day 144 : cook like you're on tv

day 144: When you get married you get literally showered with gifts (that is why they call them showers isn't it?) It's your one chance to get all sorts of outrageous kitchen gadgets that you would never buy yourself. Ok... bowls aren't outrageous, and they're not really gadgets either, but these nesting bowls were one of my favorite wedding gifts. Cutting everything up and putting it into it's own little cooking show bowl while making dinner is surprisingly fun.

day 143 : trapped!

day 143: So with all of this Harry Potter fanaticism going around I got curious and decided that I should find out what all the hype was about. Unfortunately Allison recommended that I not start at the last book (which probably makes sense) so here I am... the last person on earth reading the FIRST Harry Potter book. At least it's nice and short... but I have a lot of them to go through before I finally find out what happens in the new book.

day 142 : mm tasty

day 142: Being down in Encinitas for the weekend means lots of stops for tasty food. Yesterday was burritos at Ricos and today was dinner at Ki's. A fabulous beach view location + tasty tofu and tempeh = one of my favorite restaurants!

day 141 : family fun

day 141: Today I got the chance to hang out with some of my absolute favorite people. Valena is one of my best friends from way back and her husband and son are some of the sweetest people that I know. We ran out to the park today to take some quick family portraits for them. This is one of my favorites from the day.

day 140 : prefab

day 140: This afternoon we went with the office to the prefab factory to see one of the houses under construction. It was very cool to see but the traffic on the way there (and on the way back) was completely out of control!

day 139 : kwik e mart

day 139: So I'm really not up on current trends or pop culture.... I was vaguely aware that there was a Simpsons movie coming out, but I didn't know that it was coming out tonight... and I definitely didn't know that as a promotion they had turned a local 7-11 into a kwik e mart. When I found out Ben and I decided to drive over to check it out. Apparently the rest of LA also heard about it.... because there was a crazy huge line around the block to get in. Sorry but I'm not that big of a Simpsons fan. We didn't go in.

day 138 : on the town (sort of)

day 138: After being trapped inside all day working I felt like getting out for a little bit. We drove to Manhattan Beach and found a crowded outdoor bar to sit at for a little late night snack and beer. It was quite nice to go out for a change!

day 137 : movie night

Day 137: Ben and I went to the movies tonight. Every time I go to a movie theater I think of one of my favorite movies, Amelie and the scene where she talks about going to a theater and turning around to watch the other people in the theater so I had to try it out in photo form. I couldn't find the clip but here's the trailer. It's a fabulous movie if you haven't seen it.

day 136 : evening stroll

day 136: Today after work Ben and I made dinner and then went to go get coffee. We've developed a habit of going for long walks to a couple of our favorite spots so we decided to go on foot. The moon was out and the sky was beautiful as we were walking so I had to stop for a photo.

day 135 : uberorgan

day 135: Today we took John to the Getty Center for a visit. It was an absolutely gorgeous day with blue skies and puffy white clouds, perfect for enjoying the gardens and outdoor terraces at the museum. The grounds were nice but the most interesting thing we saw was the uberorgan by Tim Hawkinson. We made sure to stop by while it was playing, since it only runs for 5 minutes every hour. Definitely worth a visit.

day 134 : top secret (not really)

day 134: I was super busy running around all day and took a ton of photos... but I can't post them here (hence the top secretness) but I did manage to slip in one generic flower photo during the day that I can show you.

day 133 : wii is fun (and dangerous)

day 133: Some of our friends from college are in town visiting and we decided to play a little wii. All was going well... I was taking pictures, winning at bowling, the usual stuff. Then we decided to play tennis... and that's when things got ugly...

Yes... the loser who flails about while playing wii and knocks over fragile items is me. I hit a lamp, which hit the glass thermometer thing on the side table, which broke on the floor, spilling lots of oily water and glass shards. But at least I'm not the only one... wii have a problem has lots of similar (and entertaining) stories.

day 132 : so very busy

day 132: It seems like the last month has flown by. Every day I get caught by surprise when it's past ten o'clock and I haven't even posted (or sometimes taken) a photo. Today is one of those days and I'm sorry to say I had to take another last minute in the house shot. Tomorrow will be a take the camera out day for sure!

day 131 : no it's not europe...

day 131: I have always gotten kind of a kick out of cheesy themed strip malls, my favorite being the venetian themed one in Houston. Tonight Ben and I went out for ice cream in Marina del Rey, where the cheesy themed strip mall is complete with fountains and hanging outdoor light strings. Don't get me wrong, I think they're quite pleasant to hang out in. Just funny. Quite funny.

day 130 : la vie en rose

day 13: Last night Ben and I went out to a movie and watched La Vie en Rose, the life story of Edith Piaf which we have been meaning to see for a LONG time! It was a great movie, but so sad that I couldn't even recover from it enough to go out and take any photos... only this one, which is kind of how I felt... exhausted. So I went to bed.

this is just a test (unless it works)

I've been having a lot of fun editing the photos from the family reunion. I've gotten a lot of my favorites together in a slideshow that you can see hopefully by clicking the play button below (I hope... if all goes according to plan!) You can also click the slideshow link to see a larger version.

day 129 : breather

day 129: After a hectic weekend followed by a hectic Monday sometimes you just need a little break. Lying on a grassy hill always seems to be just the ticket. Especially when the weather outside is so lovely.

