BRETT + HEATHER

CHAD + ALESHA

hey sillies! ive missed u! what this? why the cold shoulder?? oh c'mon... you guys didn't seriously think i would have a new post up in TWO weeks f'realsies, did you!? what am i, some sort of wizard? 


chad and alesha saw their photos looong ago so they're all like, blog? what blog? and this is for the clients sooo...ya. ya'll be straight trippin' if you think i'ma get all stressed over major responsibilities like writing posts and brushing my hair n stuff.


so back in the summer when it was safe to go outside, i met up with these guys in banff, ab to photograph their wedding. it was small and quaint and perfect. they exchanged vows overlooking the gorgeous lake minnekewanakasomethingorother.. i feel that may be slightly off but you guys know the one im talking about, right? 


afterwards, chad swept alesha off her tiny anthropology-clad feet, and into a canoe which drifted off into a blissfully romantic happily ever after. and then i made them come back to shore so we could do photos. 


the reception was in giorgio's private upstairs trattoria, which in case you didn't know is italian for tavern or room where awesome is served on a plate. the ricotta? omg. love at first taste. ok, maybe just lust at first taste, but you know what? i'm ok with that.


and i looved the antique typewriter chad and alesha had for their guests to 'sign' on... so cute. and SO hard to figure out how to work. like, wheres the 'reset' button on this beast? but still, very cute.


chad + alesha, you guys rocked it hard. even when i got a little weird and made you hold fake moustaches over your faces and you were all, srsly? we're paying you how much again? so yeah, thanks again for adding to the many reasons why i heart my job.

CALIFORNIA GIRL

Dear friend,


How are you? I am fine. Did you have a good summer? Mine was great! I saw many cool things and did lots of fun stuff (minus the cool things and fun stuff)... (unless sitting in front of my computer counts as cool or fun) ok, i think i'm going to go ahead and end this little pen pal letter I got going on riiight about now. and that would be the extent of my correspondence skills. 


so i was little miss mopey, feeling all sorry for myself the other day because everyone else is going to europe and australia and that other far away one and for me, the grocery store at the end of the block is about as far away as i got this summer. no, not true... i dropped off a letter at the post office which is half a block further. dang, i should have taken pics and posted them on facebook! lol, i guess i was in banff last weekend to do a wedding, so there's that. yaayyy banff!

but i did go away in like, february or something? details-shmeetails. my parents and my bro an me took a trip up to cali and it was magical and magnificent. so i thought i would share some of the magical magnificence with ya'll and post a few photos.

we met up with my bestie and her hubby and their little human thing in santa monica and spent a few days there and did all the touristy stuff, ie: walking really slowly and stopping short at every other street corner to take a photo of the totally unique street sign/nearby vegetation/homeless guy under a bench 

The Santa Monica Route 66 sign is located at the start of the boardwalk so technically this sign should read 'Beginning of the Trail'. yes, this bothers me because i have CDO. it's like OCD but all the letters are in alphabetical order AS THEY SHOULD BE.

i'm almost 100% positive that in my previous life i was a bicycle, or else a bicycle maker? (do they exist?) or even, its possible i invented the bike... that would explain my obsession with them. riding on them, photographing them... more so the photographing part because you don't end up sweaty but i do love a good bike ride. these guys were so happy and red, they were just begging to be photographed. i could sense it as i gazed out thoughtfully over the vast ocean.

so i decided next time i go i'ma bring some duct tape and my dad's camouflaged hunting binoculars and attach them to the railing next to the telescope thingy and charge 24 cents. lawl, oh can you imagine? wouldn't that be hilAREious!?!?

my brother, Jamie, has always had a fondness for boats which is what moved me to put these 2 pictures together. also i thought the muted tones in the wall he is standing against complimented the colors of the sky in the adjacent picture. that was probably more the reason actually, not the boat thing. come to think of it, it's cheese that he's always liked, not boats. unless the boat were transporting cheese, in which case he would probably make an acception for that boat. wow, i should go to bed.

i'm not sure what's wrong with this dude's backyard... i guess, in all honesty, if i could contort my body that way i would probably also bring my little red yoga mat down to the boardwalk and show off my talent to everyone. heck i would set up a facebook event and invite my friends and family to come watch. and maybe a couple local tv stations. and a clown. yes, this event definitely needs a clown. 

these are the supporting beams for the pier at the end of the boardwalk. or, if you squint, they're giant upside down used matches.

all the buildings along the boardwalk were painted cheerful vibrant colors and this made me happy and it made me want ice cream.

ps. ok. have u peeps ever tasted cotton candy flavored ice cream? O.M.G. try it. srsly. it's pretty much my most favorite of all time in the history of ever.

