album designer, Janet, has been ever sooo patient (and even good-naturedly encouraging) through this drawn-out process, but even so, it's crunch time. I need to just pick some and know that, in the end, there's no right or wrong. And all of the photos that I can't fit into the album can always be put on my much-needed-to-be-updated website. So what's the big deal, right? It's just all of this self-made pressure that tells me I have to pick the perfect photos...the best of the best...or this sample album won't be all that it can be. But, you know what? When you work with as many good-looking couples as I do, I think I've decided that you just can't go wrong. So, I just thought I'd share a few of my favorite photos...that I've been staring at over and over for the past week...as I hit the final stage of making these tough decisions. And to my dear brides and grooms...thanks for being gorgeous enough to make this process so tough for me. You're all fabulous. :)

So! Wish me luck as I make my final decisions between all of these and even more favorites... :P

Goals | March

(Photo actually taken at a Starbucks in Ireland, because I only have my phone with me today...)

As I sit in Starbucks just a few minutes from my apartment on this decidedly warm, but ever-growing-gray day, I've been getting some emails sent out and making lists of things that need to be done. I've already been to and from the accountant's office to pick up county tax forms that need to be mailed by tomorrow, to and from the Post Office to mail them, and to the UPS office to return some adorable shoes that were unfortunately too big (but don't worry, I'm getting them in a half size smaller and all will be wonderful with Tori's shoe-world again :). It's a typical Monday for me in the sense that no Monday is ever quite the same. I have yet to figure out a good weekly schedule, and even when I think I have, inevitably things come up that need to be done on Monday that weren't planned for. Perhaps I'll just keep Mondays my "miscellaneous" days so that no matter what, it's always on schedule.... Not a bad idea, right? I kind of like the ring that "Miscellaneous Monday" has to it...

At any rate, back to me sitting here. In Starbucks. Where I happen to be wearing my favorite bright yellow skirt, with bright coral colored nails, favorite antique-store-find teal ring, and semi-bright teal shoes - all of which is irrelevant information except for the fact that sometimes I just need to be happy and inspired by what I'm wearing, and today I am. Which is especially nice since the sun isn't shining, and rain is starting to fall (or downpour). So, I'm happy for the wardrobe choice I made today, and sometimes its those little things that make an otherwise miscellaneous and gray Monday, a happy day in its own right.

But, to the REAL point of this blog post. While sitting in this aforementioned coffee shop, I was inspired to take after a fellow local photographer, Katelyn James Alsop, in crafting a monthly list of goals - both personal and business - and making it a point to share them at the beginning of the month on here, and then follow up at the end to see how I did. Of course the point isn't that I'm a failure if I don't get them all done, it's to just give me motivation and organization for the thoughts/goals that go through my head but often get jumbled and forgotten if they're not written down. Katelyn's model is great, and I always enjoy reading about her goals and accomplishments, so I figured, why not just follow suit? So, thanks for the inspiration and motivation, Katelyn. :)

Thus, allow me to introduce my list of goals for March (which, if you didn't realize, starts TOMORROW! It's crazy how this year is flying by, already...). Keep in mind, I prefer attainable goals, so, in plenty of ways I'm aiming low. But hey, it's a place to start, and the hope is that things will progress as the months progress.

PERSONAL GOALS

• Workout 4 times a week
• Research "couponing" and try to come up with a system that will work for me
• Hang the bulletin board I recently made & decorate with photos
• Make at least 4 meals without the input/help of my husband (who is much more of a foodie than I am, and very talented at cooking, so its easy to rely on him to come up with meals - but instead, I want to start trying to impress him. :)
• Have "girl time" with different friends at least 4 times
• Order my wedding album
• Finish writing all wedding Thank-Yous
• Mail Thank-Yous
• Catch up on editing & posting personal photos (from all the way back in November/December)
• Get a tan while chilling on the beach in FLORIDA with my sister and cousin :)

BUSINESS GOALS

• Sort receipts from January & February
• Blog at least 2 times a week (yes, aiming low...hopefully I'll get faithful with at least THAT and then move onward and upward)
• Sort at least 3 weddings and pick favorite photos
• Submit at least 3 weddings to be featured on wedding blogs
• Finish picking photos for my sample wedding album
• Order sample wedding album
• Research workshop/conference opportunities coming up this year

So there we go! I think it's a pretty decent, yet attainable list, and hopefully at the end of this month I'll be able to say I accomplished most or all of it. We shall see.... :)

Happy Monday, everyone. Hope you enjoy the last lingering moments of February, 2011!

Personal | The Civil Wars

It's probably a fair bet that you've heard of The Civil Wars, by now. Even if only in the last couple of weeks, as they've hit instant and massive success on iTunes (and pretty much all-platforms-musical) with their debut album "Barton Hollow". And for good reason, too. Because they, and the album, are incredible.

With the risk of sounding like a musical snob, though, I have to say that I'm proud to not be a bandwagon-jumper when it comes to this brilliant duo. Because of the fact that 1/2 of the band happens to be Joy Williams (former CCM star of whom I was a fan), my interest was piqued the first time she mentioned this "musical project" she was doing on the side with this guy named John Paul White. They called themselves The Civil Wars, and they sang smooth, folksy tunes with harmonious perfection. It only took one listen for me to be sold. And for these past 2-ish years, I've been waiting with baited breath for a full album to come out.

So, you can only imagine how excited I was when I found out that just a little over a week after said album released, they were going to be playing a show in Charlottesville, VA at The Southern - only about an hour away from me. There was no way I was going to miss it, and after just a little coaxing, my darling husband agreed to take me and even turn it into a Valentine's weekend in the adorable Charlottesville area. I call that a win-win!

Upon arriving at the venue I ran into several girls that I know (a few fellow photographers, even) and it was the perfect night of fun, fellowship and positively magnificent melodies. The Civil Wars are rightfully being deemed one of the best new things to hit the music scene, because they sound flawless live and are delightful in all ways. If they're coming ANYWHERE near you on tour, do yourself a favor and go see them. You'll be eternally grateful that you did.

Anyway, what good would an amazing concert (with a front-row spot!) be without pictures? Not as good, that's what. So, here are some shots from the show.

The magical night was started off with the catchy tunes of Indie singer Lucy Schwartz who I can also say I'm now a fan of.

Lucy was cute, talented, entertaining, and very enjoyable. A perfect opening for the main event....

Though they've apparently never played, nor been to, Charlottesville before, it was a very welcoming crowd that clearly were already familiar and in-love with their music. It made for some great crowd interaction, sing-alongs, and a happily surprised Joy & John Paul.

Joy is talented in a number of ways - she can sing anything, play multiple instruments, annnnd move around stage with graceful balance in some killer heels. She's basically my hero.

Also, she has the most beautiful, genuine, infectious smile and laugh. A perfect pairing with her name.

John Paul got referred to as "Johnny Depp" by my husband all evening. He's probably not the first person to recognize a slight resemblance there, though I tried to keep Aaron from loudly calling him that in between songs...

You can tell they have so much fun together - and that translates into great musical and stage chemistry.

I'm SO incredibly happy they came to this area and that I had the pleasure of seeing them. It ties for the best concert I've ever been to (in great company with Brandi Carlile & MuteMath/Eisley) and what makes them even more fabulous and loveable is their sincere down-to-earth-ness. They're real people, not celebrities (though their status is quickly becoming that) and that's a refreshing quality I hope they always hold onto.

In summary, if you don't already love them....go ahead and start. They're becoming popular for a reason - they deserve to be.