First Book Club Meeting

I'm am so excited that this finally happened.  I have always wanted to be part of a book club.  I love reading and fellowship with friends and book clubs combine both those things into one!  Our first book was The Giver by Lois Lowry.  It's a younger reading level but has a lot of thought provoking concepts.  

There were six of us at our first meeting and the conversation was amazing.  We spent about an hour talking about the book and covered a wide of topics from diversity, religion, family units, our own childhood, childhood development, after life, and the power of freedom of choice.  It was so nice to have such deep conversations instead of the surface small talk that normally occurs when you hang out with friends.  I meant to get a picture but was having too much fun and I forgot!  I promise to take a group picture at our next book club.  We already picked our next book and will have our second book club in September!

Landscape Photography Field Trip at Old Fourth Ward

I might be addicted to taking photography classes.  On Saturday I did another landscape photography field trip with Southeast Photo Adventures.  I still have so much to learn but it's been so amazing to see how much I've improved after only 5 classes.  It was sweltering hot outside but the Old Fourth Ward park is beautiful.  Here are a few of my favorites from the photo field trip. 

Taken using my Canon Rebel t4i and my new 18-135mm lens. Edited in Adobe Lightroom.

Bridal Shower Prep/Craft Night

At the end of this month I’ll be helping host a bridal shower for my friend Jenna.  Jenna has such a fun sense of style and she has always loved vintage fashion and photos.  We decided it would fun to have a Retro Housewife theme for her shower.  Jenna’s maid of honor Brooke is amazing and we’ve had a lot of fun planning for the event.  Tuesday night we got together for a craft night to work on some of the décor and finishing touches for the shower. 

I’ll post more pictures after the shower but here are a few teaser pictures for the shower.  I'm in love with this theme, so much fun!

Botanical Birthday Celebration

We were lucky and got to share in the birthday celebration for these two awesome people.  Joanna and Jon are such an adorable couple and their birthdays are two days apart.  We started the night at an amazing pizza place off Monroe Drive called Varuni Napoli.  I meant to take a picture of our pizzas but immediately started shoving my face instead.  The crust was amazing and cooked in a wood burning oven which gave it the perfect amount of crispiness and a slight char on the edges/bottom.  Kyle and I shared a white pizza with buffalo mozzarella, pancetta, pecorino cheese, and truffle oil.  I bet it makes sense now why I was too busy eating to take a picture.  I did remember to get a picture of the birthday boy and girl.

After dinner we went to the botanical gardens to walk around the imaginary world exhibit and to practice shooting with our cameras.  The sky threatened rain the whole night but thankfully it only sprinkled for about 10-15 minutes during which we hid out in the Fuqua Orchid Center.  The lighting was not ideal but we still had a blast and managed to get some decent shots.  Jon is the same Jon I referenced in my post about Southeast Photo Adventures (SEPA) so I felt really spoiled to get tips on lighting, aperture, ISO, and framing my shots while we were at the gardens.  Here are some of my favorite edited shots from the night.  In case you hadn’t noticed I’m a bit obsessed with my new hobby but photography is so much fun and there is so much to learn.    

Dream Cars Exhibit - Atlanta High Museum

We finally got the chance to visit the Dream Cars exhibit at the Atlanta High Museum.  We’ve seen tons of friends post pictures on Facebook and Instagram so I knew we’d love it but like most cultural events it had a much stronger impact seeing it in person.  All the cars were truly works of art but my two favorite cars were the 1936 Stout Scarab and the 1935 Bugatti Aerolithe Coupe.  The Scarab reminded me of a mob getaway car from a classic movie; it was beautiful but had some edginess to it.  The Aerolithe is a beautiful mint color and had an air of opulence and sophistication.  

1936 Stout Scarab

1935 Bugatti Aerolithe

1935 Bugatti Aerolithe

Exploring other exhibits in the museum

This is my favorite piece, it's a circular concave sculpture which refracts images and projects sound. So much fun to stare at and take pictures of!

Even the stairwells at the museum are beautiful!