Geoff was recently interviewed for a new website featuring trends, tips and ideas for planning your Bay Area wedding. Here’s the link to the interview, posted today on “G” day. This image above is my all time favorite shot of my very sexy husband, taken by Kelvin of course! Here is the link, enjoy:
I love sweets. Always have. Apparently a tad more than others. Ok, so it’s more like an obsession I guess. I’ve always loved sugary treats-donuts, brownies, candy, ice cream, cake, cupcakes, frosting right out of the can even. I’m not particularly discriminating when it comes to sugar. Anyone who spends time with me has quickly learned that bribes involved baked goods are about 100% effective with me. Geoff can get me to agree to pretty much anything with the promise of a trip to the land of “hot, fresh, now” (that’s when the Krispy Kreme glazed donuts are just out of the oven, a sign lights up announcing the donuts are hot & fresh, right now!).
Recently, my mom wanted to try some kind of fat belly diet, which seemed like a good idea since I was starting to feel a bit frumpy. We did the diet together for a week, and then just kind of kept going, eating healthy for the first time (ever, to be perfectly honest). My one concern was dealing with the chocolate & sweets cravings, which has always been my downfall. I’d been doing ok but knew that sooner or later, I’d have a breakdown (usually near the bakery section at the grocery store, where the donuts are usually stale but I eat them anyways). I’d read on Yelp about someone addressing their chocolate cravings with acupuncture, so I thought I’d give it a try. I was already off to a great start, having had only 4 desserts in the span of 4 weeks (typically I’d need at least 1 sugary treat per day, minimum). However, this was due to extreme will power on my part, I was still experiencing daily cravings.
This was my first experience with acupuncture. The accupuncturist talked with me about the cravings for at least 30 minutes. I admitted to her & later my family, that my cravings are usually more like fantasies that can last for an hour or several. These fantasies are actually quite disruptive to my ability to focus & concentrate, as I might image various types of pie, and how delicious each different flavor might be, or going to Mrs Fields to get a frosted cookie (the cookie itself isn’t enough sugar, I really prefer it to be covered in butter cream frosting) and then a dozen nibblers to go with it. Unfortunately, the nearest Mrs Fields is at a mall about 20 minutes away, and so I have to have a fairly good reason to go there.
There more I began talking about the issue, I began to realize that it’s really quite a problem that I’ve been covering up & hiding for years. For example, when I worked in non-profits, I used to stop at a donut store every morning on my way to work & get 2 donut bars. However, in order to “save calories” I’d only eat the tops with the frosting. This is actually how I justified having a second donut. Whenever I’d go to any sort of a receptionist office with a candy bowl out, my entire focus became creating some sort of a diversion so I could take more candy than was appropriate. Geoff & I belong to a local photography group, and we often have our meetings at Kevin Chin’s loft. When his wife Nancy gets home, she usually bakes some cookies for the group & leaves the plate in the kitchen after passing it around. Most people don’t even have 1 cookie, but I’d usually grab 2 during the initial round. The rest of the evening I would spend strategizing more trips to the kitchen area-needing to refill my water, trips to the restroom, etc. & grab another cookie each time, well past the point of feeling sick. When I told Kevin about this, he laughed and said that on one occasion he & Nancy had noticed that while we were talking in the kitchen, that I stared at the plate of cookies the entire time, unable to really hear what they were saying.
As I began thinking about the issue more and more, I’ve been able to see patterns of behavior such as these examples, that I actually didn’t really realize weren’t “normal.” I’ve just always assumed that sugary treats are so delicious, it was right to spend hours each day desiring them. Hmm.
THE RESULTS: I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the acupuncture. It didn’t hurt at all, and after putting assorted needles into me, she left me alone for 20 minutes with soft music, candles and low lighting. It was very relaxing actually. But the results have been amazing. It’s like a switch has been flipped off. The cravings and thought patterns were totally gone, and I went into a bakery & few days later & saw all the various baked goods with no concern or urgent need to get something, very different from my past. After about a week, it started to wear off and the cravings came back, but with another treatment, the cravings have not yet returned. It has been been like night & day, I had no idea accunpuncture could be so powerful! Anyways, I thought I’d share my story. Let me know if you would like to get a referral, I’d be happy to pass along.
