Thursday, August 29, 2013

Oh how I love what I do...


A few days after we returned from our fun trip to Disney World I had to get crackin on a wedding I had booked with one of my husband's co-workers earlier this year. I've done weddings for years but just last year I started doing it out of my home with 1 wedding, this year I have 3 weddings and 1 bridal shower! And I love it! It's stressful, fast paced, and a lot is resting on my shoulders but it is also an incredibly rewarding job. 
















The above photos are courtesy of Amanda Dumont 

Below are some of the pictures I took while me and my husband were setting up. Joel always helps me out on my wedding set ups and we make a great team!



The Bride requested that I add remnants of her mother's bridal hat to her bouquet along with a special charm. 
A total of 15 centerpieces.




I was so happy with these bouquets and in particular the Brides. 

Comments from the Bride....

"I loved everything that you did!!! You are amazing!!!.....thank you, everything was perfect....I really couldn't be happier with everything you did! You have a real talent girl!!"

And I couldn't be more pleased to have been a part of this sweet couples' very special day. It is wonderful feeling to know that I was able to make a Bride and Groom so happy and to receive such gracious compliments. 





Tuesday, August 27, 2013

LIFE LIST: RIDE A TROLLEY


Where: Old Savannah Tours



When: August 2013


Cost: For $22/per person (our 2 year old daughter was free) we could take the ninety minute tour...for $4 more per person we could take the tour on that Friday, then the next day could ride the trolley all day, hop on and off whenever we wanted AND they picked us up at our B&B and dropped us off afterwards. I probably would have said no to that, but luckily it was my husband who purchased the tickets and I'm glad he did. Having access to the trolley for the entire next day was highly beneficial.


Why this is on my list: I've always wanted to ride a trolley, though I was leaning more towards riding a trolley through the streets of San Francisco, but when I found a Trolley ride through St Louis, I thought 'what the heck, let's do it now!' I was so glad we did, it was such a great way to see parts of the city that I would have missed on foot and it was an ideal place to gather travel info. Now that I know what a veritable fountain of knowledge taking a tour can be, sign me up anywhere and when I saw it in Savannah it was added to my list! I'm thinking of adding that onto my LIFE LIST- take a trolley ride in every major U.S. city.


I love the legend this statue represents! That's so something I would do!
Something I'd recommend? Definitely. For some travelers I know this sort of thing seems 'too touristy', my thoughts on that are.... if you're looking for something 'non touristy'...go to Guam. Taking this Trolley tour really enhanced our trip, there were many sites we saw that we would not have been the wiser had we not been on this tour. For instance, several POI's from the movie Forest Gump were pointed out and scenes from the movie Julia Roberts stared in called 'Something To Talk About' were also filmed in Savannah.The major historical points were explained either by the driver or a theatrical host who hopped on at one of our stops. Our time spent on the Old Savannah Tours stayed with us throughout our entire trip and even made our long drive home from Florida to Michigan enjoyable.
 One of the many benefits to purchasing the 'on and off' pass was that we were able to have a different experience with each driver. Most of them were likable, one we found distasteful, but one...Chris, who happened to be our very last driver was so funny and so charming with his thick Savannahian (?) drawl that we spent our 2 day drive back to Michigan quoting the hilarious things he said in our impressive southern accents....and 3 weeks later he still has us rolling! This was easily the most fun we had while in Savannah.

The above location was named one of the most haunted homes in the US.

Will I do it again? Actually we were going to do it again the next day! We had taken the 90 minute tour the day before but we were having so much fun on Chris's tour that we were going to stay on for the entire 90 minute tour again, but it was his last of the day so that's when we decided to hop off and try to make it to Wormsloe Plantation. This was an excellent way to see Savannah and one of our favorite aspects of our trip.

Some of the things we saw on the tour.......
No biggie...just the 'hanging square'. 
The square where Tom Hanks infamously sat on a bench waiting for a bus in 'Forest Gump'.

This beautifully detailed building used to be a FORD dealership!
Julia Roberts filmed a scene at this pub for the movie 'Something to Talk About' 

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Saturday, August 24, 2013

LIFE LIST: WORMSLOE PLANTATION


Where: Wormsloe Plantation and Historic Site-8 miles from Savannah's city center/historic district.



When: August 2013


Cost: $10/per person and $1 for children. Though we didn't pay since we arrived 10 minutes before close, the attendant was nice enough to let us in just inside the gates, but we didn't get a chance to drive down the 'oak avenue' or see the plantation ruins/museum.



