Photo Gallery Link

I finally got around to creating an album from Sophia's first birthday party. You can find the photos here: http://www.pixelperfectmoments.com/WebGalleries/SophiaFirstBday/index.html

Sophia's Birthday Party

Sophia's first birthday party was so much fun. Thanks to all those that came and helped us celebrate. What an amazing year it has been. Maria and I couldn't be happier to have her in our lives. We have enjoyed watching her grow and reaching every little milestone this year. She is our Butterfly.

Birthday coming up...

Sophia will be turning 1 in seven days. I can't believe a year has passed already. Here is a photo of her opening one of her birthday gifts in advanced.

Kids Water Park

Last weekend we took Sophia for some water fun. The lazy river was her favorite. She loves putting her hand under water falls or spraying water sprouts. The water would sprinkle over her face and she would twitch and laugh. She also kept trying to rip and bite her admission braclet off her wrist.

Orlando Trip

We took a trip to Orlando this summer. The greatest highlight was having breakfast with Elmo at SeaWorld. Sophia went nuts when all the characters came out signing and dancing. They all came around table to table to greet us. Then we got to go on stage and take a photo with Elmo and Big Bird. Oh yea the breakfast buffet was also fantastic... the biscuits and gravy where to die for.

Manny's Bachelor Party

Manny's Bachelor Party in Key West Florida:

21 guys

1 three stories, 7 bedrooms, 7 bath house/mansion

3 hours of sleep average per night

4 days of priceless memories and fun

1 man's fredom comes to an end

Sophia Baptized

Sophia baptized at St. Catherine's Greek Orthodox Church, June 2008.

How many digits...

Finally More PHOTOS!!

With the baptism over and Maria on summer break we are finally going to have time to catch up with some projects. This weekend I got around to posting some new pictures on my site. My goal was to try and update the site monthly but I haven't updated since the holidays. So here is the link to photos from Jan - April.

Click on View Gallery in the lower left to see the 4 albums. I forgot to name the albums something more meaningful and was to lazy to redo it. From top to bottom the 4 albums are: Jan Photos, Feb Photos, March Photos, April Photos.

Some work I did for Bang & Olufsen

A while ago I had some posts from a photo job that I did where I met Andrej Goodman and Will Allen from the Miami Dolphins. That job was for Bang and Olufsen (they sell premium audio visual, home automation, lighting and technology integrated solutions). I went to various homes to photograph the completed projects. I met some very interesting people and saw some amazing homes (how the other side lives). Anyway they are using my photos for various marketing projects. Here you can see some of my work. http://ikatu.com/en/contact/mizner_park

Random Photo From The Past

September 2004. I visited Atlantic City with my old crew from CopperCom. A must stop is the White House Sub Shop. Opened in 1946, the walls are full of photos of famous people that have eaten at the shop. From Sinatra to Joe DiMaggio, everyone has had a sub at The White House.

On first glance, you might simply walk right by White House, thinking it looks more like a dive than the best spot for eats in the city. Upon entry though, you realize that this is what good food is all about. They are cooking the food right in front of your eyes, photographs of famous celebrities and mentions in magazines and newspapers cover the walls instead of wallpaper, and you see lines not only inside for take out, but down the street for eat in.

Don't expect dolled up waitresses and fine stemware at the White House. Plates are paper, cups are plastic, and drinks come in cans (or the machine out back if you are taking yours to go).

It's been a while...

I haven't posted any new online photo albums on my site since Christmas. You guys know it's not because I don't have any photos to post. We have been very busy preparing for Sophia's Baptism which is in a few weeks. As soon as that is out of the way I will have time to catch up with my posting.

For those of you that I don't speak to as frequently. Sophia has been crawling for a little over a month now. She is trying to get into everything and anything. She loves to explore. She also is now eating some finger foods. She is down to just two naps a day and is still sleeping through the night. Two weeks ago we also had our first tooth come through. Anyway, I will post some photos as soon as I get some time.

Maria's First Mother's Day!!

For Maria's first mothers day Sophia and I took mommy for some R&R. We spent a couple days at a resort enjoying the nice hot weather in the pool. Sophia as always loves the water and couldn't get enough of it. Maria got to get away from her day to day routine. Plenty of relaxation was on the menu for the weekend.

Herk and Hara are officially engaged!!

