We hope that 2010 has greeted you with hope and happiness! Matt & I just returned from visiting friends and family in the winter wonderland that is Pennsylvania and New York! Most of our trip was spent in Pittsburgh where we visited both sides of my family and also met up with friends to tailgate at Heinz Field before the Steelers game:

This was also Peanut’s first time seeing snow since it was so warm last year during the holidays! Last year we went to PA, NY, and CT and the weather was in the 50’s and 60’s, so we were really hoping for a white Christmas this year! And boy, did we get our wish!! Peanut wasn’t really sure about the snow, but by the end he got used to it! : )

It wasn’t until we headed up to NY (near Rochester) that we really got to see SNOW! Lots and lots of glistening like fluffy diamonds powdery snow! It was so beautiful! Along the way, we stopped to see Dunkirk Lighthouse on Lake Erie. It was closed, but I was able to snap this shot through the gate:

On the drive back to Pittsburgh, we ran into some some bad weather. The highway had been cut off due to an overturned semi, so when we got back on the highway after the detour the roads had not been plowed very well. The only way to really see the road was from the car in front of us, and we could barely even see that:

But we took our time, drove carefully, and eventually did make it back to Pittsburgh safely. I love seeing snow, but I also love coming back to 60 degrees in Florida! I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays and is ready for an amazing 2010!

We are currently spending Thanksgiving in the Northeast visiting with friends and family! We are enjoying the colder weather and sitting by a fire but can’t wait to share some blog goodies with you when we return!

First, we have to go back to the beginning of November when I attended Partner Con in New Orleans. I was part of two shoots while I was there, but because of time constraints (i.e. holiday order deadlines and editing demands) plus waiting on a model release I haven’t been able to edit them. They are already prepped and just waiting to go once I get back to the desk, but in the meantime here’s a little teaser:

Most recently, we shot the beautiful and very joyous wedding of Kiranmayi & Rishiraj in New Jersey. It was such a phenomenal experience and we were already miss all of their friends and family! They were so sweet and generous and made sure we ate tons of food (you really couldn’t say no, which is fine with us because we LOVE Indian food!). Here’s a peek at what’s to come from their wedding:

We’ve been busy every day on our trip! On Sunday, we headed up to Massachussetts (about 45 minutes north of where we are in Connecticut) and met up with Carmen & Kyle to chat about their wedding next May! We’ve been talking for months now but this was our first time meeting in person! Then we met up with Melissa & Alex, who we met at Sheba & Nolan’s wedding back in September. They will be getting married down in Florida next July, but you’ll be seeing them on the blog before then! ; )

Monday we had planned on a shoot in Boston, but unfortunately we had to cancel. The weather turned out to be terrible anyway, but it was still such a bummer.

Things turned around today with a bit of sunshine and a visit down to the southern part of Connecticut to visit with two incredible photographers, Robert & Kathleen Trenske. Their work is just gorgeous and we had such a great time chatting with them about weddings in New England vs. weddings in Florida, workflow, and more!

Tomorrow we’ll be heading down to New Haven to meet up with two of my favorite people in the whole world, the uber fabulous Justin & Mary Marantz! Matt is so excited to meet them for the first time and admits he is a bit starstruck. Yeah, they are pretty awesome!
PLUS…

THEY ARE COMING TO JACKSONVILLE!!! YES!!!

They will be stopping in Jacksonville as part of their Spread The Love Tour on January 19th! They are offering an insane sale on Black Friday – $50 registration! I’m scared it will sell out before I get on the computer! Guess I need to camp out starting at midnight!

Wow… can you tell I’m excited?!

But before the big Black Friday sales, we will end our trip with a big Thanksgiving feast on Long Island with Matt’s family. For some reason, the holidays seem so significant this year. It’s like we really NEED the holidays this year. Even though we have been so blessed this year (beyond even our own belief sometimes), I feel like it has been a rough year in general for everyone. So I hope the holidays bring joy into everyone’s lives, because we could all use time with family and lots of hugs right about now! Hopefully you are feeling the spirit of the holidays as well, and Matt & I wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!! : )

I’m currently in Pittsburgh visiting family and friends while Matt is working on a carrier in the Persian Gulf. I have a couple shoots schedule for this week but the main reason I came up here is for the SteelCity Mafia’s 3rd Annual Family Weekend.

