It’s funny, Megan & Dennis have a similar meeting story to my own.  A quick meeting, an invitation back for a sorority formal, one flight and then a lifetime of happiness.  Who knew those formals would change the rest of our lives?

Megan & Dennis are absolutely wonderful together.  They are kind, they are sweet and they are adorable.  Two people that make you feel absolutely warm & welcome.  They are good people!   We met up at Paramount Ranch for a lovely afternoon of shooting, chatting and general hilarity.  They are days that I am so incredibly thankful to be a photographer, and this was one of them.  Megan & Dennis are a first for me!  I actually shot Megans’ brothers’ wedding a few years ago, so this is my first sibling wedding!  I am so thrilled to meet up with this family again! (Thanks Hilary & Brian!)

Megan & Dennis – Adore.  I had so much fun with the two of you and I can’t wait for your wedding day!  Thank you for being so absolutely wonderful!

If you’ve been following my blog for a bit, you know how these trips usually work. (Palm Springs, Big Bear, Big Bear Film & Santa Cruz.)  An amazing group of women rent a house, eat food, drink wine, have long heartfelt conversations and take amazing photographs of each other.  But this trip was a little bit different.   Oh, we’re all amazing, the food was fantastic, the wine delicious and the conversations absolutely wonderful.  But there was a lot less shooting.  Well, more focused shooting.  Instead of dressing up and randomly taking turns shooting each other, we had a single partner.  We styled & dressed our partner then shot only each other.  It was something super different for me, allowed me to have full control, allowed me to stretch a little bit.  And with Miss Megan Welker as my absolutely gorgeous sequined partner in crime, we were able to create something so pretty.  So fun.  So happy.

Megan – Thank you for teasing the crap out of your hair and doing everything I asked of you!  You are an absolutely incredible woman and I am so proud to call you my dear friend.  Many kisses to you darling!

And that completes all of the digital shooting I did while in Joshua Tree!  It was an amazing trip and I am forever grateful to be a part of such an amazing group of ladies.  I often hear about how cut throat photographers can be in other markets.  How it is absolutely the opposite of a community.  And I guess the same could be said for parts of Los Angeles.  But, I have somehow found my way into a group of strong, professional and kind women who would rather support than destroy.  Traveling Hearts, you are the best.

Photo Credit: Love Ala

Twice a year I have the most amazing opportunity to spend a few days with some of the most fabulous women I have ever had the pleasure of knowing.  We started as photographer friends, all sharing the bond of wedding photography.  And somewhere along the line, we became just regular friends.  Lunch dates and date nights and often, there really isn’t any mention of photography.  They are my friends and I adore them!

So, tomorrow we head off to Joshua Tree for our fourth installment of super amazing girlie time. So, I apologize if email is running a bit slow.  I’ll be back next week!
But, if you want to see what we’re up to, take a peek at our Tumblr page.

Image Created by the lovely Love Ala.

I think Courtney & Obi are amazing.  They’re smart, they’re funny, they’re so great together.  They’re amazing.  After meeting in college, Courtney & Obi hoped to go to medical school in the same city.  Courtney picked USC and Obi chose UCLA.  At the end of May Courtney will graduated, the next week Obi will do the same, and the following weekend they’re getting married!  Immediately following that they’ll head off somewhere in the country for their residencies. Crazy, no!?  But they just seem to be those types of people.  The know what they want and they run for it.  As hard as they can!

But beyond their aspirations, they are so much fun.  They each have this laugh that is absolutely contagious.  It’s loud & deep, so full it’s nearly tangible.  They make you feel warm and welcome in their little world, and I couldn’t be more excited to shoot what I am absolutely positive will be an incredible wedding!

Courtney wanted this shoot to incorporate all aspects of their lives.  The doctory side, the sexy side, the naturey side…And I think we covered all of the bases.  We started at her fathers’ office, then headed to the Culver Hotel (a new favorite!) and then stopped at a local park to savor the last bits of sunlight.  It was a perfect day and I’m so thrilled to have been a part of it!

Courtney & Obi – I am so happy to know you!   It was so much fun and I am so looking forward to your wedding!   See you soon!

It seems I was just writing this post with a title of three years.  And I hope that I will be writing posts titled ten years.  And fifty years.  And if I am still capable of typing, perhaps even a post titled eighty years.  It would be the highest honor of my life I think.

Four years ago (yesterday) I walked down a very long aisle to meet the most amazing man I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing.  I thought it would be the day we were the most in love. But I loved him less that day than I do today.  He is ridiculous.  He is creative.  He is kind and he makes me laugh like no one else.  I wouldn’t be where I am without him behind me and I am forever grateful that he chooses, everyday,  to love me.