Congratulations to Herk and Hara on their engagement. The baby in the photo is not their child it’s mine, but it’s the only photo I have of the two of them. They look good holding a baby though…

I am sure I will soon have more pictures of the two of them together as Hara will be moving down from New Jersey this summer. It will be great having around. All who have met them both agree that the two of them are perfect for each other. “Me to kalo ta stefana’

Strawberry picking

Back in February Sophia and her cousins went strawberry picking. It was hilarious. Sophia sat (she wasn’t crawling yet) and would pick a strawberry and licked it. The twins were another story. Georgios couldn’t pick’em as fast as he would eat them, while Demetrios took his time in selecting just the right strawberry.

Sophia's first swim at the pool!

Yesterday the weather was warm enough and our schedule was free enough to take Sophia to the pool. It was her first time. She absolutely loved it!! We knew she would because she has been a big fan of bath time since she was born. We are looking forward to many more days at the pool/beach this summer.

Sophia at the Palm Beach Zoo

Sophia's first trip to the zoo was a few weeks ago. She loved looking at all the animals and environments.

The Macaw birds scared her when they suddenly screamed while we were near by, we had to quickly move on to the next exhibit.

Kosti in Oxford.

Kosti is studying for his masters program in Oxford.

I'm thinking of getting this for Sophia...

How many times have you had a dog run away? Usually if you live in the country it isn’t a big deal (except during hunting season) however, in the city your pet can be in a lot of danger from all of the traffic. If you’re concerned about losing track of them, you might be interested in the PetsCell.

This cool device straps around your K9’s neck and can do a multitude of things. First it will track your dog’s location at specific intervals (from every minute to every hour or more) and let you know when they have left a specific area. If they do go outside of your designated perimeter, you will be notified via email and SMS. The GPS tracking of your pet is also stepped up to once per minute until they are back home safe and sound.

You can also use the web interface to track where your dog goes throughout the day, that way you can get to know their habits. You can even export these tracks to Google Earth for a better look. One more excellent feature is the inclusion of Skype compatibility. Why would you need to call your pet? Sure, it would be funny to see their reaction, but that’s not why it’s there. If your dog is taken in by someone, they can call you to let you know where they are. There is also a smaller model that does not include this.

There is no word yet on pricing, though they do hope to ship it out sometime in the fall of this year. Expect to pay a price for both the collar itself and a monthly fee for service.

Spring Training Guys Weekend '08

Couldn't ask for better weather this year.

George Haroheris is a daddy!!!!

My good friend in Greece just gave birth to his first kid. A baby boy. Congratulations George.

Article by Anna Quindlen, Newsweek Columnist & Author:

All my babies are gone now. I say this not in sorrow but in disbelief.I take great satisfaction in what I have today: three almost-adults, two taller than I am, one closing in fast. Three people who read the same books I do and have learned not to be afraid of disagreeing with me in their opinion of them, who sometimes tell vulgar jokes that make me laugh until I choke and cry, who need razor blades and shower gel and privacy, who want to keep their doors closed more than I like. Who, miraculously, go to the bathroom, zip up their jackets and move food from plate to mouth all by themselves. Like the trick soap I bought for the bathroom with a rubber ducky at its center, the baby is buried deep within each, barely discernible except through the unreliable haze of the past.

Everything in all the books I once poured over is finished for me now. Penelope Leach., T. Berry Brazelton., Dr. Spock. The ones on sibling rivalry and sleeping through the night and early-childhood education, all grown obsolete. Along with Goodnight Moon and Where the Wild Things Are, they are battered, spotted, well used. But I suspect that if you flipped the pages dust would rise like memories. What those books taught me, finally, and what the women on the playground taught me, and the well-meaning relations --what they taught me, was that they couldn't really teach me very much at all.

Raising children is presented at first as a true-false test, then becomes multiple choice, until finally, far along, you realize that it is an endless essay. No one knows anything.

One child responds well to positive reinforcement, another can be managed only with a stern voice and a timeout.

One child is toilet trained at 3, his sibling at 2.

When my first child was born, parents were told to put baby to bed on his belly so that he would not choke on his own spit-up. By the time my last arrived, babies were put down on their backs because of research on sudden infant death syndrome.

To a new parent this ever-shifting certainty is terrifying, and then soothing. Eventually you must learn to trust yourself. Eventually the research will follow. I remember 15 years ago poring over one of Dr. Brazelton's wonderful books on child development, in which he describes three different sorts of infants: average, quiet, and active. I was looking for a sub-quiet codicil for an 18-month old who did not walk. Was there something wrong with his fat little legs? Was there something wrong with his tiny little mind? Was he developmentally delayed, physically challenged? Was I insane? Last year he went to China. Next year he goes to college. He can talk just fine. He can walk, too.

