Martin Beach Photoshoot

I had the pleasure of doing a photoshoot in Avila this past week.

Christin's husband is in the army and is currently away from his family.

Christin wanted to get portraits done of herself and their daughters,

Kaylani and Mia, to send to him.

It was a beautiful day to accomplish this!

The three girls

Jumping shots... one of my favorite portraits to take!

Kaylani running!

Mia running!

Kaylani

Mia

sisterly love

Mia's solo jump shots!

Kaylani's shadows

Swings!

We love you Daddy!

happy birthday to me!

It was my birthday on the 26th...

And I had a really great day!
It started out with breakfast at one of my favorite coffee shops, Sally Loo's, with a good friend...

Then a 2.5 hour yoga session followed by a glass of wine and bowl of soup with my mom!

For dinner, I met up with my brothers and sisters-in-law

(solve this one for me: sisters-in-law or sister-in-laws ???)

Grant, me, Tyson, Angela, Sharai!

We had dinner at The Ranch in Santa Margarita.

Have ya been?

It is really good. Probably one of the best restaurants in SLO county.

muscles, wine, conversation, photo taking, fun

My brothers with their mini glasses...

They are giants (if it wasn't clear).

Creme Brulee!

Beautiful Angela!

After dinner, we went to the new Galaxy Theater in Atascadero...

pretty fancy!

Champage at the VIP theater.

And the movie, Limitless, was good.

Seats were roomy and comfy.

Oh and assigned seating...

Overall a great movie experience!

And a really great birthday.

Thank you to all who contributed with calls, texts, fb messages, cards, packages, etc etc etc!

I really appreciate it- this year probably more than others!

xoxoxoxo

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my dad's birthday.
Happy Birthday Dad!
I was thinking about birthdays and him and got a smile on my face when I thought to his birthday a few years back.
For those of you who know me well, you know that I like to make people feel special and I love birthdays!

So a few years ago, when I was living in NYC, my stepmom Jenny and I were in cahoots to plan a surprise visit for my dad.

And it was a total surprise!
I flew in to Billings, MT the day before my dad's birthday... Jenny picked me up from the airport and we went grocery shopping as her cover up. She had been stellar on not telling him that I was coming... which is pretty good! If you need to keep a secret, Jenny is your gal!
When we drove up to their house, my dad came out to help Jenny with the groceries.
Jenny said something like "there's something heavy in the back seat, will you get it for me?"... of course that was ME! Thanks to tinted windows, my dad had no idea that I was sitting in the back seat.
So out I jumped!
My dad was so surprised and I could tell that he was so happy and amazed and confused.
I don't remember exactly what he said in that moment, but I know it was something that combined those three things... Excited amazed confusion.

It's one of those moments that you can't make up in your head...And when it came into my mind the other day, it put a big smile on my face.

To finish the story, I had a nice visit at my dad's and was happy to be able to celebrate his birthday with him in person, something I had not done in 10 or so years!

Love you Dad!

Dad and Jenny