Thomas, with a side of Stella

during one of my most recent shoots, I couldn't help but notice a member of the family begging for attention. so while I had an awesome time taking pictures of my friend from grade school's newborn baby, I took some minutes to entertain her little friend Stella too.

I give you... Thomas.

...with a hint of Stella.

Reece's Pieces

last weekend can be summed up in 3 phrases (I tried to do it in 3 'words' for dramatic effect but just couldn't make it happen)...

camera-dancing.

sugar with a blue dress on.

Reece's pieces.

the camera-dancing comes from all the jigs I was performing while working my friend's wedding... awesomeness. who knew one could do the robot while working? now I know - I can.

sugar with a blue dress on? see post below featuring Isabella's feet in the air - the best thing I could ask for from a sugar overdose!

Reece's pieces? sneak peek below...

Boardwalk . Brisk . Bologne

there's something about the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk when it's empty that feels oddly... stunning. sort of like that feeling of being Josh Baskin and finding a magic wish machine at the fairground. it's hard to describe...

but I was lucky enough to have my 2nd shoot there a couple of weeks ago. despite the threatening weather, everything worked out. sure, we may have had to rainy run back to our cars but we only had to fight off wind and chill for the gig itself for a short while before happily surrendering and rushing back to our heated vehicles.

in other news...

...bologne. tastes gross. looks gross. and WHY is it spelled that way? makes no sense. balowney.

Sneak Peek: Isabella & Sugar

do you remember being watched by someone other than your parents when you were a kid? they would have a party to attend, or errands to run, or a yearly anniversary dinner at that same old seafood restaurant to go to... and so you would spend time with the grandparents... remember?

I do.

I also remember the caramel filled milk chocolate bears my Nana would give me when I visited. and the frozen year-old Reese's Peanut Butter cups my Ava would give me (old? yes. good? yes.). oooh and the Peppermints Papa hid... and the butterscotch suckers Avo had.

mmm.

well I think Isabella's grandparents loaded her up on candy before her photo shoot today -because my trusty Canon did not offer a shutter speed fast enough to capture those sugar-twitching muscles.

when she wasn't jumping on the bed, she was tossing around tree ornaments, and running around wearing her head band like Lt. Commander La Forge from Star Trek.

needless to say, her energy resulted in some pretty cute snaps... and I am so happy her parents invited me back to photograph her for this 4th time now already! oh how time flies...

Sneak Peek: Sarah & Saul

this is going to be the shortest yet sweetest blog post from me to date.

sure - I always exaggerate. ya ya. roll your eyes. but trust me.

sneak peek of my friend's wedding... I present to you Sarah & Saul.

the end. (see? I told you.)

is she doing... the ROBOT?

why hello - YOU are looking quite dapper today.

please disregard my torn pantalones, smeared eye liner, and hair that resembles that of a next belonging to a bachelor bird. I have been too busy for all of 2010 to pay attention to such things. if only we unfairly judged one another by our preferred songs instead of our appearance... I don't know about you but my playlist says way more about me than my closet (or, it at least says BETTER things).

but I digress.

I had a gig months ago that I never shared - I assumed everyone was solely interested in babies, families,engagements, and weddings. but I do more than that.

the work I did 2 summers ago for Piacere in San Carlos spread word to Newpark Mall in Newark. while it may not be as an elaborate story or layout as Piacere, Mediterranean Gyro and Kabob Wraps needs photos too! so I made a trip out there, withstood the heat from the kitchen, worked through a very minor language barrier, took 4 bags of food home upon the owner's demand, raced through the post processing in order to complete the photos for them within their schedule and BAM... I give you Mediterranean Gyro and Kabob Wraps.

that's how we DO.

in other news...

...3 shoots in 2 days? planned it. did it. survived.

...sometimes it's good to drink freely and dance unabashedly - even if it's at a friend's wedding that you've been hired to photograph.

...sometimes it's never good to be hungover the next day - especially if you have two photo shoots to run.

swingy mood

foow.

is woof spelled backwards.

