I have had a great week and have had a lot of fun doing some secret Mother’s Day shoots of Dads and kids.  Way to go Dads…great thinking, the ladies in your life will love the planning and photos of the ones they love most!  Make sure you show the Moms in your life how much you appreciate all that they do next weekend and it doesn’t take a lot of money…remember that in these hard times!

After a very strange hot and cold week, the weather gods presented us with the perfect wedding day for Perlette & Jake yesterday.  I have been excited about this wedding for months, I had a stunning couple and an absolutely awe-inspiring location to work with, I was in photography heaven.  They had some super cute details, like their dogs being the ring bearer and flower girl and donations to fight animal cruelty for favors! All of this and guess who else showed up; the most talented florist around: Lisa and Craig Cardella of Ixora Florist and my favorite wedding planner: Camilla Danison of Your Lovely Event – I was pinching myself all day!

So the location, the location, the location – this wedding was held at the courthouse in Pasadena, but not just any courthouse and not city hall like most people might be thinking, but the Richard H. Chambers Courthouse, also known as the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.  You know that amazing building you see coming into Pasadena on the 134 East, just on the other side of the gorgeous Colorado Street Bridge!  Amazing! Perlette happens to be an incredibly talented lawyer and worked there fresh out of law school so she had the honorable Judge Rymer marry them, it was a fantastic service.

Thank you to everyone involved for putting on such a stunning event for us to capture, it was incredible from beginning to end!  Here are a few of my many many favorites!

I am so lucky!! That’s what I kept thinking Monday afternoon!  I was in Dallas visiting family and got the opportunity to do an engagement session in Historic Carrollton for an amazing couple, Don and Emily.  Don is a great friend and talented photographer himself, based in the Dallas area so it was great to talk shop as we went along! I got there early and was able to scout out some interesting areas just outside of Downtown, I had fun getting lost and doing a little off-roading! I found this great colored siding, railroad bridge, and field which was right next to a gun range we found out half way through the session when the gunfire started…only in TEXAS!! Heehee! I can’t wait for Don and Emily’s Santa Barbara wedding this summer, I’m sure you can see why!!  Amazing couple, gorgeous, and couldn’t be nicer!  Thanks for spending the afternoon with me guys!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACE!

I know everyone says things like “it seems like you were just born” and “it seems like yesterday you were so tiny” but it doesn’t to me.  We have soaked up every day of the past two years with you and watching you go from a tiny helpless baby into a strong, loud, and proud little man makes time seem longer than normal.  I can just barely remember how unsure we were as first time parents and how fragile you seemed those first weeks. It feels like you have been with us forever.  We love you so much and can’t wait to see what life has in store for all of us. We are in no rush for you to grow up, you are an amazing 2 year old, so much better and more than we could have ever expected!

I know, I know I will never really give Martha Stewart a run for her money, but I can try right?  Our little man just had his 2nd birthday and we threw a little something together for him at the last minute.  I got a little ridiculous and made everything instead of just buying prepared but it was fun!  Here’s my first attempt at a decorated three tiered cake!  We all got a giggle because instead of eating it with his hands Jace bent down to the cake with his mouth and tried all three layers – he looked like he was bobbing for M&Ms!  Here’s a couple of  detail pics, party pics to come!

For those of you who haven’t been introduced to her yet…this is one of my loves – my niece Maddie!  I have been gathering up fun new backdrops and props for kids and I thought today was a great day to steal her away from my sister to test some of them out!  We had a blast, she was a fantastic and cooperative little LA Model!  Isn’t she great?!

Just wanted to let everyone know about a really exciting event this summer in Los Angeles.  Chelsea FC and Inter Milan will be playing at the Rosebowl July 21st for the 2009 World Football Challenge.  This is an amazing opportunity to see top class European soccer up close and personal; not something to be missed if you are a lover of the “beautiful game”.  I hope to see all of you out there!

For tickets visit www.lafcsoccer.com and click on the 2009 World Football Challenge link!  Also keep an eye out on the LAFC site for the 7 vs 7 youth tournament leading into the game, it’s going to be fantastic!

I had the pleasure of working with Nona and Bob last weekend.  Nona is a Yoga instructor and didn’t have an ounce of fat on her as you can see…amazing!!  She and Bob were the nicest people and so easy to work with!  She is due in two weeks and her belly looked about how I looked during the 7th month of my pregnancy and I had all the extra chub to go with it as well! Oh well, maybe next time I won’t eat groceries for two and sugar for four – what can I say, it runs in the family, we LOVE candy!  Hope everybody had a great weekend!

There is nothing like going into a client’s home and seeing your photography displayed like this! WOW! The care and love that went into planning, framing and hanging these images is amazing, and this isn’t even all of them! Thank you so much guys, your home is beautiful and the prints look amazing – this project was such a fantastic and fun collaboration!

This past Saturday we were lucky to be invited to the one and only Carnival in town honoring Hudson and Channing’s birthdays!  Kori and Don put on the most amazing party complete with: a magic show, face painting, cotton candy, snow cones, popcorn, candy, cupcakes, food, home-made amzing carnival booths and prizes, a jumper, the most amazing decorations and a wonderful crowd of people!  We had the most amazing time, thank you so much for having us!  Here is a small peek at a gigantic day!