Stacey Bode Photography

I keep telling Alison that she should teach a class on how to pose for headshots. I am not at all kidding about it. She has some sort of unearthly skill and comfort in front of the camera. For every frame, she would slightly change her pose and/or expression, and required NO DIRECTION AT ALL! I’m still stunned. I’d like to know what her secret is, so that when people take pictures of me, I no longer default to “the muppet face” or “the fish face”. Ah, my old stand-bys.

Alison is also one of the nicest gals around. When she’s the next “it” girl, I can say that she was once willing to pose for me in a trash-filled alley. Yay!

Q: What could be more exciting than the anticipation of a new baby???

A: TWO NEW BABIES !!!

That’s exactly what Scott and Sloane are eagerly awaiting. The arrival of Logan and Sawyer. A month or so ago when Sloane first told me the names of the boys, I had a little trouble remembering, and kept calling them Lawyer and Soupy. Part of me hopes that they’ll use my versions when the time comes.

Sloane and Scott are two wonderful people that I’ve known for years through our Atlanta theater family. These are two very talented parents-to-be. Sloane can also give you the best massage of your life. You will be shocked at how powerful her teeny hands are! Check out her site at Atlanta Body Retreat. Some of my clients may also recognize her name since she’s also a skilled hair/makeup artist. Perhaps she will also run for president this year.

Since Sloane and Scott are both extremely creative folks, I knew this would be the best kind of maternity session. The kind where we all exchange ideas and play, play, PLAY! And we did.

I couldn’t be more thrilled for them and their exponentially growing family!

Here’s one of Sloane’s brilliant ideas. You know that famous pic of Janet Jackson where she’s topless, but has her chestal area covered by a man’s hands? They wanted this version instead. Scott has done some brilliant puppeteering and had these awesome monster hands. YAY!!!

First, I must apologize. I have been a bad, bad blogger. I have some cool posts coming as I get caught up, but in the meantime I am giving myself a time-out for not throwing tidbits of life onto the webosphere for my blog friends to snack on.

Speaking of snacks…

I’ve done lots of crazy diets over the years: the no carbs diet (horrible), the college anxiety diet (effective, but dangerous), and there was that year in high school where all I ate was those Oscar-Meyer CHEESE-FILLED hot dogs. No bun or condiments, mind you, just the cold, processed meat stick. Ew. The cheese inside just made it look like the hot dog had some hideous disease.

I’m proud to say that I think I’m beyond ever doing “diets”. They don’t work. I’m all about positive, GRADUAL lifestyle changes. This is why I was drawn to the book “Quantum Wellness” by Kathy Freston. She’s all about the mind, body, spirit thing. She also talks about working toward healthier eating/living at your own pace. Undergoing a 21-day cleanse is recommended. This means none of the following:

• sugar
• alcohol
• caffeine
• gluten
• animal products

I eased into it by eliminating caffeine and alcohol 4 days ago. Alcohol is no problem, other than a mild urge to sit on the porch in the evening with a little glass of red wine. Caffeine on the other hand! I’ve had headaches since I stopped, which is a blatant clue that perhaps I was consuming enough for myself, 2 night-shift truckers, and 30 Wall Street Stock Brokers.

Yesterday, I started the food portion of the cleanse. Now is where I ask you to be proud of me for the fact that I have had NO CHEESE for 2 days, and not a single person (or animal) has been harmed. I have to admit that in the past, I have “drunk dialed” once or twice. Nothing mean or regretful…usually just loud, slurred 80s power ballads on some unfortunate friend’s machine. I may begin to “cheese dial” soon. I have NO idea what this will sound like or entail. If I have your number, just be on guard.

I must admit, I already feel different. I have tons of energy! Matt thought I was bad before when I’d get all Stepford and spend 4 hours organizing the linen closet. I’m sure this will be much worse. I may have to take up ultimate fighting to harness some of this new uber-liveliness.

The only negative thing I’ve noticed so far is a digestive issue. How do I put this? I am typically a precision machine when it comes to the whole “food-in, food-out” process. Well, the machine seems to be slacking off on the “food-out” process, despite the fact that I continue to shovel food in. Sorry to readers who didn’t want to know such things about me. Let’s just say that my girlfriends probably know more about the workings of my internal organs than they do about my hopes and dreams. So these things are not taboo for me. I’m sure a little CHEESE would fix the problem.

I’m not saying that I’ll give these things up for good, but I’m just trying to see what happens during the 21 days, and I’ll make some choices from there.

