Christmas with Gary Sinise

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday! Hard to believe that Christmas has come and gone. My mom has been here for the past few days; now that she's winging her way back to Jersey, I've got some time to catch up.

Christmas Eve was pretty low key, the hubs and I spent it at home alone. We had a nice dinner and waited for mom's increasingly delayed flight to get in (scheduled arrival time: 9pm Christmas Eve; actual arrival time: 12:16am Christmas morning). By the time she got her luggage and whatnot, I think we got home around 1:30 that morning. Too tired to think, we all conked out.

When we woke up, it was present time! I, of course, was on the nice list - though some may beg to differ ;) Lots of movies, music, some jewelry, and a few camera toys were in my stocking this year.

Around noon, we headed over to Epcot and our late lunch reservations at the Italian Restaurant there. Talk about crowded! But we stuck it out, because we had a mission - the Candlelight Processional with celebrity narrator Gary Sinise!

I couldn't think of anyone better than Gary (his voice is amazing!) to read the Christmas story, which was interspersed with carols such as Come All Ye Faithful, O Holy Night, and Silent Night sung by a choir of over 400 singers and an orchestra that had more than 50 members.

Gary (I was being lazy and didn't want to carry my long lens (that sucker is heavy!) all day. I wish now that I had so I could have gotten a closer shot!


The conductor was great, jumping and flailing all over the place.


Along the way, we saw a couple of Santas from around the world. Here, Pere Noel from France.


And of course, no visit to Disney is complete without a self portrait and trying on some fun hats


The day after Christmas, we took mom over to the House of Blues to see one of her favorite musicians - Edwin McCain. No cameras were allowed in the venue, so I'll spare you from the embarassingly bad camera phone photos.

But it's not back to reality time just yet. I'm going to enjoy a few more days off and get back to work on January 2.

Leighton and Tiffany tied the knot!

What a way to end the year! Leighton and Tiffany got married yesterday at the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs. The team from Affordable Weddings was on hand to make sure that everything went smoothly.

Make-up artist Michele Renee had the super easy job of making Tiffany look her best.



This was one of the first images I saw when I was loading the files on my computer and it's one of my favorites! The ring bearer, Elijah, is Leighton's son.


Tiffany's mom walked her down the aisle












Not only is it beautiful, it's cheesecake!


They made their getaway in an awesome white Corvette


Tiffany and Leighton, I really enjoyed being part of your beautiful day. Best wishes to you and your family for a long and happy life!

Happy Holidays!

Oh no we didn't!

Oh yes we did! It's Cooper the red nosed rein-cat Sorry for the crummy camera phone photo!

Looking for a last minute gift?

Give the gift of photography! Gift certificates are available in $25 increments and can be used towards prints, a portrait session, or even towards the balance due on a wedding package!

Or, if you're feeling extra generous, purchase a portrait session gift certificate! For $250, your lucky gift recipient gets a portrait session and a $50 product credit towards ordering prints from their session!



Call or email Lori for info!

In Print: January/February 2008 issue of ISLANDS Magazine

Pick up a copy of the Jan/Feb 08 issue of ISLANDS Magazine to see some of my Young Island photos in the Romantic Retreats feature! I was fortunate enough to travel to Young Island, which is off the coast of St. Vincent, back in April to shoot for the magazine.

Alicia and Carlos got hitched!

Alicia and Carlos are two of the kindest, most easygoing people I've ever met. And it's a good thing they're so easy going, because mother nature played a cruel trick on their wedding day - Red Tide!

Being fairly new to Florida (it'll be 2 years in February!) Red Tide is a new thing to me. Apparently it's some sort of ocean bacteria that becomes airborne when the ocean breaks at the shore. It affects people differently, but for a large majority of folks, it irritates the lungs, causes uncontrollable coughing, sneezing, runny nose, watery eyes. You get the picture. And it ain't a pretty one!

I got to Cocoa Beach's Lori Wilson Park early to scope things out. I found wedding coordinator Lisa Wongshue (who, by the way, did an incredible job with all the little details!) setting up for the wedding wearing surgical mask! I immediately noticed my throat tightening and it felt like someone was squeezing my chest!

Since I had about 45 minutes to kill before the wedding, I decided to do it inside in the air conditioning and away from the Red Tide. Being inside made me feel a lot better, but I knew I had to spend 3 hours outside. So I went first to CVS, who was sold out of the surgical masks, then to Walgreens where I was finally able to buy a box (hence the photo of me in yesterday's stunning wedding attire!)

I drove back to the ceremony site thinking I was going to look silly, but if that's what it took to get me through the wedding, well, so be it! However as the guests started to arrive, nearly every one was wearing, or eventually donned a surgical mask.



