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personal

Planning for a Personal Branding Shoot

October 27, 2018 By Andrea 2 Comments

What is personal branding?

According to the website BrandYourself, a personal brand is the unique combination of skills and experiences that make you..you. Effective personal branding will differentiate you from other professionals in your field. I've also heard it explained simply as "your reputation." What do other think of, when they think of you or your business. When I think of it in terms of photography, I think of taking those unique qualities and bringing them to life. Rather than just getting a headshot, you are showing a little bit more about you or your business through the photos. 

personal branding in Cumming

What are the keys to a successful personal branding shoot?

Aside from the obvious need for a great photographer who connects with you and understands your brand, planning is the key. Great communication beforehand includes what you want your pictures to look like (formal, casual, stylized) and where they will be used (website, marketing materials, billboards.) This is really important for the photographer to know because this will affect whether they shoot your photos vertically or horizontally. The desired number of photos is also good to know so you can allocate the proper amount of time. Additionally, if there are a combination of indoor and outdoor photos, you can plan for the sun accordingly. 

personal branding

My personal branding shoot

I put my money where my mouth is and I had my own pictures taken. I needed photos for two websites. My photography website (which you are on right now) and my new venture, The Big Girl School. I met a fabulous photographer at a photography conference in Palm Springs and I knew that I wanted her to take my photos. Her name is Heike Delmore and she is based in Canada! But before you scratch your head on that one, she just happened to live in the same town as my cousin. I was able to visit family AND get my photos taken. Win/win.

Heike and I met twice on the phone to discuss at length what I was looking for. We went through my website together and then I made her a Pinterest board of photos that I like. I want to walk you through exactly what we discussed and show you the outcome. 

My shotlist

  • Good headshot
  • Natural shots of me laughing/looking away
  • Reflections/through the window shots
  • Looking at images with client
  • full width header for website
  • Me shooting/with camera
  • Me teaching/with laptop
  • No Glam/Very natural

My prop list

  • Laptop
  • Phone
  • Pink Roses
  • Coffee Mug
  • Camera/Camera Bag
  • Glasses/Sunglasses
  • Folio Box/Printed Images

Wardrobe

  • Ripped Jeans/Brown Leather Jacket
  • Jean Jacket/White Jeans
  • Dark Jeans/Black Lace top
  • Blue Dress with textured top
  • Hot Pink Jeans/Black top

Additional information

At the time of the shoot, I was still developing the branding for The Big Girl School and I sent her my branding guide to give a good idea of the colors and look and feel of my brand..

the big girl school branding guide

The Results

I could not have been happier with my photos. Heike spent a lot of time with me and delivered on every level. Let me share the photos below. Her photos even turned into a branding package for The Big Girl School. The colors and look and feel are throughout my new website. 

Personal Branding photo shoot in Atlanta

I love the casualness of this shot!

personal branding in Atlanta

We planned ahead on props and wardrobe.

Andrea Ferenchik personal brand library

Reflection shots were something I specifically requested. The pink flowers in the reflection? BONUS!

Personal Brandins session with Heike Delmore

I wanted photos interacting with clients.

personal branding in Cumming

And showing clients their prints.

personal branding photoshoot

I got these pink pants specifically for my Big Girl School Brand and wanted to incorporate into my shoot.

personal branding for the Big Girl School

This shot has everything...brand colors, my camera, and reflections!

photographer in Cumming GA Senior Pictures in Cumming

I loved this shot because it completely goes with my brand. This is somewhere I would actually shoot senior pictures. It felt very true to me and what I sell.

senior pictures in Cumming

Peace Out! This is just a super fun shot!

Do you own a business? Are you an author? Do you need more than the average headshot?

I specialize in personal branding in Cumming. Call me and we can meet for a coffee. We can discuss your needs and bounce ideas off of each other. You can decide later if you want to hire me. I love the creative process. I loved seeing MY brand come to life and would love to do the same for YOU. 

Want to see more? Check out my personal branding gallery for inspiration!

