Today is Scott’s birthday. A little known fact: Scott is 2 years younger than I am. A not-so-little-known fact: he has always been the more “mature” one in our relationship. I’m the one who frets a bit when it’s too cold, who gets a slightly cranky when it’s too hot, a bit fussy when OH MY GOD I HAVEN’T EATEN IN 4 HOURS AND I’M GOING TO PASS OUT. But Scott is like, the champion of putting up with things. There is a word for it in Japanese. It’s called gaman - patience, perseverance, tolerance, self-control. And Scott is the royal king of gaman. I have never met a single person who complains less than he does, who let’s stresses go, who always always remains calm, and never let’s the teensy things in life {which sometimes to me are! so! unbearable!} bother him. He is as solid as a rock, and to have someone like that in your life, especially when you sometimes find yourself as solid as a bowl of raspberry Jello, is amazing.

For his birthday, I got him tickets to the Azure Ray concert & a hat from My Baby Jo {an awesome vintage-inspired clothing store}, and I asked him what he wanted to do that day. He decided upon biking around town, so we biked down to Tokyo 7-7 for brunch, and then down the sunny stream that runs through Culver City. One of Scott’s favorite things to do is to build stuff (hence the guitar amp building business) and for the past few weeks, he’s been putting together a new bike from a frame he found randomly one day. He brings the beautiful cream-colored ride home yesterday and proclaims that the new bike is for me. So on a side note, on his birthday I ended up with a new bike. What?

Happy birthday to my very best friend and my most favorite person, the one who deserves so so much happiness today, and every day. I love you!

{ photos all taken with my iPhone, processed using the CrossProcess app }

10 girl photographers in the desert!

A quick break in the midst of wedding season, a chance to interact, to share stories poolside, to laugh over midday snacks of hummus & carrots, to have the sense of “coworkers”, when so much of our days are spent alone in front of a glowy computer screen. From the moment I entered the wedding industry, I was so amazed by the lack of “competition” and by the overabundance of sharing & love, and these girls embody that love in every ounce of their being {in addition to being smart, sweet & hilarious!} I feel blessed to call them friends!

We stayed at the uber hip & lovely Ace Hotel, pretty much splitting our time equally between the pool & the room since it was literally 427 degrees out. The Ace was the perfect place for both relaxation & for photos - seriously, gorgeous photo ops EVERYWHERE! YOU! LOOK! I’m including some of my favorite snaps from the trip here, as well as a fantastic stop-motion video the talented Mary created & put together!

All in all, an amazing trip that left me feeling inspired and refreshed! Can’t wait for Catalina 2011!

STOPtheMOTION Friday! Take:16 from Floataway Studios on Vimeo.

The light at the Ace Hotel was absolutely breathtaking - so soft & pretty!

Amanda made us all these FANTASTIC goodie bags filled with the most amazing goodies - a smores pack, a cupcake in a jar, a pop-of-color water bottle… it was such a treat to arrive in PS to find these!

The food at the Ace was just divine! On the left is the ALT (which I’m pretty sure stands for “ADRIENNE LOVES THIS”, and which I supplemented with lots & lots of bacon):

Thanks to Jordana for the 2nd pic!

Thank you Ashley, Heather, Heidi, Jackie, Jordana, Ala, Mary, Megan & Amanda for a wonderful trip! { image courtesy of Heather :) }

We’re smackdab in the middle of July, our busiest month of 2010, and it’s been a fun ride so far! Scott and I just got back from a quick SF trip for Deb & David’s amazing wedding and I’m heading out of the office again tomorrow morning, this time for play :) Looking forward to 3 whole days of swimming, laughing, lounging, eating, shopping, and margarita-ing, with some of the sweetest photographer ladies I know! I’ll be out of town until Wednesday evening and will be returning all emails then - really looking forward to this splash of relaxation so I can jump into the last part of July completely refreshed & rejuvenated!

I leave you with this little collage Ala put together for our trip, love it!