Chinese Wedding Homage Photoshoot

I finally got in contact with the awesome Jessi Field from Jessi Field Photography and she agreed to do a couple's shoot! She specializes in natural light, outdoor photography. After an amazing shootout last night with 15 other talented photographers, models, and designers, I got inspired to pick a theme that means a lot to me. I started thinking that I don't really acknowledge my heritage as much as I should. Of course, I make Asian jokes about myself, but that doesn't really go far.

I told Jessi that I regretted not having a professional photographer at my Chinese wedding when there was so much awesome food and colors there. Well, we did, but he didn't know my family very well and the pictures showed. I love my parents' wedding pictures so friggin much!

The next photoshoot will be a homage to my Chinese wedding, modernized and outdoors. Think Anthropologie in China.

Props to consider bringing:
- Chinese dragon wooden circle decoration from China Doll
- Red lanterns
- Fans
- red wedding ribbons
- red balloons? Is that too trendy? Screw it. why not!
- (2) wooden red chairs from home
- satin red flower bouquet
- stylized umbrella

Style:
- Red heels

- huge, custom red satin peony hair piece with veil

- 1920s glamour, or at least 1980s traditional: use parents' wedding photos as inspiration

- short, big wave curls
- red lipstick

- french manicure

- mom's hand-painted silk scarf

- tea set

Poses:
- chair, bride sit, groom stand
- grass pose, aerial shot
- lake, dock
- pouring tea
- both drinking tea, looking straight

Open Living and Kitchen Space Feel

via www.makeundermylife.com

Master BR Feel

Guest Bedroom/Modern Library

I am so excited! After struggling with what I wanted to do for our house(aka how to blend T's and my style), I decided to start with the room that has the least amount of stress for me. This will be the last room we'll ever work on, but because it's low priority for us, that meant I could be as open and free about it as I want! now that my creative juices are flowing, I think I'm going to settle down what what I want in our other rooms. 

It was a Facebook convo I had with Ben's photographer friend that sparked the whole mustard and slate color pallette frenzy. I knew I couldn't work with yellow or grey throughout the house because they're not my favorite colors. Yet, I was determined to see it in a cozy space. Traditionally, dark colors make a room seem smaller, but for this room, it was to make it cozy and modern. The dark walls would lend itself well to the wallpapered pattern on the direct opposite of the doorway, thus bringing a focal point that makes it fresh, feminine, and awesome at the same time!

Instead of a normal bed, I want a modern sleeper sofa so when a guest isn't there(rarely are!), I could actually use the room like a little library! The opposite end of the sofa bed would be a floor to ceiling(well, maybe just half a wall) of book shelves to put reading materials on. against the wall where the entry way is will be a 2'x4' desk and decorative chair for us to use. There may or may not be a rug, but since it's low foot traffic, I think a  masculine, geometric design would work well and we may just purchase one when we see fit. Of course, decorative art will be dispersed along the walls- some may actually be functional! See my memo board tutorial here- it functions both decoratively and useful as well. WIN!

Remodel the House: Links & Mustard Yellow

Remodel Post from 2010

http://www.designspongeonline.com/2011/04/designtripper-in-new-orleans.html

http://www.designtripper.com/

http://www.dwell.com/slideshows/straight-and-narrow.html?slide=9&c=y&paused=true

http://design-milk.com/

Remodel the House

Remember when I posted that we were going to remodel the house? Well, it's finally happening. The garage is up and Thomas is now knocking down part of our new bedroom wall to fit our French doors in. I'm in freaking LOVE! Now, he's making all this progress and I haven't even nailed down a design yet. All I know is that I want everything stainless steel in the kitchen. Unfortunately, that's uber expensive and unreasonable. Yet, Thomas knew that was what I wanted and somehow scored the sweetest deals from a rich man who just wanted to get rid of his brand new stove top, oven, and microwave/convection over for over 75% retail value. WIN!

Oh dear lord... the Biebs

I love the Oatmeal. The Biebs is kinda old now, but don't worry, there's still some amusement left in him.

