laura and matt were the first couple to hire us when altmix photography became official! we owe them so much; their strong faith in us and our new little business was so encouraging at a time when we really needed it! since then it’s been wonderful to get to know laura and her incredible love for others, especially matt. speaking of matt, i must say, his involvement in the wedding planning process is incredible! not only did he suggest the (oh.my.gosh.incredible!) location for our shoot on sunday, he also came up with some fun pictures for us to take while we were there! these two beautiful people make one dynamite couple, enjoy!
matt, you’re the man for holding this pose!
the always lovely laura!
thank you guys for a stellar afternoon and shoot! you’re truly beautiful inside and out!
i’m sure like many of you, matt and i desire to eat relatively healthy. i say relatively because our life here in atlanta certainly doesn’t come without it’s wonderfultemptationstothrowhealthaside. gotta love atl.! :) this being said, we at least start off with a nutritious and healthy breakfast each morning, granola. we add yogurt and sometimes fruit and it’s just unbeatable. we were introduced to granola when we worked at a summercamp up in asheville, nc. we were spoiled that summer by the homemade goodness and we spent the next few years searching for a comparable granola…to no avail! the search ended this past august when my obsession with cooking took hold, i became determined to find my own granola recipe. trust me friends, i’ve experimented with the first two pages of recipes that come up when you google ‘granola recipe!’ matt, being endlessly supportive, never complained when it came out like granite or tasted salty. ;) so with matt’s encouragement i did something i’ve never done before or since; i wrote a recipe! it was a feat for sure, and even though it’s ever-changing i’m just proud it exists! so off i go to replenish our personal supply, feel free to join me if you like!
‘mix granola
3 cups oats
¼ cup chopped walnuts*
¼ cup crocanti of soja almond**
¼ cup ground flax seed
¼ cup honey
¼ cup oil
¼ cup water
¼ cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp cardamom
¼ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp salt
1 tbsp white sugar
1 egg
toss oats, sesame seeds, almond crisps, ground flax seed, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, salt, and white sugar
whisk honey, oil, water, brown sugar, vanilla, and egg
pour liquid slowly, stirring at the same time until incorporated. press lightly into a nonstick casserole dish (keep about 1.5 inches thick), bake 1.5 hours at 275. after an hour, turn oven off, leaving the granola to cool (and harden), remove and break up. serve with vanilla yogurt or milk, with fruit and/or honey, or just plain! enjoy!
[ note: i thought of a famous actress the whole time we were shooting, i hope you see it too :) ]
anna and jason were engaged in the beautiful founder’s garden on campus at the university of georgia; seems like the perfect place to start their engagement shoot, right? well, matt and i arrived early (as usual) to scout out the location, and as we walked up the hill to the garden the top of a white tent appeared, then a bar complete with glasses and tender came into view, then round tables with extravagant flower arrangements, and finally the caterer who informed us the garden was reserved for a reception. right theme, wrong day, founder’s garden! when anna and jason arrived we grabbed a few shots around the perimeter of the garden before deciding to head to a nearby lake. on the way they stopped to change into more casual clothes and pick up lily, the fiesty little puppy jason gave anna two years ago. at first little lily was afraid of the camera, retreating behind anna or jason. next she decided to attack the camera and bark and lunge at the lens (and subsequently matt, haha)! finally she realized the camera must be nice because mommy and daddy are paying it a lot of attention and seem to be smiling a lot! so then she became a bit of a camera hog, but an adorable one! here are a few of our favorite pics from the day:
thank you anna and jason for being so fun and flexible! i’m so glad that it worked out for us to do your engagement pics, it was great getting to know you guys before the big day! we’re looking forward to the wedding!
