Christmas Part 2: Dave's Family.

After a week in Wichita with my family we headed through KC to spend a few hours with my good friends there and then drove through the night to Tennessee. It's been a whirlwind ever since of family and good food. We just adore getting to spend time with Dave's siblings and our two sweet nephews (and everyone else of course).

I have a lot of pics from our time here for the holidays (my first TN Christmas), so enjoy...

Christmas Part 1: My family

I was so thankful we got to spend a week with my family before heading out East to celebrate Christmas with Dave's family. This was my first Christmas away from my family so it meant a lot to me that Dave planned lots of time for us to be together when he mapped out the trip. We had a fabulous time decorating candy, watching our favorite holiday movies, and exchanging gifts with one another.

Dave also played a show and did a TV interview and they both were a lot of fun. He played at The Artichoke again, which some of you know is one of our favorite places. Pictures from the interview are coming soon, maybe just on the facebook page, I haven't decided.

Oh and apparently my favorite thing to photograph at my Mom's house is her chihuahua, but she's just so dang cute!

...I just love that little peanut! How cute was she in that Santa hat? She hated us. 

We have fun every year trying to get a good Christmas picture of us all at my Mom's house, there's way too much giggling involved by all. This was what came out this year, sorry John that your eyes are closed, hehe. 

What are some traditions that you all have with your family that get everyone laughing up a storm every year?

 

Traveling Photographer // Trip Update

Before I get into some posts full of pictures with everything we've been up to lately I wanted to do a quick trip update. Currently we're staying at my in-laws in Knoxville, TN for one more week. I'm already booked up with photo sessions while we're here.

When we leave here we'll be headed to the Fort Knox, KY area, if you're near there and would like to get in on the special I'm offering as we're on the road, email me! I know our time there will fill up quickly so it would benefit you to get in touch with me soon if you're interested. We'll be in town from about January 7th-16th.

We'll be in our new home of Winston-Salem, NC by January 21st! We are anxious and excited to get to our new town and find a place to live. I know some people think we're crazy because we don't have a place lined up yet, but we like getting to check places out in person instead of picking something out on Craigslist.

I'll be continuing the special on photo sessions for the first few people that contact me in our new area of North Carolina! This will only apply to the first 5 people that email me about a session, so don't wait to contact me if you're interested.

I appreciate your patience as we're traveling and in and out of internet connection. Once we get to KY I should have internet from then on and now that I'm not as sick I can make it to a coffee shop with internet here in Knoxville. I just adore reading each and every comment and really appreciate you all sticking with me through this crazy time.

One last little order of business is sponsor spots. I have spots open in January and would absolutely LOVE to have you! You can grab a spot here.

Did you miss me?

We're alive! Kind of. Between no internet at my in-laws and this sickness of death that we both came down with, it's questionable at best. But we are so thankful for your thoughts and prayers you've been sending our way, we're finally on the upside of this illness.

Another shot I grabbed through the passenger window going 70mph.

I have missed this little space of mine more than you all know! How are you all? I miss you're lovely comments gracing my inbox every day. I have so many big plans and ideas for this site, my shop, and the photography (not to mention the amazing things happening for Dave's music) and I sincerely hope that you all join us for the ride...

Joy.

Merry Christmas Eve!!! My heart is full of joy and thankfulness this year. I hope you all have a few moments in between the hustle to remember the reason we're celebrating.

Had a very blessed holiday loves! Love you all, Mal and Dave.

This and that...

I got this picture through my window going 70 on the highway, absolutely no editing on this one.

We're still here! Sorry I've been missing around here, but between traveling to multiple families for Christmas and moving half way across the country, it's been a bit tricky to say the least. Add in no internet at my in-laws and it's been pretty impossible, but things are going to start slowing down a bit after this weekend so things will be back to normal.

We've done radio shows, tv interviews, live shows, an online show, visited with friends and family, and drove 1,600 miles so far this trip. Whew! We're tired, but we need to get our second wind because today we have more radio/tv interviews and then a big show at Hard Rock Cafe, followed by another show at Vienna Coffee House on Saturday.

I'll be posting regularly on this space again so pretty please stick with us. What have you all been up to? I miss your lovely comments and emails! I hope everyone has had a wonderful week full of quality family time.

Home for the holidays...

Hey loves, sorry I've been a little MIA, I've been taking in every moment with my family before we leave tomorrow afternoon. Making candy with my Mom, going out to eat with my Dad, watching Christmas movies, swapping presents, and just having a wonderful time.