26 days till Christmas. but - who's counting. not me! I just did it right now to make it seem like I was.

so did you cash in on Black Friday? avoid getting trampled? travel to WalMart with mace in your pocket and Mase in your stereo? finally get Sleeping Beauty on DVD - restored, recolored, remastered, recast for just $1.99? sure - it's in Japanese but YOU are a multitasker: entertaining and educating at the SAME TIME.

you hero you.

me? I am not your heroic sidekick - I withdraw from society on Black Friday. the Black in my Black Friday stands for how dark I can make my blanket tent. it is my way of saving you all from being trampled by these powerful cankles of mine.

in other news...

...127 Hours conquered. and no - I didn't pass out.

...the best thing to do when it is 34 degrees at 7:30am? run a 10k in a ridiculous costume of course. where 'the claw' makes it's awful appearance yet again.

...think I couldn't possibly fit another linkage in this blog? think again.

the life of the party

oh man. is Thanksgiving really in 3 days?

well - have you figured out what you're putting in that turkey cavity yet? I have. and it's not a duck. or a chicken.

my menu? why - I thought you would never ask!

Lucky Marta

was the one that got away... from Foster Farms and hitchhiked her way to the Organics farm - while eating nothing but hormone and antibiotic-free vegetarian food of course. At Organics, Lucky Marta was the life of the party; the pick of the litter; the sharpest tool in the shed - which is why she was picked for you to eat tonight. Gracias Marta.

Fruit of the Bean

is to casserole what Fruit of the Loom is to underwear - comfortably awesome. But this isn’t casserole - at least our guest chef doesn’t think it is. Good thing most of us have all our toes - because we’ll have to stay on them.

Sweet & Candied Papas

straight from Papa himself. For all you animal tendon lovers out there - you won’t find any in this recipe!

Cinnamon Sticks & Cranberry Stones

won’t hurt you - but all that butter will. So use this fresh cranberry and orange marmalade magical mixture instead.

The Mash

is not just a monster dance that was a graveyard smash. It’s also a bowl of potatoes flavored with some of the finest ingredients in the world that your chef traveled far and wide to collect (1.1 miles to Safeway).

Oven In

...a stuffing that wasn’t brought to you by Stove Top. Your chef spent nights in the dark basement pairing ingredients that wouldn’t blow your taste buds right off your face. Brace yourself.

Let’s Feta

...a creation brought to you buy a guest chef. Some lettuce, feta cheese, dressing, and then she danced it to the table for a stylistic toss. It’s Fet-ABulous!

Pump It Up-Kin Pie

Imagine a flying unicorn. So majestic... isn’t it? Ok now, forget that. Imagine a Pumpkin Pie. Now - pump it up. That’s what this is.

still don't know what I am making? ya me neither. but at least now I have a menu to throw on the table and distract everyone while I conjure up a mess of a buffet.

in other news...

...it's really cold outside. so cold, I have resorted to wearing my $2 slippers I got from Rite-Aid in Napa. ah... the warmest bargain ever.

...oooh running in the brisk rain.. how you bring back fresh cut green grass memories of soccer and mud and frozen fingers and dirt and gasping for air and breathing out fog. I love you.

...what's in YOUR zombie survival kit? yes - I said zombie survival kit. get with the times SON. the new apocalypse features the living dead. o_O

Rochelle & Kevin

today I ran ~ almost ~ as fast as I could down a hill. almost because, it was a busy street. and really - who wants to fall in front of that many people? not me.

but that half-risk I took made me forget about everything else. it may just have been for a couple minutes but - no matter. a couple minutes of free. blank. nothing is wrong. hard. difficult. complicated. there are no lists of obligations. things to complete. to-do's. priorities. deadlines.

and then I hit my uphill. my indoors. my desk. time to chug along with a clean palette.

I am behind on a lot these days. so in an attempt to make more things like a fast downhill, let me tell you a story.

