the friday five - a good week in the glessner house :: greensboro wedding photographer

This past week has been a bit of a whirlwind, to say the very least. I've been traveling alot lately - to Nashville last week and earlier this week spending quality time with my best friend Kaley, bride-to-be and great friend Kristin, the fam, and a fun engagement session with the lovely Brittany and Jeff. I'll be heading to Virginia this evening to assist fellow photographer Rebekah Loftis with a wedding tomorrow. Despite being really busy and a little stressed, this week has been great... maybe even one of the best in awhile.

So today's Friday Five is dedicated to my top five things that have made this week great:

1. You may remember this chic Navy+Pink stylized wedding shoot we posted on the blog a few weeks ago? We were so excited to have it featured on Wedding Chicks blog this week. A big shout out once again to all of our vendors who helped make the shoot come together: Sweetface Cakes, Riverwood Mansion, CHIC Nashville Weddings and Events, Brentwood Jewelry, Olia Zavozina Bridal, Ashley Rose Love, {anna.michelle Cards}, and Zia Art, Antiques and Flowers. Be sure to check out the feature on Wedding Chicks and leave us some love on their blog!

2. My new iPhone 4S arrived! If you know me, you know I'm not too much of a technology junkie (I leave that up to Josh), but I really needed a new phone and this thing is sweet. And the camera? To die for. Not to mention I got this GORG case that I found on Pinterest awhile back. Perfection.

3. Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream. Autumn is upon us, which means my life now revolves around cider, sweatshirts, and all things pumpkin. I found this little gem at The Fresh Market last night when I stopped in to pick up a couple of things for dinner and I just couldn't resist. Pumpkin ice cream with a whipped cream swirl and bits of pie crust. Tell me that doesn't sound A-MAZING.

4. Coffee with precious bride-to-be Kelsea, from our recent Dixie Classic Fair engagement session, at Delicious Bakery, complete with my usual Chai Tea Latte. A one hour meeting to discuss non-profit marketing strategies for Wish Upon a Wedding NC turned into a four hour conversation about the new Twilight movie, weddings, Disney, photography, and exchanging stories about how we met our significant others. 

5. Quality time with my sweet husband catching up on our favorite shows - Modern Family being at the top of the list of course. That show never fails to make me laugh, but sometimes I fear that Phil Dunphy and Josh Glessner are the same person. Regardless, I love him. Alot.

And this little guy is always one of the best parts of my week! Taken using the Instagram app on the iPhone 4S.

Hoping y'all have a fabulous weekend and enjoy the beautiful fall weather!!!

the friday five - pinterest :: greensboro wedding photographer

If you checked out Tuesday's blog, you know that there's a new installment called How-To Tuesday. Well today, I'm starting another weekly (I use that term loosely) installment called the Friday Five.

For those who know me, you know that I am not an incredibly organized person... sure, I tend to keep myself in order on the business side of things, but I like to think that my home (and my mind) is more of an organized chaos. I may have a stack knee deep of clothes in front of my closet, but I know that all of them are clean and have just been pulled from the closet and tossed to the floor in the urgency of finding something appropriate to wear out to dinner.

Because I am incredibly self-aware of my tendency to be a mess, I love lists. I like lists of what I need to get accomplished today, lists of what I'm going to make for dinner this week, shopping lists, packings lists... the lists go on and on. Thus the creation of the Friday Five, more lists for you brides, fellow photographers, and wedding junkies.

Today's Friday Five is dedicated to Pinterest. I was introduced to this site several months ago by my dear friend Miranda, and I must say, I'm jealous that she found it first. It is incredibly addictive (great for procrastinators like me) and a great tool for just about anyone, but especially all you engaged ladies (and gents) out there.

So here goes... my five reasons you should be on Pinterest NOW:

1. It keeps your ideas organized. If you're anything like me, you come across a recipe, wedding bouquet idea, or things you just want to buy, you bookmark the site, and you never return to it again. Especially when wedding planning, it's exhausting and frustrating to try to go back through hundreds of sites you've bookmarked to try to find the one with the picture of that bouquet you just loved. Pinterest makes this easy by allowing you to create an unlimited number of inspiration boards for absolutely anything. I have several boards for a variety of different categories, including recipes I want to try, style and fashion, wedding stuff, books i like, photo inspiration, and lots of other great stuff. The great part is, once you've "pinned" something to one of your boards, it shows you a photo of what you've pinned, ending that tedious task of clicking through each of your bookmarked links to find the photo you loved.

2. It's an excellent tool for planning your wedding. This kinda goes back to keeping things organized, but it truly is the best place to store all your wedding dreams and ideas. You can create separate boards for bouquets you like, colors you want in your wedding, cake ideas, bridesmaid dresses you like, hairstyles you're considering, and on and on. The best part is it's all in one place.

3. You can use it to share your ideas. Especially if the people you want to share it with are also on Pinterest, you can "tag" them on anything that you "pin" so that they're sure to see it. Even if they're not on Pinterest, you can simply send them a link to your boards. This is great for getting input from your bridesmaids about dresses your considering, sharing DIY ideas with friends who may be helping you create decorations for your wedding, and even sharing ideas with your florist, baker, and photographer. It's also a great way for you to share your vision with your wedding planner and even for her to share ideas with you. Personally, I've had brides share ideas for photos they'd like to try for their wedding or engagement session simply by tagging me. Oh and you can share pins via Facebook and Twitter too!

4. It's easy. Like ridiculously easy. Easy like Sunday mornin' easy. Pinterest makes it super simple to pin items from any website that you're on by having you install a "Pin It" button on your bookmarks bar in your web browser. Whenever you come across a cake you love on the Southern Weddings blog, just click the "Pin It" button, select the photo you want, write a caption, and pin it to your selected board. It automatically show up on your Pinterest page.

5. And the last reason you should join Pinterest is because I'm on it... duh. Check out Glessner Photography on Pinterest for wedding ideas, photo inspiration, blogs I like, books I've been reading and lots more.

Pinterest is free, but by invitation only. If you want an invitation to join Pinterest, leave your email in the comments section below and we'll send you an invite right away!

Wishing everyone a fabulous and safe weekend!