Fav Friday: Baby Love Edition

No introduction this week, I'm getting straight to the goods this time! It's time for Fav Friday!

1. Kisses from the baby love. I put it in the #1 spot because really, what's better than that? J and I were playing outside with the baby love this week and as per usual, I'd ask him for a kiss and he'd give me one. But this time, the kisses kept coming. Even without me asking. The kid practically tried to make out with me and it was hilarious. He even gave me a big bear hug. And that may not sound like much, but he's more of a kisser than a hugger. So for him to give me a real hug was a big deal. I melted into the grass after that and swore I could die happy.

Can you imagine how I'm going to react to my own children some day? Cleaning up barf and poopy diapers will probably balance things out a bit.

2. Chocolate chip cookies from McDonald's.


Truth be told, I'm not a big fan of Mickey D's. In fact. I loathe it and refuse to let J or any of my posterity eat there. I used to be a happy meal queen, but after I saw the special features on the Super Size Me DVD in one of my undergrad courses, I swore I'd never eat another McFri ever again. While I still live by that rule, the desserts aren't off limits in my brain. McFlurries, soft serve cones, and cookies are all okay in my book. One night this week, J and I rolled up to the drive thru because I was in need of a McFlurry. When it was time to order, J asked me what I wanted and I told him I wanted an oreo McFlurry and 3 chocolate chip cookies. They're 3 for $1, okay? He looked at me like I was crazy because I never order that much, questioned my selection, and I got all "No you didn't just look at me like I'm a cow!" on him. I asked him what he was going to do when I'm pregnant and I eat even more! It's not like I was going to eat all of that in one sitting. I only ate one cookie that night, savored every morsel, saved the rest for the next day, and dubbed it one of this week's favs. That 3 for $1 is what really got me you know.

p.s. In looking for a cheesy picture for this fav, I googled "mcdonalds chocolate chip cookies" and the most hilarious picture came up. I feel totally weird posting it on this blog, but you can check it out here. It's too weird to not share! I'm lovin' it.

3. Showit Sites. Have you heard about the new free websites? That's right, completely free! Of course, it's pretty hard to pass up the cool features on a pro account, but getting a free site is a great place to start. Why am I so excited about Showit you ask? You'll just have to wait and see!

Happy Fav Friday everyone! I'll be at Disneyland today celebrating my grandpa's 86th birthday and melting into the pavement of main street USA so if you just happen to be there as well, don't mind how unpolished I'm going to look!

Fav.Friday & a bit of introspection

It's been kind of a crazy week and today was like the icing on the cake. It was a sad and humbling day, and an exciting one. All at the same time. So before getting into this week's favs, I just want to ramble on a bit about some things floating around in my head that I'm compelled to share.

It's Friday night and as I sit here working on this post while J watches his beloved Angels play the Yankees (I know, it's a bad word because I'm a Red Sox fan, but I wanted to be descriptive), I feel especially calm and grateful. My world isn't perfect right now. In fact, it's far from it. I've seen a lot of tragedy around me lately, and experienced my own small day-to-day tragedies that pale in comparison. My patience has been tested and sometimes it feels like things can't get worse and won't ever get better. But through all these moments of sadness and at times, hopelessness, there always comes a sense of humility and clarity that change me in ways I struggle to even comprehend.

I have been blessed with so many things in life and sometimes, I take those things for granted because I'm so wrapped up in all the things I think are going wrong. I witnessed something very sad today. I couldn't hold back the tears and I felt as though my heart actually hurt. A friend of mine went through something really difficult and I felt like I couldn't do anything to help him. I didn't think it was fair and I couldn't do anything to stop it. But even amidst this situation, I realized something about life and about myself. I realized how important it is to support those around us. How just the smallest gesture of kindness, goes further than you ever imagined it could. I realized how blessed I am to have friends like him and how being there to support him, helped me in so many ways. And most importantly, I realized that while life can make you feel sad and mad and alone, there are those moments when you know in your heart that everything is going to be okay. That all the things around you that you sometimes take for granted, can bring you a sense of peace and comfort, even on the darkest of days.

