Diana & Carlos

Diana and Carlos were married at the UH Chapel and held their reception at the beautiful Petroleum Club, on the 43rd floor of the Exxon-Mobil building downtown. Diana and the girls got ready at the funky-posh Hotel Zaza, where we headed down to the lounge for some WOW pre-wedding-bridals in Diana's delicate and perfect Melissa Sweet gown. Deep reds being a theme for the day (in the vibrant florals), we happened upon a plush red couch that worked very well with the color scheme.

After the ceremony, we were able to get some nice shots among the rows of arches down the sides of the chapel (three cheers for sunlight!), and then the bride and groom headed to the limo through a festive tunnel of periwinkle-blue streamers waved by the wedding guests.

For the reception, guests arrived to find their place-cards mounted atop wine corks, and "oooh'd and awww'd" when they saw Diana & Carlos' new monogram displayed prominently on the dance floor, via spotlight and gobo. The view from all around the room was of the Houston skyline-- through floor-to-ceiling windows. Luckily, the guests were treated to a dinner of several courses, and I had plenty of time to take some long-exposure shots of the beautiful scenery!

Many thanks to Kelly of Eventology Weddings, who coordinated the wedding.

Austin!

We're back!

I took a short spring break trip with my son and nephew to Austin. We saw the sights, visited the Capitol Building (thanks to Monica for the VIP tour!), saw "Horton Hears a Who", visited The Oasis on Lake Travis and the AWESOME 80,000 square foot Whole Foods on 6th Street with Auntie Gale, and closed out our visit with a walk up to the Visitor's Center where we boarded an interesting vehicle for an "Austin Duck Tour". Soooo many kids quacking their little duck-caller-quacker things... FUN!

The weather was icky Monday and Tuesday, but turned out to be absolutely beautiful and cool on our last day. I'll post more pics later, but here's my favorite... it just goes to show that you don't need clear blue skies to get yourself a nice pretty picture of the Capitol Building... and it will always remind me of the boys skipping around town with those big, bright umbrellas-- just being the silly little guys that they are.

My Ode to Fred...

This is my sweet little dog, Freddy. We don't really know what breed he is, and for the most part, we really don't care... because he is THE best doggie in the whole world.

I just wanted to take a moment to give Fred some screen-time on the blog and remind everybody (in Betty White/Bob Barker fashion) that there are sweet dogs in shelters and foster homes all over the place. Kitties too! Maybe if you have a little extra tax refund left over, you could donate a few bucks or some much-needed pet supplies to your local ASPCA or shelter. You can find out about more rescue organizations and available pets for adoption on Petfinder too!

Fred was a "rescued" dog... my sweet neighbor Margaret took him in one day and took care of him... took him to the vet to have him checked out... but couldn't keep him (she had reached the dog threshold in her house, was about to have surgery, and about to move). She tried (without success) to find his owners by hanging up signs all over the neighborhood, posting them at nearby veterinarian offices and Petsmart, consulting FidoFinder, and checking the dog himself to see if he had a microchip bearing his owner's information. After 2 weeks, she still couldn't find the owners and was going to have to take him to a shelter... so we took him in and made him a member of our family.

He is the perfect little missing puzzle piece we never knew we were looking for. Freddy is absolutely wonderful with the kids, and despite his stubborn terrier nature he's learned a few tricks and has successfully become crate-trained (with lots of love and patience). He only imtermittently bothers the cats, but they are never afraid to let him know who's boss. They can jump higher than him, and are much more agile... so they definitely have the upper paw.

Oh, those sweet puppy eyes.