north shore, oahu. nothing but love.
I didn't make a single post all last week!!! I am ashamed of myself. BUT I do have an excuse, planning a wedding.
Seriously, all I want is a really simple, low key wedding but even with simple, planning logistics takes time. please forgive. post march I should be back to normal with LOADS of new and improved stuff, like a website and blog overhaul, going "green" wedding photography and other budding ideas.
The new year has started off nicely but with most of my focus on march I haven't even had a chance to goal set...but not to worry I am not goal-less.
Until my wintery Utah photos from last week are developed I leave you with bright and beautiful Santa Barbara.
mark loaned me his underwater casing and boy do I wish I had a photo of the casing! it looked like something suited for spaceships in the 1950's. it was amazing. we headed out into waimea bay and I learned that underwater photography would be much easier if the water wasn't moving. being hit by waves and pointing the space age camera contraption in any direction gave some interesting results. heather was a great sport and as I proceeded to slowly drown her. I love her red hair against the green of the water. wowzas!
I should really buy a underwater casing since I live in beach land. would anybody be up for a underwater shoot? if so email me at rachel@rachelthurston.com
I still have so many images from this trip to go through but I got this roll of cross-processed back yesterday and was loving the crazy colors. film is fun.
my honeymoon destination search brought to light a few more possibilities...
...like staying in a TREE HOUSE!
I loved swiss family robinson as a young thing and was very intrigued with the inner workings of living in a tree house. I've always wanted a master bedroom with a "roll away" ceiling so you could just sleep under the stars. no 5 star hotel could beat that. I love this idea.
read more about tree house hotels here or here.
...or what about this! a luxury safari camp in africa! I'm not sure how you would be protected from the wild animals but who cares if you can really get this view!
last but not least, SPACE. I'm not sure why I hadn't thought of it before. seems perfectly reasonable. book your flight to outer space here.
(photo somewhere in french polynesia borrowed from here)
today I have been a woman obsessed with beach bungalows.
fiance and I are thinking of a south of the equator honeymoon....or at least somewhere warm....currently most thought about places are maldives, bora bora, india and indonesia. we both decided we wanted our honeymoon to be somewhere neither of us has been.
I have my heart set on some combination of hammocks, white linens, outdoor shower, amazing food, secluded local, mosquito netting etc. it doesn't have to be fancy, but we don't want to be without hot water and a comfy bed. oh, and it would be a plus if it was affordably priced
any suggestions?
where did you go on your honeymoon? what do you wish you would have done differently? know of any great little beach huts?
(photo courtsey of shaun)
well, almost a year ago. last year on thanksgiving day gfunk and I jumped on a plane(s) and flew to peru. we hiked the inca trail to manchu picchu and did it with some pretty hardcore friends. thanks mikell for planning the whole thing and thank you porters for all of the coca tea.
off to texas this year for the grateful day. not quite the same as cusco but texas will be full of family so it will be an adventure in its own right!
I just got back my processed film from the film is not dead workshop and am so excited looking through the images. It was a great week with some great photographers shooting side by side....so I thought it only fitting to showcase some of those photographer faces first in what I'm sure will be MANY hawaii posts to come.
jon making the most NORMAL face I ever saw him make (thanks again and again for such an amazing week...I can still hear your shooting "wooOOooo" in my head).
natalie is SO full of energy and has 3 amazing boys and 1 amazing husband that match her energy. how does she do it all?! quite the inspiration.
leilani spent many years living in laie and was one of our island experts. I loved her free spirit and morning walks along the beach.
tracee was the bombshell photographer and mother of 2. thank you for all your advice on child rearing and motherhood. you took away some of my fears and actually helped me feel a little bit of excitement. not sure about your "baby a year" plan, but we'll see how desperate I get!
