February Already?!

The weatherman was right, and we actually saw plenty of snow this weekend which may or may not have anything to do with being inspired to blog. So I won't dwell on how long it's been since I've blogged, but I will share some of the fun things that have happened since then...

*I finished my photography class at The Light Factory and now sort of know how to use a digital SLR camera

*I started the last year of my twenties

*I made a road trip to Louisville, KY for a basketball game and got to spend time with my fabulous former bride/friend, Heather and met two amazing planners, Lauren from Lauren Chitwood Events and Rayna from Always Planned while I was there

*I registered for Eventology 2010 in April...and I absolutely cannot wait!
*I spent the holidays with my family and enjoyed every relaxing minute of it! Nothing quite like watching my 3 year old niece on Christmas morning!

*I spent New Year's Eve with my husband and saw one of my favorite bands, The Avett Brothers, in concert.

*I designed my first magazine photo shoot for The Bride's Book and got to work with Candice & Daniel from The Beautiful Mess!

*One of my best friends/bridesmaids got engaged! :)
*I got to meet a fabulous Atlanta planner & fellow pug lover, Ashley Baber while I was in Richmond

*I attended the Grand Opening of the fabulous New York Bride + Groom in Charlotte

*I attended the Bridal Showcase at the Charlotte Convention Center to help out my good friend Lucy at her booth for Lucy Parker Photography and got a chance to meet some new vendors and see some vendors I already knew!

*I took my amazing husband out for his birthday to Soul Gastro Lounge. I want to go back. ASAP.

So there's the cliff's notes of what I have already done...and here's a sneak peek of my goals for February:

* Finish the book "Crush It"....and then read it again.

*book my flight & hotel room for Eventology
*write four blog posts

*attend at least one networking event

*meet with at least two vendors
*make a list of websites/blogs to share with my brides for ideas & inspiration

*follow up with vendors from the bridal show
*read & comment on more blogs!

Vendor Profile: The Beautiful Mess

So as part of my October goals, I met with 3 new vendors to broaden my network again. One beautiful Thursday I knocked out that goal in one fell swoop and was lucky enough to meet up with the amazingly fun & talented Candice Lanning from The Beautiful Mess photography in Charlotte. Candice is the "wife" half of the husband/wife team that also includes her equally talented husband, Daniel. They shoot such fun, fashionable pictures of brides, weddings, families, babies...you name it, they'll shoot it. And do a fabulous job of it!Candice & I met for some yummy apple cider at Caribou Coffee on East Blvd. and chatted away about weddings, music, & life in general. I had heard great things about Candice & Daniel and their work and began following her on Twitter where I had recently enjoyed her musings about music she was listening to. As someone who loves and appreciates new music I was stoked to get to meet her and discuss our musical tastes along with some wedding business of course.
I walked away from that meeting feeling inspired & renewed in my business as well as my taste in music....and feeling much less geeky about my recent interest in "Twilight" as I soon thereafter purchased advance tickets for the upcoming release of "New Moon" in the movie theater!
The first two images are of Candice & Daniel from their trip to Seattle this past summer (photo credit: Sarah Rhoads), but then check out some of these recent images from their blog....such amazing work! I absolutely cannot wait to work with them in the future and am so looking forward to catching up again soon- probably with our own personal reviews of "New Moon"

Jennifer & Craig: Married in St. Louis

Jennifer & Craig were married in their hometown of St. Louis, MO this past July. Jennifer is one of my best friends and I was happy to lend a helping hand to her planning process. Jen & Craig were technically married last November in a courthouse ceremony, but then decided they wanted to make it "official" in the Catholic church with the white dress, reception, & their friends and family present with them. I wanted to share a few of my fave images from their day!

All images: {Photo credit FireFly Images}

Left: Always love a good dress shot.
Right: I think Jennifer's face in this picture is priceless!

Top: Completely smitten with this one of Jen & her little girl Tennley. Look at those eyes!
Bottom: Great candid of Jennifer & her bridesmaids!