Download your FREE Personal Branding Photo Shoot Planner

Download this free resource to help you define your brand and plan your shoot. 


About Andrea

Andrea is a personal branding photographer who helps female entrepreneurs, and small business owners bring their brand to life. She is based in Cumming, Georgia but you can find her shooting from coast to coast.


Filed Under: Personal Branding Tagged With: personal

Momma Quit Her Day Job: Almost 5 years ago!!

August 6, 2018 By Andrea Leave a Comment

My Latest Venture...

I've been excited yet nervous to share my latest venture with all of you! (If you are unfamiliar with my last two updates, you can check out the first one here, and the second one here.) It's one of those things that once you put it out there, there's no turning back! I'm nervous because there are no guarantees, but I am excited because I really believe in what I'm doing. I've decided to write, record, and sell online photography classes geared toward the beginner!

It all started with a rejection letter...

Well, it wasn't really a rejection letter but I didn't get the job. In hindsight, the job itself doesn't really matter, but it was what that rejection led me to do that does. I decided that I didn't really know much about online marketing (a lot has changed in the five years since I left Microsoft, plus I was always in sales executing someone else's marketing plan!) As a result, I signed up for B-School which is an online business program by Marie Forleo. I didn't really have an end goal in mind when I signed up, I just knew that I'd learn something and I knew it would benefit my photography business.

At the same time, I was teaching my photography class here in the hood. In case you don't know me, I've been teaching a beginner photography class since 2011. It all started when I asked my best girlfriends if they'd be willing to donate to my Team in Training fundraising account in exchange for a camera class. They overwhelmingly said "yes!" and thus my love of teaching began. This year's class sparked something in me. They were enthusiastic, excited to learn, and literally gave high fives when they had a breakthrough. It was so much fun to watch. One of my students said something that really stuck with me. They said "you have such an ability to explain a really complex subject and break it down into something that's so easy to understand." What a compliment!

online photography classes

So you want to teach?

After that class, I started to think that I'd like to teach more. I was toying around with a lot of ideas. Teaching my class at the library (no bueno...you can't do for profit classes there,) teaching AP photography (then I found out it was a part of 2D Art...THAT'S not going to happen,) or continuing as-is but adding more classes.

The last option had some pitfalls:

  1. Not everyone can attend on Thursday nights when I'd been the classes.
  2. Inevitably, something would come up on Thursday and they'd miss 1 or more lessons.
  3. Even the students who never missed a class could use a refresher now and then. Especially if it's been weeks or months since they took the it.

Where B-School Meets Teaching

I am a learner. If I could take a class every week, I would. I was poking around through the resources section of B-School and realized that I could teach online too! In fact, there are many affordable platforms out there to get started quickly and very professionally.

I began to really think about this and realized that I have a proven product (I have taught, rewritten, and revised for 7 years!) I have students who loved the class (many of whom are now amazing photographers because they continued to study, practice, and grow.) The curriculum is written. I have the equipment and know-how to record and edit my own videos. I just took a very thorough online marketing course...certainly I can figure that part out (right?) The actual cash money cost is very low. So all I would be out is my time.

The Big Girl School is Born

When I teach, I always say things like, "get out your big girl camera," or if I see someone out taking pictures with their iPhone I say, "hey, where's your big girl camera?" When thinking about naming my class, I wanted something memorable and something that felt like me. "Learn to Use Your Big Girl Camera" was a natural fit. The Big Girl School leaves the option open to add more classes down the road continuing to use the Big Girl moniker.

I decided that taking my class online was a viable option. I would be able to serve more people (women specifically but not exclusively!) Presently, I'm able to teach 10-15 people once or twice a year. With an online photography class, I can teach that many each month or even more. And bonus, my dining room chairs won't be in the basement for months at a time. 

Much of what I teach can be found in bits and pieces online. However, when you don't know what to look for, it can be very overwhelming. I'll teach only what you need to know to get up and running quickly. Most importantly, I will give you assignments to begin USING your Big Girl Camera.

