While in Seoul, my Aunt got me a Fuji Instax Mini camera and I fell in love with these pint size little polaroids that this camera would spit out.

Some of my favorite photos from the trip came from the Instax. The thing I always loved about Polaroids and what I love about these cute little mini instax photos is the singularity of each photo. Makes them seem all the more precious.

Full blog post on my trip coming soon!

I was up at 6AM this morning watching the light slowly drape over the city of Seoul and decided that this might be a good time to do a blog post. My body is still trying to get the hang of the time difference, but 3 days in and I still get sleepy at around 6PM local time.

Korea is truly a stunningly beautiful country and I can’t wait to do a full photo blog post when I get back to California, but for now, here’s a little taste of the colors of Korea. Colors like I’ve never seen before.

From Friday October 23rd to November 1st, I’ll be out of the Office… in fact, I’ll be out of the whole country!

I’m headed to South Korea for a week of exploring, adventuring, EATING and getting in touch with my Korean roots. From what people are telling me, South Korea is a beautiful place to visit during the fall, so stay tuned for some special travel photography.

Seoul is definitely a wired city, but I’m going to make an effort to disconnect for the week so if you email me, expect a few days delay in getting a response back.

See you on the other side. =)

I’ve got some great wedding blog posts coming up but to mix things up a little, here’s a little tasty treat to feast your eyes on.

Cupcakes!

I went to the 2nd Annual Cupcake Camp in San Francisco today and got to taste all sorts of cupcake goodies. The best one I tried was the hostess cupcake. So decadent, so good!

There was one summer a few years back where I declared that I would become a cupcake making master. Alas, I kinda failed miserably and gave up after a not-so-fun battle with buttercream. But I’m more than happy to eat the labors of better bakers than myself.

I love finding cupcakes at weddings too. There’s nothing better after a full day of shooting than a hug from the bride and groom and a red velvet cupcake to take home.

You know all those horror stories you hear about the high school experience? Malicious gossip, thuggish bullies, backstabbing frenemies etc etc. Well I must have been one of the lucky ones because the enduring memories I have of my High School experience is that of the wonderful friends I made. Wonderful ladies whose friendship I was lucky enough to earn and who have since become like sisters to me.

And one of those friends, turns 23 today!

I usually can’t remember the beginning of the friendships I’ve made over the years. Can’t remember the precise moment we met and started developing that relationship. But with Val, I remember and I remember it CLEARLY. Probably because there I was, a scared little freshmen when all of a sudden this strange and excited girl jumps right in front of me and exclaims something along the lines of, “I KNOW YOU!!” And proceeds to talk about how I was Hannah, the Asian cheerleader from Orange Grove Middle School. Oh yeah, she freaked me out at first.

But Val has this magic quality about her that oozes warmth and friendliness. She may be super hyper at times, but she makes you feel at home. There are times when we go out and meet new people and I’m so glad to have Val by my side because I swear, the girl can make friends and carry a conversation with perfect strangers with perfect ease.

Last week while I was in LA, we treated Val out to an early birthday dinner and while on the way home I mentioned how much I love her chocolate chip-less chocolate chip cookies and what does she do? She proceeds to go home, grab all her baking equipment and ingredients, brings it all over to my house and bakes me the most delicious cookies right then and there. That’s the kind of wonderfully giving person she is and I love her for it.

This isn’t a recent photo, but I love it anyway because I think it perfectly captures Val’s open and warm personality.

Happy Birthday Val! Let’s keep on growing old together.