{My experience with} The Portrait Studio of Asheville + A GIVEAWAY!

We recently celebrated my little boys' 9th birthday and I was in shock of how fast time flies. Aren't we all? I cannot believe he is going to be a 4th grader in the fall. I just want time to stop and stand still for just a little while so I can soak up the sweetness that is this 9 year old boy.

I was so excited to get an invitation to visit The Portrait Studio of Asheville (know now as Portrait Innovations) and have a mother and son photo shoot! The studio is brand spanking new and it is really nice. I like the layout. There are two camera rooms or mini studios if you will. There is also a small dressing room available for clients that would like to change into different outfits for their shoot. We took them up on that offer!

One of the camera rooms

I loved all of their backdrops. There are so many to chose from!

Bethany was our photographer for the day and she was AWESOME!

She gave us so many options and really knew how to capture my son and me in the best, most natural poses. She told me to bring a few outfits so we could change and get some different looks.

This was my favorite back drop. It went so well with the laid back jeans and tee shirt look I was going for.

I did a "jeans and a tee shirt" theme, a sports theme and a dressy theme. Here's the sporty look. I LOVED this one! She got one of us doing push ups! Too cute. My son loved it.

I was really pleased at how Bethany styled us for the more dressier theme.

She got some SUPER ADORABLE ones of my son!

When we were done shooting Bethany met us at the viewing station and we started the hard part...choosing our favorites!

While we were choosing, they made a cd for us that holds ALL the photos from the day. The photos you choose to print will usually be ready for pick up in about a week. You will sign up online for an online account and you will be able to see your photos there as well. There is really so much access to your photos. Don't panic that you will miss any of them. Online is also where you can order some more personalized items (mugs, calendars, etc).

Look at all the photos I got! The quality is excellent and the package options let you get a lot of poses.

You can also get a hardcover or softcover book of the portraits you chose to go in the book.

Honestly, they have so many awesome specials and bonus offers that are going on I can't even list them all! Depending on what special they have going on you can get a ton of extra add on's.

They are open on the weekends too! Perfect for busy families.

The studio is located at 
1833 Hendersonville Road, Unit 170
Asheville, NC 28803
(828) 277-0994
Wednesday - Sunday 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.



AND NOW THE FUN PART!!!

The Portrait Studio of Asheville (now known as Portrait Innovations) would like to offer my readers a chance to win a FREE SESSION OF YOUR OWN! You will get a photo session with a partner, your family or solo! You will get all your photos on a cd and get to chose which ones you want them to print! This giveaway is only good for the ASHEVILLE NC location! You are more than welcome to enter but you will have to come to Asheville NC location!

Enter HERE:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*This prize pack is valued at in a range between $100 - $200 depending on photo choices. After the giveaway closes I will reach out to you via email. If I do not hear back from you within 48 hours, I will re-choose a winner. After I receive confirmation and you give me your name and contact info,  I will inform the studio of your information. It will be your responsibility to contact the studio and make an appointment.

*Disclosure: I received a complimentary session for review. All opinions and words are my own. I would not recommend a place to my audience without it being something that I would do/support myself!

Living Lighter with Chobani!

I am in the middle of my T25 Beta Challenge and I'm still going strong! I had to take a few days off because of my toothache so that leaves me starting week 3 over. That's ok! I won't give up! I may end up doing the whole Beta phase again before I can move onto Gamma. More importantly, 2016 has been a year for fitness, getting healthy, and eating healthier. One of my favorite snacks is yogurt. And one of my favorite yogurts is Chobani. I love Greek yogurt. Honestly, I really don't like any other kind of yogurt.

I fell in love with the Chobani "Flip" in Salted Caramel Crunch flavor at first bite. I loved "flipping" all of those little tasty tidbits into the yogurt! I like Chobani's natural ingredients. No aspartame! No Splenda! Yuck. I can do a Diet Dr Pepper every now and then but I really don't like artificial sweeteners in my food. On my next shopping trip I wanted something with a little less calories but still had the fun feeling of the "flip" - those little added crunchies! But I didn't want any aspartame or Splenda. That's when I found this:

 I really enjoyed the Strawberry Chocolate Truffle. It is sweetened with Stevia and I'm ok with that type of sweetener. Unlike aspartame and Splenda, Stevia is plant derived.

Those are milk chocolate rice crisps, dried strawberries, and dark chocolate cookies that you add to strawberry yogurt. Yum. 

It's so funny because I just picked up my first Simply 100 Crunch Chobani yogurt on my last grocery shopping trip and only a few days later I got the opportunity to partner up with Chobani and write about my experience! Perfect timing!

 I am excited to work with Chobani because it is a product that I love. I want to share with you guys some of their tips on how to "Live Lighter" and how we can all plan on getting and staying healthier this year!

I am tracking my calories right now so that I can stay on track during my T25 challenge.

 Chobani Simply 100 is only 100 calories. Check out all of these ways you can burn 100 calories!

The best thing I ever did to help myself become more aware of my fitness level was to get a Fitbit. I get really excited to see how many steps I've taken, how many calories I've burned and how many minutes of activity I have. I actually get disappointed when I have 30 minutes or less of activity! Ha! It wasn't that long ago that there were days and days that would've had zero minutes of activity! Especially when I was working at my desk job.

Not anymore! I have actually come to a point in my life that I can say that I love working out. I don't always FEEL like it. Sometimes it is hard to get started but I never regret it after I'm done. I like to give myself a reward after my workout and I can't wait to try the other two flavors of the Simply 100 Crunch!

In case you missed it - here is my Fitness Essentials post!

*All reviews and opinions are my own. I love to partner with brands that I enjoy!*

Vintage Jewelry...at Chairish

Remember a while back when I introduced you to Chairish and all of their wonderful vintage furniture? Well, well, well. They've given me another reason to drool over their website and that's because they just introduced their vintage jewelry collection! Between remodeling my whole house with their furniture and this new jewelry release I'm going to need to get two jobs to afford everything I want! I wish I had more pieces of my grandmother's jewelry. I have only a very few. She wasn't one to have a ton of jewelry to begin with. I love scouring estate sales for those special pieces. Chairish has done the scouring for you!

 Look at these beauties:

Gorgeous huh? I know! Head on over to Chairish and drool some more. I am head over heels for jumpsuits right now. Here's a little peek at how I would put together a look for a holiday party complete with Chairish jewels!

*as always - I won't post about something that I'm not in love with myself! All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this post*