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Surprise! Snow everywhere!
Posted on February 7, 2010
I never believe the weather people. And I usually assume that everyone is overreacting and exaggerating when they say a big storm is coming. Well, this time, they were right, I was wrong.
Our weekend went something like this:
Friday afternoon, my parents, brother, sister, niece and nephew arrived from eastern Pennsylvania. They were coming to celebrate my wonderful boy Leo’s 5th birthday. It had already started to snow when they arrived, and by the evening, several inches had fallen.
We lost power around midnight on Friday.
Saturday morning, my early-riser almost-8-year-old niece, Emma, called upstairs to say that my dog, Marley, was refusing to go outside. I headed down, and as I opened the door I understood her resistance.
Here’s the view out our back door. And note, Marley is a tall, long-legged 90-lb dog:
And looking out the front door. The snow-covered blob in the middle of the photo is my brother’s minivan.
I believe the official tally was 21 inches, but it sure seemed like more than that to me. The saddest part of the weekend was that since the roads were completely covered, none of Leo’s friends were able to come to his party. And even if we had been able to drive anywhere, the bakers had not been able to get to work to bake his cake. Since we were without power, we couldn’t bake a cake, either. So this was one of many times we were grateful to live within easy walking distance of Leo’s grandpa, who saved the day by baking brownies and letting us come over and warm up. Power came back on some time Saturday evening.
The kids had a great time in the snow. Below, Jonas is standing at the edge of the completely snow-covered street.
Sunday morning. Roads still completely covered.
This was definitely a birthday weekend we will never forget!
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Brides and grooms: thinking of hiring a wedding planner?
Posted on February 3, 2010
If you haven’t hired a planner to help coordinate your wedding details, I encourage you to consider doing so.
Why?
Planning an event as complicated – and important – as a wedding is a huge task. Countless hours will be spent looking for vendors, evaluating your options, reading contracts, calculating your budget and making sure all the pieces fit together. And that’s just the beginning! Then there all the phone calls, e-mails, and meetings that you have to keep track of, making sure everyone is on schedule to do what you’ve asked them to do. The wedding planning becomes a full-time job, and unfortunately, most employers don’t have a provision for wedding planning leave.
A wedding planner will help you manage all of your details and ensure that everything is taken care of. A skilled planner will not make your decisions for you, but will discuss your style and ideas with you and then see that your vision is carried out. She (or he) will be your point of contact with all of your vendors so that you are not burdened with having to communicate and coordinate with everyone involved in your wedding.
Sometimes not everything goes as expected on a wedding day. The guests’ shuttle doesn’t show up, and instead of guests being driven to the reception as you promised, they’re left standing in their hotel lobby. The florist gets lost on the way to the ceremony. If you’ve hired a wedding planner, these wayward vendors will have a point of contact other than you – so that you can relax and enjoy your day, and not have to be bothered with these details.
Brides and grooms getting married in Pittsburgh are lucky to have the opportunity to hire Sumer Schmitt of Simply Perfect Weddings. Sumer is the owner and principal wedding planner, and offers several different options for wedding planning services. You can opt for full-service planning, with management and support throughout the entire planning process. Day-of coordination is also available, and Sumer is also now offering hourly consulting services.
Why hire Sumer? When she talks about the brides she works with, her eyes light up. She has so much energy, motivation and love for her work, and such warmth for the relationships she builds with her brides. I first met Sumer at a wedding. She was focused on making sure everything went according to plan (and it certainly did!). She was calm and confident, but also fun and upbeat and happy. I am sure that her reassuring presence was a large part of why the whole wedding party was able to relax and enjoy their celebration, knowing that she was taking care of all of the details.
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Leah { Portraits }
Posted on February 1, 2010
I first met Leah Shannon when our firstborns were babies. Hard to believe that those baby boys are now almost five! Leah is a a Holistic Health Counselor and is the founder of FullWell, a holistic wellness and integrative nutrition practice. Fullwell helps individuals find balance, energy and fullness in their lives through gradual and lasting diet and lifestyle changes tailored to each individual’s pace, needs and goals. Fullwell is about to launch a new website, and Leah wanted some current photos.
We had nice light to work with, but I couldn’t help adding a little for accent. Backlight is courtesy of a small flash tucked into some greenery.
Love the boots!
Leah’s children came along and joined in for a few photos. Isn’t Rio so sweet?
And this one of big boy Arto just melts this mommy’s heart. What a heartfelt hug.
Arto showed off his climbing skills, too.
Interested in wellness counseling? Leah would be happy to help you. She can be reached at leah@fullwell.org
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Who needs sun? Why Pittsburgh is the best place to be a wedding photographer.
Posted on January 27, 2010
Being a wedding photographer is fun in so many ways. You get to see beautiful, happy people celebrating love and starting a new chapter of their lives. You have a chance to explore different neighborhoods and find new nooks and crannies you never knew were there before. You get to laugh and cry as Best Men and Maids of Honor honor and embarrass their brides and grooms.
And in Pittsburgh… you get to visit the cookie table. So what if we don’t get much sun here in Pittsburgh? We have the cookie table tradition!
I grew up in eastern Pennsylvania, and had never heard of a cookie table. But it is simply what it says – a table full of trays and trays of cookies. Sometimes they’ve been baked by friends and family, sometimes they’re provided by a bakery. Sometimes the table is open during cocktail hour, so hungry guests can choose to snack on hors d’ouevres… or ladylocks, chocolate chip cookies, or Buckeyes. And since there is usually a huge abundance of cookies, bags or boxes are usually provided so that guests can take some home.
Cookies are my weakness. Cake doesn’t tempt me at all, but when I arrive at the reception, it sure is hard to say no to a table full of cookies! Not that I eat a whole table full. Of course not.
Now let us admire some of my favorite cookie tables of 2009.
Want to read more about cookie tables?
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Thank you so much for your kind words, Christina! You absolutely made my day! :)