In spite of all that, it truly was a beautiful wedding. The ceremony was sweet and meaningful and it was such a tight knit bunch, it was hard to tell friends from family!















About 40 of their family and friends were joining Alicia, Carlos, and their children on a cruise leaving out of Port Canaveral for the weekend. Unfortunately for me, my time was up and it was back to Orlando.

Congratulations and bless your new family. And I hope you're having a blast on the cruise!

Friday faves: Food!

Food, glorious food! I may not have the most refined or discriminating tastes, but I know what I like! My ideal meal? It's so hard to pick just one thing, so here's a few I'd mix and match!

Appetizers
Stuffed Mushrooms
Shrimp Cocktail
Fried Olives
Clams on the half shell

Main Course
Sushi - a Maui roll, a spicy tuna roll, a spicy lobster roll and a little edamame on the side
Prime Rib
Snow Crab Legs

Desserts
Bananas Foster over a big ol' chocolate brownie
Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Sorry for the abbreviated version, I'm still playing catch up from yesterday!

Email is back up

and running! Thanks for your patience!

Email is down

My email is down, so if you need me, please clall me! And if you've emailed in the past 48 hours, odds are good I haven't received it. Sorry for the headache!

Wedding photos coming later - along with the story - promise!

Merry Christmas to me!

My present came a little early this year! Ok, so it was a present to myself, but still! Among all the craziness of the pre-holiday season I've been secretly working on my new web site (who needs sleep?) and it's finally up and running.

Take it for a test drive and let me know what you think!

Worth noting that it seems like my email may have been down in the transition for the past 24 hours or so, so if you've emailed me and not heard back, please re-send or give me a call at 407-401-9120.

I'll have to post about Thursday's wedding a little later on, when I'm more coherent, but it was a doozy! But in the meantime, I'll leave you with a quick self portrait from the wedding which provides a clue to the happenings of the day!

Sorry ladies, he's taken

I really do have the best husband ever. I've got a long day ahead - a beach wedding this morning (yep, on a Thursday!) followed by a client meeting directly after - and he got up extra super duper early to make me pancakes so I'd have the energy I needed to make it through the day. What a doll!

So pictures from the beach wedding tomorrow and - if everything works out as planned - a little suprise!

How cool* is this?

Those of you that live in the Orlando area are probably familiar with ICE. If you're not, every year around the holidays Gaylord Palms puts together this incredible exhibit of ice sculptures that are hand carved from 2 million pounds of ice! Heck, they even these huge ice slides you can slide down! I had the opportunity to see the exhibit last year and it's incredible! Here are a couple quick images that I shot:






Now I'm not sure if this is a new addition or not, but I just discovered that they're offering packages where you can propose right inside the attraction! How fun is that? So if you're looking for a cool* way to propose or just something fun to do over the holidays, check it out!

* pun fully intended

Engaged: Angela & Rod

Angela and Rod met in a restaurant when Rod asked if anyone was using the chair next to Angela. When she said no, he sat down. Unexpected to be sure, but it obviously worked. And now this happy pair is getting married on Valentine's Day.

We spent some time at Lake Eola this afernoon capturing some fun engagement photos.

Friday faves - TV shows

I admit, I'm an addict. A TV fanatic. And it's generally not good TV either. It's the junk food kind. The latest and greatest in my TV faves?

Gossip Girl
The OC (another guilty pleasure!) meets NYC. In prep school uniforms. The guys in my high school never looked like this!

I've already professed my love for Project Runway. I'm in, Heidi. And I grin like a fool every time Tim says, "make it work" or "carry on". I don't have a clear favorite yet for this season, so I'm curious to see how things play out.

Good Eats

Alton Brown is the man. He's a riot. He can make science interesting (to someone like me who glazes over at the mere thought) and he can cook!

Rock of Love with Bret Michaels I was totally rooting for Jes; she was one of my favorites from the beginning, but it just didn't work out. Which is good news for me, because that means there's a season 2!! And yes, I confess, I was a hair band junkie back in the day.

Curse you writer's strike! Do I really have to go without Lost this year? Heck, it's been so long, I don't even remember where we left off!


So enlighten me. Am I missing any of your must watch shows?

Deb and Glen said I do!

Saturday was the absolute perfect day for a wedding. The sky was blue and the temperature was like something out of Goldilocks and the Three Bears - not too hot, not too cool, just right! On this most perfect of Saturdays, Deb and Glen had their ceremony and reception at the Mystic Dunes Golf Club in Kissimmee.

