I love when you meet someone and instantly feel that “click.” The conversation just flows, you’re totally on the same wavelength, you bond over a love of tea lattes, or silly reality shows, or of course, weddings :) I felt the much-coveted click the first time Jenn and I spoke in a phone conversation. Her warm and bubbly personality and excitement about her wedding day was absolutely contagious and I was so excited when she booked me right over the phone! This past weekend I drove down to San Diego to meet Jenn and her fiance Ron for the first time. It was a delight to find that they are both so open and down-to-earth and most of all such troopers – the temperatures were a raging 95 degrees that day but you could never tell from their relaxed smiles and warm laughs.

They had originally wanted to do the session at Balboa Park, but an Earth Day celebration meant hoards of people and impossible parking. Instead we headed to Coronado which proved to be the perfect alternative!

Isn’t Jenn just gorgeous?

Ron is quite dapper himself:

Jenn has a background in dance – look at those moves!

The light was just perfect…

We then headed to North Park to wrap up the session:

Jenn & Ron – thank you for enduring the temps and for a wonderful afternoon! Can’t wait until your wedding in Santa Barbara next month!

The magical place. Scott and I first happened upon it while visiting a park in Malibu, which we were considering for an upcoming e-session. Unfortunately after much walking and hiking and exploring (all in flip flops on my part – fail!), we left, realizing the park didn’t quite have the “wow” factor that made me want to rave about it to a couple. I was feeling a bit dejected (and sunburnt), as I had high hopes for the park, so Scott suggested we drive through the hills on the way back and catch some glimpses of the little hippie cottages that line the windy road (a sure-fire way to cheer up even the gloomiest of dispositions).

And that’s when we found it.

Right off the side of the road – tall trees, a mountainous backdrop, and the most delicious juicy light. I could have just drank it with a straw! It was, as Mary Poppins would say, practically perfect in every way.

So this is how we ended up at “the magical place” (as it has since been named) last week, with the wonderful Peggy & Ben for their engagement session. I had met Ben during our consultation, but it was my first time meeting Peggy, and I could see how her bright personality and infectious laughter were the perfect complement to Ben’s warm demeanor. They are so silly and sweet and in love and it was a dream to spend the afternoon with them. They live in San Jose but will be getting married in LA this June – can’t wait for their wedding!

We then headed to the Santa Monica Pier to soak up the remainder of the day’s light:

Love all the splashes of color!

Where to begin? It felt so good to be back to visit and the trip unfolded beautifully! Being in Japan during the cherry blossom season is really an amazing thing. You go the whole year walking under and passing by trees that you don’t even realize are cherry trees, until spring comes and every tree around you suddenly becomes a bursting spectacle of light pink blooms. They only last a week, and we managed to fly in just as they were reaching their peak and the blossoms were starting to fall (which is the truly magical part!) In addition to soaking in the cherry blossom splendor, we experienced Tokyo’s luminous nightlife, inhaled the most amazing foods (ramen, katsu, okonomiyaki galore!), shopped til we dropped (Japan is definitely the land of colorful scarves – I somehow limited myself to three new additions), saw family and friends, and enjoyed the perfect weather. The humid summers can be brutal and we already know how I feel about cold winters, but the spring weather was juuuust right.

Although I was SO ready to come home 3 years ago after my year of living there, this past week reminded me that I could definitely fall in love with Japan all over again. Can’t wait to go back!

Peeking outside our hotel room, at the fabulous Hotel Pacific Tokyo. Highly recommended if you’re ever in the Tokyo area!

My little sis:

Crepes in Harajuku:

Businessman + Rob + sister on the train:

The flower shops in Japan are amazing! So many cute little plants and the most adorable and whimsical flowers! I SO wished I could pack them ALL in my suitcase and bring them home.

Asakusa:

With my sis & my mom – any resemblance? :)

A part of my heart was definitely left at LOFT – an amazing 6-story home goods store that had everything you could ever need in life:

Ueno Park – we rented a row boat!

In Kamakura we had a scrumptious meal of maguro over rice, cold udon, and mochi tempura. That’s right my friends, MOCHI!!

We landed back in LA on Sunday, took a quick nap, and then jetted off to an engagement session. I’m SO excited to share the images from the session with you – the location was breathtaking and the couple is just the sweetest! Stay tuned!