Online Photography classes

How can you help a big girl out?

I would LOVE and APPRECIATE it if you could share this information with anyone who fits the following statements:

  1. Is in the market for a Big Girl Camera...
  2. Has a Big Girl Camera and has no idea how to use it...
  3. Has a Big Girl Camera and tried it once, got frustrated and threw it in a drawer.
  4. Uses a Big Girl Camera but wants to learn how to take it off of Auto.

You can learn more about "Learn to Use Your Big Girl Camera" here.

Not quite ready? Sign up for helpful tips and tutorials here.

Join the private Facebook community here.

Like The Big Girl School on Facebook, and follow me on Instagram @thebiggirlschool

In the community I will be answering questions and looking for student photos to share. Each week on Instagram we will post ideas to get you out shooting! Sometimes, an idea is all it takes.

If you are in the market for a camera, I wrote a FREE course, "Which Camera Should I Buy?" which includes a 20-minute video explaining the key features you need to know when purchasing an entry level DSLR, and a downloadable resource guide, and camera comparison chart to help you stay sane when shopping.  You can take the FREE course here. 

Thank you so much for the love and support you all have shown me!!

Andrea Linn Photography the Big Girl School

About Andrea

Andrea is a personal branding photographer who helps female entrepreneurs, and small business owners bring their brand to life. She is based in Cumming, Georgia but you can find her shooting from coast to coast.


Filed Under: Momma Quit Her Day Job, Photography Education Tagged With: personal

New York City with Haylee

September 24, 2017 By Andrea 1 Comment

My friend Kirsty, who is probably one of the best photographers I know, as well as a bona-fide world traveler, challenged a group of us who took her travel photography class to put together a blog post of our summer travels. This was perfect for me because I have all of these photos from my trip to New York City that are just sitting on my hard drive so this was the prompt I needed to get them edited and share them.  Plus, I would love to share Kirsty's photos with you because if you aren't familiar with her work, you should be!

Haylee and I had the last minute opportunity to join Tim on a work trip to New York City. He works for Heineken so he is able to get up there quite often. Cameron was in Rio for 2 weeks when we came up with this theme. Cam was not happy that we were going to NYC without her but we told her girls who are in Rio cannot complain. Wouldn't you agree? She got some amazing pictures on her iPhone...but that's a whole other blog post!

Picture of Heineken New York neon sign

Thanks to Heineken for bringing us along on the trip! And thanks to Haylee for getting me in the frame as we walked to Do.

Our first stop was Do NYC. We walked there (LONG WALK!) and there was a LONG LINE. Apparently, people wait in hours long lines everyday for a taste of the cookie dough. It was one of those things we can say we did but probably won't do again. It is really hard to eat a cup of cookie dough. But it makes great pictures so let's be honest, it was worth it!

inside do NYC Haylee tasting her cookie dough

We did a lot of shopping, which I am going to be honest was getting on my nerves because we have all of these stores in Atlanta. I was told that everything is better in New York which I get but it all looked the same to me. Bah Humbug! I know, I know... After Do, we walked over to the West Village to have dinner with Tim's boss and then meet my cousins at a wrap party for her daughter's play. She recommended that we take a walk on the High Line and I am so glad we did. We got there just in time for the sunset over the Hudson and then we had a lot of fun looking in windows and looking up how much things cost on Zillow. We found a 351 sq ft studio for a mere $500k. What a deal. 

views from the High Line in NYC

Ever since we went to London and someone recommended the Big Red Bus, I have been trying to do that in every city I go to. It is a great way to get around and figure out where you want to spend more time. Haylee and I did it twice. First we did it during the day, and then we did the night time lights tour. Even though I am generally against touristy things, it really is the best way to learn a lot about the city in a short time. We saw the big billboards in Times Square (Haylee just happened to notice Harry Styles.)  We also decided to go out to eat on a rooftop downtown that we saw from the High Line the night before. Well, It ended up being a little more shi-shi than we anticipated and they were none too pleased when we showed up with our shopping bags after a long day of being tourists. They hid us behind a plant and we could kind of see the sunset if we peeked around it. The food was delish though. Next time we will dress up. We were staying in White Plains so once we were in the city, we were there for the day. 