I got in late Wednesday night so that I would be here in time for the first game of the pre-season. I didn’t go to the game, but you can bet I was downtown to tailgate with my friends and family:

My mom, brother, and cousin Kaitlyn

My friends Rochelle, Robbie, and new friend Shona

As we were tailgating, Franco Harris walked by! Just walking down the street like a normal guy past hundreds of Steeler fans. I couldn't believe it!

The highlight of the weekend is the Sit Down, a formal banquet at the gorgeous DiSalvo’s Station restaurant in Latrobe. Every year we are honored to have a featured guest speaker who is a former Steeler player, and this year we had the fortune of having Mike Wagner, safety for the Steelers from 1971-1980. He had some great stories to share and it was such an amazing experience to listen to one of our Steeler legends talk about playing with some of the greatest players in history to his observations of football today. What is always interesting is that even though these guys were such badasses on the field (especially back then when it was really physical and even, as Wagner admits, sometimes dirty) they are always humble and nice as can be in person. Plus they are still so connected to Pittsburgh, just like regular fans. We’re all sitting there in awe of him but I think he was just as much in awe of us as fans and the loyalty we have for the team. He was so surprised to find out that most of us were from all over the country.

Steeler great Mike Wagner

Every year at the Sit Down, a select group of SCM members are “made” for their contributions and dedication to the organization. They are pinned by the guest speaker and it’s such a nice recognition. Congratulations to the 2009 class of Made members!

After the pinning ceremony we all retreat to the cigar lounge to hang out and celebrate:

Me, Missy, and Cindy

Barry, Me, and Frank

It was another great year and I’m so eager to see the schedule of SteelCity Mafia events for this year! A lot of the games are going to be too far for me to travel to but hopefully I’ll be able to make it to the home game that they choose and we are definitely planning on going to the game in Miami! It’s still so hard to believe that football season is upon us! Here we go, Steelers, here we go!!

An hour to Georgia. About 2.5 hours in Georgia and then we’re in South Carolina. 3hours or so in SC and we hit NC. I consider Charlotte to roughly be the half way point. I get confused and always think “Are we in Virginia yet?” Usually that means we’re still in NC but less than an hour from Virginia. We’re only in Virginia for about an hour and I know I have to get gas because in West Virginia it’s going to be $0.30/gallon more. Also have to get some cash out of the ATM for the WV tolls (the only tolls on the whole drive). When we hit Morgantown, I know we’re only about an hour away from the place I call home!

That’s the drive to Pittsburgh. It’s such a piece of cake drive. Matt took the first shift while I tried to nap. He drove for a little over 5 hours and I took over the rest since I’m using to being up from midnight until the sun comes up. When we hit the Pennsvylvania border yesterday morning, the sky was slowly growing lighter. Soon I could see the beautiful hills and the farms with their big red, white or brown barns. So much of PA is just farm land and it’s so beautiful. I took in the moment alone. Matt was sleeping in the passenger sleep with both of the dogs laying on top of him. Cruising along passed the farms, the day was starting to come to life and I sighed knowing that it was only a little further until we reached home.

We arrived around 6:30am and my mom was getting up for work. I checked to see if we had bread from Mancini’s Bakery and sure enough, it was there! She asked the other day if I wanted her to pick up a loaf and I told her not to worry about it because we would go get some. It’s kinda tradition that when I come home the first thing I do is eat some Mancini’s bread! Ever since I was a little kid whenever we took a trip to Pittsburgh we always brought home loaves of Mancini’s. You can bet we will be bringing some home this time, too! : )

It’s going to be a busy trip, but I’m excited about being home! Promise to have pics soon!