At the end of a long day or during a busy morning, there are few things more soothing to me than a cup of tea. Hot or iced, green or black, with sugar, honey, milk (or none of the above) – tea makes me feel simultaneously happy, centered, calm and energized. But in all my tea-loving days, I had never been to what I consider the epitome of a tea drinking experience – afternoon tea! You know the kind – delicate finger sandwiches, scones with cream, mountains of fruit, and the perfect pot of tea by your side.

Some girlfriends and I finally visited the Scarlet Tea Room in Pasadena a couple weekends ago, which provided the perfect first-time afternoon tea experience! We marveled at the fresh strawberry sorbet, the dozens of sandwiches to choose from, the perfectly crumbly scones (I was not a scone fan until Scarlet Tea Room swiftly converted me), the mini desserts, and the wide variety of teas. Before we started eating, we joked about how we’d all be lining up at the Jack in the Box drive-thru after our dainty tea meal, but by the time the meal was through we found ourselves surprisingly full.  Stuffed in fact. To the point where we we could not fit even one more mini-cupcake into our happy stomachs.

And since it’s no fun to keep “fave finds” all to yourself, I am going to be accompanying each post in this category with none other than a giveaway! For this installment, I’ll be sending one lucky commenter (chosen randomly) a package of tea bags from Lupicia – one of my favorite tea shops on the westside. The store is full of amazing teas – you walk in and are greeted by rows upon rows of tins, all presented for your sniffing and smelling delight! There are lots of luscious flavors to choose from, options like muscat, English caramel, rosehip and grapefruit green! Thirsty commenters, rejoice!

Just a few shots grabbed with the point-and-shoot in between bites..

When I took my first steps into wedding photography, I had some goals in mind. They were basic, fluffy, whimsical goals – little dreams I dared not shape too concretely in fear that I might never attain them. I wanted to meet fabulous, warm, so-in-love people. I wanted to help create tangible memories of their most important days. I wanted to make friends out of the people who inspired me, the photographers I admired. And above all, I wanted to give back. Because at the start, I was barely more than a walking ball of questions. I felt like a silly empty glass that a million kind people were filling with knowledge and support and opportunity and all I could give in return were my insignificant but abundant “thank you”s.

And although my cup of knowledge is still far from being runneth over, I am finally at a place where I feel I can give and not just take. The opportunities to share my experiences are suddenly popping up left and right, and although I have so much more to learn myself, I am beyond thrilled to share whatever bits of information and experience I can.

One such opportunity has come from The Wedding Clique, a resourceful website created to help brides and grooms in planning their day. I am so honored to be included in such an amazing group of vendors, and to be able to contribute towards a couple’s wedding planning process – a process that for many is at once exciting, overwhelming, intimidating, and wonderful!

A couple weekends ago The Wedding Clique put on it’s first Mock Wedding Workshop at The Renaissance Hotel in Downtown Long Beach. It was created as an opportunity for couples to experience a “pretend wedding” in preparation for their actual day. The workshop progressed similarly to how many wedding days do – from getting ready, to the ceremony, to the reception – and was filled with beautiful details and wonderful input from the participating vendors. My deepest thanks to my friend Henry Chen for inviting me to be a part of such an amazing event and project!

Meet the team – the boys: Andrew of Iobon Cinema, Henry Chen, Raul of R&R Entertainment; the girls: Solana of Beauty by Solana, Trini of Nozza Studio, Sarah Yates, Deanne of Bella Fiore

Henry and Trini start off the day with a warm welcome:

Solana put on an awesome make-up trial run, with lots of tips for brides:

Deanne explains when and where you can expect to get your flowers on the day of (I know I’d be SO excited the first time I got to hold my bouquet!):

We then headed upstairs for a mock first look – love these expressions!

The ceremony site:

Gorgeous floral details:

And onto the mock ceremony!

Henry was a great impromptu officiant:

Sarah in action:

There is nothing pretend about this kiss! (I’ve never seen such an excited officiant either ;)

Then it was back inside for the reception! The dinner tables were adorned with such rich and beautiful details:

Raul gives the lowdown on choosing and working with a DJ:

And of course.. the cake!

Be sure to stay tuned on The Wedding Clique website for the next workshop, and for regular updates geared towards helping plan your wedding day!

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!