And for this week’s Friday Fun blog post we bring you…. (drum-roll please)…

Yes, it’s true.  We are going to be teaching our kitty how to use the toilet!!  It can be done, my friends!  We have ordered CitiKitty’s Cat Toilet Training Kit and are ready to start training our little buddy!

If you don’t believe us that this is possible, just check this video out (this is one of MANY on YouTube, so if you’re bored….).  For the faint of heart, feel free to skip to 1:00, and THEN skip to 1:14 for a special trick this cat can do!  Amazing..

Here is our kitty getting excited about using her new Toilet Training Kit! We leave this Saturday to go out of town for a week (no worries, we still will be blogging), so when we get back, the training will begin!

We know you all have been anxiously waiting to find out the name of our new kitty!  Due to the overwhelming response, we had it in our minds to name her Pixel and then we found out that when we actually called her, it didn’t work so well.  Then the crazy idea popped in our minds to name her…. (another drum-roll please)… …

…Starbucks!

Lame?  Maybe.

This is why we named her Starbucks:

- We (well, Zach more) love Starbucks, and we love our kitty!
- We can call her Star for short, which also happens to be the name of the leading lady in The Lost Boys (another um, interesting 80′s movie Zach is a fan of)
- She’s black like coffee, but sweet like coffee with cream (she has white cream-like hair in her armpits and a dab on her chest! How cute!)
- She has the faintest brown hair on her back that looks like brown sugar (are you putting this all together yet?)
- She has stars on her collar

So, in honor of the many votes placed for our new kitty, her official name is Starbucks Pixel Gray.

*Cheers* *Applause*

Wow, can you believe we have now posted twice on this cat, including a video of a cat doing its business?  We’re turning into those people who start treating their pets like their kids and get all weird about it…  ;o)  No worries though.  We feel that cat toilet training may be very interesting to people so we’ll at least have another blog and maybe even a video of her toilet attempts… as long as she’s not embarrassed by it… ha ha

PS. If any of you out there are looking to add an older, but stinkin’ cool cat to your family, our friend, Jill is needing to give-a-way hers… the cat is friendly, chill,meows when you sneeze, and even takes baths.. all true…

Contact Jill on her Facebook page for more info!

For those of you who may have missed it, Gray Photography was selected by Wedding Channel.com from over 200 nominations as finalists in the category for Best Photography Blog.  We were up against 4 other great photographers and the voting was intense!

A HUGE thank-you to all of you who voted!  We know lots of you spent your valuable time voting away for us and we appreciate you for that!!  We also want to congratulate Elizabeth Messina from Kiss The Groom who took 1st place!

A Big Surprise
We took a look at the winners in each category this morning and as we were scrolling down we were thrilled to see that we received the award for Editor’s Pick for the Best Wedding Photography Blog!!!  Oh wow!  How cool!  What an honor!!!

Thanks again to all of you for voting so hard for us and thanks to WeddingChannel.com for taking the time to recognize and honor those who blog!!

Take ten minutes (ok, even five) and vote!!  The votes are coming in fast now and we need your help!

We would love your continuous votes today.

Voting Ends at Midnight!

VOTE HERE AND OFTEN :)

Thanks to you all for your support! You guys are the best :)

If you’re a bride looking for a custom wedding gown, or even if you’re a woman who has great taste and wants a fantastic, custom ensemble or staple piece to add to your clothing collection – we have just the designer for you!

Meet Olia Zavozina (zav-oh-zeen-uh :)

Olia hails from Russia and is most definitely one to keep your eye on.  After moving to the United States only a few years ago, Olia has already caught the attention of many, not only through her designs, but with her personality as well!  Olia is amazingly sweet and kind and her work has been seen on Good Morning America, Oscar Night, 2008 CMT Awards, WTVF Channel 5, Nashville Lifestyles Magazine, Icon in the Gulch, and The Nashville RAGE, to name a few.   Olia is very active in the local Nashville community and her gowns have been featured at many local fashion shows and at numerous charity fundraisers.

We had the great privilege to do a shoot of a few of Olia’s many pieces. Below we are giving you a sneak peek into some of her latest wedding designs.

FYI the lovely jewelry pieces that you see paired up with these gowns are the hand-made custom pieces by Adornments.

To see more, visit Olia’s Website as well as make sure to catch her at a fashion show!  You can also view interviews conducted of Olia by WCSV News and the Nashville Edge in the media area of her website.

If you could have one custom clothing item made for you by Olia what would it be?  Before you answer, make sure to check out the other pieces on her site just besides wedding dresses!

So, guys love technology, especially technology that will give us countless hours of meaningless, mind-numbing fun! So, God created the IPhone and I-Pod Touch for our simple minded amusement (we think that it has really “important” things to tell us, but we really just play games on it). Many of us men will do almost anything to get our hands on this bright screened gold, including, but not limited to, begging, pleading, compromising or kicking and screaming on the living room floor (not that I did any of those :).

So what was Zach Gray, the mature 30 year old small business owner and operator willing to do to get his hands on a brand new 32 gig I-Pod touch? How about 15 years (depending on lifespan) of constant every day attention to an animal that I am allergic to! Yep, that’s what I did!

