Kelsey Tice Photography

I have an addiction. It’s not an addiction that’s killing me. It’s not one that’s depleting my bank account. I have an addiction that controls my time (sometimes). You see… I am addicted to photography blogs. I love them. Love, love, love, love them. I have 40 blogs bookmarked that I look at on a regular basis, and I’m always finding new ones to explore. Why do I love them so much? Well, when I read them, I feel so connected to the photographers. I feel like we’re buddies… long-time friends (that sounded a lot less creepy in my head). I legitimately believe that if I were to meet these people, we would end up best friends forever. But obviously, I can’t meet them all. So I stalk. One of my very favorite things that numerous photographers post (besides rockin’ sessions & faq’s) is “Things I Love”. It’s exactly what it sounds like… They just write about random stuff that they love. And I love it. So the other day I was thinking, “Kelsey… You should write a ‘Things I Love’ post for your blog, since you are pretty much obsessed with them yourself.” I thought this was a fantastic idea (self… you are smart!), so here we are. This begins the first installment of “Things I Love”.

1. Google Analytics Tracker I’ve had my blog for almost five months now. I’m obviously not the most consistent blogger, but I usually strive for a couple a month. For a while, I was really starting to doubt if anyone, besides my mom, visited my blog. (Mom, don’t be offended… I love & appreciate your support. I’m just sayin’.) Then, I remembered there was a way to actually monitor the visits that my blog received. So, I got a fancy little Google tracker about a month ago, and lo and behold, people actually look at this thing! In the past four weeks, I’ve had 849 visitors. That’s an average of 28.3 a day! So… I don’t know who you are or how you stumbled on my blog, but thanks… Makes me feel good. :)

2. McDonald’s Sugar-Free Vanilla Iced Coffee This little guy is only $2.19 with tax. So refreshing, sugar-free and delicious. I’ve had a couple of early morning (6:30am) sessions this month, and I always grab one of these before the shoot begins. It’s a MUST for me, since I amnothing even remotely close to a morning person. If you’ve never tried one, RUN to McDonald’s… You won’t be sorry.

3. Bell Magnetic Key Holder If I had a dollar for every time that I’ve locked my keys in my car in the past two weeks, I’d have $5. True story. For some reason, my brain just thinks it’s a good idea to leave my keys on my passenger seat or even in the ignition, instead of bringing them with me. Thankfully, I have Triple A, which will pop my car open for free, but who has the time to wait around for that? My awesome magnetic key holder has saved my life on so many occasions, and for that, I am grateful.

4. Starbucks & beach hair. I can’t mention McDonald’s coffee in a post without clarifying that my first love is, and always will be, Starbucks. I love everything about it. I love the atmosphere. I love the green aprons & straws. I love the baristas (who usually know my drink). I love the Christmas decorations. And I obviously love the drinks. Also, I love beach hair. I’m usually pretty particular about my hair. I like it shiny, clean, smooth and smelling good. But when I go to the beach and it gets tangled, sticky, crunchy and salty, I love it.

5. the long farewell (Chad & Tina Pritchard) For years, I had heard about Chad & Tina from one of my best friends, Liza. They are a husband and wife photography team based out of the ATL, and they also happen to be Liza’s cousins. Well, because it’s my addiction, you can probably figure out that I faithfully stalked their blog for close to two years. In January, Liza and I traveled to Atlanta for a friend’s wedding, and guess whose house we stayed at? You got it… Chad & Tina’s. How do you act around people that you’ve never met but have stalked for years?? Awkwardddd. Well, to my surprise (and relief) Chad & Tina turned out to be the coolest couple in the entire world and not awkward at all. And the best part is that they overflowed with the joy of the Lord. Seriously, these people are so head-over-heels in love with the Lord that it in undeniably contagious. We talked for hours and hours that night, ate some rockin’ stir-fry and had the greatest time. Of course, I had a million questions for them about photography, and they were both so gracious to put up with me & give me such good advice. It’s because of their encouragement that I finally decided to get a blog and seriously start pursuing photography… I am forever indebted and grateful to them. If you’re ever in the Atlanta area and need pictures, hire them! They are fantastic & so talented, and your life will be better because you know them. Oh, and PS… Tina is preggers with a precious little girl, and she is so stinking beautiful. They will be incredible parents. I should probably stop before I start to sound creepy… I already do? Great.

Well, that was the first installment of “Things I Love”. Happy Saturday! :)