day 265 : yay for Christmas!

day 265: Obviously I know it's not Christmas yet... it's not even December yet. But Ben and I put up our Christmas tree and I'm super excited for all of the festive decorations going up all around town. We still have the outside of our house to decorate as well. Yay for holiday decorations!

day 264 : hola paul

day 264: We've had a ridiculously busy couple of weeks... traveling, houseguests.... and now even more houseguests. This time it's Paul, who we of course took out to mexican food as soon as he arrived. Mmm mexican food.

day 263 : pinky sky

day 263: Walking from a shop to my car around 5 this afternoon I caught a fleeting glimpse of color in the gloomy November sky... just long enough to take a photo before the sun sank and it faded to gray. What lovely puffy pink clouds...

day 262 : warm welcome

day 262: Just a couple of weeks ago we visited Chris and Tara in New York and now it's our turn to play host. I think they got quite a typical welcome to our home when Rita jumped on the couch and attacked their feet. It's hospitality by foot licking, her specialty. Chris asked me to remind him NOT to wear flip flops tomorrow :)

day 261 : baby face

day 261: On Sunday before hopping back on our plane home I went over to take some portraits of baby Ella. Isn't she adorable? Just like a little cabbage patch doll :)

day 260 : bloch

day 260: On Saturday Ben and I went to the Nelson Atkins museum of art in Kansas City to take some photos of the new Bloch building addition. It is made up of channel glass and lit from the inside at night so that it glows (pretty cool). It just happened to be a special event night with luminaries lining the pathways through the outdoor sculpture gardens. There were tons of people out and it was actually a really neat event.

day 259 : dog-napping

day 259: There is about to be a dog-napping in Kansas City. Kate & Jon's new dog Charlie is definitely going to be smuggled in my suitcase. Look at that face... wouldn't you steal her too? Oh Charlie... so ridiculously cute!

day 258 : happy thanksgiving!

day 258: Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday. We had quite a feast of wonderful food, great friends, and of course the best part... an amazing family. I have so very much to be thankful for! Happy Thanksgiving mom, dad, Chris & Allison... I'm sad I couldn't be there... but I'll see you at Christmas!!

day 257 : crazy travel

day 257: When we went to France last month our flight was canceled out of LA... what are the chances we'd be scheduled on ANOTHER canceled flight? Well whatever the chances are that's what happened. We were supposed to fly out on Thursday morning but got a call on Wednesday night saying our flight was canceled. We were lucky to have just enough time to catch the last red-eye on Wednesday (getting to the airport was quite a frantic experience) so that we were in town in time for Thanksgiving! What a crazy day!

day 256 : catching up!

day 256: Sorry for the couple day break in the blogging... we're out of town for Thanksgiving and I didn't get a chance to post before we got on the plane. Time to get caught up :)

day 255 : beach engagement

day 255: Today was a ridiculously foggy day and I was worried I'd have trouble shooting an engagement session on the beach, but the light actually ended up being quite pretty. Here's one of my favorites from the shoot, I'll be posting more on my wedding photography blog later this week!

day 254 : yay for presents

day 254: Yesterday afternoon Allison and I met up in Orange County for a marathon Christmas shopping session. I love shopping for presents but by the end of the day we were pretty wiped out. A crowded mall can really take it out of you.

day 253 : cuter than cute!

day 253: This morning I photographed a first birthday party for an incredibly cute little baby girl. It was a traditional Korean birthday complete with the Korean dress (hanbok) and she was pretty much the cutest thing ever. Here's one of my favorite pictures from the day.

day 252 : it's alive!

day 252: Well while we were in France my 50mm 1.8 lens went kaput. It just plain stopped focusing one day. I was about to buy a new lens to replace it when I decided to give it one last shot and test out my old one. And wouldn't you know it works!! Here's our fridge... a test shot with the 1.8 goodness. Those magnets in the back are only about 1/4" away and are out of focus. Oh how I love the shallow depth of field :)

day 251 : clementine season

day 251: mmm-mm tasty! Ben and I are attempting to take down an entire box on our own. Unless you want to come over and eat one. We have lots. Seriously. Want an orange?

day 250 : so cal fall

day 250: I still can't believe the temperature difference between here and New York, or here and France, or pretty much here and anywhere else right now. It's supposed to be fall but it was about 82 degrees today according to the weather channel. It was downright toasty outside at lunch!

day 249 : boo daylight savings

day 249: It seems the time change has done bad things for my photo-taking abilities. If I don't take a picture before I go to work, it will be pitch black out by the time I leave the office. It also doesn't help that I've been going to bed at 9pm. I guess I'm not 100% adjusted back to pacific time yet!

day 248 : not in kansas anymore

day 248: Actually this post has nothing to do with Kansas, or traveling for that matter. I just wanted to show off my shiny new red shoes (Dorothy... get it?). I like crazy bright shoes and I got these in New York. No place better for crazy shoes than Manhattan!

day 247 : home sweet home

day 247: We got home from our amazing vacation last night and I think Ben and I were both quite wiped out. He was also quite happy to see Rita and they took a little nap on the floor.... before we got up and got in the bed and passed out by 8pm. Jet lag has a way of turning me into an old lady.

day 246 : holy cow!

day 246: I can't believe my brother's getting married! I couldn't be happier and he couldn't have picked a better bride... congratulations Chris and Tara!

