About two years ago, we were hanging out with our friends Paul and Becky listening to music at a bar and they had the great idea of creating a list of our all-time favorite songs. Our deadline was St. Patrick’s Day. The project sounded overwhelming, but Paul and Becky were on a mission and they made a CD of their favorite songs and gave us a copy. I just made my CD tonight. Yes, two years later I finally compiled my list of faves! It’s not that I didn’t want to do it. I really have been giving this some serious consideration. How do I rank one song over another? How do I know that it’s really a favorite song and not just something I like at the moment? Should the song be out for a certain amount of time before it can make it on “the list?” And how can I mix genres together on a favorites list? Surely, I can’t mix New Edition with Radiohead, right?

So after endless hours of deeply considering hundreds of songs that I love, I came up with a list of 15 songs that are among my favorites. It’s definitely an incomplete list. For one, if I had a definitive list of favorite songs I’d have to put “Midnight Train to Georgia” by Gladys Knight and “Let’s Hear It For The Boy” by Deniece Williams on it! My biggest criteria for a song making the list was whether it was a song that I ALWAYS have to listen the entire way through. Some songs I’m jamming out in the beginning, but I move on to the next song before it’s over. Each of these songs are ones that I always find myself wanting to hear until the very end (even my #1 choice, which is over 8 minutes long). Based on this criteria, I had to leave “November Rain” by Guns N Roses off. LOVE the song, but sometimes I listen to the whole thing and sometimes I cut it short. But it is worthy of an honorable mention! And I also decided not to include songs that I’ve liked less than 5 years, so artists like Adele, Marie Digby, Sara Bareilles, Bic Runga and so many more aren’t on here. I did make an exception for song #3, because this song just slays me. It’s that amazing!

Here’s my list:

1) Purple Rain – Prince
2) Creep – Radiohead
3) Falling Slowly – Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova
4) You Only Hide – Something For Kate
5) A Case Of You – Jane Monheit
6) The Blower’s Daughter – Damien Rice
7) Send The Pain Below – Chevelle
8 ) Let Him Fly – Patty Griffin
9) Redemption Song – Bob Marley
10) Goodbye Yellow Brick Road – Elton John
11) Good Enough – Evanescence
12) Both Sides Now – Joni Mitchell
13) Poses – Rufus Wainwright
14) Please Send Me Someone To Love – Sade
15) Bittersweet Symphony – The Verve

An observation I had when creating this list was that bands/artists with a vast collection of music and I love all of it didn’t make the list because I’d have to include so many of their songs (like The Beatles, Frank Sinatra and Selena, who would certainly make my top 5 list of favorite music artists). It’s hard for me to say, without hesitation, that there is one song that I love above all others from each of them. I just love too many of their songs to do it. Another observation is that more than half of these songs have made it on to movie soundtracks (1, 3, 6, 12, 13, 14, 15). I always feel that a great soundtrack can make a movie (and vice versa). Also, only 5 of the artists on the list are American! I’m not surprised about that, though.

I wonder what my list says about me. For the most part it’s mellow… occasionally melancholy… and then abruptly aggressive. Each song grips at my heart. I could listen to this list over and over again and not get tired of it!

If you were to create a list of your favorite songs, what would definitely make the list?

We just had the most amazing weekend hanging out with our friends Nancy & Salim this past weekend! We stayed at the quaint and cozy Creekstone Cabin outside of Asheville, NC and had such a blast! We spent time chatting, drinking wine, playing cards, cooking dinner, drinking more wine, and sharing a ton of laughs. It was the perfect getaway!

Creekside Cabin

Nancy & Salim are so awesome that they made Irish Car Bomb cupcakes for my birthday! They are the greatest cupcakes ever, and if you can believe it they taste ever BETTER than they sound! They also got me a hilarious card from Bald Guy Greetings and a Misto (everyone needs one of these!!). They also cooked an amazing dinner for us since we arrived at the cabin a few hours after they did! Ravioli with spinach and shrimp in a cream sauce… delish!

On Sunday we headed into Asheville to grab lunch at Luella’s BBQ (fall-off-the-bone yummy!) and walk around the shops.

This is Nancy & Salim! Aren't they adorable?! : )

Me & Matt (Nancy's Android takes MUCH better photos than my iPhone!)

We came back to the cabin for dinner and had the most amazing steaks topped with a blue cheese sauce! Salim & Matt took care of dinner while us girls were sitting by the fire enjoying being spoiled! The guys also cooked breakfast and dinner on Monday! They were so adorable taking care of all the preparations:

Salim and Matt cooking dinner on our last night at the cabin

The weekend went by much too fast! We were so sad to see them go, but we’re already making plans to hang out again soon! I just can’t put into words how much fun this weekend was! Nancy & Salim – you guys just ROCK! Looking forward to many more weekends like this one! Thanks for everything!! : )

It’s one of those things that I just never thought I’d do. It was a hobby reserved for brave people. Adventurous types who might even see a foot cast as a badge of honor. I’ve never broken a bone in my life, and I’d like to keep it that way!