big red bus tour harry styles billboard in times square blue arch

As if we didn't have enough sugar at Do, someone on Facebook told us to go to Milkbar. Plus we've been watching Master Chef so we were curious. Well, I don't think we found the "main" one. This one was a dark little cube in tucked into the front of a non-descript restaurant. There was no where to sit and enjoy the desert so it was a little disappointing. I think this was our hint that we need to stop going to get decadent baked goods. I got the crack pie (ok) and Haylee got the milkshake. She was seriously grossed out by the cereal milk. It tasted like the milk that is left in the bowl when you eat a corn flakes. 

We spent our next day exploring Lower Manhattan. We started on the Brooklyn Bridge which surprisingly, I have never walked across! I will spare you the picture of the sweat on my back. It was so hot that day. Such amazing views from the bridge.

We took a guided tour of the 9/11 Memorial. This is the only picture I took. I felt like it was not a place to take pictures. It was a place to read stories and remember that day. I was watching the Today show that morning and they have it playing and it took me right back. Haylee spent a lot of time reading and listening. We did not rush out of there. More than a few tears were shed. This was the only piece of art that was commissioned. It is a different shade of blue (like the sky that morning) for each victim to show that they were not just a collective victim of 9/11 but individuals who had their own unique life and story. If you have never been, I would recommend going and doing the guided tour.

commissioned art for 9/11 Memorial

After the Memorial, we went to the observation deck of the Freedom Tower to see the sunset. I didn't even realize you could go up there. Such beautiful views. It was well worth doing. You can even eat dinner up there but you still have to pay the fees on top of paying for dinner so we didn't do that. You can see the remembering pools and the original World Trade Center footprint from the top of the tower. 

views from the observation deck of the Freedom Tower in NYC

Oddly enough, there is a pretty cool mall adjacent to the 9/11 Memorial. We checked it out briefly as we went to grab the Subway to Times Square for our night time bus tour. Very cool architecture.

Mall below the 9/11 Memorial.

Our bus tour took us across the Manhattan Bridge and a loop through Brooklyn for great views of Manhattan at night. There is no commercial traffic across the Brooklyn Bridge. A little tidbit that I learned on the tour...

views of Manhattan at night from the Manhattan Bridge

Thanks for reading along. To check out Kirsty's travels around the UAE this summer click HERE.

Lisa from Little Loo Photography went to Iceland and her pictures are incredible. Check them out HERE.

Alexandra Mojica went to Japan! Check it out HERE.

Filed Under: Travel Tagged With: personal

Rio 2016: A Trip of a Lifetime Part 2

August 29, 2016 By Andrea Leave a Comment

Rio 2016

Our day ended well after midnight but that didn’t stop us from getting up at 5:30 a.m. to head to Copacabana Beach to see The Today Show! Any of you that know me, know that my morning starts off most days with a cup of coffee and The Today Show. Tim makes fun of me because I am constantly saying something like, “I heard on the Today Show this morning…” or “This morning on the Today Show I saw…” My mother can be heard uttering these words as well if you listen closely. At any rate, the weather cleared up, the sun was out, we were decked out in red, white, and blue (Thank you Von Maur for your abundance of clearance-priced USA items from the 4th of July, including these stylish swim coverups!) and we made our way to Copacabana. Because Rio is an hour ahead of us back in Atlanta, we had a little extra time to get there before the show started which was nice. We got a great spot right in the middle and started waving our flags. I knew the Band Perry was going to be in Rio but we just got lucky that they were there the day that we showed up. That was a nice surprise. Everyone was so great on set…very friendly, taking selfies, working the crowd. Our little section of the crowd, by total coincidence, was all from north Atlanta (Cumming, Alpharetta, and Roswell…small world!) Hoda by far was just THE BEST! So friendly and genuine. Her enthusiasm just lit up everyone around her. She was so willing to take selfies with everyone that they literally had to call her back to set because they were on in 10 seconds. But quite honestly, everyone was like that. It was just a laid back, friendly atmosphere. The good time could be felt by all. It was a blast to be “USA” outside of the US because it brought people (who probably would have ignored each other back home) together as a team. It was even better when you were decked out in USA colors. People from other countries wanted to take pictures and Americans shouted “USA” when you walked by. It was just great fun. There is really no other way to describe it.

