So I had missed the first couple of walks they held, but was determined to make the one at Griffith Park the weekend before last. Not only were we shooting the 38th Annual Sidecar Rally, but afterwards we'd be exploring the abandoned zoo, which is the original site of the L.A. Zoo that they've made available to the public (no, not creepy at all...). And they also offer prizes to winning shots! I didn't win, but I was still really pleased with what I was able to capture.

I should note that when I'm nervous or around people I haven't met before, I'll crack jokes. It's a nervous habit; laughing (especially when it's shared) always calms me down. So, when we gathered round at the beginning to go over the game plan, Frank was saying that they [those at the rally] were all chromed up, shiny, roaring to go, and I before I knew what was happening I was saying "And those are just the guys!" About half the group turned around to look at me. I can only hope I didn't turn too red, but at least most of them were laughing. A few later asked if I'd seen anybody I liked (the minimum age of the rally participants was 50), hardy har har. Guess that'll teach me!

At any rate, I had an awesome time. Mindy, Sean and Nikki caught up with us just before we headed up the hill to the abandoned zoo, which made it even more fun.

Without further ado, here's a few of my favorites. To see the full set (with my comments/explanations), click here.

The people watching was amazing, of course:

And my absolute fave shot of the whole day turned out to be my very first one:

Afterwards the four of us headed to Swinger's in West Hollywood for lunch. Holy mother was it good food! Definitely will have to go there again.

I'm not the most creative when it comes to costumes, so I was thrilled when I found an Alice in Wonderland costume for more than half off through Disney (bonus points for the skirt being just the right length, i.e. not slutty). All I had to add was bangs, white stockings, black headband and black Mary Janes (three out of four I already had).  Easy peasy! And yes, I totally wore the same thing both nights. And I'll probably rock it next year, and possibly the year after that, just so I feel like I got my money's worth. :)

Alice in Wonderland and the Land Shark = obvious pairing.

First, party at the Otley's Friday night - they had some awesome decorations! Too bad I didn't get any photos of them. (Don't ask why I make such ridiculous faces. I blame the G.A.T.E. program.)

Then Saturday night was the party at Sophia's. Katie was Collette Reardon (unfortunately Colby wasn't feeling well so they had to scrap their original idea) and Nikki and Lindsey were adorable chimney sweeps. Also at the party were some Blues Brothers, Dick in the Box and the "needs more cowbell" guy from SNL among others. :)

I think my favorite costume this year was Katie's, by far. What do you think?

November is turning out to be a crazy month for me. Here's a sampling of what's coming up:

• The SmugMug meeting hosted by the awesome Jasmine Star
• Birthday celebrations for the lovely Lena
• The Orange Historic Home Tour on Sunday
• A free small business lecture (taught by the amazing Tracey Clark!)
• Cheryl visits the 13-17 (so many fun things planned!)
• The Wizard of Oz in theaters (if you love it too, check here to see if there's a screening near you!)
• Another Faded & Blurred photowalk - this time in downtown LA!
• and then its time for Thanksgiving.

Holy heck.

Sooo...how was your Halloween? Did you stay in? Party it up? Take the kids out?

xo

I'd kill for mad photog skillz like this:

And a print of one of her gorgeous sketches, like this:

Yup, got a girl crush. For sure. So who's your girl crush? Don't be shy!

xo

What books and/or magazines did I read this month?

More of the Outlander series (which I finally finished last night), namely A Breath of Snow and Ashes and the latest release, An Echo in the Bone. Boo to catching up! Also read In Style, of course. I'm addicted. I also just read The Art of Racing in the Rain in two days. :)

What movies, television shows, plays, etc. did I watch this month?

Actually caught a few, saw Whip It and The Invention of Lying in theaters and finally rented Away We Go, which was SO good. Talk about poignant commentary on current American family culture! 

What fun things did I do with my family and/or friends?

Oh wow. It was my birthday this month, so I had an amazing sushi dinner with friends, yummy homecooked dinner with the fam and a trip to Vegas. I'm a lucky girl! Plus this month there were several trips to Disneyland to see the Halloween fireworks show and ride scary Space Mountain. This weekend we went to two different Halloween parties! And of course I've been taking a ton of photos along the way.

What gifts did I give and/or receive?

An awesome jacket from my parents, tons of hilarious birthday cards, a cookbook, scarf and earrings from Nancy and Kris, money to fix my poor iMac from Nikki, gorgeous embroidery from Mindy, Starbucks merch from Laura...again, I'm a lucky girl!

What special or unusual purchases did I make?

