My good friend Kelly Balfour of Eventology Weddings threw a Favorite Things Party that was so fabulous I had to share a few details! The red and burlap theme was perfect and I had a great time along with all the guests! Everyone brought 5 “favorite things” in the $5-$8 price range and then we exchanged them with each other by drawing 5 names each. The names that you draw receive your gift, and everyone ends up with 5 new favorite things! I loved this idea so much! Thanks Kelly for throwing this party ! Happy holidays everyone!

Isn’t that wreath amazing? Kelly and Lori with Special Arrangements made it!

Me with the guest of honor, Kelly – and a picture of me and my BFF/one of my second shooters, Janell!

Ivan, we’ve been married exactly 2 months and today is your birthday! I have a small glimpse of what the rest of our lives will be like and it is such a blessing to be your wife. Even though I blamed you for getting me sick this week, you still made me a bowl of udon soup (even though you were sick too!) as I laid on the couch with a blanket and a box of tissues. This is just one of the many examples I have that show me you love me. I tried to convince you to take off of work today but you insisted that there was a lot to be done and that you would come home on time. How someone can be so selfless and hard working is beyond my understanding, but I love you for it! Happy birthday, husband…I can’t wait to celebrate your birthdays with you for the rest of our lives!

Photos from our wedding by Jasmine Star (www.jasmine-star.com). You can see the blog entry with more photos here.

Christmas is hands down my favorite holiday! I always love the decorations, lights, music, and food associated with this time of the year. This Christmas is especially exciting because for the first time, I’m decorating my own home and have a pantry stocked with ingredients to make cookies and hot chocolate! On Thanksgiving Day we went to get a Christmas tree (that is how badly I wanted to put it up) and purchased this 7.5 pre lit tree! I decorated it with ornaments mostly from Target and a few others I already had. The mercury glass vases we have on our mantle are from ZGallerie ($4.95!) and I “borrowed” the garland from my parents…but between you and me I think I just might keep it! I wish I could keep these decorations up all year! My next project is to wrap all the gifts I have and put them under the tree. Thanks to Pinterest, I have tons of DIY gifts and things to make. That site is way too addicting and I have to limit the time I spend on it!

After a shoot and a meeting this afternoon, I’ll be spending the weekend off of work with family and friends. Over the next couple of weeks I’ll be celebrating my husband’s birthday, attending a wedding as a guest, hosting a bridal shower at our home, shooting one of my best friend’s bridals, going to New Orleans, and photographing another wedding all before Christmas! Oh, and I will try to keep this blog updated as well. I hope all of my lovely blog readers have a great weekend!

I’m excited to share the launch of my new website today! There are still a few things I need to tweak here and there, but I’m thrilled to see it up and running. This project has been in the works for awhile and seeing it makes me so happy. This website is a much better representation of myself and the direction that I want to take my business! A special thanks to Nick of Spilled Milk Designs for the design and hours of hard work! Check it out here: www.sharonnicolephotography.com.