I met Rochelle and Kevin at a coffee shop in Aptos - I guess I really met Rochelle at her sister's wedding in the summer of '10 but didn't get to talking very much.

anyway...

they were so amazingly adorable over coffee. when one would leave the table to order food or fetch some more napkins, the other would secretly fill me in on something he / she didn't want the other to hear. I learned that Kevin was a perfectionist and that he really really loved converse. I also learned that Rochelle was all about family - she loves her daughters, her sisters, her mom and everyone that Kevin was bringing in to the mix. they were both so giggley-excited about their upcoming wedding... it was a little contagious.

when their day finally arrived, I couldn't be more happy to meet the entire family... and of course, Rochelle's two girls - who walked her arm-in-arm down the aisle and gave her away to Kevin. so.. SO cute.

so congratulations Rochelle and Kevin - your wedding day was a beautiful one! and may you have happy days for the rest of your years!!

are there sharks in this ocean?

Kathleen's Redonkulously* Unintelligable* Observations and Hypothesis' continued...

I really wonder if under every seat on a plane, there is a life vest.

sure - they say there is. they demonstrate how to use it... put your head through HERE, pull THESE, blow HERE, have a note on the ceiling reminding me of where it is (you know, for when I panic while crashing over the Pacific and I look up to pray and see LIFE VEST UNDER YOUR SEAT), and a wonderfully colorful comic instruction showing mom, dad, child, and infant having a gay ol' time putting them on (it's either that or these instructions are for how to do the hokey pokey - it's hard to tell).

the point is, every airline appears to have invested decent $ in to convincing us of a water-landing survival thanks to these magical life vests (with water-activated light even - so I can see the sharks better). but we all know deep-down that unless you're on a TV show spanning 6 seasons on ABC with Matthew Fox that life vest will be as useful as that space pen you bought from Brookstone. so after spending all that money on the instructions, cartoons, and demonstrations I suspect there was nothing left over in the bank to actually purchase the vests themselves.

in other news...

...next week? the secret behind pretzels and peanuts and why all airlines insist on keeping their popularity afloat.

...week after that? something about football and most likely an explanation of why I like Mark Sanchez despite my disdain and Strong to Quite Strong dislike for Rex f*cking Ryan.

...and then after that? what do you think this is - a 10 day weather forecast? now finish your peanuts and iron your t-shirt - it's going to be 87 degrees in Cupertino.

* not a word

* also not a word

say CHEESE

well, France was fast. and other than having the worst bed I have (not) slept in on this entire trip, it also had the best pub I have been to on this trip. as well as a supah cohl Cathedral of Notre Dame. and a wonderfully amazing night city scape.

as we drove in to France, we could not help but notice how often we drove through pockets of... stank. after determining it wasn't either of us nor a problem with our car, we accredited it to the big trucks we were passing and the cheese they must be delivering.
and during our dinners in Strasbourg we saw (and smelled... again) where the cheese ended up.
now, I love cheese... and pretty much anything dairy really. but a little part of me throws up a lot when simply thinking of all that cheese being consumed in such a small area.
*gag.
swallow.

and onward I march.

so we exited Strasbourg France faster than Moses out of Israel... 'cause you know, he didn't have a car. and even if he did, he surely wouldn't have hit pockets of autobahn at speeds of 185 kilometers per hour.
and now we come full circle back to Zurich Switzerland - where the Starbucks is twice as much as in California and the endless river is clouded with swans.

tonight we begin the strategic packing of the luggage and then cross our fingers and hope it arrives in San Francisco with us. if only I had a larger purse to stuff all of my designer jeans in JUST in case. : \

in other news...
...an inexpensive dinner for 2 in Zurich cost us $70 USD. what. the. hell.
...hello front desk? yes you had mentioned the mini bar was free but, I only see a coke, a beer, and a bag of M&M's. oh - the beer was a mistake? it's $13? thanks.
...yes I exaggerate. but not by much.
...leftover photos from 3 weeks, 10 hotels, 3 languages, 6 countries, and 10 cities below. free souvenir to anyone who can guess the correct city for at least 3 photos. and I didn't say GOOD souvenir.