That being said, I just like to say that my heart is full of gratitude. Gratitude for my faith. My husband. My family and friends. And very specifically, my freedom. Freedom to think the way I want to and to pursue a career I'm passionate about. Freedom to choose and freedom to feel. I've never been one to hold in my emotions and it's really amazing how expressing them to others (the positive ones in particular) can make you feel so alive and connected. So on that note, it's time to mention a few of the specific things I'm very appreciative of this week. It's time for Fav Friday!

1. As J and I were driving home in traffic this evening, I found out via twitter that I won this.


I found out about the contest to win this seriously cool processing tool earlier this week via a tweet from the [B] school. J was actually the one who told me to enter and even though I didn't think I'd ever win, I retweeted the information and went about my week. You can imagine how surprised I was when I found out. Especially after being present for the aforementioned difficult situation with my friend. When I saw my name on twitter, I screamed, turned to J, and high fived him. Yeah, I actually high fived him! Who does that?! That's how excited I was. And if I haven't already mentioned how awesome the [B] school is, please add it to my list of ultimate favs. Thanks [B] school and Mr. Kubota!

2. Modern medicine. Okay, I know this one is really general, but I'm very grateful for modern medicine this week. I don't know if I've said it before...I probably did because I feel like I tell everyone, but I tore some core muscles in yoga a few weeks ago and I've been so frustrated ever since. I can't go to yoga, I can't workout as hard as I want to on my cardio machines, and I can't lift anything remotely heavy. You can only imagine how much I've had to ask J for help. And I don't always like asking for help. From bags of groceries to my lesson manuals for church to the baby love. He's been lifting it all and I feel like a lazy bum. With the help of modern medicine, I've been able to relax my muscles more fully so that I don't tense up while I sleep and it's made all the difference. I'm not free and clear yet and I've been told that it takes a long time to heal, but I know I'm on the way and that it won't be too long before I'm in tree pose once again. Although I won't be doing the triangle on my left side anytime soon (:

3. Remember how I talked about s'mores last week and said that the s'more cooker in the picture I posted was vital to my survival? My dad read the post, agreed with me, and made me one!!! Yeah, because my dad is just genius like that. He can seriously create anything. I remember when I was in 5th grade and pogs were cool. He made me slammers out of metal and all the kids in my class were jealous. Excuse the quality of the picture and just focus on the fact that it's a s'more cooker! Thanks dad!


Have a great weekend everyone!

Liz.Brock

Liz aka "the Lizard" and I have a history that dates back to my second year of college. I'm already making this sound like it happened a long time ago, aren't I? I suppose it feels like a long time because really, I feel like I've known her forever. We became roommates, then friends, and then partners in crime. Not real crime, just the kind that causes you to stay up all night laughing at ridiculous things. She was there for me through many of life's difficult challenges and I still look back on my college years as one of the funnest times in my entire life, because of her.

She and I were like PB & J. Bread and butter. Salsa and tortilla chips. Red Bull and sugar-free Red Bull. We were both single at the time and boys were lame, so instead of waiting around for our prince charmings to sweep us off our feet, we made our own fun. Listing all the crazy and hilarious things we did to pass time would take me longer than I can even imagine, so I'll sum it up by saying that she and I have very creative/weird minds when we get together.

Fast forward a few years. I met J, fell in love, and the Lizard left to serve a mission for our church. J and I got married, and the Lizard returned home 6 months later. Time passed and the Lizard was happily unattached and loving life. In fact, just last year she told me that she didn't think marriage was in cards for her anytime soon. That is until she met Brock.

If I had to create the perfect guy for Lizard, he would be exactly like Brock. Brock is the yin to her yang. The butter to her movie theater popcorn. The snowboard boots to her snowboard. And ironically enough, snowboarding was what they did on their first date. But enough of my rambling. When you see these images from their engagement session, you'll see exactly what I mean!

