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Atlanta

PHOTOGRAPHY BY SARAH GORMLEY

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Sarah and I met online through a female Facebook group that connects like-minded gals through dialog, opportunities and now organized suppers. She expressed that she needed volunteers for a couples photoshoot as she had recently moved to Atlanta and wanted to bring her East Coast wedding photography business to the South. I very quickly volunteered Dustin and I and we started emailing back and forth. She had a really unique idea for an engagement shoot that she had been wanting to execute with the right couple and she thought we’d fit right in line. First, she wanted to meet at a local farmers market and shop around for ingredients, next we’d head back to our home and cook said ingredients and lastly we’d hang around in our natural habitat and just be us-all the while she’s snapping away. We loved the idea and carried it out exactly as she envisioned! We met her at the East Atlanta Village Farmers Market and bought some corn, a squash, a purple pepper and shallots. We made a yummy vegetarian stir fry. Check out our photo session with the very talented Sarah Gormley —

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Outfit #1: Madewell top, 7 for All Mankind jeans, Birkenstock sandals
Outfit #2: Free People bra and dress, Madewell necklace

I love these photos so much! It’s fun to share here because it gives you a glimpse into our daily lives and our home. Thank you Sarah for the wonderful photos that we will cherish for a very long time!

Visit her site here, www.sarahgormleyphotography.com and book her for an engagement shoot, wedding or family portraits!

SURPRISE!

party
On Saturday night Dustin and I went over to my best gal pal’s loft for what we thought was a casual supper. When we arrived they gave us drinks and told us that the meal needed a little more time in the oven and that while we were waiting we should head up to the roof to see the sun set. We were all for it and took the elevator to the top of Mattress Factory Lofts. When the doors opened we were greeted with a group of our friends yelling “SURPRISE!” from the upper level! We were SPEECHLESS. Literally. Stood there confused and shocked, haha! When things finally started to make sense we dried tears and hugged everyone and then checked out the adorable diy decor Ashleigh and Ashley had assembled including this “Happy Engagement” sign:
atlanta engaged
decor event atlanta rooftop
The girls diy decor also included old soda bottles and mason jars filled with flowers, some of which even came from Ashley’s backyard! They took old fabric and dresses and jazzed up the chairs they rented. Additionally, Ashley asked that everyone draw on the “table cloth” with encouraging words or illustrations as she’d be saving them and making into a book. I won’t get into details about some of the “anatomically correct” drawings that occurred! (payback for other drawings Dustin drew for Jonny + Ashley at their reception!)
cheers
After we hung out sipping on Ash’s infamous gin punch and a few more friends trickled in we sat down for a potluck Southern feast. There was delicious 15-hour pulled pork, mac-and-cheese, fancy potato salad and more then for dessert we noshed on Muriel’s poppy seed blueberry hand pies!

Stuffed full and proudly wearing a grin from ear to ear we watched the sun go down and then packed it up to move indoors where we played “heads up” which was hilarious since we were slightly intoxicated- and our friends are naturally silly!
friends
The whole night we felt so lucky to have great friends that would put together a special night just for us, we are truly blessed, thanks Atlanta family!

NEWS | I SPY ATL

So this is what I’ve been hinting and getting at, I SPY ATL is live and has been going really REALLY well! My roommate Sarah and I started a few months back brainstorming, gathering content, designing the logos and with the help of our web development pal Natasha-who runs Nicely Built-we all created the website! I’ve taken some screen shots of my favorite parts of the site, let me explain!

The goal of this project is to “collect the unique and undiscovered parts of the city of Atlanta, and display them proudly for everyone to see. We embrace thoughtful narratives, uncovering the hidden, and taking the path less traveled. We aim to write about artists, musicians, creatives, problem-solvers, and everyone in between.” (via the site)

When you visit the ‘homepage’ it looks like below. Each story has a featured image and is tiled, similar to Pinterest. I like that when your cursor hovers over the image it shows “read more” above the photo. It’s sleek and user friendly.

ispycapture3 The two main tabs our visitors will browse are the “view by spy type” and “neighborhoods.” We started with categories that first came to mind but will be expanding the range of categories as the site grows.

Above is what an individual post looks like, with the story’s body on the left and our IG feed on the right along with a “featured” post. We have the ability to have this on the homepage but we felt it was distracting and also ate up room for the other stories to be displayed.

One of my favorite things about the website and the idea is that we want the community to get involved and participate in the site. The “be a spy” tab is where they can do that with multiple options such as “i saw something” or “i am someone you should write about.”

Sarah put it best when she said:

I like to think of ourselves as the college radio version of Atlanta culture coverage: we don’t want anything corporatized, large-scale, mass produced. We want to cover the little guys, the new beginners, the small hustle. I’m excited about this; I hope you are too.

Read her take on the project here.

Thanks for reading and we hope you’ll visit I SPY ATL and follow along as we, and the city, showcase our favorite corners of Atlanta!

I Spy ATL can also be found on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook!

CAMP | Spring Supper

A creative group by the name of CAMP has been hosting meals and teaching workshops around Atlanta since 2012. The contributors aka “counselors” have creative backgrounds in many areas such as photography, prop and fashion styling, makeup art, floral design, graphic design and there’s even a husband and wife vintage rental company specializing in set design- DREAM TEAM!

Having admired their aesthetic for some time I didn’t hesitate when my roommate invited me to their Spring supper last week at Sun in My Belly. I’ve been really excited to share this post because I love how the photos turned out. Between the talent behind CAMP and the beautiful space and natural light at S.I.M.B. it wasn’t hard to get great shots!

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13837381303_710e5cec8e_b Happy camper outfit details- top: Loft, jeans: UO, boots: Sam Edelman, purse: Kate Spade, jean jacket: Gap

13837355015_47a4b5341a_b 13837179675_1a10db3666_b CAMP >>>—> creating.art.meeting.purpose.

The food was off the wall, networking was at an all time high, I multi-tasked with Jezebel street style pics and snapping photos for the blog (always hustlin yall!) and Atlanta provided a beautiful night-couldn’t have asked for a better experience!

CRITICAL ASSS | Take Two

Saturday I joined the ladies-only bike ride, Critical Asss, for my second round at taking over the ATL streets. We started the ride at Bookhouse Pub, road through the Highlands to Little Five Points, down Edgewood and ended around where we started. The cool breeze and sun provided a beautiful day for riding!

Hanging with repeat riders Stephanie and Elizabeth.

Babette Dj Taradactyl riding in style!

Matching Linus X TOMS bikes!

Borrowed Dustin’s helmet cause it matched my outfit better than my mint one, Yep, that’s a thing.

I’m so proud to be a women when I participate in lady-only events. The natural bond that women share is so powerful. This ride is proof- no one is left behind, left out or criticized. Each lady is included in the group even if you’re new and don’t know a soul. If you are in the area, I encourage you to join!