The Buies Do Frisco

This past weekend B & I got a pet sitter for the dogs, cats and rabbits, loaded ourselves and our camera gear in the car and headed to the big D. This was after we had to postpone our trip by several hours because my rented camera lens were late to arrive by FedEx. But finally we were on the road.

I had been hired by the mother of the bride to shoot her daughter's wedding in Frisco. I love to travel for my job and I had that date available so of course I said, yes! I brought along my assistant, my husband, my partner in crime and now I can officially call him my second shooter! :) This was his second wedding to assist but his first wedding to second shoot. B did so well I told him that I may never shoot another wedding without him.

This was just a quick shot of us with our iPhones the night before the wedding. We ate at this amazing place called TruFire in Frisco and we highly recommend it. It was recommend to us by a friend who lives there. We wanted to eat there again before we left but didn't. Instead we tried out a few other restaurants that we don't get the opportunity to eat at.

Saturday was the wedding and it was grander and more beautiful than we ever expected! It was my first full Mass Catholic ceremony to attend and shoot. It was beyond spectacular. Since the ceremony was hour an long - yes, that's right an hour long- I had time to just sit down and take in the beauty of the place.

After the gorgeous ceremony, we danced all night long til 1 in the morning. Needless to say, B & I were exhausted but I couldn't have done it without him. One of my proudest moments so far was when I glanced through the shots that Buie took that night. He did such a great job as a second shooter. Honestly certain moments, such as the first dance, he got better shots than I did! :) So proud!

Sunday I let B sleep in and I had a late lunch in downtown Frisco with my childhood best friend, Brook-Lyn who lives close to where we were staying. It was so nice to just sit and chat for an hour or two. I have missed her terribly! When you are growing up you don't ever think that you will be separated from your best friends but when you are, you cherish each and every moment you get with them! 

We had one more stop before we headed home. Mom had requested that we meet up with my uncle Jerry to pick up a wheelchair for my grandmother. My grandmother, (MeMe as I call her) recently had a bad fall and broke her lower back. She has had a very hard time with recovery. My mom and two uncles have been working hard to make her comfortable by moving her to a nursing home where she would have more round the clock care. Uncle Jerry found someone to donate a wheelchair to her so we just needed a way to get it back to Louisiana for MeMe. It worked out perfectly that we were in town on the right weekend. And I'm always looking for another excuse to have dinner with my wonderful family. 

me, Buie and my cousin Jena who lives downtown with her awesome dog, Tucker 

(she's single, fellas!-Don't hate me, Jena!)

Jena, Aunt Lacy, me and Uncle Jerry

Monday, we slept in, checked out of our hotel room and drove back in time to pick up Lady and stop by our family's Memorial Day cookout. They had fun chasing her around the yard. I think they all slept well that night! :) 

I would say we had a successful trip to Dallas. And I can't wait to go back!

We Got Bunnies!

That's right we got bunnies! Like real live floppy eared, carrot chomping, nose wiggling, poops a lot, real live rabbits. It all started last Easter when I hosted my first Easter mini sessions. I rented two rabbits from a guy nearby. They were adorable, well one of them was...the other one liked to bite. Anyway, the hubs and I tossed around the idea of keeping one but then (like normal people) decided not too. 

So this Easter rolled around and we rented the three sweetest bunnies from the same place as last year. The guy informed us that he was "getting out of the rabbit business" so that got us wondering what would happen to all of his rabbits. We had so much fun photographing these rabbits in this year's Easter mini sessions. They were great around the children and definitely no biting. We kind of grew attached to them all in about three days. 

We weighed our pros and cons and I actually said no, we don't need more responsibility, more cost, more work, etc. etc. But then Buie, just said, let's do it! :) And of course, I said okay. He didn't have to twist my arm too hard. 

So like that, we added three more to our zoo. 

Louisiana Saturday Night

The Spring in Louisiana means crawfish season. Last year we were just moving down here about the time crawfish season started so we actually never ate any all season. The rest of the year I just couldn't wait to get my hands dirty from crawfish juice so we invited over our closest friends and picked up a few pounds.

To me, this is what Louisiana is all about.  I could honestly do this every weekend. Heck, I could do this every NIGHT but I'd also be about 50 more pounds overweight. ;) 

It sounds weird to Northerners, I'm sure,...sitting around picking apart a little crustacean only for millimeters of meat, sucking the juices out of their heads, tossing their empty shells aside, only to pick another up and do it all again. 

But, it's about tradition. 

It's about sitting around on your back porch being around people who you've known your whole lives and sharing stories. It's all about the potatoes and corn. Who's with me? It's about your lips being so on fire because it's just the right amount of spicy. Well, maybe it needs a *little* more. :) It's about getting your fingers and fingernails so dirty and not caring one bit. It's about seeing how many pounds you can eat or how fast you can peel them. It's about putting the shells on your fingers and pretending that they are little tiny puppets (because we ALL have done that). 

But most of all, it's about being with friends.

All images are copyright Cara Beth Studio. Please do not use anywhere without my permission. If you would like to use them for any reason, please send me an email at carabethstudio@gmail.com. Thank you for respecting my art work! :)