Entertainingly enough, their DJ, Chuck from Classic Disc Jockeys was the DJ at my wedding 5 years ago! It was fun to see him again and he was just as great as I remembered!

There were lots of fun details...


a beautiful location...




adorable kids...


and one happy couple!


Congratulations to you both (and to your beautiful family!) and thanks so much for letting me share your special day!

Friday favorites: Christmas

Today marks the start of a new blog series - Friday faves! Call it a self-indulgent brain dump if you will, but I love reading other people's blogs and finding new "things", whether it be a product, a band, a book... or a really expensive camera lens to lust after. You get the idea!

And since tomorrow is the first day of December, what better topic to start with than Christmas!

Hear
How can you go wrong with Mannheim Steamroller? It's Christmas music that's guaranteed not to grate on my nerves by December 24.

Smell
With all my allergies, I'm pretty sensitive to smells and for the most part, avoid things like perfumes and scented lotions. But when I do indulge, I prefer food smells over flowery ones. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Philosophy's The Gingerbread Man!

Watch
How can you not get nostalgic over A Charlie Brown Christmas? Without fail it's my absolute favorite holiday show.

Though, since we've been married, my husband and I have started the tradition of watching A Christmas Story on Christmas night once we get home from visiting the relatives. Fortunately TNT indulges freaks like us and airs it for 24 continuous hours starting on Christmas Eve!

Watch it, or you'll shoot your eye out, kid.


Taste
Best. Cookies. Ever. At least that's what my husband tells me (and believe me, he'd tell me if he didn't like 'em!) This oatmeal cookie recipe is a favorite in our house and it's so simple that even you non-bakers out there can whip up a batch!

3 cups of butter, softened
3 cups packed brown sugar (I used an equal mix of light and dark)
3 cups of flour
1 tablespoon of baking soda
6 cups of quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup of sugar

Cream the butter and brown sugar. In a separate bowl mix all the other ingredients except the oatmeal. Mix the dry ingredients into the butter/sugar mixture then slowly incorporate the oatmeal (it gets thick and sticky!). Roll into 1 1/2 inch balls and flatten on the cookie sheet with the bottom of a glass. Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees.

Those are my Christmas faves. Drop off a comment and tell me some of yours!

2007: That's all she wrote!

That's right gang, there's no more availability for the rest of 2007! As I mentioned earlier, session fees for portraits (which includes engagement sessions, bridal portraits, and trash the dress) are increasing January 1, 2008, but if you reserve your 2008 session prior to December 15, 2008, I'll honor the 2007 price!

Also worth noting is that there's one space left for the January 12, 2008 boudoir bash.

M-I-C...

I was thrilled when Nikki asked if I'd spend the day photographing her family over at Disney World! They trekked all the way from Minnesota and this was a very special vacation for them!

We spent the afternoon at the Magic Kingdom.

It'll be weeks before I get the Small World song out of my head.


Goofy's Barnstormer. Shortest. Rollercoaster. Ever. Seriously 20 seconds long. Not bad for shooting blindly over my shoulder, eh?



And after a quick stop at the Animal Kingdom Lodge to freshen up, we wrapped up the night at MGM enjoying the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights (say that 5 times fast!) If you haven't see it, get yourself over there this holiday season - it's incredible!





Uh oh! Looks likes someone's after my job!


I had a blast photographing you guys - thanks for making me feel like part of your family!

Thankful Thursday

One of these years, I will learn how to make a *good* pan gravy. I've been cooking turkeys for years (and years and years!) and I still can't master a simple pan gravy! This year was perhaps my worst attempt ever! Ah well, there's always next year. So this year, I'm especially thankful for the can of back-up turkey gravy I bought.

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays because it's about two things - appreciating the people I love and food. I'm so blessed to have a fantastic, supportive husband and two crazy cats who bring me joy on a daily basis. I have a wonderful mother who raised me right and continues to be an inspiration. As if that isn't enough to be thankful for, I have amazing friends who enrich my life with their presence and incredible clients who bring a new level of joy to my work each and every day.

I hope that you are all as blessed as I am and are enjoying your turkey comas as we speak!

Maggie & Chris Trashed the Dress!

I had the pleasure of photographing Maggie & Chris' engagement photos last spring and was thrilled when Maggie contacted saying they wanted to do a trash the dress session. We headed over to beautiful Wekiwa Springs (where Chris had proposed) and spent the morning splashing around.

First we did a few quick dry shots on land...



I love this one!


then the real fun started...everyone knows you just gotta jump right in!



It was a little chilly, but they were troopers!



Thanks for a great shoot you two! Your gallery will be posted soon.