Lizard and Brock, thank you so much for choosing me not only as your wedding photographer, but as your friend as well. I have no doubt in my mind that you two are perfect for each other and I'm so honored to be able to witness your love. J and I can't wait for your wedding next month!

Because Lizard and Brock live in Utah and traveled to CA for their engagement session, they let me choose the locations for their engagement session. Naturally, I selected two of my absolute favorite places that I think really represent their personalities. Nature meets modern architecture.

Typically I tend to shoot really close up, but I couldn't resist this one!

He is definitely her prince charming...

And here's a closeup of Lizard's gorgeous blue eyes!

This one pretty much sums up their relationship. I didn't think anyone could be as funny as Lizard. Until I met Brock.

Oh yes, and this one. Brock was making one of his famous faces. I seriously LOVE this.

Lizard's got game.

They're going to have pretty cute kids. And I'm usually not wrong about these things. No pressure guys!

This my friends, is trust. I told them to go sit in this foliage because it would make for great pictures and they did so happily! Truth be told, they're actually sitting on a blanket.

And now for my portrait session tradition. The faces.

Here's the aforementioned modern architecture aka a seriously cool parking structure.

I ADORE this next image!

And here's another one that really sums up Lizard and Brock.

They make benches look cool.

They make stairs look even cooler.

And they like to kiss each other. All the time.

Even in black and white.

J snapped this one because he's creative like that. It's one of my favorites.

And here is one of my ultimate favorites. I try to get at least one of these in every single shoot/event I photograph and this one did not disappoint!

Fav Friday: July 3rd

This week has been a frustrating one for me because I re-tore some muscles that I pulled in yoga about two weeks ago. I probably shouldn't have carried the baby love so much or carried that cooler filled with soda, but I did because I'm not very good at being injured (: Who would have thought not being able to go to the gym would be such a bad thing? I'm having major withdrawls! Seriously. And I think I've gained about a billion pounds. Probably not the best day to have gotten my size 2 bridesmaids dress in the mail, but luckily it still fits. Now that's something to be thankful for!

It's time for this week's installment of Fav Friday! Please, try to contain your excitement.

1. base coat nail polish.
I've been doing my own nails since I was 8 years old and up until this week, I'd never used a base coat aka the coat that you apply before the nail polish and top coat. When I got a mani-pedi on my bday this year, I noticed how long the polish stayed and wanted to figure out why. Of course, the polish always seems to stay longer when someone else does it for you, but the detective in me wanted to experiment and figure it out. I bought a base coat at the store and tried it out earlier this week. To my surprise, my nail polish actually stayed longer! Yeah, I'm starting to sound like an infomercial. But it makes sense. A manicurist once told me that the amount of oil in your nails determines how long nail polish will last before it chips. So it would make sense that adding another barrier between your nail and your nail polish would prevent it from chipping. Now I'm starting to sound like a scientific article. The point is that it actually did the trick and now I will never do a DIY mani/pedi without it. OPI is my brand of choice by the way.

2. Hilary Duff is going to be on season 3 of Gossip Girl!

I heard the news this week and I'm stoked because back in the day, I used to be a Hilary Duff fan. Heck, what am I saying? I'm still a Hilary Duff fan and I'm an even bigger Gossip Girl fan. Truth be told, I have an autographed copy of Miss Duff's very first album. That's how cool I am. Rumor is that the character she's going to play is an actress (how fitting), rooms with Vanessa in college, and dates Dan Humphrey. XoXo.

3. S'mores. How obvious, right? Who doesn't like s'mores? I've always liked them, but after going to a bonfire last week, my love for all things s'mores was rekindled and I've been making them at home ever since. I tried to use the stove to toast my marshmallows but that didn't work out so well. I'm not a big fan of charred marshmallows and I prefer mine slightly toasted. As long as it makes the chocolate melt, it's good enough for me. Do you think J would believe me if I told him that buying one of these was vital to my survival?

Yeah, I didn't think so.

And just so I don't leave you on a s'more craving note, here's a sneak peek of an engagement session I'll be posting next week. Happy 4th of July weekend everyone!

