I don’t know who a whole year has gone by already! My little niece turned one last week and we were blessed with a quick little visit to celebrate her birthday with her. My girls were THRILLED to have their cousin her, and I think the feeling was pretty mutual. Analisa is just the right height to walk her around, unlike all of us adults who are breaking our backs trying to walk her! Thankfully Analisa was more than happy to hold her hands and walk her around all day long!

We didn’t have too long of a visit, so there was not real photoshoot or anything, but I did get to get a few shots of the birthday girl at her little birthday party….

Here is the birthday cake BEFORE my sister let Jenna have at it….

She was happy as a clam while Analisa was holding her hands and walking her around the house, again, and again, and again, and again…..

And this is what happened when the cake came out….my girls never really went at a cake like this before, so this was really something to witness. She was smearing it into her hair and everything - ick! Needless to say she had a bath right after the cake! LOL!

At least she looks like she liked all that frosting!

Jenna girl - Happy First Birthday! We love you so much and wish the visit was longer!

Well, I survivied my first bridal show last weekend - WHEW! The show was really well done and the Calvert House looked amazing! It was a cool thing to see the Calvert House decked out to the nines - especially since I got married there myself! (It sure didn’t look as glamorous when we got married there! LOL!) It was really beautiful and the new patio area is terrific.

I was in the ballroom, where the talented Raquel Shutt of Wedding Savvy set up the entire ballroom with a “Home Sweet Hollywood” theme.  Our room carried the theme perfectly and was the talk of the show. In the ballroom I had the pleasure of spending the day with:

Fiona’s Cakes provided the awesome cake samples,  Andrea’s Bakery’s provided delicious scones, and Historic Inns of Annapolis chef Allison Trainor supplemented the desserts with some of her own goodies. Peter O’Malley of Staged Right Designs provided the lighting and a very cool custom bar,  Silver Stems floral provided all the  arrangements for the sample tables, and Capital Teas provided delicious teas. Tom Devine of DJ Delights kept the music going and was my next door neighbor for the show, while Anne from Select Rentals donated the chivari chairs, flatware, stemware and china for the sample tables and all the other pretty, things: Lamps, platters, and cake tiers, just to name a few and Gala Clothes provided the linen for all tables in the room & chair covers. I also finally got to meet Alissa & Lisa from Bella Bridal and enjoyed getting to know the delightful girls, Stacey and Katie, from Labor of Love Photography! And of course I was kept company by my other good neighbor at the show, the delightful girls from Allison Barnhill Designs, who ‘held my hand’ through my very first bridal show AND provided all the gorgeous paper products for the tablescapes that made the tables “pop”! And finally a special thanks to  Julie and Michelle of the Historic Inns of Annapolis for putting together a unique event! It was truly a pleasure to work with all of talented vendors on Sunday and I hope to be able to work with them again sometime in the future.

And of course I have to send out a BIG thanks for all of you who took the time to stop by my table to say ‘hi’ and talk! I even had a visitor stop by who said she came to the show because she read it on my blog!! WOW - it’s nice to know that people actually look at my blog!! It was really nice meeting all of you and hope that we will have a chance to work together!

So, since that was A LOT of words, here are some pictures from the day - just my favorite things to photograph - details….

Here is my little table. The room looked so nice with Raquel’s theme that I couldn’t put my own linens on my table, but I have to give a big shout out to my good friend Pat for helping me by making me a gorgeous green table runner that matches my logo and beautiful brown table cloth. I hope she won’t be upset to hear I didn’t get to actually use it!

Maybe these pictures will give you some fabulous wedding ideas for your own wedding!

I have been so busy, but it’s all so good and exciting! I am getting ready to do a bridal show on Sunday at the Governor Calvert House this Sunday, March 29th from 1-4 (COME SEE ME IF YOU ARE THERE!!!) and have been pretty busy putting all the goodies together. You know when you are waiting for something really good and when it finally arrives you ponder if it is appropriate to KISS the FedEx guy? Yeah, that’s how the last couple of weeks have been for me.

First I got these AWESOME chapsticks to hand out - how cute are these?! I found them online and not only is their product awesome, but their customer service and turnaround are amazing! Come see me at the show to get a tube - you will not be disappointed! I had to hide these from my girls - they LOVE chapstick!

I also finally got myself some beautiful new canvas’ that I am happy to be able to offer my clients….check them out -

Gallery wrapped canvases can be made in ANY size and don’t need anything extra to hand on your walls. The image wraps all the way around the stretcher and hangs easily. I got a HUGE canvas and a couple of smaller ones that all look wonderful - I’m excited, are you?!

OH, and there’s more….I got some gorgeous new albums made!

This one is a leather covered album that measures 10X18, with an embossed cover - it is GORGEOUS!

And this one is a PHOTOBOOK that is quite impressive! I was able to custom design the whole book, even the cover! This is great for any portrait session and parent albums.

And last but not least…the marketing/promotional piece that I have been thinking about doing for a LOOONG time! This whole design has been in my mind for what seems like forever and I finally got it all together. And I have wanted to get new business cards for 2 years - but not an ordinary card - a circle. I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to have finally put this thing together - I love it - AND my new circle business cards!

See why I wanted to kiss the FedEx guy??! It’s been better than Christmas!

So, if you are in the area and planning your wedding, stop by the Historic Inns of Annapolis Bridal Show at the Governor Calvert House on State Circle in Annapolis. The show is from 1-4 and it will be lots of fun! I do have some special things for anybody who comes by to visit - so stop by and say hello - I’d love to see old friends and meet some new ones!