I know you’re not really supposed to say “thank you” for a thank you note, but I don’t care.  So….

THANK YOU!!!!!!

There’s just something about a hand written note.  It’s so personal.  I love getting to do what I do.  It’s fun for me and an honor to be able to take your photos.  But getting your thank you notes in my mailbox (which honestly sees way more bills and junk mail than fun mail) feels like a little part of you just showed up at my house to give me a hug.  It’s things like this that make not just my job, but my life an absolute joy.

It made me think about the people I am thankful for.  Do I show them enough?  How can I let them know how much I appreciate them?  And it sure as heck makes me want to write more notes so the people I love can experience that “hug in your mailbox” feeling too.

And this may sound corny, but how can my life be a “thank you note”  to the One who has given me life and has given it to me more abundantly than I could have asked or imagined?  Or what about the times when I feel like God hasn’t listened and things aren’t turning out at all like I hoped or imagined?  What then?  I read this in Shauna Niequist’s book Cold Tangerines this morning and I think this is a good answer to that question and a great thought to meditate on this weekend.

“Celebration when you’re calling the shots?  Easy.  Celebration when your plan is working?  Anyone can do that.  But when you realize that the story of your life could be told a thousand different ways, that you could tell it over and over as a tragedy, but you choose to call it an epic, that’s when you start to learn what celebration is.  When what you see in front of you is so far outside of what you dreamed, but you have the belief, the boldness, the courage to call it beautiful instead of calling it wrong, that’s celebration.

“When you can invest yourself deeply and unremittingly in the life that surrounds you instead of declaring yourself out of the game once and for all, because what’s happened to you is too bad, too deep, too ugly for anyone to expect you to move on from, that’s that good rich place.  That’s the place where the things that looked for all intents and purposes like curses start to stand up and shimmer and dance, and you realize with a gasp that they may have been blessings all along.  Or maybe not.  Maybe they were curses, in fact, but the force of your belief and your hope and your desperate love for life as it is actually unfolding, has brought a blessing from a curse, like water from a stone, like life from a tomb, like the actual story of God over and over.”

Thank you for putting these on clearance.  You knew that I have a hard time passing up a bargain and that I wouldn’t be able to resist them.  I’m so glad I gave in!

Every time I walk into the room they give me a little infusion of joy.

They have been making me happy all week.

$3.49 well spent.

Love, Jen

It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these.  But I just discovered a new thing that makes me love living near Downtown Fullerton even more (if that’s even possible)!  Since I work from home most of the time, once in a while I like a change of scenery.  It’s really nice to take my laptop to a coffee place and get some work done.  Only problem…. Fullerton hasn’t has a really cool coffee place.  I mean, there’s one on my street, but they close at 3:00 pm, right when I’m starting to get in my “work grove”.  There’s another one that I was really excited about when I first saw it, but it just wasn’t the right vibe.  Just not uber comfy, you know?  And there’s Starbucks, but, whatever.  Why doesn’t Fullerton, such a fun area with so many college students, have a cool coffee place???

Well they do now!

About three weeks ago The Night Owl opened.  ”A true Bohemian style coffee lounge devoted to showcasing music and art”, is how they describe themselves and their vision.  I went in about a week ago to do a little journaling and brainstorming for the new year.  As I sat in one of their comfy stuffed chairs, I ended up having conversations with both of the masterminds behind the Night Owl, Joe Rosati and Bob Anderson.  These childhood friends share my love for the Downtown Fullerton area and have a desire for it to reach its true potential.  Joe has been in the restaurant business for many years and Bob has a construction business.  They’ve dreamed for years about opening a business together and finally all the pieces have fallen into place.

Here’s what I like about it.  It’s got that true BOHO feel that a coffee joint should have (in my opinion).  The art on the walls, which will be changing every few months, is actually good (again, my opinion… but hey, I’ve got a degree in art, so that counts for something, right?)!  They’ve got a little stage for live music performances that’s super cool.  Joe, a musician himself, has come up with an idea to “play it forward”.  All musicians perform for free, but guests are encouraged to tip the musicians and whatever the amount of tips at the end of the night, “The Night Owl will then match dollar for dollar the amount that the musicians were tipped and convert it into a grocery store gift card and anonymously donate it to a local family in need.”  I love that idea!  What a great way to give back to the community.

Their pastries are made by a local gourmet chef and they look amazing.  I’m actually sitting next to the counter as I write this and I’ve been staring at the salted caramel chocolate bar and the chocolate croissant.  I’m staying strong, though and just enjoying my tropical tea.  I can’t comment on the coffee since I’m not a coffee drinker, but the ice tea is great!

So far, every time I’ve been in here there’s been a constant flow of people which makes me happy.  I want these guys to be around for a long time!  So go try them out!

They’re open from 10am to LATE (2, 3, 4 am… they play it by ear)

I love all of the owl stuff.

With tears in her eyes,Bob’s wife told me about the painting on the right.  A little girl that they know had a dream and saw a cup of coffee with an owl sitting on it and told her mom that she had to paint it for the Night Owl.   So sweet.

Their super awesome stage.

Welcome to the neighborhood, Night Owl!!!!!!

I’ve aways liked Christmas.  In the past few years I’ve grown to LOVE Christmas.  This year, maybe more than any other year, I’m aware of the importance of Christmas.  I guess I’ve just been overly aware of the hurt and pain that fills this world.  A lot of it has hit pretty close to home in my family, with several jobs lost, major illnesses and several tragedies.  And with Christmas, those things can feel even more difficult.  But this Christmas, I’m seeing just how important Christmas is in reminding us of hope.  Our only Hope.  Emmanuel.  God with us.  The only hope I have when tragedy strikes is that God is with me and that He is faithful.  Christmas is important because it reminds us that that God came near, to be with us.  And that He will be with us, to give us comfort when we don’t know which way to turn.