Congrats to Jennifer & Craig! May you have many happy years together!

November Goals & Sneak Peek!

And here it is a month later which means new goals! And one of my goals is definitely to blog something other than goals! In fact, I’ll even post a sneak peek at one of the weddings you’ll see more of soon! October was lots of craziness and fun and November promises to be just as busy! Here’s how October’s goals fared…
{} Finalize my contract & have the attorney review it In progress- will see the attorney over Thanksgiving so I will have him review it then.
{} Do the paperwork to become an LLC (changing from a sole proprietorship) Paperwork complete but am submitting it after January 1 for tax purposes.
{} Meet with 3 new vendors Check!
{} Have dinner with a friend I haven’t seen in a while Check!
{} Catch up on thank you notes to vendors In progress.
{} Organize my business expenses/receipts Didn’t get to this one...procrastination strikes again!
{} Schedule someone to deep clean our house & carpets House cleaners are coming Friday!
{} Catch up on “Mad Men” & “Glee” episodes Decided to try to do this over the holidays.
{} Start working on my business plan In progress.
{} Clean out my closet & switch out the seasonal clothes Check!
{} Take Norm to the dog bar in NoDa Check! (So much fun- can’t wait to go back!)
{} Make something with my KitchenAid mixer (I am not a cook/baker and it’s starting to get dusty!) Check! The peanut butter-chocolate chip cookies were definitely a success!
{} Plant fall flowers in my front yard & get out the Halloween decorations Check!
{} Update/clean out my Google reader Check!

And now for my November goals…
{} Get a good start on the Christmas shopping (cannot believe it is time for this already!)
{} Order holiday cards for Green Shoes Weddings & Events
{} Meet with 3 more vendors
{} Blog 5 times (this one doesn’t count!)
{} Order a new chair for our office at home
{} Work on marketing plan & materials for Green Shoes Weddings & Events
{} And, of course, work on the goals from October that didn’t I didn’t quite finish!

And here’s a sneak peak from Mandie & Drew’s September wedding at Castle McCulloch in Jamestown! Such a FUN couple- and Mandie has great style! Leave me some comment love regarding the monthly goals or Miss Mandie Grace! Happy Fall, y’all!

{Photo Credit: Bert Reed Photography}

Goals for October!

So I’m totally stealing this idea from my fellow Charlotte wedding pros, Cheyenne Schultz & Alyse Woodward and starting my own monthly “goal list” on my blog. Just for fun reference, you can check out Cheyenne & Alyse’s goals for October as well as the results from their September posts. I think they got the idea from fab photographer Nancy Ray , but as someone who loves to make lists, I thought this would be a good idea! Plus it will help me be more accountable in actually accomplishing some of these goals! Some are business related and some are more personal. There are big goals & small goals on my list, but nonetheless, here’s my list for October (and yes, I know it’s late, but I had a big, fabulous wedding this past weekend so better late than never!)

{} Finalize my contract & have the attorney review it
{} Do the paperwork to become an LLC (changing from a sole proprietorship)
{} Meet with 3 new vendors
{} Have dinner with a friend I haven’t seen in a while
{} Catch up on thank you notes to vendors
{} Organize my business expenses/receipts
{} Schedule someone to deep clean our house & carpets
{} Catch up on “Mad Men” & “Glee” episodes
{} Start working on my business plan
{} Clean out my closet & switch out the seasonal clothes
(check out my inspiration from Julianne Smith here)
{} Take Norm to the dog bar in NoDa
{} Make something with my KitchenAid mixer (I am not a cook & it’s starting to get dusty!)
{} Plant fall flowers in my front yard & get out the Halloween decorations
{} Update/clean out my Google reader

And here is my inspiration board for my goals (disclaimer: that is not actually my closet, nor would my closet EVER be that organized!)

What are some of your goals for this month? Any fun suggestions for what to make with my mixer or any good blogs I should be sure to read on a regular basis (wedding or non-wedding related)?