The Today Show in Rio
The Today Show in Rio

Thanks to everyone who took the time to take pictures of their TV sets and post them on Facebook or text them to us. We really enjoyed hearing from everyone and the pictures just make me laugh. We look like we were pasted in there.

Our 15 minutes of fame in Rio
Our 15 minutes of fame in Rio

We finally pulled ourselves away from the Today Show to walk down the beach to beach volleyball where the Brazil women were going to be playing. Unfortunately, they won so quickly that we missed the match. Fortunately for us, the tickets included 3 matches (and probably as many as you could watch until someone kicked you out of your seat, but we didn’t try that.) We had the world’s best seats and I have no idea how we got them. They became available very late and George sent us a note to let us know that beach volleyball was available. We paid $25 for front row seats. We were with a flight crew of an NBC executive and they said the block of seats were NBC’s (and mostly empty!) But that’s just kind of how our day was going! It was very sunny and hot, unlike the day before which was gray, cold, windy, and gloomy. Could not have been more opposite! We loved beach volleyball for more than the obvious reasons 🙂 The fans were amazing. Chile was singing their country song, we had Canadian super fans running around in morph suits, there was a DJ and dancers, it was so cool. When I got home, I watched it on TV to see if you could tell what was going on in the stands. You kind of could…but I think I noticed it more because I was there. TV just doesn’t capture the energy in the same way.

Beach Volleyball Highlights
Beach Volleyball Highlights

We grabbed some lunch along the beach in an outdoor café and then decided to walk down to the base of Sugarloaf mountain where there is a wall along the water. We walked out on that wall and once again, the views did not disappoint. Looking at the panoramic picture, the Today show was on the middle right where it is fenced off. You can see the waves were very big and the water was rough. I think it was red flags that day so no one was in the water.

View of Copacabana Beach from the base of Sugarloaf Mountain.
View of Copacabana Beach from the base of Sugarloaf Mountain.
The Beach Volleyball venue as seen from down the beach. The sidewalks all had a unique design. This was throughout the city.
The Beach Volleyball venue as seen from down the beach. The sidewalks all had a unique design. This was throughout the city.

We asked George where the best place was to see the sunset and he told us to go to Sugarloaf Mountain. Boy am I glad we did! We headed over there around three o’clock (since it was actually winter in Brazil, sunset was at 5:30 p.m.) There were 2 cable cars. The first one took you to the smaller mountain, but don’t underestimate the views from that first mountain. On Facebook, I titled it “things that make you say WOW!” What an incredible view of the Bay. We were still getting our bearings, so at that point, we weren’t quite sure what we were looking at but it was incredible. The second cable car took you to the tall, pointy mountain you probably saw on TV. It is pretty iconic in Rio. Michelle bailed on me just as we were going through the turnstyle and then when I got to the top of the mountain, my 3rd battery on my big girl camera died. Yes, I had 3 batteries and the 3rd one decided to die the moment I got to the very top of the mountain just as the sun was setting behind the mountains. Fortunately for me, the iPhone still had some charge left and some space for pictures. As you can see it was 3-deep to capture the sunset from up there. I can see why. The views were absolutely breathtaking. I wish I could have taken more sunset and more nighttime photos from up there. I guess that will be a redo if I get to go back.

