Geeking Out

Posted by Liana at 3:50 PM

My buddy DJ is in town to show a group of us his cool new program that helps photographers design web sites.... and we're doing what photographers normally do when they get together... sitting around on our Mac computers geeking out!

We just got back here from a really late lunch and will have some folks meeting up here later tonight.




DJ forgot to bring his hair product to Atlanta so he's sporting a fro today! Haahaha. Check it out!

A Funny Way of Showing Love

Posted by Liana at 1:29 PM

Let me tell you... I am SOOOO surrounded by L.O.V.E. this week!!


My friend Kimberly came over earlier in the week and announced upon her arrival that Gracie had a present for me: a FROG!!! Ewwwwweee! I always did say that my "pretty girl" kitty is the "fighter" and that my kitty-boy, Charlie, is the "LOVER!" LOL.

Thank goodness Kimberly doesn't mind man-handling frogs and disposed of it before I received my gift.

Well, apparently Gracie and Charlie didn't like that too much... because this week they've been showing their love by bringing one creature after another into the house off the back deck.

Just today, I found them scratching under a rug and pulled it up to find a whithering TAIL off a small lizard under there moving about.... disgusting!!!

Here's their latest "still alive and whole" present they brought in Thursday... yes, another frog!



The funny thing is that it made it half-way up the wall before Sara and I managed to get it down after the kitties couldn't. What happened to my fighter-kitten-girl? Charlie must have told her it's not good to kill frogs because she didn't this time and instead just watched him play with it! He didn't know what to do with it except paw at it then watch it jump. Hahaaa.

Someone really needs to teach these kiddos I much prefer chocolate, flowers, and luv-letters.... and to keep the slimy creepy-crawlies out back where they belong!! LOL.

Don't Look if You're HUNGRY!!

Posted by Liana at 12:31 PM

Mmmmmmm..........

Okay, I warned you!! Yesterday I headed up to The Pavillion here in Atlanta on a last-minute assignment to capture some delicious treats for a magazine editorial. Talk about the most tempting of assignments for a girl who's determined to stay on her beach-babe-readiness-diet!! LOL.

David, the owner of Avenue Catering, is completely re-vamping their dessert menu and who better to help with that than a pastry chef who's worked for some of the top venues in the nation including the WHITE HOUSE!? He was in town for just three days and helped them whip up TWENTY TWO delectable treats that they'll soon be offering their clients.

I had about an hour to photograph all of them and I also took a peak in the back to see what goes on behind the scenes. Check it out:






Also, I had a chance to connect with David's wife, Sheryl who runs The Pavillion, and their little boy Bryce who I photographed earlier this year. Such a little cutie!!



After I was finished with the pictures, they had a sampling for a group of staff and everyone left with boxes of goodies and bellies full of yumminess. I must say... even the lemon cookies (which I usually don't like) were phenomenal ! MMmmmm.....

The Kitten and the Crow

Posted by Liana at 10:29 AM

My mom sent me the link to this story (below on video).... sooooo cool!! It's a story of unlikely friends: a kitten and a crow. They learn to trust each other and are friends before humans even come across them... the crow feeds the kitten and protects it and they play together! The video is a bit longer than most online ones (7 min) but the footage of them is a must-see!

Style Me Pretty's Little Black Book

Posted by Liana at 9:39 AM

It's rare you find a bridal blog so clean, consistent, and stock FULL of FUN ideas.... Abby's Style Me Pretty Blog is exactly this with TONS of great ideas for the style-obsessed bride.

So... I was super flattered when they called and told me they wanted me to be in their little black book... ONLY THREE vendors from each major city are chosen in each category... so you can be sure only the top-of-the-line folks are listed on there. No lists and lists to go through of expensive paid advertisers!

If you're a bride looking for wedding ideas and/or vendors be sure to CHECK IT OUT!!

Tricks! (Adventures in Roller Skating)

Posted by Liana at 3:20 PM

Hahaha.... my friend Susan dragged me out to roller skating on Sunday and I think it's been about 15 years since I skated so I didn't take too well to the rink at first... but she and my buddy Jeff were pulling tricks in no time!

Check em out:

It Revolved of Cod

Posted by Liana at 3:28 AM

Hahaha....

I can't sleep ...go figure... so I'm sitting here browsing my Lightroom galleries and came across this picture I took of our lunch menu the day we went to Cadiz while in Spain. Apparently, Cadiz is quite the tourist spot because they translated the menu into English for people like us....

Check out some of the cool translations!




I didn't end up getting the "It revolved of Cod".... I opted for the safer pechuga de pollo that day I think....

Daredevil Kitten, Rescued

Posted by Liana at 10:58 AM

They ran excitedly into the basement to play and run around like crazy animals... like they did every Monday small group came to the house (thanks to them being quite good at distracting us and making some sneeze!).... it's one of their favorite places to play because there is a lot of room to run around....

.....two hours later, the door was opened and their names called.... but only Charlie came tromping up the stairs excited to be around his mommas again...