Sneak.Peek: Santa Barbara Style

J and I are working on yet another project and since we're almost finished, I thought I would post a little sneak peek of things to come...


We went to Santa Barbara for our 2 year anniversary this year and since it was my first time visiting, all I wanted to do was take pictures! We decided to walk down the pier and when we reached the end of it, we saw these HUGE birds just hanging out everywhere. I tested my limits to see how close I could get my camera to these guys, and then J decided to see how close he could get. It took this bird a minute to realize what was going on, but I think the attention of the people around us is what scared him off. Of course, everyone wanted a picture with the birds after I shot this one (with my camera that is), but I highly doubt any of them looked as cool as J did (: I still laugh every time I look at this picture! J is totally in his element here. I'll be revealing the details of our current project in the very near future so stay tuned for that!

Happy Tuesday!

Fav.Friday : Saturday Edition

1. I found this little gem on Becker's Blog and couldn't resist posting it on here and calling it one of this week's favs. Check it out!



2. Music from the movie- My Sister's Keeper. Whenever I watch movies, I always listen for music that moves me and makes me feel something. Movies wouldn't be half as emotional and impact viewers the way they do without music and I feel like it can also be the same with photos. That's why I love slideshows so much. The movie was amazing and realistic and eye opening, music aside, but there were 2 songs in particular that caught my attention and caused me to bust out my phone to use the Shazaam app. The songs were unrecognized (typically so) but thank heaven for itunes!


The first song is called "Feels Like Home" by Edwina Hayes and has particular significance for me because it's the song I dedicated to J at our wedding reception. The song in the movie was by a different artist than the one I know about and I actually like her version better! If only I'd found it 2+ years ago. The second song is a version of "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" by Greg Laswell and it's so different from the Cyndi Lauper version that I didn't even recognize it when I heard it. Shockingly, J was the one that identified it! I've trained him well, haven't I? I kid, I kid. I will take credit for getting him into music even more than he already was before we met, so bonus points for me (:

3. Setting aside time to just sit and read books I like. Now I know this one isn't a song or a movie or a product or anything completely tangible, but I had to include it. When I was little, I was hooked on the Baby-sitter's Club series (BSC if you want to sound legit) and before that, Baby-sitter's Little Sister or "Karen books" as I used to refer to them. I found myself reading all the time, breezing through books, and carrying them with me wherever I went. Then as I got older and my teachers in school assigned me all kinds of reading, I sort of lost interest in reading anything but magazines. I'd decided that reading just wasn't my thing. Until now.

This past week I've been reading before I go to bed which is just totally different for me. And not just scripture like I usually do. I've been reading (don't laugh) Stori Telling by Tori Spelling. I asked for the book last year because it seemed interesting and easy enough to read and well, I kind of just liked the idea of myself reading it. Then while watching Tori and Dean this season, I learned about Tori's new book Mommywood and decided I had to have it. So J bought it for me for my birthday. Perhaps it's that I couldn't have two cool books sitting on the shelf collecting dust or perhaps it's that I can't very well start reading Mommywood without finishing Stori Telling first. Whatever the case, I've been reading something other than magazines and liking it! So here's to reading. Even if it's only Tori Spelling books. We do own Twilight now...

Kristy.Brian Married

I've wanted to post images from Kristy and Brian's wedding for a while now and I'm so excited the day is finally here! Kristy, as many of you know, is J's younger sister and was the last sibling in his family to get married. She's also the only girl in the family so it was such a special and bittersweet occasion for everyone. Random fact, J and both his siblings all chose to get married in the month of May and all within 4 years of each other. Totally coincidental and totally awesome.

Kristy and Brian both love the beach, so they chose to have their ceremony at Casa Romantica in San Clemente. It was such a gorgeous venue and soooo perfect for them. There were so many places to shoot and I was in photographer heaven! And since Kristy also loves the 1950's, she chose it as the theme for the wedding. From her dress to the 1950's photos of her and Brian's grandparents on their wedding days, everything tied in really perfectly.