these little guys were so cute, frolicking around the water and drawing pictures in the sand. it's a giant hairy heart on stilts. OBviously!

from behind, i would say he looks like a justin. and she's probably a becky. justin passed becky a will-you-go-out-with-me note in their junior year and they've dated off and on since high school. she hates his his tiny, messy bachelor pad and how he thinks it's cool to collect action figures. she actually secretly hopes one day he discovers that he's deathly allergic to plastic, forcing him to get rid of them all. and he gets annoyed when she babbles incessantly about her friends and their drama or when she takes 10 minutes to tell a story that should take 30 seconds, tops. maybe 35. but he makes her laugh, often to the point where no noise comes out and she sits there clapping like a retarded seal. and she has a kind heart and a cute nose so he puts up with her drama and she avoids his apartment. weird... i kinda feel like if i yelled the name justin or becky right now, they would both turn around and look at me. yes, in the picture on my computer screen. my imagination is trippy like that. but it's not my fault... insanity runs in my family. it practically jogs.

waaay too much time was spent on the previous image caption so little to no thought will be put into this one:

ummm ok, this is a big rock.

it has L.A. engraved on it.

L.A. stands for Los Angeles.

(feel free to bookmark this blog in your 'online education' folder anytime)

i wonder if how we see and portray a scene or object is at all an indication of our personality/interests/age, etc. like, for example, my mom took this same picture, only in her photo the focus point was on the word 'slippers'. she must love slippers. or she's old and couldn't see what she was doing.

his board shorts are epic and his socks are purple. your argument is invalid.

it was love at first sight.

i was truly smitten.

then i walked up to him and threw up in my mouth a little. pretty sure he hadn't showered in a little over a decade and quite possibly had handfuls of compost in his pockets.

luckily, '4ever' actually only meant for about an hour and a half while he used my shower, ate everything in the fridge and checked his facebook page. everything is so much cooler in the 21st century, even homeless people.

so we're just sitting there one afternoon, having lunch at a cafe on Santa Monica, sipping our Starbucks and discussing intellectual matters such as books...

....when all of a sudden....

...Adam Sandler strolls into my camera frame. i most definitely did not get up and follow him for a block and a half trying to get a good shot. he was shopping with his daughter, it was totally cool! they were just like, there! hanging out with the rest of us! stars...they're just like us! they shop! for clothing! in clothing stores! 

i don't think my dad ever took me clothes shopping, it was usually my mom that took us. although, my clothes always seemed to fit a bit better than little Sandler jr.'s do here. i feel the two might be related...

or... maybe she accidentally misplaced her shirt and Mr. Gumbo was there and gave her the shirt off his back until she could buy a new one. he seems like a nice guy that would do something like that.

if this photo were a video you would see the sales lady actually dancing past the window. it's possible she was singing and flossing as well, i didn't really get a good look.

this was the highlight of my week. this cupcake. looking at it, taking its picture, then destroying it with my throat. did you know i love chocolate? almost so much that i would actually drive around advertising my obsession with one of those corny bumper stickers that says something like 'SAVE THE EARTH - its the only planet that has chocolate'. you know... the kind that grandmas chuckle at.

i loved this colorful inspiration board in the stationary store that we spent WAY too much time in.

i hated that we had to eventually leave the santa monica anthropologie that we spent WAY not enough time in.

brody knows how to high five. brody is officially set for life. 

also, he will most likely break a few hearts. but he will be able to make up for it with a solid high five.

yep, i'd nibble on those too if they were put in front of me. add a little bit of ketchup... ooh, or maybe nutella... i'll get back to you on that one.

so apparently the photo from the camera we were actually looking at didn't make the cut so here's a wonderful 'are-they-distracted-by-something-or-is-that-on-purpose' shot. shell is the best an i miss her like the desert misses the rain. i know because i was once at the desert and i asked it. but frealz, she's the awesomest of awesoms. ok, what? you cant plurolize awesome!? whaaat?? plurolize isn't a word??? srsly? who do i talk to about adding words to the dictionary, is there a 1-800 number or something!?


ok...so apparently they got it covered... turns out it was already in the dictionary, I just don't know how to spell.

...the cute little courtyard in the lobby of the hotel we stayed at. it had this foreign, european feel to it so whenever i visited the courtyard i spoke with an accent. ok, the one time i passed through the courtyard i quoted some steve martin line with a french accent but the first story was better, so let's just go with that.

it was sooo nice the whole time and then on our last day there, cali got all moody an was like 'fine...leave... go home! see if i care! i didn't even want you to come in the first place! i'll just be all grey and rainy today so you never wanna come back'! 
yeah, it was a little immature but whatever... cali is dead to me. ive moved on. banff is where its at now. (as in, check back in a week for some banff wedding snaps)