day 245 : on broadway

day 245: Today in addition to all of the other fun New York sightseeing, we got to have the awesome-ly cool outing of going to see a Broadway show... starring one of my oldest friends. I've been friends with Bridget since middle school and it was way way beyond cool to see her starring in the new Mark Twain comedy "Is He Dead?" which is playing at the Lyceum theater. We got to go backstage (and on the stage) after the show and it was pretty much the best thing ever. If you're in New York you should definitely go see the show... it's hilarious!

day 244 : chapeau

day 244 : On our last day in Paris we went back to the Luxembourg gardens for one last stroll. I love that the park is always full of couples and it's so ridiculously scenic. We saw this American couple in the park and I was commenting on how you can only get away with matching berets once you reach a certain age. I think Ben and I should take a trip back to Paris when we're 70... both wearing matching berets.

day 243 : louvre

day 243: On Wednesday night we finally made our way over to the Louvre (for the much cheaper ticket price and much less crowded museum since it's open late) it's impossible to see the whole museum at once but we wandered through one wing of it. I'm always blown away by the enormousness of some of the paintings... like this one by Le Brun.

day 242 : more parisian fun

day 242: Today we went for the super-tourist day, visiting the Eiffel tower, the Champs Elysees and other very crowded, "must do" sights. What better way to start the day than with a tiny coffee? Parisians don't normally take their coffee to go so we were quite entertained to find a takeout coffee place that would give you an espresso to go. And since we went to the Eiffel tower I just had to post a photo of that as well.

day 241 : nostalgia tour

day 241: Monday was the day that we decided to go back to all of our old hangouts, starting with the street that our apartment was on. Since we were in the neighborhood we couldn't resist stopping at our favorite bakery on the corner of Rue Yves Toudic and Rue Marseille in the 10th arrondisment. They make something they call a mini pave, which is the most delicious tiny bread you will ever taste, full of many different tasty fillings. My favorite is the olive but they're all delicious. Mmmm mini paves.

day 240 : musee day

day 240: This Sunday was the first Sunday of the month which means that most of the museums in Paris were free. Ben and I took advantage of the free-ness and headed to the Rodin museum and the Musee d'Orsay all in one day. We've been to the Musee d'Orsay many times but I still love it!

day 239 : bienvenue a paris!

day 239: Well after a week in France we're finally in PARIS! Paris is one of my all-time favorite cities, the city Ben and I called home for 6 months, and the city we got engaged in. I clearly have a thing for Paris :) I was sooo excited to get in to town this afternoon and just go for one of the long rambling walks that makes this city so amazing. I couldn't decide which photo I liked best so I put up two. Any votes for a favorite?

day 238 : pays d'auge

day 238: On our last day in Normandy we decided to take a little tour of the region we were staying in (the Pays d'Auge) and check out some of the gardens, cider orchards, and cheese farms. It was all pretty low key and I think it may have been a tad on the slow side for Sam, who made up games with Tai and Jon to entertain himself on one of our garden tours. I don't think they encourage hedge jumping here but check out the height :)

day 237 : etretat

day 237: On Thursday we drove out to the coast to the town of Etretat. The town is situated on the one flat stretch of beach between two massive cliffs. You can walk up either side to various lookout points. It was a bit of an overcast day but the views were still breathtaking.

day 236 : honfleur

day 236: On Wednesday we drove to the town of Honfleur and spent the day wandering and looking in little shops. One of the highlights of the day was our stop in the Maison Satie which has to be one of the coolest museums I've ever been in. The super awesome motion sensor audioguides combined with the great music and crazy installations made it really unique experience.

day 235 : d-day tour

day 235: On Tuesday we had the good fortune to have an incredibly knowledgeable tour guide of all of the d-day beaches and important locations in Normandy. It was such an intense day and we learned and saw so many important places (that of course I have photos of), but I have to post this photo... along with a little explanation. One of our last stops were bunkers at Omaha beach. We were there right as the sun was beginning to set (photography's "magic hour") and everything was perfectly aligned (gorgeous clouds, warm light, awesome breeze) to make amazing glowing photos. I went completely camera crazy and must have shot about a hundred photos just in that 15 minutes. I can't resist the magic light.

day 234 : mont st. michel

day 234: On Monday we got up nice and early to head out to Mont St. Michel for the day. They abbey is built on a rock which during the daytime seems to be in a field, but by around 6pm the massive tidal changes transform it into an island. It's a pretty amazing location and I had a hard time choosing a photo but this may be my favorite. I'm realizing I'm going to have to make a slideshow (once we get home of course) to show some more photos... there are just way too many to pick from!

day 233 : welcome to normandy

day 233: Our first day in France we arrived at the airport and rented a car to drive straight from Paris to Normandy. By the time we arrived at our house it was near dinner time and we really didn't have much energy to speak of. The evening consisted mainly of cards, wine, and conversation. All in preparation for the major sightseeing to come.

day 232 : off to france!

day 232: We finally have a day with a little bit of free time so I thought I'd post a couple of quick photos. I haven't thoroughly looked through all of them so these aren't necessarily going to be the best ones... just some I thought were fun. On Saturday we were finally off to France (via Cincinnati). It was a very long day, entirely composed of flying and sleeping. I didn't take many photos, but got the obligatory over the wing shot on the way out.