Created by Oatmeal

Pranks

Just a couple of fails and pranks noticed OTJ.

It says website blocked:marketing allowed. However, marketing was the one that accessed it. FAIL.

Brad's got the Biebs. We Biebered him up and somehow it got leaked to a couple of managers. One printed it up and posted it on Exit door of the office. Nice.

New Office

It's further away, but instead of a cube, I get an entire office all to myself! Talk about a half year promotion minus gas, time, and sleep! joke.

Positive note- it's quiet so I'm actually able to do my work. Noone's really here so I crank up my music and watch video tutorials without randoms breathing down my back. Plus, I like my little easel set up! I have 3 containers for my writing and coloring instruments. 1 for pens & pencils, 1 for mini colored pencils, and 1 for Crayola markers. Yes, I'm a kid, but it helps me get creative. I've set it up so that I can draw what I want on the board. That bulletin board in the back? Handmade by me one weekend so that I could have something trendy, unique, and cheap for my office. Check out the tutorial here: Trendy Memo Board Tutorial.

#141 le sigh

As much as I've talked about loving what I do, and I truly do, I can't help but feel consistently stressed. It's like I have this pressure on my chest and I can't get it to go away. I am working all the time and my projects keep piling up to no end. I keep thinking, "Finish the little stuff first to make room for the big stuff" but in reality, I need to do a little bit of big stuff bit by bit. I've been hitting my deadlines but because of lack of sleep, stress, and a busy schedule, I feel so overwhelmed. The benefits here are great though- my departments gets fed quite often and we attend a lot of nice events. Now with my baby dog gone, it's hard to go home and try and snug. Her dog food bowl is still sitting on the ground with food in it. Everytime I go home, I smile, thinking Storm hasn't gotten a chance to get it then realize she's not home.

#139 R.I.P. Storm

Today was one of the hardest days I've experienced in a while. Thomas and I took Storm to the vet Thursday because she wasn't feeling well at all. It was very sudden- her body just started getting weaker and weaker. Turns out my baby girl had cancer in her spleen and it is suddenly taking over her. I got to know and love Storm for the past 2 years- I've known her for 7 years but really connected with her in the past 2 years. I wasn't sure if I could love an animal that was raised by someone else, but she was always there for me, protecting me - truly selfless. I've never had such a connection with an animal- nevermind that she was 14 years old, her spirit was still a puppy. Very youthful, happy, bouncy, annoying. Though I had my previous cat for 13+ years, she was still a cat meaning ultimately selfish and would probably turn her own mother in if it meant she would gain something. Storm, on the other hand, loved her family and would risk her life to defend her owners tooth and nail- something I just adored about her. Yet, she could be so girly despite her strong upbringing. I miss hugging her and rolling in the dirt- we would literally dance whenever we had the chance. She'd bounce around and jump up in the air as high as her arthritis would allow and when she landed, her talons would scrape up my leg. *oh well*

When we found out she wasn't going to get better, instead of leaving her at the vet which she hates, we took her home. Thomas took off 2 days to spend time with her at home. I was off Saturday and instead of going home to my family, I stayed with Storm all day. We took her outside and I snuggled right next to her reading my company book, TGIM. When it got too cold, Thomas picked the 80 lb+ pooch back inside and onto her handmade bed by me. Thomas rearranged our furniture so that we could live out of our 1 room and to be with Storm. At 4am, we heard a yelp and both of us hopped up to be next to her. We stayed with her until the end which is still the most haunting part for me, but I wouldn't have had it any other way. We went to our new garage and I watched Thomas build a wooden box for her. We had a burial for Storm a few hours later. I wrote her a pink Thank You-for-being-a-good-pup card and cried like a baby reading it at the burial. I left the card in the soil for closure. I miss you so much Storm. This is so hard.

#138 Work = Play?