As Jody and I were in Kansas City, MO this past weekend hanging out with some super cool friends, we headed downtown to spend some time window shopping and hitting a few cool coffee shops. While walking down the main strip we bumped into this rather odd place that many cool (and not so cool) people were flocking to like foaming squirrels. It was this odd white and silver paradise of shiny screens and flashy things and we went inside and to my amazement, we had an absolute ball! It was hypnotic and I felt like I was drinking apple flavored kool aid (pun definitely intended), and I have to admit that I wanted something shiny for myself. After all, just because every item in the store was grossly overpriced does not mean that I was not tempted. After all, I am only a man.

So, I did what any guy in my position would do. I whined to my wife (who thinks that we make all financial decisions together, but really she holds all the cards to our checking account), until I got what I wanted! Oh, I had to give up 15 years of my life to take care of a cat that I never wanted (did I mention that I am allergic?), but I did what I did with no regrets. And here she is, the new love of my life, our little black cat (you thought I was going to say the I-Pod, didn’t you!?).

This image and the one below was taken when we went to Happy Tails to check out all the cats.  She sat with both of us for over an hour and a half!

I think I  have fallen in love with the cutest little whining kitty you have ever met. She loves to cuddle and purr, loves to play with her little fake mouse and as I type this she is sitting in a drawer next to my desk with her little pillow just so she can be close to me. Is that not cute? I guess I am just a big softy after all…. Oh, and the I-Pod Touch is cool too! :)

We have been taking name suggestions for our yet-to-be-named kitty, and below are our top picks!  Now we are asking you to place your vote on your favorite name for the latest addition to our family!

1. - Flash
2. - Sirius (from Harry Potter)
3. - Stiles (from the 1980′s film Teen Wolf)
4. - Pixel
5. - Sypher
6. - Jet (like Jet Black..)

Sadly, none of them are very feminine names… but whatever!

Honorable Mentions:

1. - iKitty (in honor of our deal)
2. - Claritin (in honor of my allergies)
3. - Fluf-fy (you have to say it the way that Sandra Bullock does in While You Were Sleeping- one of the best movies ever!)
4. - Underexposed

You have seen a sneak peak of this couple’s Franklin, TN wedding but wait no further – here is the full blog on this great couple’s beautiful day.

Simon and Erin got married at Franklin Community Church, and their wedding coordinator was the up and coming Megan Lassiter, owner & founder of Christine Keith Events.

To view Simon & Erin’s full wedding, click HERE to sign the virtual guestbook and to gain access to their online gallery!

The great makeup was done by Aleta Miles (who sings as well!).  This was our first time working with her and she did a FANTASTIC job!  Hair was by Rebekah So’osema.

Notice the beautiful purple and white flowers in her bridal bouquet.  Aren’t they great?  The wedding flowers were provided by florist Wes Crissman from Gaylord Opryland.

Notice the great bridesmaids dresses below?  Well they were custom made by Erin’s coordinator – Megan!  She’s a women of many talents!

Normally we don’t ever really show the family portrait photos we take at weddings, BUT we had to include the below 2 shots of Simon with his family… Love it!

The wedding programs were done by Designs in Paper (these guys did all the paper for our Tennessee Titan wedding).

This tree that Simon & Erin are standing in front of in the next shot (and where they said their vows) is the oldest Oak tree in America!

The amazing catering for this reception (and yes, this food was GOOOOD) was provided by Chris Kelly Catering.

The perrywinkle, purple, and white table linens were supplied by Connie Douglin Linens.

Their white wedding cake adorned with purple florals was by the wonderful and tallented Amy at The Bake Shoppe.

Check out this kids face…. Think he’s hungry for cake??  ha ha…

For those wondering, their get-a-way car is 1928 Ford Model A-Shea replica provided by Earl & Jennifer Gragg with Dreams by Design!

Simon & Erin – so glad that we were there for your wedding.  Looking forward to hanging with our new friends :)

(For the latest blog, scroll below)

Welcome everyone to our brand spankin’ new blog!  We hope you enjoy the new look & layout!

Our blog is a year old (happy birthday blog!), and we are honored over how many of you follow us and keeping coming back for more.  Enjoy the larger photos, featured posts up top, the search feature, as well as many more things as you begin to take a look around.

If somehow you missed the shout out on the old blog to the  the key people who were a part of making this blog come together, you can check out our last post, but we will not longer be updating that blog anymore so make sure to update your feeds and bookmarks and whatever else you need to do.

Enjoy!

In the last few weeks we have started a little tradition – A Friday Fun blog post.  This week I, Jody, am bringing you a YouTube video that comes all the way from Belgium where I spent 2 of my childhood years.  If only I stayed around long enough to be a part of this…

I think we all have seen the clip where people freeze in Grand Central Station, NY so I thought maybe you might enjoy this different display of… not sure what to call it :)

I say we get together and do something like that in Nashville and we can have the suh-weet 2Duce2 Nashville wedding videography team film it!!!  Anyone in??