Melanie + Dave's Wedding

This. wedding. was. the. best.

First, they flew me to Australia. Then I vacationed around before hanging out for a day at one of the most thoughtful/fun weddings.

Second, I want to be neighbors with them and take their dogs for walks when they are out of town, and call Mel crying when I'm emotional and make her come over and watch movies with me.

Third, Dave owns Vespa Pizza in Brisbane and I am not kidding when I tell you it was some of the best pizza I have ever had. How rad is it to be the creator of a super successful pizza business?

They are a golden couple. Everything about them is easy and happy and genuine.

Ruffled blog featured their wedding yesterday which was exciting. Check out Ruffled for more images and some details in words.

I could gush for hours on end about this wedding and this couple. Sometimes I probably need to shut it up and let my images have some air time.

Dave and Mel, LOVE YOU! Thank you a million times over for having us be a part of your wedding....and thank you even more for your new found friendship.

Featured on Ruffled!

Melanie and Dave's Brisbane, Australia wedding was featured on Ruffled today!

Go here to see the whole feature.

I have been dying to share this wedding and have been anxiously awaiting this day (as I know Melanie has).

Thanks to Amanda for featuring my work. Her blog is gorgeous and jammed packed with amazing wedding inspiration.

(I will post some of my favorites from this wedding tomorrow. xo.)

The 16 Laws of Island Princess Mode

1.  no makeup 2. no blow dryer

3. eat 1 whole papaya a day..with lime

4. no waking up to alarm clocks, only rosters

5. you are welcome to make some loose plans BUT if they don't work out you really could care less

6. sunscreen is a must (you aren't as dumb as you were at 16)

7.  carrying around plumeria blooms to smell at random is acceptable

8. it is impossible to OD on guava juice

9. NO happy trigger finger. photos may be taken if they mean something or randomly occur.  Life does not happen in front of or behind a screen.

10. leaving the north shore is never a good idea. rethink ever staying on the southside (even if for a night)

11. underwear is optional and discouraged.

12.  it is normal for your mind to wander in and out of island princess mode when keikis are on the mind.

13. getting a tan on your back may be difficult when lying on your stomach doesn't really work

14. floating in rivers is a must!

15. eat breakfast outside. no exceptions.

16. getting in the ocean at ke'e beach, right as the sun sets, wrapped around your big strong man ...seals the deal. island princess forever.

(we fly home tonight. and no...I don't want to talk about it.)

Surprise Friends

The day before we left for our babymoon (which was my birthday), we recieved this amazing gift in the mail. It came from the other side of the world, from clients who have become friends.

No such thing really as "surprise friends" but sometimes my excitement from friendships formed from client relationships surprise me like a gift I love to get but never expected.

Like we needed a thank you for being flown to Australia to shoot Dave & Mel's wedding...but they are just those type of people. Always giving thanks and appreciation.

We love the poster and your friendship more.

(umm and how good will it look in our new place?!)

I have the BJITW.

Island Modus Operandi

We snuck off to Kauai...and I didn't even mention it on my blog. For shame.

After the last month, I barely had time to think about it and after a day here am still trying to get into island mode. Constant to do lists swirl in my brain.

The weather has been perfect and we've already eaten at Ohana Diner & Ono Burgers....not to mention the above breakfast 2 days in a row.

...plus 2 eggs this morning cause grant said I needed more protein.

I feel thankful..

especially after sleeping 10+hrs last night.

17 Weeks

Here we are at Frenchman's Beach on Stradbroke Island,  Australia. What happens on Frenchman's stays on Frenchman's.........but I do have to say one of us came out of there looking really pregnant....

(Stradbroke Island had some of the most beautiful beaches I had ever seen and it was pretty much deserted while we were there. We spent the day on this white sand beach by ourselves. I was 17 weeks here and am now 19 weeks! We find out boy or girl any day now!)

Down Under + The Dalai Lama

Tonight we leave for Melanie and Dave's wedding in Brisbane. Melanie emailed yesterday to suggest, "You should push that little belly as far out as possible and maybe they’ll upgrade you so you can lie down? Worth a try....." I love a bride looking out for mama and wee babe.

Grant and I are so excited to shoot shoot shoot and get a little vacation time squeezed in before and after.

Here is a photo of me last time I was in Australia. It was about 8+yrs ago. Now I can compare pouch sizes with the kangaroos.

Oh! and last time I was in Sydney I happened to be in the lobby of our hotel and the Dalai Lama happened to be staying there and happened to walk past me right as I was walking past him... AND I happened to be holding my 1st ever digital camera the nikon coolpix. I just happened to get this photo of him looking right at me and smiling as I was being swept away by security. I think I had a moment with him, don't you?

It was awesome. I wonder if he ever thinks about me...

I will have internet but limited phone so email if you need me but don't expect a super quick response unless you are my Brisbane bride or His Holiness.

Amsterdam

Amsterdam. Oh Amsterdam.

One of the highlights was getting to meet up with Rachel and Marielle for dinner...dear friends I met while traveling in Asia years ago. And thanks to Julie got tons of delicious food recommendations.