Last night, to celebrate, we had dinner at Lucques (incredible!) followed by drinks at our wedding venue, the Roosevelt.  We stood in the spot we said our vows and peeked into the room where we celebrated.  And then, before I knew what had happened, Chris convinced security to open the Academy room, dim the lights and then close the doors.  He put on our first dance song, Micheal Bubles’ “Feeling Good,” and we danced in the empty room overlooking Hollywood Boulevard.  It was the perfect way to close out the most amazing four years of marriage.

Happy Anniversary Chris!   May this only be the very beginning.

Photo Credit : Rob Holley

Last summer, Leos’ sister emailed me.  She wanted to give her brother and his family a gift, a maternity session to document their growing family.  I can’t believe what an amazing gift this is, or how amazing Katya is for thinking to give it to them!   So, we scheduled a September shoot date, just a few weeks before Marifel was due.  But the night before, I got a phone call from Leo that they were at the hospital and the little one was going to be putting a kink in our plans!

And now, little Adam is almost four months old!  I was so thrilled that we were able to get together and document this quickly changing family!  Kaitlin & Kiana are some of the best big sisters I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting.  They’re so great with Adam, and seem to have such a great relationship between the two of them.  I have no doubt that the three of them will take such great care of each other!

This little family has some of the biggest personalities and they were all an absolute joy to shoot.  They’re fun and silly and there’s such a joy emanating from each of them.  These are some of my favorite family photos and I’m so happy Katya got us all together!

Leo, Marifel, Kaitlin, Kiana & Adam – I had so much fun with the five of you!  I hope you enjoy these images as much as I do, and that they grace your walls for many years to come.  Congratulations on the growing family, I couldn’t be happier for you all!

I love January weddings.  I adore them so much I had one myself!   Life is settling down, it’s quiet, it’s the perfect time for a celebration!  Winter is a typically quiet time for me, and I get so excited to shoot something wonderful.  Something fun and fabulous and sweet.  And Diana & Brian had the absolute perfect wedding.  It was small and intimate, with amazing food, beautiful music and their closest family & friends.  It was simple, really emphasizing what is important for a wedding day, the joining of two people.

Diana & Brian were married at Inn of the Seventh Ray in Topanga, a lovely little place nestled into the mountains.  It was a warm, clear day for January, perfect shooting weather!  And Diana & Brian, well, they were glowing.  Actually, I think they’re always glowing… they just have that.  It’s just them.  And I can’t imagine a more wonderful way to begin my year!

Diana & Brian – I am so happy for the two of you!  It was an amazing day and I thank you so much for inviting me to be a part of it!  I wish you nothing but the best!  Congratulations!

Diana & Brian did something I’d never seen done before, a wine ceremony.  Their officiant talked about three different varietals of wine and their individual characteristics.  She then related these characteristics to Diana & Brians’ relationship.  It was so interesting and unique, I loved it!

Emilia Romagna was pretty much my entire reason for really wanting to go to Italy.  Well, Antica Corte Pallavicina was my entire reason for really wanting to go to Italy.  I’d read this article a few months prior, ripped it out of Bon Appetit magazine and stared at it endlessly.  “Emilia is maximalism incarnate.  This region is the proverbial land of plenty, where people perch on mountains of grated Parmigiano and roll ravioli off the summit.”  Are you dying!?  Because I did.  And I had to go there.

My new favorite place on Earth.  Hands down.  If I could leave everything I’ve built in Los Angeles, I would settle down at this hotel for the rest of my life and never look back.  Antica Corte Pallavicina is a luxury boutique hotel/restaurant about 20 kilometers north of Parma.  It was built in the 14th century and recently renovated and opened as a hotel & restaurant.  Not only did we have the most amazing meal of our Italy trip, but likely the most amazing meal of my life.  Culatello flights, pheasant with shaved truffle, frog broth with mushrooms, woodcock stuffed Agnolotti, Sturgeon with crayfish, hare with shallots, beef stew, parmesean flights… And every dish better than the last! Everything you eat is either grown or raised on the farm or sourced locally, including the wine, and their specialty, lambrusco.  The chef/owner makes 5,000 culatello hams and supplies the most elite of Italy & Europe.  On a tour of his cellar, I happened to notice one ham heading off to Mr. Armani himself.  (I nearly died.)  The rooms are luxurious, spacious and incredible comfortable.  Want a fire in your personal fireplace, someone will build it for you!  Perfect, perfect, perfect.  Amazing.  It makes me happy just to think about it!

