Have you slept in a wigwam lately?

A few weekends ago Joel and I went up to Holbrook, a small town along Route 66, and stayed in the historical Wigwam Motel. If you've seen Pixar's Cars, you'll recognize the similarities between the Wigwam Motel and the Cozy Cone. I'm a big fan of Pixar and pretty much love all of its movies, but I didn't appreciate just how great Cars is until I visited Holbrook. The creators of Cars did a great job capturing the spirit of small towns along Route 66.

The Wigwam Motel isn't your luxury resort, but it made for a fun experience. It's one of the things on our AZ Bucket List. I loved the vintage cars that were parked in front of each teepee. I could've sworn that some of the main characters in Cars were modeled after the ones at the Wigwam Motel.

Poor Joel felt like he was a giant living in a Hobbit house. I, on the other hand, felt right at home. The advantage of being vertically challenged is that I never have to duck for anything. Sure, I have to get all of my pants hemmed and I need help reaching things in tall places... but not having to duck, that's something, right?

So, have you slept in a wigwam lately? Or somewhere else interesting?

Garden Dreams

This morning I found this little guy helping himself to a nice big breakfast on my basil plant. How dare you eat my basil plant before I’ve even had a chance to?!



I immediately clipped the leaf off and put him outside in my front yard (not before snapping a few photos first, of course). I was very upset, but didn’t have the heart to kill him.

Since we lived in a little condo without a yard or patio before moving in the house, I was eager to start planting things in the backyard. A few weekends ago I bought a few plants to grow in pots: a tomato plant, cilantro, basil and mint. Where I had enthusiasm and love for my plants, I lacked in my green thumb. Within two weeks of planting, my tomato plant and cilantro both died! I was totally devastated. I had dreams of having beautiful, ripe garden tomatoes this summer, but all of it – crushed!

It’s not that I thought I was a pro gardener, because I really don’t have much experience. I guess I was just spoiled by Sacramento climate and soil. It seemed like everything I put in the ground thrived without much effort.

Now that I’m in Phoenix for good, I definitely need to learn more about gardening in a desert climate. I’m going to buy tomato plant #2 and give it another go. Let me know if there are good gardening books you’d recommend. My beautiful tomato dreams must prevail!

Home

We moved in three weeks ago and yet I can still hardly believe it: we're homeowners! It seems like the end of our home search was a long time coming, but maybe that's the story of every homeowner. The other common story among homeowners is the amount of time you spend fixing little things in the house. I didn't come from a family of handy people, so the only things I knew how to do were to paint and change door knobs.

Still, it's been a rewarding experience learning as we go. There's something really therapeutic about working with my hands. I admire people who make pottery and people who know how to build things. So much thought goes into each project and it must be so rewarding to have something that you made from planks of wood and chunks of clay.

Since I shoot exclusively digital now, there is no need to spend hours in the darkroom mixing chemicals, unwinding film and developing negatives. Most of my work is done on the computer and sometimes, I miss getting my hands dirty.

Custom CD Cases

At the beginning of this year, I began to include custom CD cases with all digital file orders. I am so happy with the way they're turning out! It really adds an extra touch and makes a nice keepsake for families. The CD comes with a print release so that you can print as many copies as you'd like!

Lifestyle Baby Portraits :: Little Miss Zoë-Bug

Little Zoë was four weeks old the day I went over to take pictures. She was such a sweet little cuddle bug! You can tell that all she really wanted to do was cuddle with her mom, because every time she was put down, she would squirm and make soft noises until she was picked up again. I was fine with that because as a lifestyle photographer, my goal is to capture families in their most natural element, just being themselves.



Look at her ladybug outfit!


I love baby hands and feet. :)

Check off the bucket list: Bisbee Getaway

Almost two years ago, when Joel and I thought that we'd have moved to California by now, we made a "Arizona Bucket List." Our goal was to explore Arizona and do all the things we'd regret not doing once we moved away. I'll be honest, most of the things on the list consisted of interesting restaurants in Phoenix we wanted to try out. We love food and plan our vacations around food anyway. Yelp has become one of the first websites we consult when planning a vacation. No matter where you are, you gotta eat, right? Might as well eat good stuff while traveling.

Now that we're settling in Phoenix, we decided to keep going with our bucket list. Of the non-food related items, a visit to Bisbee was at the top of the list. We've heard many good things about Bisbee, so we decided to check it out over MLK Day weekend.

Bisbee is an old mining town. Standing from a high point, you can see layers of colorful buildings lining the hills.


There were several antique stores with lots of quirky old things. I could've spend the entire weekend in those stores.


Every corner was brimming with history and interesting details.




And of course, we had lots of good food. Delicious brunch at POCO! Joel had the best soy chorizo breakfast burrito both of us have ever tasted. My Brazillian banana french toast was not bad either.




We also visited Karchner Caverns, but I don't have any photos since they don't allow cameras. I highly recommending a visit to Karchner if you're in Arizona. I've never been so impressed with geology!

All in all, it was the perfect little getaway!
Where would you like to visit over a three-day weekend? What would you put on your local bucket list?

I'll leave you with this little gem while you think about that. We didn't plan to jump this way together, but it looks like I'm a little Joel Mini-Me or something--the little Asian girl version of Joel's Mini-Me, that is.

Lifestyle Family Portraits :: Byars Family

On New Year's Day, I had the pleasure of spending the afternoon with the Byars family. It was a really fun shoot because it's their New Year's tradition to hike the White Tank Mountain together as a family. I love family traditions and I think this is such a cool way for a family to kick off a new year together!










Some sweet mama love...






Ahhh... I always wished I had sisters!






Thanks for such a beautiful day, guys! It was just the perfect way to start the new year! :)