So, here’s a photo of some of the stuff I’m eating. Apparently food comes in different colors (other than orange or beige). Who knew? I’m sure my fridge is blinded and very confused.

I’ll keep you posted as to how the cleanse is going, and what the body count is after, say, Day 8 of NO CHEESE.

I had the true pleasure of shooting Brian and Krista’s gorgeous wedding last year in Athens. I was thrilled when Brian contacted me about taking photos for their first anniversary as a surprise gift to Krista. How sweet is that?? We talked about taking some fun, relaxed shots of the two of them, along with their three furry babies…Sebastian, Olliver, and Penny.

We strolled down to the UGA campus as I watched Brian and Krista expertly wrangle a very excited pack of doggies. In between shots, there was a lot of squirrel chasing and then resting in the shade for a bit.

Once we were out of sunlight and energy, we took a few more pics with the pups at their home turf, and then headed to The Grill for a late dinner. I don’t remember what I ate, but I remember the gigantic chocolate malt that I chugged like a frat boy with a beer funnel. YUM!

Brian and Krista, it was wonderful to see you again and spend time chatting and playing…and your pooches are awesome! A big congratulations on your 1-year anniversary! Woo hoo!

Today will be spent feverishly catching up on photo editing, so I thought I’d quickly post some pics from last week’s beach adventure on St George Island.

The water and sand were beautiful, yet I have no photos to prove it. As soon as bathing suits went on, I was not allowed to get within 10 feet of my camera.

I think we all got some MUCH needed time to relax and take a big ol’ sigh from life.

Yesterday, we celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary. That is, we finally agreed that it was, in fact, the sixth. It’s hard to keep track when you’ve actually been together for nearly eleven years (we had to calculate that one too).

We started off with a swell breakfast at Kasan Red. We decided to wait a while before taking our bikes to the Silver Comet Trail since we figured it would be much cooler in the late afternoon. So we decided to set up my GPS that’s been collecting dust for months. It took us a few hours of button mashing and swearing to get the thing to understand that we were in ATLANTA and not in TAIWAN. I was nearly ready to shove the thing on a stick, toast it over an open flame, and eat it on a graham cracker with a piece of chocolate, when it finally started working. The process was annoying and time-consuming, but it did allow us to watch a few more episodes of “Twin Peaks” during lengthy downloads. I was obsessed with TP when it originally aired, and Matt had never seen it. I still can’t believe how ahead of it’s time it was and how my love for it in the early 90s was certainly fueled by the fact that the “typical” programming on at the time consisted of shows like “Full House” and “Blossom”. Saved by David Lynch. I thank you, sir. I still have a crush on Agent Cooper and still want to be Audrey when I grow up.

Despite fretting about the amount of camera equipment that could be purchased for the same amount, I went ahead and invested in a brand spankin’ new bicycle from Outback Bikes in Little 5! I’m in luvs. Took it for a spin today, and I haven’t felt that comfortable pedaling myself around since I was rockin’ the Big Wheel in 1977.

This Saturday is our wedding anniversary. Matt had the swell idea of dressing up in our wedding garb, performing some voodoo ritual to fit into it, heading to where we got married, and maybe taking some goofy photos. Photos…imagine that. Since our anniversary falls on a Saturday, we could probably only do this by crashing someone else’s big day. In my book, this is still listed in the index under “NOT cool”.

So, in comes idea #2. We’re going to hit the Silver Comet Trail with our 2-wheeled treasures, and make a day of it. Ahhh, much better.

“love is of all passions the strongest…for it attacks simultaneously the head, the heart, and the senses” ~ voltaire

All the senses certainly got a treat on Christine and Kevin’s big day. The warmth of the air, the taste of the mojitos, the smell of flowers, the sound of dance music, and the sight of a couple very much in love.

I had the pleasure of meeting Chris and Kevin last year while shooting Amy and AJ’s beautiful wedding. Kevin is Amy’s brother, and Chris was one of her stunning bridesmaids. It was a joy to see all the Casparys again, and to meet the wonderful Morris family.

Chris and Kevin looked perfect for the incredible outdoor setting at peaceful Dunaway Gardens. She definitely had that modern-chic style paired with a refreshingly relaxed frame of mind. Kevin sported a very hip, cool, casual look. I sound like I’m writing a fashion report! I’m just sayin’….they looked GOOD!

Every detail of their wedding seemed to reflect the love of Chris and Kevin, their families, and their affinity for fun.

Chris, Kevin, the Morris family, and the Caspary family….thank you for being the kind of people who keep a smile on my face a LONG time after the wedding day!