Today, Emma turns 2! She’s no longer a puppy, not quite a woman! I think she’ll always look (and act) like a puppy-in my heart she’ll always be a little girl. At about 3 1/2 pounds, she’s full grown. I had never really thought about or wanted a dog, until I met Linnae Asiel’s dog Emily, also a Maltese. Linnae used to bring Emily to bridal shows, and Emily would sit quietly in her little purse throughout the day, just as sweet as could be. Emily’s so sweet and loving and cuddly, and I just got that feeling, you know, like “I want one!” When I began telling Geoff that I wanted a cute little puppy just like Emily, he convinced me that our lifestyle could not accommodate a puppy, that we were “too busy.” So I begrudgingly accepted that answer, and all but gave up hope. Meanwhile, Geoff had decided that he would get me a puppy for Christmas, and went into over drive secretly researching breeds, breeders and so on. I had no idea! On Christmas Eve, he had to disappear for a few hours for “secret Christmas activities” which was actually driving about 3 hours away to pick up Emma from the breeder, which he had visited several weeks prior and actually picked Emma out (she wasn’t called Emma yet). Unfortunately, I was no particularly loving that day, and had actually been quite nasty to him when he asked me to do an errand for him on Christmas Eve, which was to go to Target and buy a deep fryer. We had been hosting his family for the holidays, and I guess I was a little overworked from hostess activities. There’s no excuse, I was downright mean to Geoff, and all the while he’s driving nearly 6 hours (plus paying a small fortune!) to get my Emma for me. When he got home and convinced me to come into the living room for a surprise, I finally stormed in, grumbling about being busy unloading the dishwasher. And then he unzipped his coat and Emma popped out. I fell in love instantly! And of course I was immediately horrified by the way I’d been treating him all day! He’s the best husband ever (I can’t believe he puts up with me sometimes!). Here’s Emma, giving her “naughty” look:
About a month ago, I casually picked up one of Brittainie’s books called Twilight. She swore up and down that it was really good and that I would like it, but I’ve never been into the vampire genre (much less teen vampires!). Anyways, I thought, why not give it a try? From the very start, I was totally hooked! I read through Twilight in just under a day, then quickly devoured books 2 & 3, New Moon & Eclipse. The basic story is about a teenager named Bella who falls for a teen vampire at her school. It’s unbelievably absorbing and easy to read. It’s got a very strong following, and of course, a movie comes out in December. I literally read all 3 books in a span of 3 days (because I’m a fast reader, which I feel compelled to remind Geoff regularly). I highly recommend the series, it’s fun, easy & unputdownable. Twilight was the best, in my opinion. We’ll see how it wraps up…
Check out this funny interview of Geoff by Andrew Hsu, (a great videographer from Studio MSV) posted on his blog yesterday in his series titled “Take a Look Tuesday” on photographers:
Summers are pretty hectic for us, but one night recently I snuck off for an evening to take Brittainie to a Giants game against the Chicago Cubs. We ate dinner at Momo’s, and then headed over to see the game. I’d gotten our tickets from Goldstar Events for $10 each. The seats were way, way up there (as you can see). We had a great time, but next time, we’ll definitely get better seats!
Over the years we have gotten so many requests from past brides to do a portrait session for their babies, maternity sessions and so forth, and we have always referred them to someone else. However, we are ready to start doing more portraits, and over the summer we’ll be setting up a proper space for studio sessions. I’m looking forward to working with pregnant bellies, babies, families and high school seniors. Brittainie modeled for me a few weeks ago so I could get some ideas for senior portrait locations & styles. She’s a great model! She’s gotten her driver’s permit recently, and has been learning to drive over the summer. She’ll be a junior at Woodside next year. They grow up so fast!! Here’s a few of my favorites:
We brought along this hat which she had gotten in Mexico, what a cute prop it made:
I think this is my absolute favorite:
I’m really into cakes. Baked goods of all kinds actually. Cakes, brownies, lemon squares, cookies, pies, cupcakes. When we have a long wedding day ahead of us, I tell myself that if I work really hard and get great shots, there’ll be a lovely piece of wedding cake waiting for me at the end of the day. Honestly, the thought of wedding cake can get me through an intense 10 hour day on my feet. For the first half of the day, I imagine what it will look like, what type of frosting it will be covered in, any fillings that might be used, what it will look like etc. After I’ve seen the actual cake on the day, of course I can start filling in with details. I love cake, I do. My absolute favorite kind of cake is chocolate cake with raspberry filling and vanilla frosting. Sadly, this is not a particularly common combination, but there’s always a chance right? You just never know! A sad little secret about me is that I often (yes, often) fantasize about pretending to be a bride & groom so Geoff & I could go to cake tastings. Of course, most cake people would recognize us, so it would be unwise to try this little stunt here in the Bay Area. Sometimes I further develop my fantasizes about food tastings with assorted caterers too, but mainly I focus on the cake. Sometimes when we are going out of town, I begin to wonder if we couldn’t pull it off in an area where wedding industry professionals don’t know us? Unfortunately, Geoff is not really keen on this idea, so I never get very far with it.
