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 }

Mai & John were married last month in beautiful Dana Point. For most weddings, we do portraits at the venue, but we were lucky enough to squeeze some time into the schedule to visit one of my favorite rustic backdrops in the OC! Mai & John (and their super fun bridal party) were so laidback and wonderful and we loved photographing their intimate wedding!

It was an extra fun weekend, since we were working two back-to-back weddings with the superwoman Uyen of Sassy Girl Weddings. We all soaked in Mai & John’s amazing day and then woke up the next morning to hang out all over again! :)

I love the moment right after the bride & groom recess and exit, when the wedding party & the guests are all still inside… such a sweet intimate moment:

Love the whimsical details & the subtle bird theme…

In this {quite fantastic} line of work, I get to witness lots and lots of love. Couples who can’t stop looking into each others eyes, who make sacrifices so their relationship can grow, who experience life’s trials and happiest moments side by side. So as hard as it is to say *this* love is special, or *that* love is special {because they’re all special}, I do want to say that Deb & David’s love is truly something special :) I’m pretty sure that part of it has to do with the fact that they are amazing as individuals – there are very few kinder, warmer and more genuine people in this world. And when two people like that come together, you sort of get this urge to exclaim, YAY! YOU FOUND EACH OTHER!! because that’s how witnessing this kind of love makes you feel :)

They were married last month in San Francisco, in a quaint chapel at the Presidio, and Scott & I were so honored to photograph their day. After the ceremony, they rented a bus to take bride + groom + wedding party + photographers all over the city for photos. So much fun!

I loved this moment! Deb planned to pin David’s boutonniere on before the ceremony, but since they weren’t doing a first look, on went the blindfold…

Something about this shot totally reminds me of the movie Catch Me if You Can… something about airports (even though this is not an airport) & a 1960s feel (even though this wasn’t the 1960s). Anyone??

The wedding had a creative “Flight 717” travel theme that spoke closely to the many plane trips they made to see each other during their relationship (a theme they incorporated into their engagement session as well!)