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As a continuation of our flashback series, here's a peek at what we were up to in November 2010. It was a busy month filled with travel, lovely people, and picturesque settings. November 2010 was so busy, in fact, that this recap will be broken into segments again - too many images for just one post! Look for the rest of our monthly recap throughout the week.
Monday / November 1, 2010 = Jasmine's Bridal Session -- New Orleans, LA -- Longvue House |
| You might recognize our lovely bride Jasmine from her NOLA engagement session seen here. We'll be sharing her beautiful New Orleans wedding on the blog when we start our 2011 flashback series - stay tuned! |
Friday / November 5, 2010 = Michele + Michale Wedding – Orlando, Florida -- Reunion Resort
We had the pleasure of visiting Michele & Michale in Tampa, FL for their engagement session, featured here, and had been looking forward to their wedding day ever since. This was our second time getting to work at the beautiful Reunion Resort in Central Florida and we were excited to be back at such a stunning property. Regular readers might recall the wedding of Brittany & Adam - also at Reunion - seen here. It's such a large facility, that we managed to photograph two weddings at the same resort with ceremonies and receptions in completely different spaces. One resort, two ways :) |
| These flower girls were so cute - little divas in front of the camera, too! |
| Emotional dads get me every time... I just adore father-daughter dances. |
| Check back again SOON for the stunning Rosemary Beach wedding of Megan & Tom - up next - plus lots more! |
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I have a confession - I am a reward points junkie. Even though my mind KNOWS that it is basically a 20% discount, it's way more fun to watch those points pile up.
My obsession with rewards goes all the way back to the second grade. My teacher (who's name escapes me at the moment) had a "store" in our classroom. Good behavior allowed for rewards... which led to "bucks" you could spend in the store.
In the second grade, the every day commodities were cigarettes and girly magazines Snoopy shaped erasers, pencils, and stickers. The top shelf stuff... candy of course! I was a reward dollar earning machine... I would do whatever was required to get my hands on the second grade dollars so I could load my desk with useless trinkets.
Now that I am older & wiser, nothing has changed. My grown up obsession with rewards continues. It started with the Subway Sub Club. Remember those perfectly sized little stamps that you had to lick? On those little cards that sorta fit in your wallet. Free six inch subs. But if you were really patient, you could get TWO cards filled out, and cash those puppies in for a free foot long sub. OMG!!!! I was hooked! |
Nowadays, I've moved on to Priority Club points. The Priority Club group is primarily known for the Holiday Inn. Hotel, motel, Holiday Inn. Yes, that Holiday Inn. The Priority Club group is also known for its headliner hotel, The Intercontinental.
As with any franchise brand, each location of a hotel chain is independently owned & operated. The Crowne Plaza in New Orleans represents the heart beat of a city. Located directly on Bourbon Street, with an amazing oyster bar, and a front entrance on Canal Street, the Astor Hotel is one of the best known properties in New Orleans.
Alternatively, certain locations within the rewards group have been under construction, under staffed, and underwhelming. We have stayed in some truly awful hotels *JUST* to make sure I got my points. Meg often complains about it, but usually humors me (usually). We've also stayed 30 minutes from civilization at our favorite outcast property, the Candlestick Inn...err...Candlewood Suites (that was for you Ryan). |
But our all time favorite property within the Priority Club group is an amazing boutique hotel brand called Hotel Indigo! We were first introduced to this charming little hotel in Atlanta.
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| We instantly fell in love, as they are a pet friendly hotel. The Atlanta location actually has their own dog... fittingly named Indie the Indigo Dog. We've had the opportunity to meet Indie a couple of times at the Canine Cocktail Hour which is hosted in the lobby on a regular basis. |
If you are a points junkie yourself, and you haven't had the opportunity to watch the movie Up In The Air with George Clooney, you absolutely must see it! Clooney plays a character in the movie that has taken "points" to the extreme. This memorable quote from the movie sums it up fairly well:
"I don't spend a nickel, if I can help it, unless it somehow profits my mileage account."
So I'm definitely not that committed, but I definitely try to stick with Priority Club whenever possible. I do have the Priority Club credit card - which accelerates your earning power when used at a Priority Club hotel. And because of the consistency of staying "in group", we quickly obtain Platinum status.
This results in a free water bottle, or a newspaper at most of the hotels we stay at. But at the Intercontinental, it bumps up a bit to a free movie rental, complimentary wi-fi, and a 4:00pm checkout... which aligns nicely with a wedding photographers lifestyle! :) |
The Priority Club points obsession usually culminates with a once-per-year redemption of several hundred thousand hotel points. Our prior redemptions have landed us in New York City, where we fully embrace Meg's inner theatre freak.
So I encourage those of you that travel to consider getting loyal. We've endured some lousy hotel renovations, highly inconvenient locations on the outskirts of town, and ridiculously undersized hotel parking lots to make sure we got our hotel points. But in my experience, loyalty pays.
What brands are you loyal to? |
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PS - Have you heard? This blog is getting PERSONAL! |
Fall. It's a magical time of the year.
As summer releases its merciless grip of hot days and horrible weather (seriously... it rained for 7 straight days this week), we can start to feel the change in the air. The back to school chaos pulls teachers back in from their summer bliss, and drivers begin grumbling about those pesky school zones slowing their daily commute. But I breathe a sigh of relief. After all... this means that Fall is just around the corner.
My first sign that fall will be here soon? A promotional email from Starbucks tempting me with the seasonal classic, the Pumpkin Spice Latte. Leave it to Starbucks to ring in the new season with an official drink change. |
As a kid, back to school was the worst! As an adult (even one without kids), I can't help but feel the opposite about the new season that is approaching.
Fall means so many wonderful things. First, we look forward to the changing seasons: fall leaves, that cool crisp air that brings an end to the endless sweating, and of course the arrival of the snowbird. |
| Here in the Panhandle region of Florida, we don't have to worry about amazing scenes of changing fall leaves, but we get our own special scenery on the wonderful beaches up and down the coast. |
| In addition to the fantastic weather we get to enjoy, we also ring in the beginning of college football in the South. If you're not from our "neck of the woods", you might not know that college football is more akin to a religion that a sport. And here in the Baisden house, as FSU alumni, we bleed Garnet & Gold. Go Noles! |
| We'd love to hear from you - what do you love the most about the Fall season? |
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