Maeiblog?

A woman is like a tea bag, you can’t tell how strong she is until you put her under hot water. -Nancy Reagan

After having a meeting at The Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills, I dragged the family to have some tea at Paddington’s Tea Room. See I met the owner’s son, Jason, at a Joe Buissink / Marcus Bell photographer’s seminar recently and he had told me to stop in when I was in his area. Poor guy … I don’t think he realized I’d have a crew in tow.

What a neat place! My kids were intrigued but after a while of having to sit still and talk softly … the intrigue was wearing thin. Michael, my husband, and I were doing a lot of shushing because it was an intimate setting and there were a few guests there. Of course my older kids perked up when they saw the young actress who plays Nancy Drew, Emma Roberts, walk in for what looked like a meeting.

Jason was a great host although he was busier than he expected and didn’t get to stop until they closed. When they closed shop, the kids joked about selling the strawberry, that Emma Roberts bit into, on eBay. That lead to scientific discussions on mold and the staying power of strawberries with chocolate on them. Eww! Michael was camera happy because we just received one of our cameras back from Canon for some issues with the LCD. Here are some of his shots. I can’t believe I let him get a picture of me!!

It was a really nice time. They even have a High Tea menu and we plan to visit again for that but we’d have to sit for longer. (Maybe we’ll leave the kids home ) If you’re ever in that area, drop in on Jason and have some tea and their great scones too!

… Here is our eldest daughter, Mikaela, upon learning that she had to drink that cup of tea with ONLY one teaspoon of sugar. She’s our sugar and salt fiend. We’re working on that.

… Of course Paddington’s Tea Room HAD to have a Paddington Bear there too!

The strawberry the kids joked about selling on ebay

…Jason and I trying to look calm with the kids running around.

…Cool phonebooth!

Whever a couple books us over the phone, all communication with them has us imagining what they actually look like. We really love to meet our clients early on but sometimes, either because of time contraints or distance, we can’t meet with them until the wedding day. I do enjoy the suspense leading up to meeting our “mystery couples” though. We had a mystery couple the other day. It was great to meet Leo and Camille. With this couple, they had an engagement session and so we at least were able to meet them a couple of weeks before the wedding. They were so relaxed and fun and really easy to get along with. It’s going to be a fun wedding.

I had never been to Chicago before. What an awesome city!! I was so afraid I’d freeze. I didn’t — of course .. but it’s May! I can’t handle the cold. Seventy degrees is cold in my book. I know … I’m a weather wimp. It’s amazing that I actually love to ski! Okay, back to Chicago. I really like that town! I’d love to go back for a longer stay. Anyway, I got to shoot with my friend Kelly Moore! How cool is that?!! We’ve known each other for years and have always wanted to shoot together. We finally were able to and we had a great time! Of course I had an even better time because … well .. the bride wore red!!! My favorite color!!! Here are some shots of Bobby and Vaneeta’s wedding. Funny guy + sweet girl = great couple.

Okay, so I’ve been talking about getting this iPhone ever since my friend Victor told me about it. I tried not to listen but my techno-sensitive ears failed me. I heard it all. Ever since then … I’ve had iPhone on the brain. I think my family is tired of hearing me state all the reasons that I should have one. Last week I messed up my current phone and so … what better reason to get the iPhone when it comes out! Well, my husband doesn’t believe that I “accidentally” dropped my phone in the Pacific Ocean. See, I was shooting in Puerto Vallarta. The bride and groom were laying on the beach and there was a great shot! I went for it … of course I didn’t see the wave behind me. That did it … my phone went in the water. As the water receded … there it was … wet, sandy and dead! So my husband, Michael, believes I threw it into the ocean just so I could get an iPhone! The nerve! How could he think that of me!!?? Okay, maybe on some subconscious level I let it fall in? Nah! What would you do for an iPhone?

Here’s the shot that landed my phone in the water.

Here are a couple more of Joe and Denise, the bride and groom. I shot this wedding with Donny Havenhill, a great photographer and person! I was his “wingman” on this one. Always great to shoot with friends. I’ve got some great shots of him but I won’t post them. (I value my life. Besides, he’s got some shots of me and I fear he’ll post those!! )

The wedding was at Las Caletas near Puerto Vallarta. We actually had to take a boat for an hour and a half to get to Las Caletas. It was worth it though.

Don’t sweat the petty things, and don’t pet the sweaty things. -anonymous

Isn’t that funny?!

Okay, enough of the emails telling me to put in a new entry on my blog. Here it is! But I have to go and can’t finish this. I’ll be back … I’ve just been a tiny bit busy!!! I’ll post a new one in a day or two. Promise! (By the way, doesn’t this count as a post?! I say it does! Let’s not be petty! or sweaty…. ewww… )