Ever since I took on my new gig, I feel like I have been going a million miles per hour. The transition change and the new faces- I've gotten really comfortable at my office. I've been keeping tabs of how many days my work has fed me and so far, it's close to 40%. I've also kept tabs on how many events I'm working (aka out of the office) and I say close to that as well. It's pretty awesome- I get to stay very, very active while utilizing my skills on the side. Oh, I found out that I'm in charge of their Youth Club- that's pretty awesome because I specialize in children's illustrations and have wanted the chance to create my own book- now it'll be in newsletter form 4x a year

#137 New Job

Wow, it all happened so quick. I did a testimonial at my credit union a few months back. About a month ago, my [now] boss saw my commercial and made a comment about how nice I seemed. At the time, they were in need of a graphic designer and my friend mentioned, "Um, you know she's a graphic artist right?" So, my boss checked with the HR department to see if I applied- No I hadn't, but once I found out about the opportunity, I dropped everything I had and applied. I finally got to work on my portfolio presentation and decided to go with the iPad- hello, it saves PAPER and is with the technological age! I literally spent 3 whole days prepping my best work to look like it was in 3-D. Oh, this is once I found out I got an interview. I spent the next week and a half working on my portfolio and scheduled an appointment with Career Services for a mock interview. Practice, practice, practice. Though my work should speak for itself, the way I verbally communicate is a variable I was nervous about. I practiced speaking in the car, to Thomas, to UWF, etc. I even got my hair trimmed and a new outfit from The Limited(on sale! woo!). This was the job I wanted- no doubt. You got the 9-5 benefits but also working at all of the events so you're constantly staying busy. Rocked the interview and came back for a 2nd with the CFO.

Now I am at an amazing place.

Baby Photoshoot w.B

B's been really excited about her shoot. Me? Not so much. Preggo shots just don't do it for me. Anyway, I looked up some awesomeness and found out, hey, they CAN be beautiful! I'm going to check out the UWF photo studio on Sunday and we're going to shoot our eyes out. My plan: while the sun is still rising, I want to take B&B on a canoe so I can get some sweet, romantic canoe shots. Very natural, beautiful.

Did I mention I'm only using a point and shoot camera? Yeah, I'm going to need sun and light on my side.

I found the only maternity photographer I'll  need in terms of inspiration: Erin Wallis Photography

#135 Baby Baby Baby ARI!

So Brandy's baby girl is named Ari which is a [male] Hebrew name for Lion of God. Of course, that's my cue to incorporate a lion into her shower invitations. No one will get that this strange monstrous creature on her invite is a lion, and they are going to wonder why, but who cares. Brandy will get it and she'll understand.

Anyway, after finding out I couldn't print at the office, I was determined to have them printed last night however late it would be. B sent me home early which was fine because I took my sweet time to the school and went nuts. The printer was being my best friend that night(I don't know why it wasn't when I wanted to print my wedding invites! Sheesh!). 1st priority- test print the invites. Color looks good- 48 later, OK. Well, I have time now- I wanted people to bring diapers as a "raffle" but without sounding greedy. So, I made up a little poem that was lighthearted and hopefully not desperate sounding. I absolutely hate it when invites tell me what to do. Here it is:

Test printed it- oh mama, that brown looks black. I adjusted it so now it looks good. Perfect. Now the tricky part- should I even try sending envelopes that tiny through that huge machine? After a few attempts, I nailed it and now the envelopes are super cute. Here's what they look like:

Of course I changed the names and addresses on here for privacy sake but seriously, I'm stoke!! After that, I cut up all of the inserts(which were the perfect width, thank goodness) and found out I made a big no-no. I had left one of the guides on, thus printing my invites with a thin black line on the side of half of the stack. I ended up trimming them off, but it's pretty clear that one side is wider than the rest. Whatever, I labeled that side as the "Lovely" stack and put the "Perfect" stack in another order. I stuffed them all until I was kicked out of the lab. Woo hoo, this = donezo and I love it.

Annnnnd I took one invite from the Perfect stack. Hey, I deserve a good invitation, right? I also added rub-on transfers from Martha Stewart's line(<3 her) but only had 20 so now only 19 of the invites have the sweet little envelopes that say "It's a Girl!" on it. Mua hahaha....