Kristy and Brian, I don't know what else to say except that I'm honored. Honored to have shared such an important day with you and your families and friends, and honored to have captured the day with my camera. You two are so perfect for each other and I have no doubt that you'll have a lifetime of love and happiness. Congrats you two!

The day started out at the MAC store (aka heaven)...

Kristy's makeup looked ah-mazing!

And while Kristy was getting ready, J took a few portraits of Brian at Casa Romantica...

This is one of my favs...

Then it was time for their first look which is always one of my favorite moments to capture.

Because their ceremony was later in the day, Kristy and Brian opted to take some bride and groom portraits beforehand. This next image was totally unposed and I am in love with it!

Rock it out Kristy, rock it out (:

I love this moment as well. It was right before the ceremony when Kristy's grandma (we call her little grandma) saw her in her dress for the first time.

This one is soooo mafia-esque.

The weather was absolutely perfect that day.

Here is another one of my favorite moments. When Kristy, her mom, dad, and the baby love (Austin) began their walk down the aisle.

J captured this sweet moment during the ceremony.

The baby love in his suspenders = adorable overload

Birdcage veils are timeless...

This is one of my favorite images of Kristy!

These next two images are similar, but I had to post both of them because I couldn't decide which one I like more.

And here's one of my favorite images from the reception. I love it because instead of accidentally including the second shooter (aka J) in the background, this time I did it on purpose. It shows how J was able to celebrate the day with his family.

And last but not least, a ring shot! We got creative with the drinking fountain...

Click here to see their slideshow. We showed it to the baby love during our test run and he was completely mesmerized (: I've never seen him sit that quietly for so long! Oh and just an fyi, the song that plays in the background is the same song that was playing when Kristy walked down the aisle and it's one of my all time favs.

*This week's Fav Friday post will be up tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Fav Friday

Is it bad if I use the same name for multiple posts? I feel weird using the term "Fav Friday" for more than one post! Why I'm discussing this, I have no idea. Oh and my apologies for posting this so late. Here it is almost 9p and I'm just now posting this or rather, writing this. At least it's still Friday, right? And I'm soooo cool because I'm sitting at home with J trying to get a bunch of work done on a Friday night. That's how we roll. Let's get to this week's Fav Friday before I go off on another tangent.

1. Life is Beautiful by Vega4. I'm in LOVE with this song right now. It's like 6 minutes long and I listen to it over and over again! It's not a brand new song but I'm a firm believer that oldies can be goodies. I love its message as well. How can the message not be amazing with a title like that? I will undoubtedly use it for photo related things in the future.

2. The Sound of Music. As in the movie, not the actual "sound of music", although that's pretty amazing as well.


My grandma introduced me to this incredible film when I was a little girl and up until this past week, I hadn't watched it in a very, very, very long time. It was amazing to experience it as an adult because I understood so much more than ever before. Oh and the songs! Don't get me started on the songs! I watched it with J and my mom, and my mom and I were singing the words to every single song. I think J was a little jealous because he doesn't know all the words yet and he told us to stop singing. He'll learn them though because I will definitely be watching it a lot more now.

As many of you know, I'm a HUGE movie fan. Sometimes J and I go to the movies mulitple weekends in a row and sometimes we raid the $5 DVD bin at Walmart. Yes, we are that cool. I've always had a hard time narrowing all the movies I love down to a single favorite. Until now that is. I, Ashley, hereby declare that The Sound of Music is officially my all time favorite movie. That's a big deal for me! Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens...these are a few of my favorite things!

3. itunes gift cards.
It goes without saying that I LOVE music just as much I LOVE movies. But this week I received my first itunes gift card ever. Shocking, I know. It was part of my bday present from J and I was soooo stoked when I saw it. Now I don't have to sheepishly admit to him that I just had to buy that one song because it was only a dollar. I do that a lot. I tell him that it helps me work more efficiently because well, it does. No more excuses. A least for a while until the gift card runs out. A short while.

Happy Fav Friday (night) everyone!