Andrew. Is the man.

Look what my amazing hubby made me for dinner.  From scratch.  I almost cried when I saw it.  Indian food!!!!

Get Inspired: falling in love with photography again

Everyone gets in artistic ruts.  It's a part of the arts roller coaster.  So what do I do when I get into a low?  I remind myself why I love what I love.  How I got there.  Where I'm going.  

I took these images in the car on the way home from The Biltmore Mansion for fun.  These type of images are what made me fall in love with photography in the first place.  I used to just sit in my car at night at a restaurant or near an intersection and take these over and over again.  I think I'll frame one to remind me of how awesome my job is. :)

The Biltmore Mansion

One of these days, I will give up trying to be an adult.  Let me explain...

Andrew and I didn't get a chance to celebrate Valentine's Day this year.  We wrestled for a while to find something fun to do a few weeks later.  First, we thought a weekend at the beach (too much travel).  Then we thought skiing (too cold).  The only thing we knew we didn't want to do again is what we always do when we have a day off - go to an indoor water park.  We decided we were too old for that stuff.  haha  So instead, we ended up deciding on the opposite extreme - we took a day trip to Biltmore in nearby Asheville North Carolina.  It was my first time seeing the house and grounds.  While it was beautiful, it wasn't really my thing.  About halfway through the house, I was thinking "we could totally be going down a water slide right now.  Instead, I'm looking at paintings of dead people that weren't very interesting."  Sooooo, there you have it.  Inside the mind of an adult who thinks like a child.

They wouldn't let me take pictures inside the house (boo), but I did manage to get a few shots on the grounds.  Pretty.

I would die to do a bridal shoot here.  Any takers?

The most interesting part of the day was while we were waiting for the sun to set to get a good shot of the house.  This was Andrew's reaction to my command: "Look regal or something.  Like you belong in a photo with a mansion."

We are so not adults yet.  Thank God.

On the upside, a day trip to the Biltmore didn't fill our budget for Valentine's Day, so we also went to Cirque Totum.  Which we LOVED.  Andrew wants to be one of the musicians in the show.  I want to be one of the frogs.  Did I mention we acted like kids yet?

From House To Home

I live in a cookie cutter house.  It's a great house! But it's a great, cookie cutter house.  I've put a lot of thought into how I could make this box of a house truly personal to us.  Besides some of the obvious things like adding crown molding and built-ins, I've decided to be a bit more purposeful with any art  I add to our walls.

I love the idea of personal art like family trees, framed heirlooms and even inside jokes when it comes to decorating.  Here's a few examples:

1.  Everyone who knows Andrew knows that he's a bit of a computer nerd.  It's one of my favorite things about him!  When other wives are spending their days hosting football parties for their husbands and all their friends, Andrew and I are playing video games together.  So much more fun!  When I started talking about decorating our new home, Andrew was a bit worried that he wasn't going to be represented well in the house because his interests didn't seem to fit with my love for french antiques.  When you think of computers, you think modern and cold.  But that is exactly opposite of what I want our home to feel like.  I tried to reassure him one evening by buying these amazing jars from Anthropologie in binary code pattern.  It's my style, but his passion.  Needless to say, he LOVED it and has since then given me much more freedom because he knows he won't be left out!

2.  I love old textures and numbers.  But there is absolutely no reason to plaster your walls with numerals if there's no purpose behind it, right?  These numbers made it into our master bedroom decor because they are the numbers of our anniversary.  Not everyone will know that, but when we look at it it will mean something!

3.  Every once in a great while I rummage through my mom's basement (particularly the cellar), find something amazing like this, and then ask her why in the world she isn't displaying it.  "Oh, that old thing? You can HAVE it. It's old."  hahahaha We are so opposite!  This particular find was my grandmother's and I will cherish it always.

That's just three of the ways I'm adding a personal mark on our home.  I can't wait to share more with you. :)  I'd also love love love to hear your ideas on how to make a house a home, so comment away!

Sneak Peek - what I've been up to

Sorry for the lack of posts, peeps!  Wedding season is picking up and on top of that I've had a few personal photo shoots to edit.  Here's a sneak peek of what's coming soon on the Millie Holloman Photography blog!

First up, my baby brother's proposal at the Newport Aquarium.  Scuba divers included.  You don't want to miss this one!

And the gorgeous staff at Freedom House Church.  They made my job so easy.

Hope you enjoyed your little teaser.  I promise to be more diligent with blog posts!!!!