I never thought I’d EVER go skiing.

Even last night as I tried to go to sleep I wasn’t sure I’d actually go. I mean, we could buy a Wii for about the same price as two lift tickets and equipment rentals. And they have a ski game, right?

But skiing is really a metaphor for all challenges. It’s more about trying something I never thought I’d do (never thought I could do). It’s about listening to the voice that says “I can!” instead of the one shouting reasons why I can’t. So early this morning we headed toward Mount Southington and I attempted to conquer the mountain. As I made my way from the bunny hill to the more advanced slope, I thought about how the experiences on the slope were analogies for every day life:
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If you panic in fear that you’re going to fall, you’ll almost certainly cause it to happen.

Falling is a part of learning. If you can embrace that, it will only make you better. When it happens, just brush yourself off and start again.

Life can be a slippery slope, but these things will help you stay balanced: patience, confidence, and determination.

You can’t stay on the bunny hill forever. Even if you fall four times on the advanced hill, at least you gave it a shot!

There will always be crazy people coming at you. Just stand aside and let that mess keep going on its way instead of getting tangled up in it. (so, so true)

Believing in yourself is the most important thing, but it always helps to have someone to encourage and support you along the way. (thankfully, I have Matt)
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So what are some things that you’ve wanted to try but haven’t yet? New Year’s is just around the corner, so maybe 2011 is the time to make it happen!

The one who encourages me through it all

About to head down the part of the slope where I had my first fall of the day just 4 hours earlier! This time... I made it! ; )

Matt and his Dad coming down the biggest slope

We hope that this day is filled with happiness and time with your loved ones! We are spending time with family in Connecticut and have plans to go to NYC later this week! Sadly it’s not a white Christmas, but we are expecting 6 inches of snow tomorrow and more on Monday!

From our family to yours, we wish you a very Merry Christmas!

With temps dipping down into the 20s, it’s starting to actually feel like the holidays here in Florida! That means lots of comfort food and hot drinks like tea and coffee (I’ve had more peppermint mochas and Christmas Blend than I can count). I’ve also been making tons of chili the past couple months! This is the first I have ever made it, and it’s so easy that I make it all the time!

I also worry every time that it’s not going to come out right because I don’t have a recipe. I don’t really cook by recipes. I may refer to them for a general idea but then I start to make it with the ingredients that I want. However, I want this one on the record so that I don’t forget how to make it after 8 months of way-too-hot-for-chili weather!

Ingredients (varies, but this is what went in yesterday)
1 tsp olive oil
1 onion (small)
1 can spiced chili beans
1 can black beans
1 can corn (no salt added, but you can use regular too)
1 8oz. can tomato paste
2 packages of fake ground beef (like Morningstar or Boca)
Beef broth or stock (I used most of a 32oz tetra pack) – if you are really a vegetarian then I’m sure veggie stock will be good, too
Spices (chili powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper, cumin, curry, and Adobo)
Optional – BBQ Fritos, sour cream, and shredded sharp cheddar

Start out by getting a big pot and put a little olive oil in the bottom. Heat on medium while you chop the onion. Add the onion and let it cook for a few minutes. Add the fake beef and a little beef broth and stir it up. Let this cook for a few minutes while you wash the tops of the cans and open them. The corn is the only one you should drain. Stir the “meat” again and add the corn. Let it cook 1-2 minutes, and then add the rest of the cans (cooking each one 1-2 minutes and adding broth as needed). I added the tomato paste last so that I could see how thick everything was and how much broth needed to be added to make it the right consistency.

For the spices, I put in a ton of chili powder, stir it, and then double the amount. Can you really use too much chili powder and chili? I put approx. 2 tbsp of onion powder and probably 4 tbsp each of cumin, curry, and Adobo. The cayenne pepper I’m not so liberal with because Matt doesn’t like things too spicy. But chili has to have some kick, so I add a little! I would also prefer to add some stewed or diced tomatoes, but we didn’t have any in the pantry yesterday.

By now it should be bubbling, so reduce the heat to low and let it cook for as long as you want. An hour is plenty of time, but because of the broth it’s going to taste like it cooked all day and the cumin will give it a smoky flavor (thank you Rachel Ray for those tips!).

This recipe is awesome as it is, but we like to make it over the top good (and BAD!). We put Fritos on the bottom of the bowl (BBQ flavor, preferably) and top it with the chili! Sometimes I will add sour cream or we’ll both put shredded cheese on top if we have it. Last night it was just chips. Tonight I think we’ll put the chili over some brown rice!

