SoCal { Adventure } Recap

700 miles on the rental car allowed for us to cover a lot of ground in five days. Here's my recap...

As I've probably mentioned many times before, I LOVE the desert - especially Palm Springs, Palm Desert and La Quinta. Each March, my aunt and uncle rent a condo in La Quinta for the entire month. Each year they invite family and friends to come stay a few nights throughout the month. Finally, after all this time, Steve and I took them up on this offer and stayed for two nights.

The walkway up to the condo in the Palm Royale Country Club


Les, Kathy, me and Steve
Joshua Tree - nearly 800,000 acres - we saw just a bit








Cholla Cactus

The Salton Sea - Located about 25 miles from Indio, it is actually a lake which occupies a desert basic known as the Salton Sink. It's 30% saltier than the ocean and covers 376 sq. miles making it the largest lake in California. Max. depth is 51 ft. The lake is a bit erie and we honestly had no clue what to expect. We were so intrigued, that we went to watch the sunset and then went back the following morning to explore some more. The towns along the lake are run down, mostly abandoned and mainly consist of trailer parks. Definitely not a lake you'd want to take a dip in to cool off during the 100+ degree summer days as the beaches are full of dead (stinky) fish.

We also headed west and stayed two nights with Brie, Massimo and puppy Mahoney at their new house in Claremont. This is a temporary move for them while Mass completes grad school at the Claremont Graduate University. We had never been to Claremont before so it was fun to check out this adorable college town and catch up with the Backus'. Tara and Jackson even made the drive up from Huntington to have dinner with us on Friday night. I'm in love with Jackson - his eyes, his smile, his chubby legs - he's so happy and Tara is such a wonderful mama.

Brie, Jackson, Tara and me




How cute is she??? If we ever get a little dog, I would want to get a Cavapoo (cross between the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and the Poodle) like Mahoney - so well mannered, so sweet, doesn't shed, the list goes on.


running full speed at the dog park


Family photo


Out for drinks at the Hip Kitty jazz bar after a delicious dinner at the Back Abbey

Venice Beach (my old stomping grounds) is always a necessary stop on any SoCal vacation for us. We met up with Christy and Avery at C&O for lunch and then met up with Lyndsy and her new man Brandon for some day drinking at the Whaler and Libray Ale House.

L&B walking down Main Street

And to wrap up the trip, Steve and I shot our friend Shawna and her fiance Tom's engagement photos in Pasadena. Check here for the entire post (soon), but for now, here is a sneak peek

{ Crazy } Beautiful Weather

The weather in Seattle has been anything but normal. Record breaking temperatures in the 90s the first week of June?? Unheard of! And in my world - IDEAL! { fingers crosses this is the sign of a HOT summer }. From reading my posts, you can probably tell that I am a sun-worshiper. I LOVE when the sun comes out and if the sun is not out in my "neck of the woods" (in the words of Al Roker), I will travel towards the sun. This love of mine was definitely passed down to both my sister and I from my mom. I rarely have ever heard my mom complain that the weather is "too hot" even when she was visiting the desert in Dubai a couple months ago she said it was warm but never too hot.

Last night after working out, Steve and I enjoyed a picnic down at Medina Beach. The temperatures were still in the low 80s/high 70s at 7:30pm so it was perfect for dinner outside near the water. Shortly after we finished eating, a random storm from the south started to head north - it was so bizarre to see such a change in the weather system so fast. And of course Steve being the avid sailor/boater that he is, he immediately started explaining to me the ways that sailors know how to read the weather systems and know when to change directions. At this point, the wind was so crazy that my direction was towards the car while he captured a few more photos. These photos are SOOC (straight out of the camera aka zero edits) and are in sequential order. The first is so dark because the sun was still behind the dark high clouds, the second is just as the sun is setting and the third was after sunset and looking to the south towards Leschi Marina.

I loved every bit of last night and look forward to spending A LOT of time outdoors this summer.
• • Happy Friday • •

Introducing { Miss Westyn }

This angelic little girl was born three weeks ago to her fabulous parents Ashley and Troy. Ashley had been in contact with me a few months before Westyn was due and had asked if I would take some photos once she was born - of course I would as I'm currently captivated with childrens photography. I've learned that patience is an absolute virtue when shooting photos of babies. You never quite know what they're going to do. I came into Ashley and Troy's house with a few samples of what I'd like to accomplish and despite the fact that we weren't able to make any of it {exactly} happen, I still left with a good feeling of what we did make happen with this very hungry and darling baby girl.







•• Ashley and Troy - your family is beautiful - congratulations ••
* I'm currently on a black & white kick - not sure what it is, just enjoying the composition, I guess.

This is what six days old looks like...

...on an evening when sleep is not in the cards



Isn't she adorable??
On Monday night I took some photos of baby girl Graysen and her big brother Will. I had hoped to get some shots of her sleeping, but instead was wide awake alert the entire time. She is so tiny and looks so much like a little doll.


It's so fascinating watching an older silbling interact with a newborn. Will is such a great little boy and so full of energy - I think he was ready to play with Graysen, not realizing that she isn't quite at that stage yet.

:: Congratulations Billy, Nadine and Will ::

{ Hangin' with the Johnsons }

On Sunday afternoon, I had the pleasure of doing a photoshoot with Nick, Jenny and Maddy out at Chateau Ste. Michelle in the lovely wine country of Woodinville. With the weather as perfect as it was the location was ideal. However, there was one stipulation (that we learned on Sunday), you are not allowed to take "posed" photos with their beautiful buildings in the background. After a few photos, we were warned by a security guy of this rule. Apparently, because the logo for the winery is their buildings it's against the rules. Despite the crazy rules, we had a wonderful afternoon. Maddy is amazing child - no longer a baby in my mind, definitely growing up fast. She was perfect all day. Here are a few of my favorites...

:: Baby Boy - Carson Paul ::

Only nine days ago, my friend Becki and her husband Paul welcomed their darling little boy Carson into this world. He is tiny like a new baby, but has the behavior and strength of a toddler. At one point we thought he was going to crawl away from us. As witnessed in the last photo, he definitely was not in the mood to have his photo taken, but we still had a great time and got at least a few shots. It was fun using Becki as a prop (he sleeps best on his mama) until things got weird and I asked Krissy (my assistant for the evening) to put a pillow over Becki's face to prevent her from sneaking in the shot - I have a feeling this tactic will only work with good friends.









Congratulations Becki and Paul and I can't wait for the next opportunity to take a few more photos of your handsome little man.