Graaaaaaace!! Graaaace!! Grace, kitty, kitty, come on up now! Graaaaaceee..... where are you?? Pretty Girl!!! Where are you pretty girl!???

I looked for some shoes and went quickly down the stairs. It wasn't like Grace (aka "Pretty Girl") to not come up right away... she was usually ready before Charlie.

Graaaaaaaacccce!!
Me-ow

Ah.... she's down there... but where? I looked around everywhere and couldn't see her. Her small meew came again... but still nowhere to be found. Meow meeek. Squeek. From ABOVE!!! Somehow this crazy daredevil of a kitty got WAY up into the ceiling!! Oh no!!


(most pics compliments of Sara)

I tried in vain to get her down by standing on a stool and reaching out to her. I got a grasp once but she freaked out, holding on to the 2x6 with all her might, clawing into it, not letting me take her down to safe grounds. After about 10 minutes I went to Sara for help.... we tried everything... propping stuff up for her to climb down, reaching for her. Even Charlie was anxious and wanted to help... he was talking words of encouragement to Grace to come down... and even tried jumping half-way up the wall to go get her.

Finally, just when we were about to give up Sara ran up and got some of her leftover dinner beef and strategically placed it on the highest shelf that was closest to where she could reach it. With the beef as a teaser, we lured her to her stack, and rescued her from the ceiling... all the while she's flipping about freaking out. Kitty rescued!!!

Of course, she'd been all up in the insulation and dust... and was a film of insulation covering her fur and some dust to boot. Time for her FIRST kitty-bath... as if she didn't have enough trauma in one night.



Needless to say, she wasn't the least bit fond of the experience. She used those purdy nails of hers to remind me of the fact by drawing blood at one point. After it was all over, Charlie helped lick her matted fur, and she slowly dried to become yet again "pretty girl".

Call for Nominations!! The Biz Boot Camp Scholarship!!

Posted by Liana at 11:03 AM

It was June 2006 when I was knocked over the head with the realization with one of my true callings in this lifetime... to help others achieve what I myself had once thought impossible. Many know my story of my love affair with photography and entrepreneurship... and how it wasn't until 2004/2005 that I started applying what I'd been taught and learned to my own business.

Four years later, I'm so humbled to be blessed with a career and life that I LOVE ... and to be free of the financial burdens that once held me down. It's not easy doing what needs to be done to run a successful business. Numbers and research and planning is not always fun. But it's made a world of difference in my life and business and I have hundreds of letters from others who know the same victory as I do. There is no greater pleasure than seeing this triumph and now it's time to publicly open up this opportunity as a gift to others.

Thank you for your help!!

*** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE INFORMATION ON THE BANANASEDU BLOG ***

(Some of our BBC "Survivors"!)

Redeeming Love

Posted by Liana at 2:00 AM

Yet another AMAZING book for the book list!

I usually post recommended reads on the BIZ BLOG, but this one is one of the first FICTION books I've read in a while... and WOW, WOW, WOW!!!

I was in Spain when I finished it and just about everyone there with me had read it too (both guys and gals) and they too agreed it's one of the best. Now I'm burning the midnight oil with the first part of a trilogy by the same author :)

WARNING: Make sure you have kleenex and an ounce of time. Once you get past the first few chapters, it's nearly impossible to put down, and if you're anything like me you'll likely cry your eyes out on and off again throughout. Or perhaps that's because I read it while I was on no sleep, traveling, and exhausted ;)



Description: California’s gold country, 1850. A time when men sold their souls for a bag of gold and women sold their bodies for a place to sleep.

Angel expects nothing from men but betrayal. Sold into prostitution as a child, she survives by keeping her hatred alive. And what she hates most are the men who use her, leaving her empty and dead inside.

Then she meets Michael Hosea.

A man who seeks his Father’s heart in everything, Michael Hosea obeys God’s call to marry Angel and to love her unconditionally. Slowly, day by day, he defies Angel’s every bitter expectation until, despite her resistance her frozen heart begins to thaw. But with her unexpected softening come overwhelming feelings of unworthiness and fear. And so Angel runs. Back to the darkness, away from her husband’s pursuing love, terrified of the truth she can no longer deny: Her final healing must come from the One who loves her even more than Michael Hosea does…the One who will never let her go.

A powerful retelling of the book of Hosea, Redeeming Love is a life-changing story of God’s unconditional, redemptive, all-consuming love.

Tax Time

Posted by Liana at 3:38 PM

It's that time of year again! Actually, this is the FIRST year in my life that I haven't had my taxes finished weeks and months before the deadline.

After my October 2007 computer crash, the ONLY thing I lost was my finance data files... not a single client file or anything else was lost.... lucky me... all we've had to do is re-enter all the boring #s into the computer again.

Thanks to the help of my sister and mother -- who are waaaaay more organized and willing to do this stuff than I am -- we're caught up again just in time. Thank goodness for keeping hard copies of everything too!



Hope your Friday is much more fun than mine!! LOL.

Happy tax season!!

What does the future hold??

Posted by Liana at 12:47 PM

I will let the pictures do the talking on this one ;)