Books, of course, are always special. I'm gonna need a whole room devoted to them eventually. Also indulged myself with this lovely gocco print and this supercute coffee cup sleeve (I know it sounds frivolous, but it saves paper and the seller donates to sighthound rescue!). Also got costumes for me and Dante...to be revealed in photos later.

What illnesses or health concerns did I have?

None to speak of, knock on wood, except a few medium-scale migraines.

What were my accomplishments this month?

Edited and delivered an engagement/portrait session (technically shot in September), kept up with Project 365, attended an awesome photowalk, helped my mom rearranged the office and family room (still a work in progress, but we're getting there).

So what are you answers, dear readers? I love to know what people are up to...part of the reason I'm so obsessed with reading blogs and Facebook! :)

xo

So we headed over to Fullerton one very hot afternoon and spent some time at Hillcrest Park and wandering around downtown. All they had to do to look good was smile, so they made it very easy on me.

Here's some of my favorites (to see more, go here):

Hooray for sunflare!

Pee Wee was a natural! And only a little bit of a scene stealer.

Stop. Cuddle time.

Like Jennifer said, totally 90210 right? But I still love it.

This is what happens when I ask people to give me Blue Steel:

He's got heart.

Fierce!!

I know, I'm jealous of her eyelashes too:

By that time the heat had taken its toll on us and the pups, so we called it a wrap.

J & J, I know everything is going to go perfectly for you guys this weekend, but I'm sending you happy thoughts anyways. And Jennifer, you're my hero for pulling off a wedding while finishing up your masters - good luck next week! Can't wait to see the wedding photos!

xo

NANCY HAS LAUNCHED HER PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS!

Phew! I feel better.

Nancy and I first met one early morning back in 2002 when I came in to interview for a position in her department, which was customer service/advertising for a local residential real estate company. I got the job, and we hit it off pretty much immediately. The oldest in the family, younger brothers (she has three, I have two), sarcastic sense of humor, love of food, love of history and learning...we had a lot in common. We grew close quickly, even though she was technically my supervisor (and the best one a girl could have!). The more I learned about her, the more I admired her.

When spots opened up in our little department for more people, my two best friends Nikki and Katie (aka the Glowin sisters) wound up getting hired and we soon became the tightest-knit group of employees you've ever seen! It was a perfect way to work through college, and I'm so thankful for the experiences we had. But most of all I'm thankful for the awesome best friend I gained. :)

So now we have a shared passion for photography, and in the past year she's been taking classes and racking up amazing photos for her portfolio like there's no tomorrow. Every time she adds to Flickr I'm in awe. The girl has the eye, there's no doubt. But she also has the drive, ambition and brains, which has led to the official launch of her website and blog today!

If you're looking for a photographer in the SoCal area, look no further than Nancy Orozco Photography! Why? Because you'll wind up looking this good:

So get yourself over to her blog, because she's giving away a photo session!

Nancy, you'll always be my Team Leader, and I can't thank my lucky stars enough for having a friend like you! Besos!

In that spirit, I've decided to share with you some pretty things I've had my eye on (friends and family, you might want to look away), so that my careful hoarding doesn't go to waste. :)

For the chef, how about a custom cake pan (sooo cool for when you bring a dish to a party) or a personalized cookbook from TasteBook? Mom and I have been trying to remember to get photos of her recipes so we can do this (eventually). So pretty, right? You can use your own recipes or get one already designed on a certain theme:

For the fellow bookworm, I'm in love with these stunning art printed book jackets:

and these adorable notebooks.

For a romantic, these mini diaries with questions already in them are genius (what a heirloom for your kids someday!), and pretty to boot:

This cameo vase is also lovely (and on sale), and I know a couple certain someones who happen to love cameos... ;

I really wish I knew more moms, because this shirt from ThinkGeek cracks me up every time I see it:

Plus I want like 40 other things from there, but I won't bore you with the details. :)

How adorable is this little Peggie family?

Love this artist - they're fully customizable, and they make cute wedding cake toppers too!

Don't even get me started on my Etsy wish list...you can take a peek by following the widget on the right.

Of course I have to give some options for my fellow dog lovers and owners...such as this hilarious shirt:

Or this one:

As for something to actually get for your dog, this seller makes the most awesome custom dog tags, I'm dying for this collar for my little criminal, and thin-skinned pups definitely need this hoodie for the colder months. And I'm dying for this camera so I can finally settle the question of guilt: kittens v. dogs. ;)

And finally, fellow photo enthusiasts, a few things I've had my eye on are the Fujifilm Instax camera, which seems to be all over teh interwebs these days, and the Diana lens adaptor - now you can get those awesome film effects on your usual dSLR! (Although I think I still want to play with actual film, but this would be a cool extra lens to play with.)

