Ten on Ten: February

Sunday was a bit of a blur between sleeping a bit too late, trying an attempt at positive reinforcement, racing to church in the rain, driving downtown to a birthday party, and then finally hitting the beach for a maternity session.  A busy, but full Sunday.

At the end of my session, I took a moment on the beach by myself (the cold beach, I might add), to just be....and I have to say that was the highlight of my day.

Mini Sessions with the "Momtog" herself, Drew!

For the last three years or so, I have followed and drooled over Drew Bittel's photography, first through her website, Momtog, and then through her actual photography blog/website, Drew B Photography.

I love her style, her use of light, and her knack for simple, clean editing of bright, bold colors.

I have pinned a ridiculous number of her photos for inspiration in my own sessions.

I never thought I would get a chance to have her shoot our family because she is so crazy good that people are willing (and should) pay her a lot of money.  

When she posted a few weeks ago on Facebook that she was thinking about doing some Valentine Mini sessions at her studio in Fullerton (Orange County), my heart did a little leap.

I went ahead and quickly replied, "YES!" because not only did I want some cute stylized shoot pictures of my kids, but I also wanted to meet Drew in person and see this girl work!

 I'm so glad I did.  Drew is so warm, down to earth, and sweet I felt like I was meeting a friend.

I am such a photo nerd that I was as excited to meet her as I was to meet Ellen....no lie.  The session, was so quick and smooth, and my kids actually cooperated....success!

Here are some quick pics I shot with my iphone in her studio....

 How cute are her backdrops and props?  I was like a kid in a candy store.

This would be my dream.

So I drove back to San Diego yesterday and was still giddy about our morning.  While checking facebook during the big game (about an hour after she wrapped all of our sessions), I saw Drew post this......

and I almost died.

And then she gave me a little sneak peek on Instagram......

I don't know how she does it.  She had eight sessions yesterday.  Not only did she put out a sneak peek yesterday but she sent me my pics TODAY.  It takes me almost a week to get through a session....clearly I need to learn some new tricks....and skills.  =)

So, here are the pics!  And yes, I'm going to put all of them up here.  Even the ones where Graham is making the weird face....because it's still a cute weird face. =)

 

LOVE.

One month down...

I'll make this short and sweet, but I can't lie...I'm pretty proud of myself. =)

I set out at the beginning of the year (actually about an hour after I took that first pic of Addison) and decided I was going to try and take a picture of each kid with my phone EVERY DAY of the year.  

I'm sure those that follow me on instagram (mbparsons), are getting sick of seeing the pictures every day....and there are some days that are a little less inspirational than others, but I thought it would be so cool to look back at the end of the year and be able to literally see what we did every day.

One month down, we'll see if I can keep this going.....

Free Weekend = Impromptu trip

January has been a nice recovery from the craziness of November/December.

Our weekends are about to pick up again, but the last few have been blissfully open.

Last weekend we had absolutely nothing.  I can't remember the last time that's happened.

So of course we filled it with something by taking a trip up to LA to visit Suzanne, Brian, Desmond, and Charlie.  

Suz & Brian are good friends of ours from back home in Texas.  They've lived out in California for 7 years and it's nice to be able to get together whenever we're able, although we all know how crazy life gets...there just aren't a lot of opportunities. Even more surprising that we had an open weekend, turns out they did as well.

Yay!

We stopped at Starbucks (a necessity for a road trip) and were excited to see this little gem as we pulled out.  You have to stop and take a picture of the weinermobile....I mean, there is only one, or at least that's what wikipedia said.

Ever since the paci fairy showed up (two years behind schedule), this guy has not been taking too many naps.  He caught up on the way up the 5.

We arrived!  I was so excited to see Brian & Suzanne's kiddos.....I had never even met Charlie!

My kids loved playing with hers and wore each other out.

 We walked to a fun park down the street before heading back to get read for bed.

or not.  These kiddos stayed up for a while, but then what fun are sleepovers when you don't?

Graham loved chilling in Desmond's "datman" chair.

Sunday after a totally lazy morning (I love those), we headed to The Grove.  I had never been before, but loved it.  Not only do they have such great shopping areas, but there are tons of restaurants and a HUGE farmer's market.

The nerd in me kept trying to catch a glimpse of an "Us Weekly worthy" person, but most of them were probably busy getting ready for the SAG awards.  =)

More exciting than a celebrity sighting was Dylan's candy shop.

  

 Strolling through the Farmer's market...

and killing some time waiting for a table for lunch...  

We ate at a place called "short order" and it was so good.

This pic makes me laugh because I was a little "short" on getting it.  

Can anyone else identify with me you gagging when you hear yourself say....

"You need to eat all of your grilled cheese and fries if you want your candy".

Andy and I played tourists as we drove through Beverly Hills and Rodeo drive area....nerds.

Then back home to reality we went...