These moments are precious to me and I don't want to miss a second! I hope that if only one thing is taken away from the heartbreak and sadness of the events on Friday, it's that we should never take our loved ones for granted and soak in every little piece of our time with them.

Vegan Chocolate Eggnog Coffee

I know some of you just read that title and said to yourself, "Say what?!"...ok, maybe not, but I will say that I was so excited to see the Silk Eggnog on the shelves again this year. I didn't get a chance to buy any last year before it was off the shelves and that made me very sad. You see, until now, I'd never had eggnog before. My family never had it at Christmas time (I don't think my Mom cares for it) and then when I started to get curious about maybe wanting to try it Dave said it was nasty.

Well, we bought a little carton of the Silk kind to satisfy my curiosity and we both love it! Especailly when we put it in our coffee instead of our usual almond milk. Mmm. Here's how I've been making ours lately, it's been extra necessary due to moving/packing/driving.

Using the scoop that came with our french press:
-4 scoops coffee
-2 scoops cocoa powder (a natural kind is best, but as long as you make sure it's just chocolate and not a bunch of crazy ingredients it should be fine)
-2 scoops natural cane sugar
-Silk eggnog, as much or as little as you'd like

Heat up 4 cups of water, pour it on the mixture, stir once, place french press lid on and wait 5 minutes. Plunge, pour in your eggnog, and enjoy!

J's family photo session // Austin, TX

I am so happy that I got to photograph J and her family before I left town! They are such a sweet bunch and their daughter is the most polite 3 year old, maybe ever. The love they have for one another really shows through in these pictures...

And then Grandma and Great Grandma showed up and made it 10x more adorable...

 

"We loved working with Mallorie! We had only had family photos taken once before, so we were a bit nervous about what to do, where to stand, etc. Mallorie gave us direction without being pushy, and she was fantastic with our two year old! The shoot went wonderfully, and the photos turned out even better. I'm so very happy with the photos that she shot, and everyone that has seen them has commented on how beautiful they were!"  ~ohheyitsj

The journey begins...

Today is the day friends, Dave and I are embarking on our new journey and I can't wait to see what's in store for us on this new adventure. We have a long road ahead of us before we end up in a new home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina...but that's going to be half of the fun!

Tonight we are headed up to Wichita to spend a week with my family and I can't wait to see them! Then we're off to Knoxville to celebrate Christmas and New Years with Dave's family (and his parents' birthdays, which are on Christmas Eve and New Years Eve, how crazy is that?). After that, we'll be heading to a town near Louisville, KY to spend a week or two with Dave's good friend and bass player, for them to work on a few songs. THEN we'll finally set foot in North Carolina and our sweet friend Trish has offered to let us stay with her while we find a place to live.

Whew! You all still with me? It's going to be one crazy long trip, but Dave and I love road trips together and I'm excited to take a lot of pictures along the way. I will be posting along the way and still reading all of your lovely comments...and if any of you are on one of our stops, let me know...maybe we can meet up!

The New Storenvy!

If you follow me on twitter you've probably seen me tweeting about the new Storenvy, well it's finally up and it looks AMAZING! The new site reminds me of Pinterest. You can "envy" items that you like and then that item goes into the feed of everyone that's following you. Pretty cool, right?

It's so much easier to find cute items and see what fun things your friends have found...

 

...pretty awesome, right? I can't get enough.

I love the people at Storenvy and all that they do for the handmade world. I've been having so much fun finding all kinds of great things that I wish I had the money to buy...

 

If you're not on Storenvy yet, now is the perfect time to join! It's not just for people with an online shop, especially with all the new changes.

Are you on Storenvy? If so, are you loving the new site?

Caitlin and Andy // Engagement Session

I was so thrilled when Caitlin and Andy asked me to take their engagement pictures at the gorgeous Barr Mansion here in Austin, TX! This place is so whimsical and gorgeous and I was thrilled to get to be a part of such an important piece of their lives. This place is so magical and I know their wedding day will be fabulous...

Aren't they the cutest? And now if I could just move into this gorgeous venue I'll be set for life. They also wrote me this sweet testimonial, I'm so thankful for lovely clients like these two.

"Mallorie was absolutely amazing to work with. She has so much artistic instinct that she was able to guide us through each pose to get the photographs we wanted without making us feel like puppets. It was natural but organized and efficient and it lead to us getting tons of shots I know we will cherish for the rest of our lives. We truly loved having Mallorie take our engagements, it was a wonderful experience and we couldn't have asked for a better photographer." ~Caitlin and Andy