A few weeks ago I made my way down to Pasadena to do a shoot with the fabulous girls of Fresh Events Company. I first met and worked with this amazing wedding & event planning team at the Pamper Me Fabulous event earlier this year, and again at Mary’s beautiful backyard wedding in October. These girls are seriously superheroes in stilettos – they put on the most amazing events and diligently see them through from start to finish.

We met at their office, and I immediately fell in love with their little working haven in the most colorful building on the block. We snapped a few there and then sauntered around the neighborhood, soaking up the vibrant colors and textures of South Pasadena. Thank you girls – had such a great time hanging out and grabbing these shots!

Are these lanterns not the coolest find?

Don’t you love when you meet someone and you just click? Maybe they also like funky-colored socks, or have an unhealthy obsession with blogs, or like putting ketchup on everything, or think Back to the Future was the best movie ever made. (I mean, reallllly think about it for a second, wasn’t it?) What’s extra exciting is when you meet them online first, only to find that they’re just as awesome, if not moreso, in person.

Susan and Mike hired me as a second photographer for their wedding reception last month and I loved corresponding with Susan, even if just through email. Susan had a wonderful enthusiasm and attitude that poured through her words and it was a delight to find she and Mike were just as sweet in person! The reception was held at the stunning San Gabriel Hilton and it was truly a feast for the senses, with splashes of fuschia and blue filling the reception hall. There was a great team of vendors on board: Peter of Icons Photography as the main photographer, Blue Sky Videos doing videography, and the fabulous Uyen of Sassy Girl Weddings, who worked so tirelessly to put on such an amazing event.

Thank you Susan & Mike for allowing me to be a part of your beautiful wedding! Wishing you all the best!

The tea ceremony:

First dance:

Could the decor be any more fabulous?

Loved this father-daughter dance moment:

And this mother-son one as well :)

Susan’s mom and Mike’s mom each sang a song at the reception. Both had spectacular voices that put my singing-in-the-car interludes to shame.

I braved the vicious 405 on Friday to attend the KISSmas Party hosted by KISS Wedding Books (they provide my beautiful leather flush mount albums) and am so I glad I did! Lots of familiar faces and made some new friends as well. Highlights of the night were winning a disc of Camera Dojo’s Photoshop actions, watching Doug participate in a high-stakes game of poker (cluelessly of course – I’m an Uno sort of girl), and squishing into the photobooth to create the masterpiece you’ll find below.

I got home from the party around 1 am, plopped into bed, and woke up 4 hours later for a 5-hour drive to Stockton for the annual mochi pounding gathering Scott’s family puts on (note: I was not the one driving, I was the one who was passed out in the backseat for almost the entire duration, possibly drooling on my sweater). I went last year as well and although I think I’ve gotten the manly pounding part down, I still fail in the “forming the mochi into nice balls” arena. I have Scott and his sister and middle school girls (and boys) showing me how to do it, and my mochi still comes out looking like someone ran it through a paper shredder. Maybe I’ll practice with Play-Doh for next year’s gathering, and while I’m at it I might as well work on the pounding side too, so I can bust it out like these guys.

On to the shots from the weekend, starting with the KISSmas Party…

Clockwise from top: with Serena / with the fabulous girls of All Made Up / the Lamborghini – raffled off to drive for a day / poker faces

Too much fun in the photobooth (you can never get enough dudes with boas): Lawrence of the Furious Photographers & Tofurious, Kevin Le Vu, Serena Grace, Mark Nguon

The next morning – shots taken between wielding heavy mallets after 4 hours of sleep:

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Thank you so much to everyone who participated in Cans for Comments last week! Will be totaling up the comments and going out on a can shopping spree in the next few days!
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