Reporting from Seaside, FL

Posted by Liana at 2:18 PM

We are in Seaside Florida after an awesome destination wedding. Last week was the start of our busy season so we have three weddings from the past week and lots of other sessions ready to blog too... Only problem is we do not have internet here. Gotta get one last fix of coconut gelato before we hit the road...

Home, Sweet Home

Posted by Liana at 4:11 PM

This weekend, Mike and I returned from a MONTH of being away from home for our wedding, honeymoon, and work abroad. We left Atlanta March 31st and didn't return home until May! Today is actually our 1-month anniversary!

Our trip was amazing, but being away that long certainly makes you appreciate not living out of a suitcase. I don't think I've ever been so happy to be home - especially after a long 30-hours of non-stop travel! The great part is that we got to ride in one of the largest passenger airplanes in the world on my new favorite Airline, Qantas. The A380 Airbus was SOOO spacious, high-tech, and QUIET. And by a stroke of luck, the lady's seatbelt next to me broke and she had to move, so we had the whole aisle to ourselves on the 14 hour flight.



They had a HUGE array of entertainment options, and since we left at 1PM from Sydney I really wasn't tired and ended up watching FIVE movies and a bunch of House episodes! LOL. So much for sleep and reading my Australian book!




We had a grueling layover in Los Angles. Between running to the restroom 100 times to wash hands so we didn't contract the Swine Flu, we dozed sitting up amid the screaming loud speaker. Ick. The ride to Atlanta was turbulent the entire way. Double ick.

But alas we arrived home late, but safe.. and were greeted with all kinds of nice surprises. The first think I noticed was our front landscaping. It had MOM written all over it... she'd come from NC while we were gone and completely redone our front beds! It looks SOOO much better than what we left which must have been an embarrassment to the neighbors. haha. Thanks Mom!



Then I walked into the kitchen to a gorgeous spread complete with an advice book they'd put together from our shower and instructions on what to do our first night home.




I found out later my awesome bridesmaids Kimberly and Susan came while we were away cleaned, got groceries, and left us all kinds of nice surprises around the house. I wish I liked strawberries - they look so yummy! My mom had even left some home cooking in the freezer for us. Sara even stayed here 4 hours waiting for the cleaners to come so our house got cleaned twice and is super-clean now... awesome!




Got to love all the Tiffany's. That is one of the wedding gifts Mikey got me. So sweet!



This one on the left cracked us up the most. They'd found our left-over table signs from the wedding and found creative use for it. Haha. And that's my tattered, Santa-Monica-Pier-Dirtied wedding dress on the right.




My kittens ran away at first but then resumed their normal behavior. Such as Grace here pretending to be laundry!



So cute!! She turned a little more brown while we were away.


Being the good wife that I am, I made - errr, went and obtained - breakfast in bed for us the next morning. We'd been craving good ol American food such as Chic fil A for a while. Mmmmm.


The past few days have been filled with the house being torn apart, us unpacking Mikey's stuff, running errands, and the 101 things to do after being gone for a month. I somehow have not managed to sleep longer than 4-5 consecutive hours since we've returned, so I'm a bit of a zombie still with jet-lag. Maybe by next week I'll be cooking real meals and back to sleeping in past 5AM.

Gosh it's good to be Home, Sweet Home!

Chloe the Kangaroo

Posted by Liana at 6:13 PM

Meet Chloe the Kangaroo.



Yesterday, as I finished taking a video as Chloe hopped away, I turned to my new husband and said "now my trip to Australia is complete...I've met a Kangaroo and seen her hop!"

We've had almost two weeks here in Australia and the time has flown by SOOOO fast! We spent one week in Melbourne, and this week have been in the Sydney area including Newcastle and Hunter Valley. We only have 24 hours left to explore Sydney before we head for the airport and two VERY long flights home.

I've taught two amazing Photo Biz Boot Camps since we arrived in Australia and was somewhat surprised how crazy-similar business is here. In our in-between time we've explored some of the countryside, thus my lack of internet lately.

As much as we don't want to leave, we're excited to get home and see what it's like being married in "real life" and see our friends, fam, and of course my kitties who have probably forgotten who we are by now!

Oh yes... and that pic of Chloe... she was waiting for us where we stayed in Hunter Valley yesterday. Greeting us for breakfast!

Goodbye New Zealand, Hello Australia

Posted by Liana at 5:53 PM

Today we depart from this adventure of a Honeymoon in New Zealand and head to Melbourne, Australia. We have a few more days left of our official "honeymoon" before I teach a Photo Biz Boot Camp in Melbourne, then another in Newcastle.

We're about to head out for flight 1 of 3, but here are a few pics from the last few days:

Fox Glacier


A few from our Drive from Greymouth to Haast to Queenstown to Milford Sound and back to Queenstown




Milford Sound, where we went on an overnight boat trip


View on our way into Queenstown

Update from New Zealand

Posted by Liana at 4:50 PM

It's been almost a week since we arrived here in NZ for our honeymoon, and looking back – it all seems such a blur! A beautiful blur though! We're towards Fiordland on the South Island now after driving through rain forest and hiking to see a glacier at the edge of that rain forest yesterday. It's SOOO incredibly beautiful and I really want to write and post more pictures, but lack of time and the horrible internet connection here simply won't allow. For now, a few pictures from this past week....

