The Rockstar Roadtrip: April 2008

Next McWorkshop Announced!

More information will be posted here soon, but we just wanted to announce the dates since we’ve had such a huge request for said dates while we were on our recent Roadtrip Seminar Tour. So.... August 18th- 22nd it is! Because seating is VERY limited and because of the interest we’ve had for this workshop, we expect seating to sell out very quickly. The early bird rate is $1675 or $2975 for couples or business partners.

To SIGN UP, call 828.254.4954 or email us at jeremy@coreymcnabb.com

My final thoughts...

Well... goodness.

I can't believe I am sitting at home, on my own couch, with my wonderful husband (although I should DEFINITELY be sleeping... hmm, some things never change, eh?). The last few weeks have been a gloriously wonderful whirlwind, and I am thankful for every single minute of them!

Corey and I had the opportunity to see amazing cities, experience insanely wonderful hospitality, make new friends, strengthen old relationships, and learn and grow from all of these things, as well as from each other (well, at least I learned from Corey!). The tour was a smashing success, and I can't wait to start planning the West Coast version!

Huge thanks to our families (Jill, Nathan, Austen and Addison) for their wonderful love and support. We couldn't have done it without you!

Thanks also to our sponsors. We're so proud that you chose to support us in this endeavor! You guys are awesome!

Finally, thanks SO much to all of the amazing people we met along the way. You guys have changed our lives, and we hope that you all stay in touch. Giant hugs to every one of you.

Until the next time... all my love!

-amber

Thanks so much to Bob and Dawn!

While in the beautiful city of Chicago, we had the opportunity to crash at the lovely home of Bob and Dawn Davis... dear friends and amazing photographic couple! We didn't get to see much of them, as Bob was delayed in Florida, and Dawn was left holding down the home front... but we enjoyed their hospitality so much. It was so nice to stay in a real home, after all of the hotels we had been in and out of!

We did squeeze in a fun breakfast before we headed out of Chicago. It was so nice to sit and spend some quiet time with friends. I am ever jealous of Corey's return to hang out with Bob at a wedding in May! It's going to be way too fun!

Thanks SO much you guys... for your home and for breakfast. We seriously owe you.

hugs!!!!

-amber

Chicago... Final Moments.

We enjoyed Chicago's finest hamburgers on our last party night of the tour. Billy Goat Tavern (otherwise known... to those in the know... as the Goat Shack ;) ) was a awesome, laid back, local joint... perfect for our final night of hanging out. It was exactly what Corey and I needed.

Apparently, newcomers to this quaint place need to wear this ridiculous hat. Corey and I were pretty hot, sporting ours... but I'll just say that Kevin Swan's kiddo, Sol, was way hotter.

The many faces of Corey and I...

And our new buddy :)

It was very difficult to get a signal on my phone down in this pit... there are many images floating around of me praying to the iPhone god. Silliness.

More silliness...

The final group, trekking back across town.

Chicago.

Thanks to everyone who sent us pictures! We're ever appreciative.

Much love.

-amber

The Bean!

Ok... so maybe I am a little too excited about this... but this was one of the coolest, most intriguing things that I had seen in any city thus far! Corey photographed it from every angle... and I just love it!

(That's our awesome friend, Priscilla with us. She's got a seriously cool Chicagoan's accent!)

More in a minute!

-amber

Last stop... Chicago!!!

Thanks so much to Kenny Kim for grabbing these fun shots of the last tour stop!

I love this shot that our new friend Sally sent us... so typically Corey...

I want to throw a quick shout out to a couple of our sponsors...

Photographer's Edit provided us with awesome lunches in every city! Chicago's lunch was particularly fun, because we snuck downstairs and had dinner in the restaurant. I was pretty stoked with my gourmet mac and cheese ;)

Apple should've been a sponsor :) You should've seen all the iPhones and MacBook Pros!

Pixel2Canvas was ever present in the back of our room. We loved having these awesome canvases!

A huge thanks to White Glove... Paul and Larry were wonderfully supportive throughout this tour. We couldn't have done any of this without them!

Here's a shot of Corey pulling out the final White Glove album winner... Just happened to be the gal who shot this image for us! Jen Stewart!

We are ever thankful to all of our sponsors for their support... We had the most amazing prizes to share with our new friends! Check out the header at the top of this blog to see a complete list of all of our wonderful sponsors!

We did have a final rock-out on RockBand! This might be the part of the tour that I miss the most ;)

And that concludes the official final tour stop!!!!

Final fun stuff in just a minute!

-amber

First night in Chicago!

Chicago is an amazing city. When I realized that we weren't going to get a lot of time to see the city, I was SO bummed. Thankfully, we at least took the whirlwind tour. I loved every bit of this city!

When we arrived in Chicago late on Sunday, we had the awesome privilege of hooking up with Corey's amazing family from Texas. They were in town for a conference, and had Sunday dinner free to meet up with us! I was so excited to meet them, and enjoyed our time together thoroughly.

Kelsey is adorable. I just loved her the minute I met her!

Kay Lynn and Jim are also amazing. It isn't often that you feel immediately comfortable with people, but I certainly did with this family!

We dined at an super cool place called Bin 36. My dinner was just amazing, matched perfectly by the company!

It was Kelsey's birthday week, so we had a little birthday dessert!

Of course, we took a fun self portrait at the end of the amazing night! Thanks so much to the McNabb's for the wonderful evening. I can't wait to see you all again.

-amber

The Long Trek from Boston to Chicago..

We started off around noon, headed out for the two day trip from Boston to Chicago. We were determined to drive as far as we possibly could on Saturday, so we could have a easier trip on Sunday.

