Vegas, baby.

Vegas was VERY good to us. Not only from a business perspective, which was the motive behind our trip, but from a personal perspective too. We needed a good break. We were able to relax with lots of fun dinners and drinks and even enjoyed an amazing Cirque du Soleil show - Zumanity which I would highly recommend. I would to go to another Cirque show and I actually saw on TV last night that they are coming to the RBC center in Raleigh!

So glad we rented a car and were able to see the state. Austin had always told me how beautiful this part of the county was and I never really got it until I witnessed it myself. The pictures really don't do any justice...

We always take a picture of our rental car :) 

This water was CRAZY blue

We stayed at the MGM grand, where the conference, WPPI was held. We are SO glad we stayed there. It was hard enough to walk the quarter mile every morning to our classes through our hotel...I can't imagine how it would of felt walking down the strip from a different hotel! All the hotels in Vegas are HUGE, like ridiculously unimaginably, HUGE. I thought I had stayed in some pretty big hotels before, but ehh not so much. Nothing compares to these bad boys! 

 

In front of the Bellagio! Where my mama and Bobby got married almost 10 years ago! :)

We visited the wax museum (which I super duper loved) and went to the body exhibit (and surprisingly it was Austin who wanted to go here so bad) which was pretty cool.

I've loved you, MJ, since I was 7 years old...

haha these crazy characters were everywhere. 

Before we headed out to Zumanity!! 

and about 10 minutes after this...I lost my camera. In the 50,000 sq foot casino in Las Vegas. I woke up the next morning nothing short of devastated. Anybody who knows me knows how obsessed I am with taking pictures so I did not take this situation lightly. I cried for maaaybe 2 hours. No joke. I searched the casino up and down, while my sweet husband laughed at me and shook his head. Long story short, after calling lost and found for the twelfth time, the told me that had a camera turned in. I rushed down there and they pulled it out and...it was my camera!! There are still good people in this world!! :)

During the photographers ignite presentations...

Walking around the Trade Show...

My absolute favorite restaurant of the whole trip. I had a Truffle flat bread with fontina fondue, black truffles, mushrooms, cotto ham and arugula. Oh. MY. and a super delicious caesar salad. Aus had seabass. Delish. 

The New York hotel...one of our favs. 

Monte Carlo 

It's nice to get away. It's nice to slow down from the hustle bustle of our busy-crazy-never-ending work lives and pause. It's nice to reconnect with each other and revisit our goals and dreams for our future. It's nice to just be...together. And it's incredibly nice to do all of this in the fabulous city of Las Vegas! We will be back!

 

Let's play catch up...

I'm working on a Vegas post, well, really I just need to export all the photos, and then I'll post. In the mean time...there has been life since Vegas...

We've been home for almost 2 weeks and I'm actually heading home tonight to pack for another trip. I'm heading to Chicago Thursday morning to visit my mama! I keep the road hot, I tell ya. Aus is staying behind on this trip and my grandmother and I are going together. I am really excited! I feel like it has been forever since I've been in the Windy City. Sorry mom, not sure if I'm more excited to see you or go to Greek Islands!! Taramosalta, Saganaki, Taxas Salad, Pastichio! Oh my!!

I come back next Tuesday, then I'll work Wednesday and Thursday and then my Dad is coming on Friday for a visit. Both parents in the same week? Yes, please! Dad is staying several days with us so that will be a good time, always is with ol' Jimbo!

We shot our first wedding of the year last Saturday and it was very successful! We had two amazing clients and an amazing wedding party so that always helps our day go smoothly.  Hop on over to our photography blog and check out a few of their pics.

We are trying hard to hold a whole new approach with wedding photography and the services we offer. We are trying really hard to connect with our brides and grooms and base our business model around the experience the couple has with us, and not solely on the images we take. We want our couples to have a great wedding day, a great experience, and we definitely play a huge role in making that happen, regardless of what the photos look like after it's over. We are right next to them for 10, 12, sometimes 14 hours straight and the relationship we have with them is vital for their entire day. We want them to trust us, to hang with us, and to love us. We are aiming to work with clients who are just like us, so we have a common foundation for our relationship. We are taking steps to build our business around US, and not just our photography. Obviously the images we take and the skill behind them is extremely important, but we want our clients to know they are not just purchasing a photographer to take excellent photos, they are investing in Austin and Ashley to give them an excellent wedding day experience. Anyway, I think a job was well accomplished last Saturday...it's always a good sign when the bride and groom will not let us go home after the reception is over until we have a drink with them, or two... 

(We may or may not have a learned  little about this at our big conference in Vegas :) )

Other random news: Molly is almost completely kennel free. She doesn't sleep in her kennel at night anymore and stays out in the house roaming about when we're at work. She does really well, for the most part. Except yesterday when Austin came home and found his North Face jacket in the floor chewed up and zipper-less. She sleeps downstairs at night, either on her bed or on the couch (insert defeat face) which is kind of strange to us. We can't get her to sleep upstairs with us. Weird because all other times of the day she wants to be right under our feet. I guess she is trying to protect us...with those big guard dog skills she has...roarrrr ruff! 

Do you all get Shellac manicures? I'm just sitting here staring at my purple 3-week-old nail polish that has to come off tonight. But honestly, it doesn't even look bad at all. Not hardly chipped, just growth at the base of my nail. I've been using it awhile and I am in love! The maintenance is so much easier.

Ahhhh, the life of a cat.

Ummmmmm....

I will blog again, one day, I will...

I sat down to blog last night and ended up reading blogs for an hour instead. Fail.