The views as the sunset over Rio from Sugarloaf Mountain.
The views as the sunset over Rio from Sugarloaf Mountain. Michelle got a picture of my cable car heading to the tall mountain. In the night photos, you can see Christ the Redeemer shining high above the city.

We made it back to George and Paty’s condo and were greeted by these two cuties. We actually hadn’t seen them for almost 2 straight days. They were wondering where the gringas were that took over their bedroom and then disappeared!

Bia, Age 7
Gaby, Age 9
Gaby, Age 9

If you’ve made it this far…looks like there is going to be a Part 3 because I still have a lot of pictures to share…stay tuned!

Filed Under: Travel Tagged With: personal

Rio 2016: A Trip of a Lifetime Part 1

August 27, 2016 By Andrea 4 Comments

While the trip is still fresh in my mind, I thought I’d share some more pictures from the Rio Olympics. This was an incredible trip! I had never been south of the equator before and our family has some history with Brazil and Rio so this seemed like the perfect opportunity. Plus, I love me some Olympics!! Ever since the 1984 Olympics when my mom and I watched every possible hour of the broadcast from our house in Wakeman, Ohio I’ve pretty much loved anything to do with the Olympics. You can bet I was excited when they were here in Atlanta in 1996! Although, I am going to admit, after visiting Rio, I kind of wonder what there was to see here in Atlanta…the world of Coke? Truthfully, from a scenery perspective, there is no comparison. I haven’t been to a ton of foreign countries, but I’ve got to believe that the ocean and mountains of Rio rank among the world’s most beautiful places. It absolutely blew me away.

You might wonder how we ended up in Rio in the first place. Well, the story starts in 1964 when my grandparents hosted a foreign exchange student from Brazil named Nena. She went to high school for a year with my mom and they became great friends.

Aunt Sandy, Nena, my mom, my grandma, and my Aunt Gayle circa1964 in Amherst, Ohio.
My Aunt Sandy, Nena, my mom, my grandma, and my Aunt Gayle circa1964 in Amherst, Ohio.

 

In 1990, Nena’s son George called my mom and said hey, I am in St. Louis and I am not too happy can I come live with you? (I just learned this story! I had no idea how he ended up at our house.) We lived in Portland, Indiana at the time which is essentially in the middle of a cornfield. He lived with us for 2 months where me and my brothers were relentless on his accent (his daughter totally got me back…karma’s a b*&^!) He made a really good friend down the street and ended up living with them for another 2 months where I am sure they were much nicer to him.

George on vacation with my parents and brothers in Colorado while he stayed with us. I don't think I went on this trip...
George on vacation with my parents and brothers in Colorado while he stayed with us. I don’t think I went on this trip…

So flash forward to the 2012 London Summer Olympics and who do I see on Facebook but George attending the games. We reconnected on Facebook and a couple of years later I asked if we could come stay with him for the Rio games. I don’t feel quite as shameless now that I know how he ended up at our house. He enthusiastically said yes and the rest is history. Tim didn’t really want to go and the girls were already in school so I asked Michelle to go with me because I thought she might want to get a passport and she said yes!

Prior to leaving, George set up WhatsApp for us to communicate. He sent us videos of the venues, bought our tickets at the current exchange rate, gave us travel advice, and sent cute pictures of his girls asking when the gringas were getting here. He arranged for a driver that he knew to pick us up at the airport and basically made sure that we had everything under control before we left. I am so appreciative of all that he and Paty did before we even got there. I think it made all the difference in how smoothly our trip went.

We were greeted by George and Paty's adorable daughters Gaby and Bia and their drawings. Their maid, Penha, also made us a full breakfast the next morning. What a nice surprise!
We were greeted by George and Paty’s adorable daughters Gaby and Bia and their drawings. Their maid, Penha, also made us a full breakfast the next morning. What a nice surprise!