Of course, on my budget and with my mad digital scrapbooking skillz [insert laugh track here], I don't buy everything, I make quite a bit too. Last year I made desktop calendars for my parents and myself, plus Nikki and Katie using these adorable 5x7 calendars by the ever-amazing Penny Springmann:

That way I was able to print them at home on 5x7 photo paper from Costco and inserted them in plastic frames. Memorable, meaningful and budget friendly! :)

Also, two years ago I started a tradition of forcing asking everyone on the American side of the family (including aunts, uncles, cousins and significant others) a set of questions, then using their answers plus photos of them from that year to make an 8x8 scrapbook album. We all love seeing everyone else's answers and it was a huge hit! Last year I didn't even have to buy the albums, just gave them the pages and had them add them to the album from the year before. It takes a huge amount of time but it's totally worth it to make a family heirloom like that.

The cover (it actually says "shot of aquavit", somehow the cover insert got pushed a little to the left):

And some of last year's pages:

For 2008 I made an insert page as the cover, with a new funny title inspired by mom. You can see it here. As a digital scrapbooker it's also fun to see how my style has changed/progressed. :)

Are you still with me after that novel of an entry? What are your plans for gifting?

xo

So we drove there Thursday night, which was actually great because we left around 8, got there just about midnight and had almost no traffic. And like she promised, it was so much better waking up there Friday morning rather than driving that day! We slept in a bit and then headed to the Hash House a go go for some amazing brunch. It was so cute! There were at least 15 things on the menu that I wanted to try, but we both opted for the dish they're known for, the sage fried chicken biscuit benedict.

Holy mother, please don't hurt me now.

Us before, and after:

Hurts so good...there's also one in San Diego that we plan on hitting the next time we're done there. :) From there we did outlet shopping for the rest of the day and then headed back to the hotel to change for dinner. Nikki decided she wanted prime rib, and where else should you go except Lawry's?

All I can say is it was seriously one of the best meals I've had in a loooong time. I'm not a prime rib fan, so lucky for me the only other thing on the menu was lobster tails. Heaven.

The place was really nicely done in an art deco style, they had old music playing and fantastic service, including the old school carts that they bring to your table to cut the piece of prime rib you want. Worth every penny, I have to say.

How'd that Hash House photo get in there? I do apologize, my staff is getting sloppy.

Unfortunately Saturday was pretty much a wash for me because a migraine took me out, but Nikki was happy as a clam gambling all day (and staying even, too!). After sleeping it off I was in good enough shape to go out for dinner. To add insult to injury, however, the restaurant we decided to try - B&B Ristorante in the Venetian, Mario Batali's restaurant - was terrible. You know it's bad when Nik and I look at the dessert menu and don't want a thing. Save yourself the money and go across the way to Delmonico instead!

However the karma gods must've been smiling on me that night, as I actually won at video poker for once!! Usually I'm happy to put in my $10 or $20 and play until it's gone (as compared to Nikki, who knows all the rules and tricks and has the best luck), but this time I actually kept winning and then hit 4 of a kind! So I cashed out with my $77 after starting with only $10.

Love that "excited face" for me means "wide open mouth" (hold your jokes, please, I've heard them all before!). Oh well - what a perfect way to finish the weekend! Especially since we drove back Sunday and got home in the early afternoon, so I had the rest of the day plus Monday (I knew better than to try and go straight back to work) to relax and enjoy myself. Couldn't ask for a better getaway! :)

xo

So I just had to share a page I made using her latest creations, Autumn Remix. For today only it's just $1 as part of the weekly Tadpole Tuesday specials! You can't do better than that!

Plus, I got to use photos of my favorite time of year. :)

In other news, one of my closest friends Mindy started up an Etsy shop of her embroidery! I'm super excited, because the woman's got crafty talent up the wazoo. Plus she's an art historian, so all her work is inspired by vintage illustrations - specifically the 19th century. Thus you wind up with amazing stuff like this:

Unfortunately for you guys, that one was custom made for me as a birthday gift! Go ask for your own custom order. :)

So, what's been inspiring you lately?

The days have been going by sooo quickly. Soon it will be dark by the time I get home, and then what will I do for my daily photos? A challenge, I see.

My birthday came and went, been spending a lot of time in the garden supervising kitty playtime when I get home from work, gorgeous sunsets and weather (until today), and the one Angel game for the season with my dad. :)

xo