However, my friend Jen from Jen’s Cakes is throwing a cake tasting party for (wedding) industry people in a few weeks. I am so excited. I cannot even tell you how excited I am. In fact, I’m going to email Jen right now to let her know my favorite type of cake!
Geoff & I have wanted to photograph our good friends Linnae & Jonathan from Asiel Design for some time now. We finally got the chance. The chemistry between those two is unbelievable!
We started out at their San Jose warehouse
the second we saw this funky old truck in the back of the warehouse, we knew we could create some cool images with it
the girl is hot, there’s no denying it ( I’ll admit it, I might have a small girl-crush on Linnae, but don’t we all??)
these two are so much fun, we always have such a great time when we are together. Plus, their work is absolutely amazing. If you haven’t had a chance to check out their floral work, it is amazing. The designs are always fresh, whimsical, edgy, and sexy. I never knew a floral display could be sexy until I saw Linnae’s designs.
We did these shots at the new San Jose City Hall, a very cool new space, that is also available for weddings and events.
Just when the sun went down, I thought we were wrapping up. And that’s when things started getting really good…
here’s my favorite
Geoff and I really enjoy “pushing the envelope” when we get the chance. It allows us to keep our creativity flowing, which is key when you are a photographer!
We tend to take our vacations during the slow season, and this year we took a family cruise to Mexico to celebrate Brittainie’s 16th birthday. I had been on a carnival 3 day cruise years ago and didn’t really enjoy the “booze cruise” atmosphere, so I wasn’t sure what to expect this time around. I used to love to travel, which is very different from taking a vacation. Travel is going to some old European cities to explore the history and architecture, or going to India to photograph a camel festival (Like our good friend Michelle Walker does). But these days, all I really want is an ocean view and a hot tub. The cruise to Mexico was perfect! It was on the Golden Princess, and the travel agent I went through really encouraged us to get a balcony room. I’m so glad he did, because the balcony room was AMAZING!!!! Every day we had great light & a nice ocean breeze, while at night we could hear the ocean waves lapping against the side of the ship. It was so peaceful and relaxing, I can’t wait for my next cruise!
In Cabo Geoff went for one of the ship’s offshore adventures and went dune buggy racing, while Britt & I took a glass bottom boat ride. We had 3 stops, in Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan & Cabo. It was nice to get off the ship & explore the towns. Puerto Vallarta was the best, Geoff & Brittainie & I went swimming with dolphins. They are such incredible creatures, intelligent & playful!
The food on the ship was ok, not bad, but not great. We had originally signed up for the formal dinner service, until we discovered the buffet had all the same food and more! My favorite part was getting a champagne breakfast served on our balcony. There were a lot of choices as far as activities (casino, bingo, art auctions, arts & crafts, pottery, golf, yoga etc) but all I really wanted was to sit on the balcony reading and enjoying the ocean view. Overall, a great time. I would recommend checking out cruiseweb.com for specials or last minute deals. I think a cruise would make a nice honeymoon, you don’t have to make any decisions, so you can just focus on each other.
Our next trip is to my favorite beach house in Irish Beach at the end of August. It’s our break in the middle of “busy season” which is May-October. Irish Beach is a few hours north, in the Mendocino area. It’s a gorgeous drive, especially with the top down…I can’t help it, whenever I get back from a vacation, I start thinking about the next one!
