Catching up: Birmingham

In May, Adam and I got to spend several awesome days in one of my favorite cities ... Birmingham! We were in to shoot a wedding one weekend, then got to come back the next weekend to see sweet Caroline get baptized.

Of course I didn't take enough pics, but we spent a fun couple of days bumming around my favorite places, seeing fun friends, and of course visiting restaurants ... Homewood, Mountain Brook, Samford, downtown, etc., etc. It warms my soul to be there!

Lunch at O'Carrs ~ Adam's first visit!


We got to spend Mother's Day (no, I don't really think it counted for me...or maybe just a half) with Anne on her first mother's day and my mom. Caroline attended Mother's Day Brunch in her bumbo:



The next weekend we came back for church at OMPC and Caroline's baptism:


Mom made (yes, I said made!) this amazing baptism gown:


With the girls:


I love Birmingham! Hoping to get back soon!

I love The Vegas and The Vegas loves me.

Puh-leeeze tell me somebody can name that quote in the title!

But it's true! We do love the Vegas and it loved us back last week. We just got home from a fun couple of days in the city. Adam has been for a brief trip or 2, and I’ve been only once as a high schooler, so we were both excited to get re-acquainted.

Every year, the mother of photo conferences, WPPI, happens in Vegas and our schedule finally worked out this year to attend. We stayed 2 nights at the MGM Signature which we loved. It’s attached to the main MGM but much quieter and less Vegas than the casino hotels ~ it was perfect! We would definitely recommend it! Our view:



We drove through some SNOW to get to Vegas:


then headed down the Strip to Dos Caminos, a fabulous Mexican restaurant in the Palazzo recommended by our friends and Vegas connoisseurs the Ma’ins. The tableside guacamole, shrimp/mushroom quesadilla, and ahi tuna did not disappoint.


*Side note: Dos Caminos was the location of the infamous Heidi vs. Spencer vs. Bolthouse Productions throw-down in Vegas where he came to “win her back”.

After dinner we wandered our way home through the Forum Shoppes and Caesar’s Palace, and ended up back at the MGM for our first round of Blackjack. Thanks to some prep from our friends and a little bit of Lady Luck, we ended up walking away with about $230 more than we arrived with from our 3 days there! Vegas is fun when you win!




We spent the next day listening to speakers, attending workshops, and checking out all of the latest photo industry news and products. It’s so inspiring to be around others in the same biz as me, and I really learned tons and walked away with tons of great ideas for this year. It was a little overwhelming but really great!

Dinner was at Nobhill, a Michael Mina restaurant in MGM where we had a celebrity sighting (Andre Agassi) and another wonderful dinner.



Our last day, we finished the conference in the morning and headed to the Bellagio for lunch and walk-through.


Don’t miss this gem ~ the Guinness–certified world’s largest chocolate fountain ~ nice!


Overall it was SUCH a fun getaway and we can’t wait to go back!

Catching up: Scottsdale Trip!

In late September (yes - I said September - I know I'm a little tardy), my family went to Scottsdale for a mini-vacation! It was fun having everyone out a little closer to us - we actually got to drive there while everyone else flew, for a change!

My grandmother aka Mither and Anne ready to go in Nashville:


The reason for the trip was that J.Alexander's had a new restaurant opening there (we know some people) and opening weekends are the BEST - so we thought we'd just all make a vacation of it!


Adam and I were feeling pretty under the weather, but it actually worked out great as we really got to relax and recover - might as well be doing it in Scottsdale, right? There was plenty of shopping, relaxing, emergency McDonald's runs for the pregnant one, swimming, football-watching - it was so fun to just all be together and hang out (sorry we missed you Dan).

The boys all played golf one day on a really nice course - Adam said he played the worst he ever has - nice!:



Enjoying the scenery - you can see a little pooch!


Breakfast at the famous Pancake House - Anne got the Apple Pancake - wow!


The main event at J. Alexander's - for openings, they always have a couple of practice days for the servers - we're happy to let them practice on us anytime!!




A few days and about 10 pounds later, we rolled back home to life, work, and reality in SoCal ~ luckily we found this special thing on the way home - someone was VERY excited:



We have a nerdy little family game that we play to all keep track of the different J.Alexander's locations that we've been to. It's really fun to see the different restaurant layouts, decors, etc. I know - I confessed it was nerdy up front. So with the addition of Scottsdale, this brings me to 14 out of 33 - the recent additions of Orlando and soon-to-be Jacksonville locations really hurt to bring me to less than 50%. Hoping to up that number again soon! Anyone wanna go to Denver?

We Heart CenCal! part 2

After a good hard look at the map, I decided that our trip was more of a CenCal trip than NoCal. What do you think?


On Day #2, we woke up in Monterey, CA in our Cannery Row Hotel that we loved!


We spent the morning at the awesome aquarium:



Someone's excited about the otters!


My favorite was the jellyfish!!




The reef tank:


No! That's not Ariel - it's me!


In the afternoon we drove around the Monterey Peninsula through Pebble Beach and down to (our future residence) Carmel.



On the 17-Mile drive through the Pebble Beach community - it was incredible!:




I wish I had taken more pics in Carmel - the cottages are to die for and you know how I love me a good cottage!!

We landed at The Flying Fish for dinner and wow! It was such a great unique restaurant - probably our favorite of the trip. We felt like locals and decided we'll eat there often once we move there.


You have to be sure to go if you are ever in the area - it's kind of a hole in the wall!

After Monterey, we spent one quick night in San Francisco - we were there less than 24 hours so we opted to get a general overview of the city by driving through Golden Gate Park, past the Wharf, Ghiradelli Square, etc. with promises to come back when we have more time to spend there.

Don't miss the hoodie-turned-scarf on Adam and the Golden Gate bridge in the background!


Our favorite San Fran stop - the Ferry Building marketplace:


Finally, after San Francisco, we headed inland to Lake Tahoe, our final destination! It was breathtaking as we anticipated! Beach, water, mountains, trees, jet skis, cute little villages - it was awesome! We were there to work (see photoblog) but we loved just walking around and getting to spend a little time getting to know the area - we can't wait to go back when we are just there to play!



We had such a great trip! It's been a while since we've been on a good road trip and I loved getting to spend a few days away with Adam and see more of our great state! We heart CenCal!

We Heart NoCal! part 1

Adam and I had an AWESOME trip to Northern California last week. It was a great getaway and we just really enjoyed everything that we did - even more than we were expecting! Here's a quick rundown of what we did!



Day 1: Driving from OC to Monterey. Of course we made a quick stop at the Camarillo Outlets and then took another break in San Luis Obispo to stretch our legs and see the town - as usual, it made me want to go back to college again! It was also at this point that we started plotting our eventual move to the Central Coast. Can you tell that we liked it?

From San Luis Obispo, we jumped on the 1 and drove north.


After living in San Luis Obispo for a couple of years, we're planning to purchase the Hearst Castle and host dinner parties for our friends and weekend getaways - feel free to come visit anytime!



After that gets old, we'll move up to Big Sur and run the restaurant where we stopped for dinner, Nepenthe. It was so unique and had such an amazing view - you could feel the crisp mountain air and the food was great. It was just what we needed after a long day in the car!

Nepenthe (don't worry - we'll change the name so it's easier to remember) - how awesome is this place!:



Our dinner view:


The evening sunset in Big Sur:


After dinner, we finished our day's drive up to Monterey where we stayed for 2 nights! Monterey is just north of Carmel where we'll be moving after Big Sur. And we'll probably just stay there because I don't think you could ever get me to leave!!

This is getting long already so I think I'll make you wait for installment #2 for the rest of our trip! Check back soon!