Poffertjes, (miniature yeast pancakes caked in butter and powder sugar), were a bit of an obsession. We had a lot of these but found our most delicious AND least expensive ones at the market shown above. Of course we ate frites with pinda sauce and tried many cheeses. We took Julie's advice and tried the one with mustard seeds which we ate with bread by a canal watching the boats float by.

There is just something about cities with canals...they get me every time.

(All photos taken by me on the 330 land camera w/ Polaroid 690-100iso film...except for the shot of a girl holding lilacs, which granty pantalones takes credit)

Kinderdijk, Holland

We would have missed this bike ride completely if it hadn't been for blog friend Julie's recommendation. Thank you! It was one of the most relaxing moments of our whole vacation.

(Not seen, Jenni or I....but I have digital proof that we were there. Coming soon.)

Grant looks like he's a member of a windmill bike gang.

Film is Fuji FP-3000B, shot on my 330 polaroid land camera.

Füssen, Bavaria

One of the main reasons I loved Bavaria: wood piles everywhere.

Maybe not a selling point if you prefer trees alive, but with the snow capped mountains in the distance they were something out of a storybook.

This particular woodpile was in the shadow of the Neuschwanstein Castle...which is really just a tourist trap. I was much more interested in the piles of wood.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany

It was chilly the day we spent in this quaint walled city...but I didn't mind.

The empty streets were romantic and the muted colors whispered at me.

I had a little bit of a love affair with Bavaria.

(Photos taken on the 330 land camera w/ polaroid 690-100iso film)

Tulips in Holland

We timed our travels perfectly to be able to see the Dutch countryside covered with flowers. The smell was unreal. Miles and miles of the best smell ever. We did make a very short visit to the Keukenhof, but found walking through the surrounding bulb fields much more appealing AND free. The colors of those flower fields were a visual I will never forget.

(Photos taken on the 330 land camera w/ polaroid 690-100iso film)

PS. Happy 4th of July Weekend!!! We are jetting to San Fransisco for a newborn shoot (of a new baby girl named Holland!) and hope to be back in time to see some fireworks at Culver City High School. We love our small town in the middle of a big city.

Bruges

Can we please start looking at my Europe photos already?!

Lets take a little break from weddinglandia and take a look at some of the instant film I shot in April.

Film is Fuji FP-3000B, shot on my 330 polaroid land camera.

Bruges was one of our favorite cites. Better than Brussels...just saying...

The Cottages of Napa Valley

Images 800px wide

We loved our stay here! Individual little cottages with fluffy kind size beds, heated bathroom floors, huge tubs, kitchens AND fire pits for s'more making. Since we were celebrating our 1 yr mark we had to make s'mores in honor of the awesome marshmellow melting bonfire at our reception.

They also had bikes you can rent and DVD's for moodie time... AND Bouchon Bakery dropped breakfast in the morning on the doorstep.

Grant also had them surprise me with delicious cheeses, grape juice and a huge bouquet of flowers in our room for when we arrived. Good job husband.

I can't wait to stay here again and again.

Mustard Flowers - Napa in March

I'm doing a little experiment with the size of my images over the next few posts......

I've been worried there are too big for people viewing in reader or on smaller screened computers.

So the next few posts will be in varying sizes and then I want to take a vote and have all of you tell me which size you like viewing.

I just think if the images are too big it's obnoxious. Agreed? So be watching and tell me what you think is too big, too small and just perfect.

These images are 900px wide (except for the vertical one..)

Bouchon Bakery or Bread Heaven

(THE Bouchon Bakery in Yountville, CA)

One more confession before I turn you free to the weekend:

Bread. I love it.

I said it! You heard it! I mean it!

Here's to flaky buttery morsels of heaven...and to the weekend (being sick makes you think the week will never end).

I'm shooting a beautiful wedding in Newport Beach tomorrow. Wedding season has begun. AHHHHH!!!

Ad Hoc

We started off our anniversary weekend in Napa by eating our first night at Ad Hoc. It turned out to be one of the most delicious meals I have ever eaten (I'm 31. I've eaten a lot of meals). Everything was perfectly seasoned, the meal was so well balanced with sweet, salty, sour...the textures, the smells...a different drink pairing with every entree. We just keep looking at each other wondering how French Laundry the next night would ever live up to this....expectations were high. We were full and happy. A little too happy. When you eat at Ad Hoc, you are proud to be a pig.

The ONLY thing about it..was the fact that we hadn't eaten really any animal products for a couple months...We aren't against eating meat, just all the issues meat eating causes. So we did feel a little conflicted. We aren't perfect so we decided to shove our guilt around to make room for pork cooked 3 ways. Once home we were back to our meatless ways. My conscious makes me confess things I'm sure none of you really care to hear...but my blog, my mindless ramblings, so my confessional.

The menu for March 6, 2010 (they serve one 4 course meal an evening):

Endive & Arugula Salad- maldon flatbread, easter egg, icicle, watermelon radish, smoked trout w/roe, black pepper goat cheese Stuffed Pork Tenderloin- grilled scallions, savoy cabbage, burnt orange, buttered barley, crisp belly, slow cooked shoulder, steamed broccolini and white kohlrabi Achandinha Dairy Co.'s Capricious- pink lady apples, medjool dates, toasted pine nuts, marshall's farm honey Pineapple Tart- spiced caramel and cinnamon chantilly

It was as good as it sounds.

I wish I was there right now.