day 128 : rockets

day 128: One of the many family reunion traditions is that on the last day everyone drags themselves out of bed in the early morning and heads out to John's field (remember, I said earlier that this was small town Kansas and I wasn't kidding!) to set off model rockets with a truck battery. It's probably something to do with growing up in a decidedly rocket-free neighborhood, but I'm always afraid that one's going to run right into me. This year there were technical problems and only one managed to get off the ground before the launch setup was busted. Lucky for me.

day 127 : the root of it all

day 127: The coolest part of the family reunion every year is seeing how everyone (all fifty plus people) can be traced back as a family to Ben's grandpa. He had 8 children (one of whom is Ben's mom) who all had children of their own, and the family reunion has now extended to four generations of people, all brought together because of his grandpa. It's pretty amazing. Here he is, the man himself! Eighty years old and looking fabulous!

day 126 : happy birthday

day 126: The first day of the family reunion went pretty smoothly... not much excitement. We got in about dinner time and the massive amounts of eating (typical of the reunion) started right away with dinner and birthday cake for Gabe. Happy Birthday!

day 125 : out of town

day 125 : Ben, Sam and I all hopped a plane to Kansas this evening for the big family reunion. Starting tomorrow night and for the whole weekend I'll be in the middle of the state, far from any wifi, and possibly unable to post. If I do get a hold of an internet connection I'll keep updating... if not I'll have to catch up on Sunday.

day 124 : rockin' the pier

day 124: Ben and I were in Santa Monica this evening and in my scouting for good shots I realized we hadn't been to the pier at all since we moved to LA over a year ago. We headed down and found no less than 6 people with huge SLR cameras... I guess it's the spot for photographers (or tourists with big cameras). It was a fun opportunity to use my "sniper lens".

day 123 : freezer case

day 123: They sell the weirdest things in the grocery store... light up mini bowling anyone? And yes... that is Ben behind the freezer door. He loves to sneak into my shots. If you're interested in seeing a truly entertaining photo for today, check out his blog for a great shot of rita playing wii. I wish I could have taken it... but I was on the wrong side of the dog.

day 122 : evening stroll

day 122: Working from home for the last couple of weeks I haven't had much occasion to leave the house. Today when Ben got home from work we decided to go for a walk to go out to dinner. LA is definitely not a pedestrian friendly city but there are a couple of places within an hour's walk that we can get to.

day 121 : more kid cuteness

day 121: While the newlyweds are on their honeymoon their daughter is staying with Valena & John. We stopped by to show some of the wedding shots I got yesterday and she was painting (and making a big mess). I just had to take the chance to get some more cute kid shots!

day 120 : congratulations carla (photo overload!)

day 120: I was so happy today to shoot the wedding of one of my best friends' sisters. Carla and Leonard had a beautiful wedding at Carla's mother's home. I have so many beautiful shots from the day that I couldn't only post one. Up first is their beautiful daughter.


The happy couple.


Carla was absolutely radiant. This is one of my favorites of her portraits.

day 119 : IT'S HERE!!!

day 119: Ben and I drove down to San Diego for the weekend and when we got to my parents' house we had the absolute best thing waiting for us ... our ALBUM from our fantastic wedding photographers Nate & Jaclyn Kaiser. I loved all our photos and I knew that the album would be nice but MAN I was floored when I saw this thing. It's absolutely gorgeous. The metallic prints are amazing and the book itself is massive (one side is about the size of an 11x17 piece of paper). This photo definitely doesn't do it justice but I just had to try. I love it!!

day 118 : nerdiness continues

day 118: Well I'm still not through being entertained by motion blur flash photography so Ben and I went out on the street tonight to try messing with all the different settings on my flash. This one is rear curtain sync. I'm such a nerd.

day 117 : happy 4th!

day 117: Well you wouldn't know it from this photo but Ben and I actually spent most of the day and evening at a fun BBQ ... lots of people and food and good times... and lots of photo opportunities. Unfortunately even though I brought my camera, I forgot a memory card so I couldn't use it. Oh well. And at 11 pm after a long day about all I was up for was running into the front yard for a quick shot. Yay for shutter dragging.

day 116 : scrabopple

day 116: When it comes to word games I'll take boggle over scrabble any day. It seems like no matter how many funny words I can spell (or misspell) on my little tray, there is never a spot for them on the board.

day 115 : boba!

day 115: Allison came up to LA yesterday for some strategizing and production for Tiny Face and since it was a nice day out we decided to head out to get some refreshing and delicious boba while we were talking. Mmm boba. Only topped in deliciousness by Real Food Daily, which we ate for dinner. A rather tasty day all around.

day 114 : rita romp

day 114: It's summer time, the sun was shining this afternoon, and it was time to take Rita out to the park for a little runnin' around. We were stopped by the Santa Monica park rangers, who are somewhat ridiculous in their enforcement of park rules (no non Santa Monica dogs in the dog runs) but luckily we were prepared with the necessary .... er... supplies.... and they let us go. I think Rita had a good time.

day 113 : flowers

day 113: I try to limit the number of posts I put up with photos of flowers... otherwise I'd probably just run in the yard and shoot one every day. Unfortunately today I didn't shoot much of anything so flowers it is.