berry productive day

 many of you know my cupcakery job is only part time...so what am i doing the rest of the time?

weekends tend to include wedding and/or portrait work while monday and tuesday stand as editing, writing and general clean-the-loft days. this has been one of the first mondays in a while in which i've had an entire afternoon to just sit with my camera and practice some new techniques.

thanks to my mom, these raspberries were a little more than a delicious snack today. and i'm pretty excited to post these pics straight out of the camera (no post processing)!

hope everyone else has a berry wonderful day as well!

happiness factory

bryan's mom got to drive up from tampa for the holiday weekend, so we decided to experience something very "Atlanta" while she was here with her friend, susie. (they have driven through downtown many times on their way to jacksonville, so the shorter trip was almost excitement enough!)

so we headed off to the new happiness factory (aka World of Coke)

we may not be avid soda drinkers, but there's nothing like coke to refresh old memories: coke tickets after playing ball games, coke floats by the pool and the like.

did we mention we're big happiness factory fans? 

an excellent marketing job, for sure:)

perhaps he tried too much of the beverly!

don't worry, we managed to sample every soda available--touring each continent!

full of fizz!

cracking open some salt and pepper pistachios to balance out all that sweetness! i highly recommend a salty snack during or after such a visit.

and speaking of visits, we really loved having family come see us for the weekend!

other stops this time around included the square in Marietta (and miss mamie's, of course!), grilling out with my parents plus carly and andrew, and just nice mornings with lots of coffee and conversation.

the newest chupp pup

with a special interest in rescuing creatures who deserve a good home, my parents invited us on a trip to the pound (well, it was mostly at carly's pleading--deep down i think she must be on a mission to save every sad dog she saw when she adopted lizzie). 

it was here we met #3181 (who shares carly's long-limbed nature).

although it's surely hard to choose only one doggie to save, this little one was bound for chupp-hood, bonding with all of us there.

my dad says she's the "so ugly she's cute" variety, but there's no denying her lovable nature

so tuesday morning, this little pup became an official chupp--and smiled the whole way home:)

but we're thinking she deserves a better name than #3181. although she seems to be mostly italian greyhound, perhaps something to do with giraffe legs. or the way she barks like a seal. 

any ideas???

while we await an official name, we've just been calling her "tall girl." and master charles is showing her the ropes!

new to us

i considered being mean and only posting some teaser pics of our new dos--like the one above with our breakfast canary melon and the one below (which bryan calls the ebay shot) showing just how much we chopped!

But since I haven't blogged in so long, I thought I'd combine new hair with our trip to the City Hall East Garage sale (where we acquired a new-to-us piece)

The expansiveness of this place is only undermined by the incomprehensible fact that my grandfather knows this huge building as the 1926 Sears & Roebuck!

bryan's citizen kane shot

when we entered, all the old wood floors and desks gave it a great historical smell. i thought it smelled like a big kindergarten classroom:)

amidst hundreds of chairs, bryan is my posing practice victim. but doesn't this photo just exuberate genuine distinguished charm, charisma and authority?

water puddles from a recent rain--a little clean up for the new owners (whomever they shall be). current plans include a mixed use space of homes, offices and retail. although i'd almost rather see it turn into college classrooms, i'll just be happy if the big W doesn't show up any closer downtown.

bryan sorted through tons and tons of desks. he says the smell of the real wood furniture reminds him of his grandparents house. and he found an old pencil or two as a souvenir.

i was amused by the stuff behind the desks as well. the pipes, doors and general configuration of the building was fun to discover.

after much exploring, and a line that lasted for several hours, we came home with this dresser (er, parks and recreation cabinet) for sintos. it seems an office chair was the best buy for the first day of the sale (seeing as you got to sit and roll your way through the line), but we're happy with our treasure. 

This piece won the audition of cabinets available because of its unique door/handle, history and the fact that it has wheels (because without a truck, it got pushed up North Avenue to its new home).

we brake for cake

Bryan came by the bakery this week to help me work on a tasty gift for my mom's birthday. 

The inspiration (and not just cake-wise): her biking. 

I usually learn something new each week at the bakery from Mamie--usually a cool trick with fondant, rice krispy treats or dowels. But this week I learned that one is not supposed to use the color blue on a cake because it has been found to be unappetizing. But my mom's favorite color is blue (and art is about breaking some rules, right?) so I used it anyway.

practice, patience and a steady hand. repeat!

While experimenting, Bryan found that he is a lefty when writing with icing--go figure!

the finished product:)

for my first batter to box bakery cake, i thought it didn't look too shabby. and more importantly, it tasted great. flavor of choice you ask? guiness and devil's food with cream cheese:)

it was also exciting to go and eat at our new favorite italian resto (and one that my parents are known to bike to). i thought i'd sworn off eating italian out because of the huge factory-produced portions and lack of great ingredients used well (because americans won't notice under all the noodles, i'm sure), but every dining experience with Giovanni in Marietta is superb. this place is the real deal.

Happy birthday week to my beautiful mother!

grapes of goodness

{no wrathful grapes here!}

Nearly two years ago, the Chupp family began the task of pruning, weeding and reshaping the grape vines in the backyard. We had always had muscadines and scuppernongs here and there between the gnarling strands of this plant, but the entire structure had become muddled and messy.

Last year, although the vines were finally beautiful in appearance (ready for Kyle and Vanessa's wedding), we only received a handful of the sweet Concord grapes. We relished what grapes we were given and thoroughly thrived in the abundant muscadine and scuppernong production (and discovered an amazing new cake recipe). 

Continuing to prune and prod in the right direction for growth brings us to this year--this week, to be exact. Sunday afternoon my mom and I went down to collect some garden goods when we saw beautiful color popping out from beneath the leaves of the vines. To our wonderful delight and surprise, we had grapes galore (especially considering where we had come from)! 

I don't know if these deep purple fruits are so sweet because they are like nothing you've ever tasted in a grape or if it's because we prepared for them for so long, but they are amazing.

While soaking up the afternoon sun, popping plump grape after grape into my mouth, I recalled part of a story Steve shared at church Sunday morning in which a tightrope walker explains, "The path is just as important as the result."

not golden, but very delicious

last year, no apples:(

this year, the crop has returned!...this called for new adventurous recipes:)

being bummed about not having AC for four days didn't last nearly as long with great family and a great garden nearby in marietta--turns out we were quite fortunate to have a delay in cold air service.

can't get over the apples this year! 

we picked several for dessert (yes, dessert) and tried out the following recipe (to great success):

-cover the slices of two apples with 2 tsp. almond oil and one tsp. confectioner's sugar

-place the slices on the grill (or med/high-heated grill pan) and flip after a couple minutes 

-also place coarsely chopped pecans around the edge of the heated pan (like a wreath for the apples)

-combine grilled apple slices and pecans in two bowls. add dotted layers of brie/goat cheese (or just brie). then...yes, drizzle on the honey.

This is my adjusted recipe to one we found online. Please share any other concoctions tried...I now have a better appreciation for Southern chefs than when I first tried my hand at my grandmother's buttermilk biscuits with no written recipe (which I've since conquered).

my husband-sampling an apple right off the tree:)

sunflowers we planted in the garden in honor of kyle and vanessa who are celebrating their first anniversary today. love you and wish you many, many more to come!