Posts Tagged ‘VA’

Shawn and Quincy

Shawn and Quincy had a beautiful wedding in Gainesville. The weather was clear and blustery. However, inside the church were two large, loving families coming together. For me, this wedding had another special meaning for me.

When I was a lot younger, my first wedding that I ever participated in was Shawn’s mother’s wedding! I was a very shy ring-bearer that did not smile very much. I remember a lot from that time since there was so much that went into it – I had to get a tuxedo, all-white, even the shoes. There was a rehearsal where the walking down the aisle at a slow pace was something hard for me to grasp. I distinctly remember Father Burns in the Our Lady of Angels chapel announce the newly married couple. After that, it is a blur.

I played the piano at many weddings in high school, and college. Also, I attended a few weddings as a guest after college. Now photographing many weddings as I build a portfolio is another experience. This latest stop was the Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Gainesville. This facility is almost brand new with a familiar priest that used to work in Woodbridge. Since we were close to Manassas, we had a quick photo session with the bridal party on the historic battlefield, no less!

Bridal Walk

They were great sports to come out even in the disappearing sun and the rising winds. The reception then headed out to Woodbridge, where I was raised. Our Lady of Angels parish hall hosted the families for a great party with dancing, toasts, LOTS of pictures! The parish hall is surrounded by the elementary school that I attended for ten years, with the chapel right across the street. It’s was an amazing experience to photograph familiar people in familiar places, and I feel blessed to have been a part of the celebration… again. Shawn, Quincy, I really enjoyed photographing your wedding day. You were a lot of fun! Always looking at the camera, and SMILING! Thanks again, best wishes!

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Thanksgiving 2008!

This was a very eventful Thanksgiving. We got started early on Wednesday making a lot of desserts for the two destinations on Thursday. Bryony made some snickerdoodle cookies, and I helped peel some apples for two apple tarts and an apple cake.

Our first stop as is usual on Thanksgiving is at my Nanay’s house in Woodbridge. She had rolled a lot of lumpia while we were making desserts, so that would be our “light lunch”. But our main mission was to make siopao – a great Filipino meat-pie with a very sweet dough and stuffed with pork and boiled egg. Tio Boy had already made the insides, but we were there to make the dough with Bryony’s Kitchen Aid mixer. The process was messy, but the results looked almost professional prior to cooking.

After steaming, the dough started to rise up, but we didn’t have any “poppers” this time.

We took a break after two batches (25 siopao) to have some of the lumpia that Tio Boy fried for us fresh!

While eating, we talked about how a friend saw a baked siopao, so we decided to experiment with some of the leftover complete ones. It turned out much better than the steamed!

We still steamed some of the traditionalists that may be eating some later:

Bryony added a bit of glistening goodness by brushing the top of the baked ones with some melted butter. Yum!

We brought some Thanksgiving cheer to one of her neighbors by bringing her some of each of our foods with some dipping sauce.

After eating there, we headed off to Nokesville for our second meal of the day! Chicken, pork were the main meats for the meal, and we stuffed ourselves for a second time.

Topped off all the day’s eating with a good piece of pumpkin pie.

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Making cookies!

Bryony has been making cookies for as long as she could reach the kitchen counter:

Bryony making cookies at an early age
Bryony making sugar cookies in her childhood home

And her skills have improved with each batch since! The sweet treats are now a favorite for all her coworkers. They are requested for birthdays, potlucks, farewell parties… Thanksgiving………. Arbor Day – whenever cookies are appropriate. She has perfected her technique, as we always get to “QC” the product before it is brought out to public. Of course I’m jealous of her coworkers already – it should be a delicious day at work!

Duck shaped sugar cookie

Ducks are the cutter of choice today. It’s a flock of cookie-ducks! Bryony enjoys recognizing the efforts of her co-workers with a little treat once in a while. They are absolutely good for her reputation as she becomes known for these quickly. Likewise it becomes a good way for her to network with other groups at her workplace.

bowl with icing for sugar cookies
bowl full of icing to top a sugar cookie batch
stacked un-iced cookies

Furious action in putting these little things together! On this occasion, the effort it worth it. Perhaps this is something I can do with my photography business to stand out. Of course I won’t ask her to make treats for potential clients, but it would be good for me to be known for something distinctive that I do well!

Un-iced cookies prior to finishing
Sugar cookies - a favorite from Bryony's home bake shop

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