The day that we were leaving was the day that Delta Airlines had a bit of a meltdown…worldwide grounding of all of their flights due to a power outage. What? We were supposed to arrive about 8:00 a.m. and then we had swimming prelims at 1:00 p.m. Fortunately, for us, we were only delayed 2 hours and the flight was uneventful. What we hadn’t quite prepared ourselves for was the traffic. Holy traffic batman. And you thought Atlanta was bad. Atlanta’s got nothing on Rio. While we were only about 2 hours late in landing, by the time we made it through customs, and sat through traffic, unloaded at George’s condo, got back in traffic, walked through Olympic Park (roads were blocked around the Perimeter, there was no driving up to the venue for good reason,) waited in line to go through the metal detectors and hiked to the very far side of the park, we were actually 30 minutes late for swimming. But, it could have been much worse when you think about it.
Here are a few of the sights between the airport to the section of Rio where George lives. You pass many Favelas or “shanty towns” as our driver called them. The city built walls all along the road to cover them up but it really didn’t do much. You can still see them quite clearly. You can see part of Olympic Stadium behind part of the buildings. It was right in the middle of a neighborhood. We were also a little shocked to see people selling things in the middle of the road. Not only is there a ton of traffic but there are near non-stop motorcycles and motorbikes careening down the center lines. You take your life into your hands standing in the middle of these streets! Along with the dinginess, there was also a lot of beautiful street art. It was all over the city. In fact, it was hard for us to tell sometimes whether we were in a “good” area of town, or a “bad” area of town because most of the city was painted with tons of graffiti as well as vandalized by random spray paint. Here in the US we’ve been conditioned to see a good part of town or a bad part of town a certain way, but the lines were definitely not defined by the amount of paint on the walls or buildings.

I’d be lying if I didn’t say I had a little trepidation about going on this trip. Between recent world events, the news media’s 24/7 coverage of all of the “bad stuff” in Rio, Zika, and on and on one might be tempted to play it safe. But two things came to mind. First of all, many years ago, I asked my grandmother how she managed to raise 8 children after my grandpa died and her answer was simply, “Trust in the good Lord, Andrea. Trust in the good Lord.” Secondly, and a complete 180 of unrelatedness, on the way home from Ohio, Haylee and I were listening to the radio and the Barenaked Ladies song called “Odds Are” came on the radio. Here is a sample of those lyrics.

Hit by the A-Train, crashed in an airplane
I wouldn’t recommend either one
Killed by a Great White or a meteorite
I guess there ain’t no way to go that’s fun
But somewhere in the world someone is gonna fall in love by the end of this song
So get up, get up
No it’s never gonna let up so you might as well sing along

The odds are that we will probably be alright
Odds are we’re gonna be alright, odds are we’re gonna be alright tonight

So, in conclusion, the Lord and the Barenaked Ladies said “Go and have fun!” Needless to say, that song has been stuck in my head for weeks.

Security was very tight in Rio. There were armed military (or as Michelle and I named them…our AK-47 friends) on every bridge, in every tunnel, at every monument and famous landmark, along the beaches, on the water, and in the sky. I could not hang glide (was going to, seriously! I even bought extreme sports insurance for an extra $15!) because the air space over Rio was closed. We were still cautious, but it felt safe there. Every venue was secured entirely by a fence along the perimeter and you had to go through metal detectors and run your bags through X-ray screening at each event. But that being said, it still felt very laid back and happy. It was not a city on edge at all. I felt compelled to take a picture every time I saw the military. I am not sure why.

Bridges, roads, beaches, water, and venues were well-secured.
Bridges, roads, beaches, water, and venues were well-secured.

Do any of the USA names look familiar? Oy vay. That’s all I have to say about that.

Jack Conger, Gunnar Bentz, and Ryan Lochte. The 4th guy didn't swim in the finals...he was replaced by Michael Phelps I believe. We didn't see him.
Jack Conger, Gunnar Bentz, and Ryan Lochte. The 4th guy didn’t swim in the finals…he was replaced by Michael Phelps I believe. We didn’t see him.