Honeymoon in New Zealand – Day 1 - Auckland and Waiheke

Posted by Liana at 6:13 PM

What a jam-packed 36 hours! We left LA on Tuesday evening, and arrived in New Zealand on Thursday at 4:45 AM. Completely skipped Wednesday since we crossed the international dateline! The flight was 13 hours and we both slept for most of it.

Viaduct Harbor in Auckland, New Zealand – views from our hotel


After an interesting adventure navigating into the heart of Auckland (Mike learning how to drive on the wrong side of the car and road!) we made it to our hotel by 5:45 AM. The Westin is awesome and I'm a frequent guest of the Starwood hotels because I love their hotels so much – they let us check-in right away even though we weren't supposed to get a room until 3PM. Yeah!

More views from the Westin, Auckland


We skipped sleeping and hit the town for some sight-seeing, even though it was sprinkling on and off all day.



Just before lunch time we hopped on a tour to Waiheke Island for a “Taste of Waiheke.”
Here's a pic of us on the ferry to Waiheke:



The tour included three vineyard tours and tastings, a tour and tasting of an olive oil producer, various scenic drive-bys and lunch at a vineyard. Beautiful doesn't get close to describing the little island that's known for it's red wines and boutique vineyards. It has the same temperate climate as the Bordeaux region of France, so they produce a lot of the same wines.









Lunch at Stonyridge Winery



Stonyridge is the first commercial vineyard in New Zealand to plant olive oil and they also planted cork trees:



Our final stop was the Mudbrick Winery and I think that one was my favorite. The view is incredible!


Lots of lavender. Mmmmm.




There's my husband snapping pics too. Still getting used to calling him husband, not fiance!


Okay... time to go hit the town again before we head south to Rotoura. I hear it's smelly like rotten eggs there. LOL.

The Honeymoon Planning Puzzle

Posted by Liana at 12:29 AM

Planning a honeymoon out of the country, where we are gone for a whole MONTH is turning out to be quite the puzzle!

I know this is traditionally the groom's responsibility, however we've sandwiched our honeymoon in the middle of our destination wedding and teaching two Boot Camps in Australia. Since work is taking us down under, I've been working on filling in the puzzle our April schedule has become. Plus, Mike insists planning is one of my strong points so I should do it, whereas he excels at finding the perfect travel luggage and reminding us how everything "looks just like California!" LOL!



Mike and I started the research back in October, and are STILL planning away!

From the time we get married, to the time we get home:

26 nights of accommodations needed
2 nights in California
10 nights in New Zealand
14 nights in Australia

So far we will be staying:

9 nights compliments of hotel reward points (thanks parents & my Starwood stays!)
3 nights with hostess in Australia (so gracious of them!)
5 nights in a Bed and Breakfast (yummy breakfast included, and less than a hotel!)
2 nights on a Qantas plane since we loose a whole day in-air!
1 night on a boat in Milford Sound!

Only 6 more nights to plan for!

Here are a few of the places we will be going:

Rotorua, New Zealand


Milford Sound in New Zealand Fiordland


Hunter Valley Wine Country north of Sydney, Australia


The Twelve Apostles on the Great Ocean Road west of Melbourne, Australia

Union Hotel

Posted by Liana at 12:21 PM

Last night I flew into San Francisco and met up with Laura Meyer who flew in from Chicago for the Photo Biz Boot Camp we're having out here in Cali this week. The drive over to Benicia was not bad and when we arrived at the Union Hotel (there are only two hotels in this town it is so small!) our secret codes were taped to the door with our names on it!

My room is PINK, and Laura got the blue room. Check it out!





Besides the "eu de mothball" scent coming from the closet, this place isn't so bad. It's more like a Bed and Breakfast - we got served a hot breakfast of eggs and toast already this morning!

Better than iPhones

Posted by Liana at 12:38 AM

It started back the first few months we were dating - I'd fly to some remote island without cell coverage - and Mikey and I would communicate via Skype or iChat.

We had forgotten about our old means of communication when I'm out of town working, but he reminded me tonight and it's SOOO much easier than sitting on the phone trying to hear each other through bad connections.

Sometimes I catch him doing Mr.Napkin Head for me or something silly. Haha he just flashed me his bellybutton and I missed getting a pic of it! Darn!

I'm in Hickory, NC this week teaching a Boot Camp so we gave iChat another try.

Well, here are the pics I got this evening:

I'm fresh out of the shower hence the towel on my head


All Smiles (I think he's laughing at the brush stuck in my wet, knotted hair) ha!


All Seriousness


All Spooked


Our Late-night branded wear


Look, a book about Mikey! j/k


Hey... I have flare from the lamp. Niiiiice!


And last, but not least, Mr.NapkinHead!!