Issy Schmid Imaging

Ok, so I have to say that there isn’t a thing I dislike about the Holidays… I love the food, the lights, the hustle and bustle, the movies, the music…. and most of all… I love buying presents! I know most people hate hitting the malls at this time of year, but I love it. I love thinking through and planning what I want to buy each person on my list, and what kind of wrapping paper I should get for them. (Each person gets their own special gift wrap) So, I guess I should mention how much I love wrapping gifts too…. As soon as I get home from a shopping trip I have to wrap them right away. If I could buy a present for everyone, I would. Everyone keeps asking what I would like this year, but I really don’t want anything. I truely just enjoy picking out something special for everyone. So, Here is the massive pile for my family who is getting very spoiled by me this year… Oh, and Lola too….

Ok, So I know it’s been a while since I posted a new blog, but things have been crazy.

This blog post is well overdue, but I’m finally getting a chance to post some pictures from Jamie and Jared’s wedding. This wedding actually has a little story too. I second shot this wedding for Michael Leslie, and both the ceremony and reception were held at the LOEWS Hotel in Philadelphia. The reception was in the Millenium ballroom, and it was just completely gorgeous in there. I first met Jamie at the beginning of the day when she was getting ready and she mentioned where her husband was from was actually local to where I am from in South Jersey. Michael sent me to get some pics of the guys a little later on, and as soon as I walked in the room I recognized the groom, and a few of the groomsmen. We had actual met a few years back, and now I was photographing Jared’s wedding. It was strange to run into someone you haven’t seen in a long time at their own wedding, but it was nice to photograph people you were familiar with. Well, one thing hadn’t changed… This crew really knew how to party. The huge dancefloor was packed all night and everyone was having a great time.

Ok, So every now and then I come up with an idea that seems brillant at the time to later find out it was a terrible mistake. So, my latest brillant idea was to go shopping at the outlet mall in Limerick, PA at midnight on Thanksgiving. I thought… ohhh, this will be fun and it’s something that I have never done before. The outlets in Limerick, PA are new and most people who I talk to don’t know about them at all so I was wondering if anyone else was even going to show up for this late night shopping event. Austin of course, didn’t want me going out that late by myself so he decided to tag along. Well, we headed out around 11:30pm, stopped at wawa for a coffee, and were on our way. The outlets are about 40 minutes away and things were going well for about the first 35 minutes. Well, as soon as we saw the sign for the stores (about 2 miles from the exit) is when things started to go bad. The traffic was dead stopped. At the beginning of the traffic people in their cars were wearing Santa Hats and singing Holiday songs. Well, things wouldn’t have been too bad, but Austin apparently drank 4 glasses of iced tea before we left and a coffee on the road and here we are stuck in traffic with no potty in sight for the 2 miles of stopped traffic. Now, you all know that feeling. Apparently, other people had the same problem because I have never seen so many people get out of the car and pee in the street. After the first hour, no amount of Holiday music could make me want to go holiday shopping and there was no place to turn around. The Santa hats were gone at this point, and the Holiday music was replaced by beeping and yelling. So, by the time we got to the exit it was after 2am and it took us 10 more minutes to get to the ramp just to turn around. Austin never speeds on the highway, but on the way home he was speeding, because at this point 2hrs later he felt like his bladder might explode. Needless to say, this was not one of my best ideas, but it didn’t stop me from getting up and going shopping on black Friday…..

Today we went out in the blustery cold weather to Philadelphia for an engagement session with Marty and Amanda. We started off the day in Love Park, but didn’t spend too much time there because we were nearly getting run over by the skate boarders everywhere. So, we just took a stroll around the city.

They got engaged at this restaurant, so of course we had to get a pic here