We drove straight through Rochester, and were very excited to have a quick stop in Tomas Flint's world. He invited us to his mother's house for a delicious dinner, and we enjoyed meeting his amazing gal, Kelli. We indulged in a leisurely home-cooked meal and a lot of after dinner entertainment provided by my favorite magician. I'll never get over watching people be amazed by Corey's magical powers.

Thank you guys SO much for your hospitality. That dinner was one of my favorites on the trip, hands down!

A quick group shot before we left...

And then we headed back on the road. We realized that we were going to pass very close to Niagra falls... so, we decided that it was worth the extra 20 minutes or so in order to see such an amazing natural wonder! The illumination was scheduled to turn off at midnight, and we pulled up at about 11:45. We rushed to the falls (in flipflops and un-coated, not realizing how amazingly cold it would be out there!) oohed and aahed a bit, and snapped a few shots... and then headed back! I love the images that Corey got. Just beautiful!

We pushed on through Pennsylvania and into Ohio before we stopped for the night! Thanks so much to Corey for being such a trooper and doing almost all of the driving for us!

-amber

Last leg for me!!

So sorry I havent blogged Boston and Chicago yet :( will do it as soon
as I sleep in my own bed!!

Much love!!

-a-

Austen and Corey have the same hair ;)

-a-

East coast tour is over!

Stay tuned for the west coast version!

4278.5 miles!

Unload time

Kentucky... Headed home

-a-

If Mark and Andrew from LaCour had a son

On the left

Cheezborger, cheezborger, cheezborger

Tribune building

-a-

Priscilla, Corey and I

-a-

The Bean!!

-a-

Last stop on the tour...

It's over! Very bittersweet. We've had the best time on the tour but
we'll be excited to be home soon too.

Amber's last session of the tour

Lunch break in Chicago

The Boston Stop!

What I saw early in the morning on the Boston stop...

Thanks to Eric for these images from the day!

Corey grabbed this one...

We went out to a yummy dinner at Kings, and were delighted when Pixel2Canvas picked up the tab!

Some bowling after dinner.

This image was shot at 12600 ISO, for you photographers who care about the amazingness that is the d3!

Group shot, sans me... I was intensely bowling, at the time.

Silly Shyla.

Some girls! (Me, Shyla, Enna Grazier!)

Funtimes in Boston!

-amber

Chicago Location...

Hey guys!

We've arrived in Chicago... Just had a lively dinner with Corey's family, and are now headed to spend the rest of our evening with Bob and Dawn Davis.

I wanted to update you all on the location for tomorrow's stop. We are at the Hilton on Michigan Ave. We stopped by there today, and realized that the conference space is quote maze-like, so don't give up on trying to find us. We are in 4d, and we are listed under White Glove if you inquire at the front desk.

Can't wait to see you all there!

-amber

Chicago!

Aston Martin in Chicago!

We arrived in Chicago just in time for this beautiful sight!!

-amber

New style in Indiana?

Custom-vented jeans

At exactly 1:30...

We hit the 3000 mile mark!

-amber

Side trip to Niagara Falls!

When we realized that we were merely miles from Niagara Falls on our
trek from Boston to Chicago, we knew we had to stop and take a look!
We just barely made it before the illumination cut-off point.

My iPhone certainly doesn't do it justice, so I will post some of
Corey's awesome pictures later.

-amber

Breakfast in Boston

- amber

Mmmm!

Shyla and Curt brought famous Mike's cannoli!

NYC! Presentations.... and Parties!!!

We had a wonderful time during our brief stay in NYC. We bunked at our dear friend Eric's house, and we were blessed to have Shyla's company as well. In addition, rather than dealing with a hotel conference space... we had the opportunity to have the Roadtrip stop at our buddy Jason Groupp's studio.

The amazing Tomas Flint handled photography for us during the presentations. It was nice to take a little break! Thanks so much, Tom, for these images!

Jason's very helpful assistant, Lindsey.

Corey got a little sleepy listening to my presentation for the 5th time...

Of course, we immediately busted out the RockBand after we finished speaking... people were very enthusiastic about playing!

Our host, Jason Groupp with Corey.

We took a quick dinner break. I have no idea what all is going on here :)

Back for loads more RockBand. A seriously good time. I have no idea who took all of these images. They came off of Corey's camera, but I know that lots of different people were shooting. Thanks, all!

My new friend Caroline...

More RockBand...

After the party broke off, Corey and I went down to a local place with our new friend Rebecca. Rebecca is the photo editor at The Knot magazine, and one of the kindest people we've met yet! She saved us from a late night subway ride by letting us sleep at her place! She was amazing!

Boston is next!

-amber

Boston!

-amber

Hmmm...

After another long day, all I wanted was a bath. Imagine my
dissappointment when I checked in to my room only to find this.

Ground zero

The last time I was here was right before 9/11
C

Hibachi Dinner in Connecticut!

Finally found food! We are headed to Boston...

-amber

:e: Station A

-amber

Looks like Shyla and I weren't the only ones

Curtis from Pixel2Canvas

Catching up...

on much needed sleep with Shyla

Hi all,

We are alive and in NYC. Last night, we spent a few awesome hours with our good buddy, Tom Flint in Times Square.

We saw the Naked Cowboy... he's becoming a pretty iconic figure in this area. He's hysterical.

Some of the stuff Corey saw. I didn't even bother to take a camera, just relied on him to capture amazing stuff for us... and of course, he did!

Tom, Corey and I!

Super awesome time!

-amber

Playing Catchup! DC day...

I am officially one day behind :( I'm going to try to quickly get a few images up from our amazing workshop day in DC, and then I'll try to blog a few images of the funtimes we had last night in NYC!

A few quick images of Corey speaking to our biggest group yet.