sometimes it takes more than once to learn life's lessons.

so i have been watching these cherry blossoms behind my work for over a week and because apparently i learned nothing from my travels to japan a few years ago, i missed them. while i was in japan i was stopped by a little japanese man who had an affinity for english and "ros angeros" and telling young american ladies about the beauty of the cherry blossom. how one small flower has such a strong correlation to life. and how if we sit back and wait, we will miss it. (the life cycle of a cherry blossom is two weeks). i had gone to japan on a mission to photograph the cycle, from beginning to end which was really quite risky, as is with mother nature, there is no set time schedule for when the blossoms occur. they come when they are good and ready to. well, luck was on my side this trip because the first blossoms sprung the day our plane touched down and they began to fall the day i left. oh fortuna! but if you are paying attention to my rambles you will know imediately where my faux pas today occured. i have been watching them for over a week, from a far, and the life cycle is..........???? very good young padawan! two weeks. so lets flash forward to today...... 

here i go, all excited to see what 2 years of improving on my photographic tendencies would produce, when i turn the corner and low and behold, the effin trees are almost bare! "wtf" i think to myself! ok, screw it, i hate all those lol's, and omg's, so ,"what the fuck" i think to myself.... how the hell did that happen? they were in full bloom last week....... ding ding ding. well this genius deserves a wicked round of applause. but lesson re-learned, i will never again forget the unforgettable story of the "ros angeros" loving japanese man. i have remembered that life can be fleeting. stop waiting, grab the bull by the horns, and just do it. because if you don't, what ever it is that you thought would be there, won't be. but with this in mind, when what you planned changes, make the best of it. don't dwell on what you missed, but revel in what you have.

xoxo.

envy can be an evil mistress and i'm riding her like a bull riding cowgirl in a rodeo.

ugh, spring. spring is love. and love is, puke. just kidding. kind of. well, when you are not in love, it's all too easy to be annoyed with it. and today, it was everywhere. while strolling through balboa park, there were couples making out EVERYWHERE! ew. leave that lovey dovey smootchy woochy business at home. not on romantic hills, surrounded by flowers. not on swing sets. not under trees. not not not. (can anyone else see the transparency of this blog rant????? hence the title.) anyways. as any good, slightly invading space photog, i snuck in a couple pictures of a puke worthy moment. ok, fuck it, it was beautiful. totally out of some romantic comedy that i would watch over and over.  (i was trying to not be an obvious strange girl taking their photo so did it right quick, hence the quality.) anyways, i hate the couple on the lower right. no, not really. hates a strong word, but so is that evil bitch envy. 

xoxo.

i need a ringer.

so while at brunch after several mimosas i decided to take a go at shooting rings. it's a lot harder than i realized! so i am learning from it, but wanted to share! clearly i need to work on where i am focusing and also avoid being in the actual picture..... but i think the idea is kind of cool. i especially like the cracked paint.......

xoxo.

the art of throwing a hoedown.

i love parties. and the only thing i like more than going to them, is throwing them. (although if you ask me this the day before and the day of, my opinion will have changed drastically.) anyways. parties. love love love them. especially when you see something in your head and then all of a sudden it actually turns out that way. i like the cooking. i like the decorating. i like the creating. not so much with the cleaning but, it's all part of it i suppose. anyways. another party is now under my belt.  a post bachelorette party for 13 girls. it was a two day event so everything had to say, night time hoedown and breakfast bridal brunch all in one.i am really really proud of it. what i envisioned was a "chic hoedown". or "haute hoedown" as some would say. this was for a bestie who went off and got herself hitched...i wanted to see rustic country. i wanted simple, fun, yet still retain it's well deserved class. many hands made light work which allowed for this event to happen, the following are just a few of my personal design touches... whatcha think? 

this is the appetizer station

i found an old ironing board closest in the yard and used it as decor....

i took some hay and an old window frame and created this center piece.

