A Shameless Plug for a GREAT Local Business: The Sweet Shop

Happy belated Thanksgiving, dear blog readers. I hope each and every one of you had wonderful times and delicious food with friends and loved ones dear to you.

The V3 was absent from our family's Turkey Day celebration this year, and we missed them a lot, but they were safe and sound and throwing on the holiday cheer with Chris' family in Georgia. We'll have them for Christmas, so it all works out. It's good to share.

Lucia's birthday is coming up on the tenth, and I'm almost as excited about it as she is. How can she be turning three? I've got a couple of surprises in store for her, one of them being a triple-chocolate Mickey Mouse cake from my dear friend Shelli Williams at the Sweet Shop in Smithville.

Shelli made Jack's birthday cake this year and then hooked us up with a gorgeous carrot cake for Thanksgiving last week; and the dessert buffet she sat up for the Halloween party I photographed last month was amazing. Not only are her cakes and sweets amazingly beautiful, they taste better than anything else in this area and are "on par" with high-end bakeries in the big cities.

For those of you familiar with this cow-town back in the olden days, Shelli's grandmother was the famous Birchie, whose Sweet Shop was on the north side of the court square. She was famous for her cake style donuts, which Shelli still makes to order using Birchie's original machine, and Birchie "loved on" many a sweet tooth with her delicious cakes and confections over the years. For many years, if you wanted a wedding cake in these parts, Birchie was it. Shelli brings all of her grandmother's baking ability and love and her own unique artistry to a totally updated Sweet Shop.

If you need a cake or confections over the holidays, give Shelli a yell - 615.215.8933. She is, hands down, the best. I've included a few photos of her work from FaceBook.

Yes, that's Neyland Stadium. She does Yankee Stadium, too...

(Note: Blogger has a new feature - you can view photos in large-size and as a slideshow. Just click on the photos in the blog post. When you're finished looking at them, click the "X" in the right corner, and you come right back to the blog.)

Happy Weekend!

Everyone we know is talking about chilly temperatures and short daylight and the steady march toward Christmas that seems to be underway.

Personally, I like to wait until after the last gasp of the Thanksgiving turkey before even beginning to think about trees and trimmings and shopping and shit, but the elves in my head keep it real with their daily count-down of shopping days until Christmas.

And with Lucia's birthday falling squarely between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I'm glad to have those elves on the payroll.

Earlier this evening I spent some time playing with Jack's camera and the sunset, experimenting with longer exposures on the tripod --

This shot was 30 seconds long -- the fenceline is illuminated by the headlights of our car (Jack had just backed-in from a trip to town) and the red line is a car passing on its way to the marina. I think it's a pretty cool effect...

In other news...

I had another photo "job" last weekend, which was a lot of fun. I took family photos for some friends of ours - actually the daughter of some friends of ours, her boyfriend and dogs - but the whole family got into the action before the shoot was over. SUCH fun!!

Halloween Photography

Last weekend Jack and I had a photography job for a Halloween party. Awesome costumes! Fun was had by all...

Lu Time

November. Can you believe it?

The older I get, the more quickly the months-past appear in my rear-view mirror.

First off, let me share some birthday greetings with both Dad, who turned 58 on Thursday, and Chris, who turned 27 yesterday. Happy everything, guys!

Jack and I had dinner with the whole family on Wednesday night at the Baby House to celebrate the early-month birthdays (Mom has one coming up on the 16th) and satisfy the hankering for turkey and dressing we've all had since someone breathed the words, "Thanksgiving is coming" weeks ago. Mom fixed a delicious meal with all the fixings, and if anyone came away hungry, it's his or her own darn fault! 

Lu was thrilled to see Jack and stayed within eye-shot of him all night long. She loves Pammy, but she loves Jack, too.

I wasn't too jealous, because I knew I'd get a better chance to visit with her on Thursday night when I planned a sleepover with Mom due to an early meeting at work the next morning. My visits are an opportunity for Sis and Chris to take advantage of some free babysitting hours (even though Lu and I don't call it "babysitting") and get out of the house as a couple, and Lucia and I always have a wonderful time together.

After I left Thursday night, she told her mommy, "Pammy is my best friend."

When Sis called me at lunchtime on Friday to share that little tidbit, I was so happy I needed a Kleenex...

 

Lu has totally become a ham for the camera, but after nearly three years of me pointing one at her, it's no wonder -- She loves posing for a few pictures then looking at them on the back of my camera to decide what poses and faces she needs to make next.

She has a love-hate relationship with Roger -- most of the time it's love, but they have their moments...