(shauna and lauren's bums)
since I am in hawaii again I thought it might be fitting to post some more hawaii images from my last spin here.
here is coconut and passion fruit shave ice on top of macadamia nut ice cream, oh with toasted coconut on top. thank you ever much shave ice truck in hanalei. I love you so very much.
grandpa smoot and grandma thurston/smoot are two of the crumpliest people I know. I could just squish them up. love, love, love them. I will never be able to shake the tune of "you jack of diamonds you rob my pocket.." from playing in my head. thank you for an amazing vacation.
kate sometimes can be found in trees. she is no doubt thinking some deep profound thought. ke'e beach makes you do that. love you little climbing tree sister.
shauna is maybe the worlds "hippest" mom. she was an inspiration and I found such a great friend in her. Loved getting to know her. can I be like you when I grow up?
lauren (shauna's daughter) was on a bit of a roller coaster this trip, but handled everything she is going through with the grace and the poise of someone much older than her age. she is a beauty inside and out. LOVE her and can't wait to see how her story continues.
bye bye hawaii...until sunday.
took a business trip with grant to porterville awhile back....and now find myself packing to move there permanently (metaphorically speaking).
question: should I keep my last name or take his? OR have him take mine, or have us both switch last names?
hard to decide...ALL great options.
ke'e beach (end of the road, north shore kauai)
the b-maids. freezing but still fierce.
more later this week from one of my favorite places on earth, kauai and lisa & dave's wedding in utah.
I went from swimsuits, bare feet and $1 papayas to a snow storm sunday morning on my way to the airport in utah. that would mess anybody up.
as far as my little girl mind can remember my grandma thurston has crushed hard on elvis. I grew up having sleepovers in her bedroom with my mattress on the floor watching blue hawaii. I, along with my cousins, proceeded to buy her elvis lunch boxes, elvis mugs, elvis calendars, elvis clocks, elvis anything!! man it was and is cool to have a grandma who was not afraid of a little hip shaking and rock n roll.
kate and I have spent the last week with her and grandpa steve in kauai. she grew up on oahu and has always been my island grandma. believe it or not this was my FIRST time with her in hawaii. I always imagined her as a teenager in hawaii surfing and lounging around eating papayas......this vacation did not disappoint.
so here is a little video dedicated to gram.
elvis and hawaii will always remind me of my wild, skip bo playing, island grandma!
I go from the aloha state to the beehive state and back to the great state of california on the 12th. you can reach me by phone and email. mahalo.
look closely....
details of my henriksen family cabin up millcreek canyon to go with yesterdays photos of my grandma being awesome at the cabin.
I have the world's coolest grandmas. my maternal grandmother featured, is a 30yr old disguised as a 80 something yr old. she is bubbly, energetic and still can hike and garden (cross legged). My paternal grandmother is equally as young and is taking me to hawaii with her next week (need I say more?).
my grandma henriksen (maternal) is who this blog post is featuring. her and my grandfather bought this cabin when my mom was still a child. we grew up celebrating holidays there and having cousin sleepovers. we swung on the rope swing, played backwards checkers with my grandpa and searched for "brownies" in the forest. we all fought over who would get to sleep on the smooshiest bed in the attic and loved driving down the road swinging our legs from the back of an open car. sitting around the campfire we would give testimony's and sing family songs including the goodnight song, when we would sing goodnight to every person there by name (even if there were 50 people). my grandpa would cook us floating pancakes for breakfast and grandma would always serve cantaloupe and bacon. I love those memories.
so here is to one of my favorite women on earth. thank you for the notes and gifts under my pillow. thank you for the gold fish. thank you for figi, the pioneers and the prophets. thank you for the music boxes and the laundry shoot. thanks for the wall paper in the laundry room. thank you for letting me live with you that one summer. thanks for being my "other" during a rough time. thanks for giving me space when I needed it and hugs when I wanted to be close. thanks for the orangesicles. thanks for showing up in the PERFECT outfit when I told you to dress for the photo shoot in what you would normally wear to the cabin. thanks for loving me to the moon and back.
I love you too.
xxoo-
rachel
off the side of the highway we saw this little abandoned farmhouse and we had to have. golden fields and endless blue skies call to me. so we found a little mud filled side road and jumped a fence. we hadn't been there more than 5 mins before both a firetruck and cops stopped to check out the intruders. we played it cool (like we always do) and everyone walked away unharmed. (except maybe the rental car, but hey, what are rental cars for?!)