Why this is on my list... This was the place I was most excited about when visiting Savannah so I was bummed that we didn't get the full experience. If this looks familiar to you, it should, this has been featured in several Hollywood films most notably in Forest Gump, when Jenny yells "Run Forest, Run!".



Something I'd recommend? Absolutely, if you have the chance to visit this most beautiful city, you must stop at Wormsloe. The history of this plantation includes a range of usages including cotton farming and growing food for silkworms in the hopes of turning Georgia into a large silk supplier.  The founder of this estate had a strong interest in horticulture which is what inspired him to plant these trees, 1.5 miles of live oaks hugging the avenue creating a draping canopy of Spanish moss. These trees are called 'live oaks' because they keep their leaves year round. Pictures do not do it justice enough though, it was devastatingly beautiful. We made a slight right hand turn and there it was...it was so magnificent that I could feel my heart swell up with excitement. I couldn't believe I was there. This picturesque scenery I've seen thousands of times in magazines and movies and I was there. I could have spent an entire day gazing at each of the 400 trees planted along the ally.

I have to say that I think this is the most beautiful place I've even seen in the continental US.



Will I do it again? YES! It wasn't due to poor planning that we arrived late, it's that everything seemed to close or halt at 5h so we had to cram in everything inside the city first because we knew we'd have to drive here and we had paid to use the Trolley around the city for the day. I actually feel really blessed to just have seen the entrance but what I really wanted to do was drive down the 1.5 mile path of these Antebellum Oaks. Of course I also would have appreciated seeing what was left the fortified plantation and learning more of the history behind this most enchanting place in the world.





Related posts:

1.To Go Cocktails
2.Eat at Paula Dean's Restaurant 
3.Stay at a charming B&B
4.Take a Pedicab Ride
5.Visit Savannah Georgia
6.Our wonderful 10 day vacation down south

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Friday, August 23, 2013

braces: what more could they do to me!?


This orthodontist of mine....I think he's just trying meet some quota or bet to see how many different devices and techniques they can use on one patient.

I had my appointment yesterday and where I'm not in the typical amount of discomfort in that they usually leave me, they did something to me that made me want to pass out.

They took off part of my 2 front teeth!!!!! Or as they like to call it an "interproximal enamel reduction". Oh right...as if I wasn't going to flip out about this....and round and round we went...

I had so many pressing questions for the orthodontist that he told the hygienist he was glad he wasn't doing it!

Very seriously, the whole thing made me quite nervous. Sanding off some of my tooth?? Changing the dimensions of teeth that I actually happened to like but were just in the wrong spot! It took a lot of convincing but after he promised me his office has never screwed it up before I conceded. I didn't have to go along with this, but if I didn't I would have 2 very noticeable gaps between my teeth at the end of my treatment.
WOW!! I CANNOT BELIEVE THE DIFFERENCE! 
I'M SO HAPPY.

I had envisioned a loud, menacing device that would be used in this unsettling so called 'common practice', it turned out to be a teensy weensy thin piece of very fine sand paper and it took her less than 20 seconds to complete her little project. That was fine, I just get really nutty when I don't know what to expect. And when it comes to my brain, bones, bloodstream and organs I become profoundly neurotic.

 Oh yea...they also added another 'chain' to my top teeth. If you've had braces you are certainly familiar with this, if you haven't...it's basically a chair around all the brackets to close in any gaps-meaning 2 things 1. it's a real pain in the butt to floss and 2. I'm almost done!

And don't forget the rubber bands.

On the lighter side, we really were laughing very hard about the whole situation and how nervous and cautious I was. I actually had tears in my eyes we were laughing so hard...I've never had such a damn good time at the dentist office.


Wednesday, August 21, 2013

LIFE LIST: GET A COCKTAIL TO GO


Where: City Market in Savannah, beer and cocktails in 'to go' cups!




When: August 2013



Why this is on my list: Once again I have to extend the credit to Annette from My Bucket List Journey, if not for her Savannah travel tips I probably wouldn't have known about this little treasure.



Something I'd recommend? Yes. There's shopping, food, live free entertainment, a fountain for the kids to play in, you could partake in a game of giant chess...all while strolling around with a drink in hand!



Will I do it again? Oh, yes...but next time, I'll get more than 1!


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