So I want to know… what is your secret weapon for killer chili?

It’s so hard to believe that we’ve been back from California for a week already! We headed west after shooting Ali & Natan’s wedding in Key Largo on Veteran’s Day. We love going to the west coast so much and keep saying we’re going to move out there some day. Though we didn’t grab any housing magazines on this trip, we have in the past. Don’t be surprised if we end up out there. Awesome weather, awesome friends, wine, and fish tacos? Do we need any more encouragement?

This trip was a bit of business and a bit of pleasure. Our album company is located in LA, and we love them so much that we’ll grab any excuse to head out there to see them! Also, the albums are handcrafted and come in a custom box made with wood and silk moire… and they are HEAVY. One of the albums we picked up weighed about 13lbs. So shipping would have been expensive, and we’d have to ship one of the albums BACK to California because one of the couples lives there so… I think you get the point! When Continental had a sale and we were able to get flights for less than $150 roundtrip, it was a no brainer!

After picking up the albums in LA, we headed to northern Cali for a day in Napa. We visited a total of 7 wineries:

V. Sattui – It really is the tourist trap that everyone says it is, but the market inside has a nice assortment of cheeses. The wines were just okay, but we bought a couple bottles of the family red (only $15) and had one opened for our picnic. Not the quite picnic we imagined, but we still enjoyed our snack! And not all of the wineries have a permit for you to picnic, so that’s something that V. Sattui has going for them.

Freemark Abbey – This place was very low key and had an older crowd. We bought a bottle of 2007 Zinfandel.

Heitz Cellars – They have a complimentary tasting, but as you can imagine the good wines aren’t a part of it. We weren’t looking to spend $150 on a bottle on this trip, so that was fine by us. We picked up another bottle of Zin (also from 2007) for around $30.

Duckhorn – A seated tasting with a friendly server! Duckhorn was suggested by my friend Anna Kim (a photographer from Hawaii and one of my roomies at WPPI) after I posted on Facebook how disappointed we were with our Napa experience. We enjoyed the wines, but $85 and up wasn’t in our budget for taking home. When we plan a full Napa trip we’ll go back!

Clos Pegase – We found this place by accident. We just turned down a random road and saw it. The guy behind the counter was an Ohio State fan, so we talked about that a bit. The place seemed lifeless inside. Outside, it had weird pieces of modern art… including a 7 ft tall bronze thumb. Ew! But we thought the 2006 Merlot was okay enough to take home.

Trinchero – One of my favorite bottles of wine came from here – a 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon. We stopped here as we were leaving Napa and we’re glad that we did!

Louis M. Martini – The last two stops were the best! At Louis M. Martini, we had a tasting paired with wine-infused truffles. And it was only $5 to add the truffles to the tasting! We bought 2 bottles of their 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon, and have already had one of them since returning home! No truffles this time, though. : (

Fall is an absolutely gorgeous time to visit Napa, too. Good thing we brought our cameras, eh?!

After a day in Napa, we drove to San Fran for the evening. It’s not a far drive, but Saturday night traffic was a nightmare! But even with the horrendous traffic, I still love California! We finally got to San Fran and we stopped for dinner downtown at The Stinking Rose, which was recommended by one of our October couples, Holly & Brock. They went to San Fran for their honeymoon and raved about it so much that we had to try it out. It’s a garlic lover’s paradise! Thanks for the suggestion, you guys! : )

After dinner, we checked into our hotel and walked around Fisherman’s Wharf for a little while. The next morning, we were up bright and early and drove across the Golden Gate to take in the view. The air was cool and there was a light breeze. I wish we had more time to spend there, but we had more to do before leaving Cali!

Six hours of driving through the California countryside and we were back in the LA area to visit with Maricel & EJ and deliver their gorgeous album and parent albums! We even got to watch the video from their wedding day and re-live the whole day! But wait, it gets better!! Sammy & Allen (who are getting married in February) also came over! It was so awesome to see them again before the wedding!

We were only in California for 3 days, but we sure packed a lot into our trip! We can’t wait to come back out there soon! : )

One of my favorite things to do while I’m editing is to listen to Slacker or Pandora internet radio. Music is my first love, so I thought I would start a new weekly post – Music Monday – to get the week started off right and share some of my favorite music!

To kick off Music Mondays, I’ve selected Sara Bareilles’ cover of “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” from her “Live at the Fillmore” show. As Matt and I were making dinner the other night, he decided that we needed some music and he put this DVD in for me. Every song on there is incredible, but I had to choose this song to share in honor of our upcoming trip to California! One of our stops will be in San Francisco, and this will be my first time there! I cannot freaking WAIT!! The main purpose of our trip is to pick up some albums and shoot a Trash The Dress session with Maricel & EJ, but we’re also taking some time to go to Napa and San Fran!

