Saturday, September 10, 2011

A Bachelorette party from the past...

My beautiful older sister is getting married in October. In honor of her upcoming nuptials her nearest and dearest friends gathered to honor her with a Madmen themed Bachelorette party! After a rushed morning of getting dressed (or letting others dress me) we headed to San Francisco to get onto our Google tour bus. The bus was rather amazing and the driver was very sweet. And the girls all looked amazing!





Once we were all aboard we headed up to the gorgeous lush land of Sonoma Valley to start our day of wine tasting. Our first stop was Imagery Winery. Although the service was good, the wine was rather lack luster. Both the reds and whites were a little flavorless.




















Our second stop was Kenwood Winery. The reds here had a very robust flavor. I purchased a Syrah that was both delicious and reasonably priced. The service here was great! They quickly served our large group and all of our bottles were sold at a discounted price! If I find myself up in Sonoma again I will definitely stop here. 






The third winery we went to was by far the best! It was Cline Wineries and the treatment was phenomenal!  We were given a tour of the winery and the surrounding property, including an adobe and a museum dedicated to the missions of California. We were then sat at picnic tables under the trees and served our tastings paired with cheese and crackers. Each wine was amazing. I left here with two bottles (the plan was to not buy any!) I will recommend to anyone and everyone going wine tasting up in Sonoma.






The day was interspersed with portraits and great shots of the gorgeous flowers, but those will be added in another post. The night ended at a great little Italian restaurant and then to a hotel that was not too accommodating. Such a fabulous day!















Babies!!!




One of Alan's nearest and dearest friends and his wife had a beautiful baby girl! We were fortunate enough to be in the area to be able to see beautiful Juliana only a few days after she was born. These were just a few of the pictures I took while we were visiting them in the hospital (please excuse the terrible hospital lighting!!!)



On our way home from this trip to the baby Alan and I decided it was time to expand our family as well, please say hello to our sweet little addition, Koda :)





I had to add my sweet Plato as well. They are getting along swimmingly!

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Fabulous wedding extravaganza!!!

In July my dear friend, Sarah, and her wonderful fiance, Eran, were married in a beautiful ceremony. Sarah started out as being one of my suite-mates when I moved down to UCSD for my first year of college. From that point we became dear friends. Eran lived in the same college as us and we all met during the first week. Sarah and Eran started dating during our first year of undergraduate school and have been together ever since. It was love at first sight <3

Sarah granted me the privilege of bothering her and taking pictures of her getting ready for her big day. Of all the people around Sarah that day, she was by-far the calmest of them all. I am so honored to have been able to take capture some of these moments.















There are many more on my facebook. So if you like what you see here and are my friend stop by and take a look!

Sunday, August 7, 2011

A Day in the Sun!

Being in a Master's program gives me little time to relax and be with Family. Over the Fourth of July weekend my sister Kellen, her boyfriend Myles, Alan and I packed our beach bag and headed down to San Elijo, a great beach campground. There we met up with our dad, Scott, and step-mom, Kim, for a fun filled beach day. The weather was beautiful, the water was warm and the mood was relaxing. Just what we all needed. Water activities ensued and Frisbee were thrown, but the best part of the day was sitting by the bonfire roasting some marshmallows for smores :)I took some fun photos of Alan, my Dad, and step-brother, Nick, in the water. I really enjoyed this photo session because of the lighting. The blue background really made the dark figures pop!

My Dad
My Dad and step-brother Nick out in the water.

My Dad catching a wave

Alan on a paddle board!

Alan paddling out to the waves

Dad catching another wave


Nick catching some waves

Nick!

Ash and Dom Engagement Shoot

I had the privelage of taking pictures of Ashley and Dominique. They are the sweetest most amazing couple. They were so loving and easy going, which made my job a breeze. I think we got some amazing pictures!!! My very talented sister, Ms. Kellen Hofer, helped me with some of the photo editing. Enjoy!