If you are considering an Italian vacation, go here!  Happiest place on Earth

Our first stop though was Trattoria La Buca di Zibello.   The pork sausage & pork shoulder wrapped in pig skin, heaven.  I read about this place in the article as well, and when he says it’s a country trattoria, “the kind you dream of finding,” he’s right on.  Small and inviting and absolutely delicious.

And one final shot at the airport, the beginning of what would be a 29 hour trip home from our most amazing vacation to date.

Nearly ever person that’s ever been to Cinque Terre claims it is the most amazing place on the planet.  It’s absolutely gorgeous, it’s unique, it’s quaint and it’s absolutely untouched by big business.  Amazingly rare.  Absolutely beautiful.  And unfortunately, our biggest disappointment.

I feel like I’m going to be shunned for saying this, but hear me out!  We had some very very very wrong information when we left Florence about how long it would take us, how much time we would need to spend there and so we skipped the Florence Flea Market.  Really, it was what I was most excited for in Florence.  I love flea markets here… the Long Beach Flea is one of my happiest places!  So I imagined a flea market in Florence would absolutely blow it away.  But the concierge at our hotel in Portovenere told us we’d need at least eight hours in Cinque Terre, and I wanted to absorb every inch of it’s beauty.  So we skipped it, we left super early and arrived in Cinque Terre in the morning.

What we didn’t know, is that in the winter, Cinque Terre is a ghost town.  Restaurants aren’t open.  Stores are closed.  Every window is shuttered and the streets look like zombies came in and wiped out the population.  Oh, and it’s cold & windy.   It’s still amazingly gorgeous.  It’s still quaint and adorable. It’s still something I’m so incredible happy to have seen and I would definitely recommend that, if you’re there, even in the winter, it’s worth a stop!  But maybe only spend a few hours.  It’ll be worth it!  But bring snacks, because you won’t be able to eat! (And this only made me crankier… I was an absolutely wonderful human being that day!)

Our hotel was actually in Portovenere, The Grand Hotel Portovenere.  Everything is dead in the winter, but I have a feeling that Portovenere would be a wonderfully quiet respite from the craziness of Cinque Terre in the summer.  It’s a tiny town, about thirty minutes from Cinque Terre.  We had one of the most delicious seafood dinners at Trattoria Tre Torri… course after course after course brought out from the kitchen.  We were the only diners, and I’m guessing the kitchen staff was experimenting.  I was more than happy to be their guinea pig!

After three amazing days in Rome, we rented a car and drove north.  We’d decided to spend an entire day on the weaving roads of Tuscany, stopping in small towns, drinking local wine and walking the tiny streets.  Literally, the tiniest streets I’d ever seen.  I half expected the townspeople to start singing something from Beauty & the Beast… straight out of a Disney movie!

Florence is quaint, it’s charming, it’s home to some of the most amazing art in the world.  You turn a corner at the Accademia and there is The David, enormous, towering and absolutely impeccable, just staring you down a long hallway.  The Uffizi is small and full of gorgeous. If it is at all possible, I think the food got better the farther north we traveled.  Such good food, and nestled in the middle of Tuscany, some of the most amazing wines.  Florence is the kind of place where you get lost trying to find a restaurant, so you walk into something that looks like it could be good, and you have the most amazing meal of your life.  Happened to us to Trattoria Il Bargello… pasta with roasted eggplant and an incredible cannoli.  Heaven.

Florence Recommendations

Hotel – Hotel Morandi Alla Crocetta I liked this hotel, but it was the only one we stayed at that I wouldn’t highly recommend.  Only because it was a bit far from the center of everything.  It’s in an old monastery, and our room was pretty large by even American standards.  There was a little couch and hallway that was perfect for holding our suitcases and clothes.  And the walls were covered in a gorgeous old painting.  I’m not sure if it was original or painted to replicate original, but it was fun!

Food – everything in Florence is incredible.  Crazy incredible!  I didn’t do quite as much research for Florence as we’d done for Rome, and I regretted it as there were quite a few places that were so packed we couldn’t get a table without a reservation.  If you’re going, definitely try to snag a reservation at Trattoria Sostanza/Il Troia.  It opened in 1869 and seems to be an institution in Florence!

Trattoria Il Bargello di Maria Ermini – one of the best meals we had in Florence, and we walked in out of despair and starvation after not finding the spot we were looking for.  Delicious!

Buzzino – We stopped in here to get out of the cold for lunch.  The mushroom side dish was absolutely incredible!

Car – We used Auto Europe to book the car.  It’s an American company that sets up the car for you with an Italian company.  Was super easy to use and I fully trusted them.