I don’t think we’ll have time to sit on a dock, but we will be staying down by the water! Hope this song gets your week off to a great start, and I’d love to hear what some of your favorite songs are! I’m always looking for new music to put into my playlist!

We hope you are enjoying the holiday weekend! We spent our Saturday day shooting a couple of engagement sessions with two very amazing couples. We just had to post a sneak peek:

And yesterday we took Peanut and Taz for a long walk on the beach following by some snuggle time watching movies at home. I made a pretty killer salad with a homemade avocado lime ranch dressing and topped with spicy vegetarian chicken wings! Later today we’ll be spending Labor Day with my cousin and her family grilling out and watching their kids play with our “kids.” : )

Today also happens to be Sheba & Nolan’s one year anniversary!! We got a chance to see them in July at Melissa’s & Alex’s wedding in Tampa and caught this cute pic of them dancing:

We’ll be seeing Sheba & Nolan again next weekend for a Trash The Dress/Anniversary photo session!

Whether you decided to take a trip or stay at home with friends and family, we hope that you are having fun this weekend! : )

Matt and I just returned from a fun trip to Tennessee where we spent a few days in a chalet in a small town about 45 minutes north of Nashville. The main purpose of the trip was Jessica & Jeff’s engagement shoot in downtown Nashville, and we also made two stops in Atlanta to meet with another couple and also to visit with our friends at Get Married magazine! We used the time at the chalet to spend with our puppies and do some brainstorming. The puppies absolutely LOVED it, and we always enjoy trips where we can bring them along.

Here’s our adorable “little” chalet and a pic of Matt with the puppies in our back yard:

We were greeted by Miss Polly and Peanut and Taz enjoyed her daily visits:

Peanut and Taz felt so adventurous hopping around on the rocks and playing in the stream. Even though we were just in the backyard, they felt like real explorers. It was priceless!

We had wild turkeys in our yard on a few occasions, but unfortunately we didn’t get a picture of them. However, we did get a picture of one of the many butterflies in the yard:

I even held it on my hand! I am surprised I could stay still long enough for Matt to get a photo because it was starting to tickle me!

We’re already talking about returning during the week of Christmas. A quiet holiday in the mountains, cuddled up by a fire with our puppies and drinking mulled cider sounds like the perfect way to spend Christmas and New Year’s! What’s your favorite getaway to relax and unwind?

Hello from Washington, DC! Matt and I are visiting our nation’s capital to celebrate the 4th of July! We’ve had so much fun this week and are beyond excited for tonight’s fireworks display! Matt had a conference at the beginning of the week (where he won an award for engineering!) so we didn’t do much sightseeing until Wednesday. Since then, we’ve done everything that was on our list of things to do and then some!

We took an afternoon walk around the mall and watched the sun set beyond the Washington Monument. Then we walked by the White House on our way back to the hotel. Our big day was Friday, when we did a tour of the Capitol. We got there early, so we spent some time at the Library of Congress before our tour. Our favorite part was Jefferson’s Library. The LOC is definitely an underrated site. There weren’t a lot of crowds so you could spend as much time as you wanted reading the historic documents on display.

We got very lucky when we went to the Capitol because we were able to get on a tour an hour earlier than our scheduled time! After the tour, we grabbed a quick lunch in the Capitol and then headed over to the Supreme Court for another tour. Then we walked down to the National Archives, which had a long line but it moved along pretty fast. You can’t come to DC for the 4th and NOT go see the actual Declaration of Independence! But my favorite part of the day was visiting the Museum of American History. I really loved the First Ladies exhibit and looking at all the gowns from the Inaugural Ball. Michelle Obama’s dress was by far the most elegant of them all!

Saturday we only had one stop – Arlington Cemetery. We spent most of the day there, visiting all the must-see sites like the Eternal Flame at the burial site of the Kennedys, the Tomb of the Unknowns, and Arlington House, but we also visited the Pan Am 103 memorial as well as the memorials for the Challenger and Columbia to pay our respects. We are so glad that we walked because we spent time reading the headstones along the way. It was such a humbling experience, and we’re glad that we didn’t do anything else because Arlington is a place that requires a lot of time.

And now it’s time for the grand finale! I’m even more excited because I found out this week that my favorite singer, Jane Monheit, is singing with the Navy band in a concert at the Washington Monument!!! Too awesome! We wanted to wish all of our friends and family a very happy and safe 4th of July! We hope you are able to spend time with those you love and enjoy the freedoms that so many sacrificed to protect! : )