when i realized i didn't have enough flowers i took to their garden and picked some lavender and threw it in glass milk bottles.

this is another window that i took and worked it into the decor.

this is what it looked like when all the food was laid out.

although my day job is executing events, throwing this party made me remember how much i love doing this kind of thing.  i can only hope that the bride was as thrilled with it as i!

xoxo.

music to my ears.

i had a conversation with a friend the other day that made me realize how often i turn the tv on as companionship, as background noise to fill my empty house. i do so so often that i don't even realize that i have turned it on, or that it's on for that matter. the reason it bothers me so is that it means that i am not listening to music.
its funny. i have to stop and remind myself how much music means to me. how important it is. how it fuels my fire. how it inspires. i laugh because whenever i am asked who my favorite is, i am ALWAYS stumped. certain music is important to me at certain times. there is no absolute about anyone that i have ever listened to. they all have their time and place in my life.

well, the current flavor of the week are theses guys..... mumford and sons. i am head over heals for them currently. listen to them on repeat. although they are british they make me want to go to the country. to lay in endless fields of wildflowers. to run. they paint my brain with delightful visions. conjure delicious ideas. they right now are music to my ears. 

and since they make me want to go to the country, i will share a picture. shocker. i know. anyways. i like this photo. i hope you do too.

xoxo.

the spirit of ireland.

today is my favorite. and i will tell you why. when i was a wee lass, the ripe age of 18,  my family took me on a couple of fantastic adventures through ireland. on bicycle we traveled, over the rolling hills, through the rain, in desperate search for our next pub and that beautiful glass of guiness that awaited. i met life altering people on this journey. friends that i have kept now for almost 13 years. although countries and states and ages separated us, we all held one thing in common. spirit. and it is that very spirit that i am reminded of on this day. from riding in the back of a van, legs crossing over each other, crackling voices singing out, irish rover and danny boy echoing through the steel walls. oasis's wonderwall being repeated over and over.  to toughing out 35 miles, a sore ass, a spliting headache, blinding rains and stopping in your tracks winds, all the while supporting each other to keep the two wheels turning. to drinking whiskey in caverns. to telling ghost stories in cemeteries under irish stars. to playing fuzzy duck in parking lots, to swimming in icy lakes and chasing donkeys country side. to getting on an irish radio show. spirit consumed us all and continues to do so. it's binding. and it still makes my heart smile.

i fell absolutely in love with each and everyone of my friends and family along those journeys. i fell in love with people, my family (who lets face it the few years prior had been a bit rough with the parentals, damn that age 14-15!), ireland, photography, cycling, guiness, and spirit. and i think that THAT is the true reason i love today, the 1/4 irish in me aside. to me st patty's means ireland. and to me, ireland means love. i found my soulmate there. that soulmate is spirit, which unequivocally is love.

ironically, the picture below has nothing to do with ireland. it was taken in san diego on a rare rainy, rainbow kind of day.


 

 this photo reminds me of spirit. And although i am well aware that i have no one to share an umbrella with, i have something better. i have the power of love. and i believe in it 100%. and if you know me, you know that i say, screw sharing an umbrella! together, lets dance in the rain! and that my dears, is spirit!

so with a glass raised i cheers to spirit, friendship, family, dreams, memories, rainbows, umbrellas, bicycles and green. 

xoxo.

sealed.

so i have been completely uninspired. can't seem to get my creative grove on. boooooooo. maybe it coincides with birthday week. maybe not.  although i still can't believe i am turning 31. i know it's still young and a life time ahead still awaits but, for those of you chuckling at me right now for my temporary panic, think back to when you turned 31. get back to that moment, not this moment where you are reflecting on then, but actually go back to then. there is always the, if i knew then what i know now, well guess what, you didn't know then for a reason. and i don't know now. but i will, one day. but for now, i am gonna sit and stew in this non creative panic and try to recalibrate myself for this life time of learning that is to come. until then, in the spirit of fate being sealed, here are some pictures of seals. 

xoxo.