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!