Behind the scenes with 'Matt Pittman' at Lola's

Wondering what Matt's been up to since we've moved. Well here he is, Matt Pittman with the Florida Times Union, Matt About Jax. I've been discovering Jacksonville with him, as his helper and camera gal. This past weekend, Rachael was in town to tag along with us, where she was able to snap a few shots of us in action. Well, Matt in action, and me documenting it. 

Armed with a Panasonic AVCCAM, headphones, and a cordless mic, I shoot Matt when he's on camera. He's doing four or more videos a week, all about events around the city, and new things to discover. Video is slightly new to me, but I'm catching on quite well. It's tricky in heels hehe. 

When I was in high school and college, I was quite a prominent photographer, the photo editor in high school of newspaper and year book, head sports photographer for our school, and in college I worked at the communication arts building on campus mixing chemicals in the darkrooms for access to enlargers whenever I wanted to print my work. 

Photography took a backseat to design years ago, but photos are still something I like to dabble with, and also something I rarely share with the public. So many photos that I shoot end up hidden in my hard drive, or make it to the wallpaper of my iMac. I suppose there is a bit of an art to blogging and taking photos, but that feels more like work photography to me.

I've really enjoyed working on video with Matt. And if I do say so myself, I'm pretty good. Check out his videos and you'll know if that camera is moving, and not mounted on a tripod, 99% of the time I'll be behind that lens. 

Carlos, the owner of Lola's, with a freshly roasted pig. Yummy (sorry vegetarian/vegan friends, this was too great not to share)! Lola's celebrated 1 year in Riverside, the historic neighborhood west of downtown, and they had a huge party to celebrate. The free tequila shots were a kicker, along with free salsa, $1 Corona cans, and more specials. 

My friend, Sherri, and I went to eat there earlier in the week, so I brought Matt the next day, and then we learned about the party. So three times last week, I ate there. And the food was delicious! The gator tacos and queso dip were my favorites on their menu. Next visit, I hope I can convince Matt to split the two pound burrito with me! We'll see...

Pretty cool that Matt has a job being a tourist in our new city, eh? We're having the best time getting to know this new place with an incentive. Too bad this job isn't available for everyone that moves to a new city. We make our own hours, both of us. Matt and I get to people that are putting on all kinds of events. Our weekend is already booked with so many things we wouldn't otherwise be doing, it makes for an interesting 'work week'. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world, getting to work with Matt and have him as my business partner in Sally Ann. We bounce all of our ideas off each other. It's amazing we don't get sick of each other!

Tomorrow is an event called "Silent Surf" where local surf instructors provide a wave-riding experience to children from the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind. Then tomorrow night, we head downtown for "Downtown Throwdown at the Elbow". 

Have a great day everyone. I'm headed back to my sewing table; I've been working on some amazing new designs with handbags. They'll be listed on Etsy later this week. Matt might steal me and head to the beach later this afternoon, rough day, huh? Have a great day, friends!