Asia's Bridal Shower

Jennifer called me about a month ago asking me to photograph a bridal shower she would be hosting for her best friend, Asia. I thought that was a great idea but little did I know what a fabulous party I was about to document. Here's Jennifer with Asia - aren't they gorgeous?!! I thought Jennifer looked like one of the Kardashian girls:
Jennifer thought about everything and there were so many adorable details
Asia's favorite type of food is Mexican food so Jennifer had a classy Mexican theme and super yummy Mexican food. I loved the little cactus center pieces:


The girls were all so cute and fashionable. LOVED all their super sassy shoes: Asia was obviously overtaken with gratitude and here are some happy tears to prove it:
And here she is looking gorgeous:

All of their friends were so beautiful and so much fun:

And if you ask me, the best part of the evening - Sprinkles cupcake! Sadly, I had to leave before dessert but I'm still thinking about how amazing they probably tasted.

Jennifer, it was so nice to meet you, your family and friends. I hope we get to see each other again soon. And if I ever need to host a party, can I hire you?

Thank you for inviting me to be a part of such an awesome celebration :)

Mrs. Holloway

Isn't she stunning? Gisele has been married to Mark for almost a year but she really wanted to have a "trash the dress" session. I wish they had a better name for these sessions. We didn't trash her dress, we just had a lot of fun with it!
It was over 100 degrees during this session and we went out in the middle of the afternoon. She was such a trooper though!
First we stopped at this little church for some shade:
Then we found a really cool Old West bar for some much needed refreshments and met some really cool people. This is Andy:

And this is "Nasty Nick":
And these are his boots: Back outside for some more hot fun:

Gisele, you are stunning! Thank you for being so much fun and just going along with all my craziness. I had a blast! I can't wait to show you the rest of the photos!

"Photogether"

I know, I know "Photogether" is very cheesy, but typing "Photographers Get Together" was just really long and boring. So I went for cheesy over boring.
Anyways, September 28th we'll be meeting at the Sugar Bowl in Old Town Scottsdale at 4 pm. We'll get something to eat, get to know each other a little and then go out and get some headshots of each other. If you are planning on coming, leave a comment so we'll all know who we are waiting for.
See you guys there:
I'm not sure what I'm most excited about, the super yummy food, the new friends, or the picture taking!

Fun Mail

Ever since I got back from Ireland I've been trying to tackle the big pile of mail that has been patiently waiting for me. I don't like mail - it breaks my heart to toss piles and piles of unsolicited mail, paying bills is never fun and I'm almost always disappointed because for some odd reason every time I go through the mail I always secretly hope and believe that I'll get something good. Maybe a letter from a friend (even though I know they all email me), maybe a surprise postcard (even though I'm pretty sure I'd know if my friends went on vacation), but my sister sometimes sends me cute cards in the mail! Anyways, realistically speaking, unless it's around Christmas time, chances are I'm really not going to get anything great.
I'm happy to report though that while going through my huge pile of mail and lamenting through it all, I opened the cutest wedding invitation! It's from Brandon and Tovah, whose wedding I'll be shooting in October:

Isn't this the cutest invite?? I think invitations are so important because they really set the tone for the whole celebration. Receiving this invitation made me even more excited for their wedding.
In case you are wondering, the invitation is by Your Style Invitations.

Now I better get back to the rest of my not so fun mail.

...

I AM … always trying to be better
I WANT… to have an amazing photography business
I HAVE … faith
I KEEP … my family and my friends in my heart
I WISH I COULD … be in two places at the same time
I HATE … the word hate
I FEAR … losing the people I love
I HEAR … the rain falling right now and I LOVE it
I DON’T THINK … I should have had that second ice cream bar
I REGRET … not always telling people they've hurt me
I LOVE … too many things to type...
I AM NOT … sure how to answer this one
I DANCE … not as often as I would like to or used to
I SING … more often than I should
I NEVER … can go to sleep without brushing my teeth
I RARELY … go to sleep when I should
I CRY WHEN I WATCH … almost anything - even commercials
I AM NOT ALWAYS … patient
I HATE THAT … I have to wait for things
I’M CONFUSED ABOUT … reality t.v. 

I NEED … to get my butt to the gym - literally
I SHOULD … go to sleep now

Good Friends

Good friends are sooo hard to find, but I guess that's what makes them special.

I have been through some hard times lately with my grandma passing away, but I've also been surrounded by my good friends with phone calls, visits, and invites to lots of fun things - and for that I am very thankful and feel extremely blessed.

Today, a couple of hours after a friend left my house, I opened the fridge looking for something good to drink. Even though I know we never have anything good to drink in our fridge. Water anyone?

Well, I found this:

Simply my most favorite beverage ever. My friend had left it in there without a reason, without saying anything... It put the biggest smile on my face - and my taste buds were pretty happy too. Thanks Dani, friends like you are hard to find and I'm so glad you are my friend. Although I must say she also left 3 packages of my favorite cookies, so it makes me wonder if she's really my friend.

Workshop Recap

I'm running behind so here it goes: 3 in 1!

Day 2 of the workshop I didn't get to take any photos since I was the model for the mock bridal shoot. Please note the word model being used very loosely here as I couldn't think of a more appropriate one :). If you must, you can see photos from that day on Melissa's blog or Amelia's blog. Even though it was very cold, it was still a fun experience for me to be on the other side of the camera and be able to keep in mind what my clients go through. Not to mention I felt like I was on America's Next Top model when they have a swimsuit photo shoot in the middle of the winter! The other really funny part was the look I got from the locals and tourists. Everything from a wave, to a honk or a completely puzzled look! What is that bride doing laying down, why does she have 7 photographers taking pictures of her, and where is the groom? Ha!

Day 3 Arden and Brett went over their posing techniques. I mostly listened but didn't take many pictures.

Day 4 was super fun! We took each other's headshots and I had a blast. Amelia found a cool hat in the house we were staying in and it became quite the prop for our photo shoot. Hopefully she will post some of those photos on her blog soon.

Here are my favorites of each one:

My good friend Amelia (sans hat):

The super sweet Esther from Spain:

The Irish lad, Mark (I totally asked him if people in Ireland really say "top of the morning to ya" and he gave me a very emphatic no!):

Brandi from Arizona - How cute is she??:

Super stunning Trina from Utah:

That last night we went out on the town and it was soooo much fun! I didn't bring my camera - which Amelia and I vowed to never go anywhere again without a camera, we even toasted to it -so I need to wait until Trina gets me the pictures from that night. We shamelessly stole her camera throughout the night and also shamelessly posed for her throughout the night. I can wait to tell you all about it.