We spent our first evening catching up out on their beautiful rooftop deck. George made Brazilian steaks in the outdoor oven and we ate it Brazilian style…with our hands and as it was finished. He brought out steak, then some vegetables, then some more steak. It was great and very relaxing.

The view from George and Paty's rooftop.
The view from George and Paty’s rooftop.

Our second day in Rio was gray and cloudy. It had rained during the night and stopped raining as we headed to sailing but it was a tad on the gloomy side. We went through several neighborhoods and tunnels before we got to Marina da Gloria where the sailing event was held. Here are a few of the sights along the way.

Top Left: Rocinha, the largest Favela in Rio is adjacent to the wealthiest area of Rio. They share the same zip code interestingly enough.
Top Left: Rocinha, the largest Favela in Rio is adjacent to the wealthiest area of Rio. They share the same zip code interestingly enough.

The second event we went to was sailing. My friend Sam, who is married to a sailor, sent me a very funny video about watching sailing from the shore and how confusing it can be. Well, she didn’t know just how spot on she was. We saw the boats sail out and we naturally thought the event had begun. We saw them sail around the bay and were just about to go get lunch when the horn started and the event ACTUALLY started. Who knew! If you want to get a good chuckle, the video she sent me can be found here.

Sailing in Rio

After sailing, the weather got pretty dicey. Lots of rain, gray skies, and wind. We had time to kill because we were going to women’s volleyball later in the evening. We Ubered it over to Copacabana Beach to get some food but it wasn’t without a few glitches. We asked one of our AK-47 friends for directions. Basically, do we turn left or right to get to the train station that would take us to Copacabana. They said right so we went right and discovered later that they sent us in the wrong direction. Apparently, most of them were not from Rio and did not know their way around. It was the blind leading the blind. So we decided to Uber it since we didn’t know where we were. It took us 3 frustrating tries to get an Uber. There were a lot of street closures so I think the drivers were having trouble getting to us. We finally made it to Copacabana, had some lunch and then walked the entire length of the beach to look for the Today show location, only to find out later that it was where we started, we just turned around about 20 feet too soon. But as we would come to find out later, it was nice to explore this part of the city when it wasn’t “Disney on Spring Break” crowded.

This was the ONLY time we saw this beach empty the entire week.
This was the ONLY time we saw this beach empty the entire week.

 

Google Translate! I may have said Thank You God for Google Translate more than once!
Google Translate! I may have said Thank You God for Google Translate more than once!

Our last stop of the day was women’s volleyball. It was a Brazil match. If you can’t see the USA then I highly recommend Brazil. They know how to CHEER for their team. Everyone was dressed up, singing songs, throwing balls…it was so much fun! It definitely exceeded expectations both in terms of the sport itself (wow these girls are good!) and the fun factor. Two thumbs up for volleyball!

Women's Volleyball in Rio

After volleyball, we had our only “could’ve been a bad situation but wasn’t” incident. We left volleyball after 2 sets because Brazil was winning and we didn’t want to be leaving the stadium at 10 p.m. with tens of thousands of people all trying to get a cab or Uber. While we were there, Uber and the taxis were having a dispute so Uber was blocked from many of the venues by a couple of blocks. So we headed away from the stadium to catch our Uber. The first block was ok…Lots of people milling around. The second block, not so much. We found ourselves at night, in Rio on a very dark and quiet street so we hopped our butts directly in a taxi. Well, once we got into the taxi, our driver spoke no English. No problem…Google Translate. Well, he didn’t know how to get to George’s house and he didn’t have GPS. My GPS was in English. On top of that, we have no cash. What are two gringas to do? Call George. We woke him up and he translated for us to the cab driver, gave him safer directions that took a little longer (he was going to take us over a mountain and through a favela which is not such a good idea at night,) and met us at the corner with cash to pay for the taxi. George saved the day. I may have uttered “Thank God for George” more than once on this trip as well.

That’s it for the FIRST TWO DAYS of our trip. Stay tuned for more if you have read this far…

Filed Under: Travel Tagged With: personal

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