Every part of rais ing children is humbling, too. Believe me, mistakes were made. They have all been enshrined in the 'Remember-When-Mom-Did ' Hall of Fame. The outbursts, the temper tantrums, the bad language, mine, not theirs. The times the baby fell off the bed. The times I arrived late for preschool pickup. The nightmare sleepover. The horrible summer camp. The day when the youngest came barreling out of the classroom with a 98 on her geography test, and I responded, 'What did you get wrong?'. (She insisted I include that.) The time I ordered food at the McDonald's drive-through speaker and then drove away without picking it up from the window. (They all insisted I include that.) I did not allow them to watch the Simpsons for the first two seasons. What was I thinking?

But the biggest mistake I made is the one that most of us make while doing this. I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, capture d only in photographs. There is one picture of the three of them, sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages 6, 4 and 1. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night.

I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less.

Even today I'm not sure what worked and what didn't, what was me and what was simply life. When they were very small, I suppose I thought someday they would become who they were because of what I'd done. Now I suspect they simply grew into their true selves because they demanded in a thousand ways that I back off and let them be. The books said to be relaxed and I was often tense, matter-of-fact and I was sometimes over the top.

And look how it all turned out. I wound up with the three people I like best in the world who have done more than anyone to excavate my essential humanity. That's what the books never told me. I was bound and determined to learn from the experts. It just took me a while to figure out who the experts were.

Random Photo From The Past

This photo was taken October 27th 2003. It was taken in Las Vegas during my bachelor party. Good times, good times.

Mike & Violet Engagement Party

My brother Mike and Violet officially got engaged today. Everyone had a great time at the engagement party, held at Dune Deck on the beach. Congratulations to them. 'Me to kalo ta stefana'

This week I met Will Allen

Another one of my photo jobs took me to Will Allen's house (Cornerback for the Miami Dolphins).

You can see in the side by side photo that I took with him that I am just as cut as he is. Haha, that was a joke. This guy is in great shape. Maybe the basketball (full) court that he had out back of his house with running track built around it has something to do with it.

I didn't bring up the fact that it must really suck to leave a team (Giants) only to have them win the super bowl two years later. I did ask him what he felt about all the moves tuna was making... he said "Whatever will make us win, I just wana win".

That's his helmet in the bottom left of the photo. I did get a signature from him also, on a scratch pad. I didn't have enough notice to get something better to have him sign.

This weekend I met André Goodman

One of my photo jobs took me to André Goodman's house this weekend... Cornerback for the Miami Dolphins.

He graciously took a picture with me and gave me an autograph. The pictures below are of his gym. There is no exercise equipment in there because it all pulls out from the wall and then retracts. The walls are all aluminum. There was a bar in one corner, and a huge flat screen on the one wall, and two leather chairs with a cigar side table. The three poster sized photos are of him. He also had a refrigerator built into the wall stocked with sports drinks. All the jerseys on the wall were autographed. Also, in the living room he had his helmets from Detroit and Miami on display along with a football marking a significant interception when he played in Detroit.

Jason Taylor's autograph reads "To Goody, God Bless!!! Cover down and I'll get there!"

Zack Thomas's autograph reads "Andre, Great Playing with you! God Bless You: Your family!!

(Click on any of the pictures to enlarge)

Photos: Holidays 2007

Sophia's first Holiday Season!!!

This was Sophia's first Holiday Season. She was such a party animal. If you have 3 hours to kill grab a drink and a snack and follow the link below to see over 200 photos.

http://www.pixelperfectmoments.com/WebGalleries/Holidays2007/index.html

Photos: Vacation to Orlando

Finally got around to posting some pictures from our vacation to Orlando this past December.

We went up for the weekend and stayed at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground. It was a nice relaxing vacation with no agenda. We just bummed around each day and enjoyed spending lots of time with Sophia.

We visited the Grand Floridian for dinner one night, where they had a life size gingerbread house in the lobby. You could eat everything on the house. We also shopped around down town Disney one day and enjoyed lunch at Disney's Polynesian Resort another. Everywhere we went that weekend was nice because everything was decorated so beautiful for the holidays.

Here is the link to the photos: http://www.pixelperfectmoments.com/WebGalleries/Orlando%20Vacation%20December/index.html

Random Photo from the Past

This photo was taken in April of 2003 at Vagelis Taverna down town Clematis Street.

Apartment In A Box

So I came across this magnificent product. It's especially convenient for those that need to pack up and move in less than 15 minutes (for whatever reason), or for those that don't want to go through the hassle of picking out furniture. Mike, Manny ??? Something to consider...

What’s in the box? Oh, just an armoire, a desk, a height-adjustable stool, two more stools, a six-shelf bookcase, and a bed with a mattress, all of which can be moved in and assembled by 2 people in 10 minutes without tools.