So I love Christmas and I want my house to reflect that promise by being a place of love and comfort.  I love to decorate it all up so it feels magical.

Sometimes I think maybe it’s a little much… but then I get over it and just enjoy every bit of it!  This year my roommate Ally and I started watching Christmas movies pretty early (it may or may not have been before Thanksgiving).  One night while we were watching Elf, you know the part where he decorates the whole room with a bunch of paper chains and snowflakes all over the place, well, I got inspired.  And when he puts syrup on everything… well that inspired me too.  To make breakfast, that is!

I decided to have some friends over for a Christmas breakfast.

I saw little poinsettias at the 99 cent store (my favorite!) so I just wrapped them up with a little craft paper and jute and had a little gift for each of my guests!

That night I had some more friends over for dinner.  Yep, I did a lot of entertaining this year, and I love it!  For dessert I made apple spice cupcakes with salted caramel frosting.  Even drizzled some caramel and a little sea salt on top.  Whaaaaaaaaaat?  Yep, you heard me right.  DE-LISH!

Here’s my cute little crooked tree and it’s new star (from Goodwill, brand new, still in the box).

The cutest little baby Jesus ornament!

More paper goodness!  These little coffee filter flowers were SO fun to make.  Thank you Pinterest!

Ally’s amazing handiwork.  She got skillzzzz!

Another Pinterest idea.

One of my favorite things this year has been getting Christmas cards from clients with photos I’ve taken!  Look how fun!

I love this little set up.

Merry Christmas to you all!

A couple of months ago Bobbi emailed me and told me her family was going to be in Santa Cruz for a few days and wanted to see about flying me up there to do some photos.  FUN!  Of course!

So we made it happen!  I got to spend a few days getting to know her family and it was such a fun time.  I got to stay at Mt. Hermon Conference Center.  BEAUTIFUL!  We did a little photo shoot around the camp.

Kayleen decided it would be fun to eat leaves.

Look at these handsome guys!

And beautiful girl!

Silly faces are fun.

The next day we went exploring.  We went to this park that had an old covered bridge.  Uuummmm… yes please!

We heard that there were a couple of places in Santa Cruz that the monarch butterflies come to rest on their journey south to… wherever it is they go.  The first one we went to, I think we counted about 10 butterflies.  To say that the kids (and I) were underwhelmed would be a big understatement.  But the next day we went to another one and saw TONS!  It was really cool!

These kids are super active so it wasn’t long before they were climbing up trees.

Even Kayleen got in on the fun!

It doesn’t really show here, but they were kinda high up.  It made me a little nervous, I’m not gonna lie.  But my cousin Bobbi wasn’t nervous at all.  I love mom’s like that!

Look at that smile!  She is one good natured little girl.

Then we headed down to the beach.  The kids had so much fun and definitely didn’t want to leave.  They were soaked!

Then we popped over to see the redwoods for a little bit.  This would be the part of the day where the clouds came in and it got really cold.  And then… it started to pour!  The kids were already wet so it didn’t really matter.  They didn’t complain at all…. yeah right!

I loved how there was a little beam of light coming through the trees right on this bench.  She looked so tiny amongst these HUGE trees!

Such a beautiful area!  I had so much fun connecting with family.  Thanks so much, Bobbi, for flying me up there!  Your kids are just wonderful and some of the best behaved kids I’ve ever met.  They are just really cool people!  Merry Christmas!

I had bought tickets for my first trip to New York two weeks before the attacks.  My plan was to go at the end of November.  Of course my mom told me I wasn’t going.  Of course I didn’t listen.

When my friends and I got there we made our way to ground zero to find tons of people crowding in to get a view of the pieces of the World Trade Center that were still standing.  There were lots of people, but they were mostly quiet.  Here and there I could hear people crying.  I heard a few people telling stories of the family they had lost that day.  Lining the fences, up and down the streets surrounding were posters and flags and flowers.  Places to sign to say thank you and goodbye to so many.

Strangely enough, this trip was the beginning of my career as a photographer.  Taking photos of the buildings around New York inspired me.  I came home and promptly enrolled in my first photography class.

My friend Amber Fox posted a video on her blog the other day about the photographers who captured the historic photos from that day.  It’s really worth watching.  Go on over to her blog and check it out.

The subject of dating and marriage can sometimes be a sensitive topic for me. Oh, not about other people’s relationships. I talk with couples all the time and get genuinely excited with them about their relationships and proposals and wedding plans. But in regards to my own life… well that’s another story. I’ve only even mentioned it a couple of times on here because, honestly, it’s a little embarrassing. But in this new chapter characterized by a spirit of vulnerability, I want to share some of my thoughts recently.

It seems like lately I’ve been hearing about a bunch of people I’ve dated getting engaged or being in serious relationships. One guy I went out with last summer……… LAST SUMMER!!!! got married a couple of weeks ago!  Woah! It’s enough to make a girl feel like she’s the only single person out there! And I can start to feel very alone. It’s easy for me, then, to start thinking about it a lot. Obsessing about how I might meet someone and why I haven’t yet until it consumes my mind and becomes the motivation behind a lot of my actions.  I’ve spent WAY too much mental energy over the years trying to figure out what’s wrong with me and fix things about myself.  I’ve  believed that I needed someone to save me from being alone, which comes with all sorts of unrealistic expectations. Not only that, but I’ve often made an idol of the idea of marriage, putting a whole lot of pressure on another person and looking for a savior, when there’s only One Savior and I’ve already got Him.

And honestly, in the time of being without a roommate (which is going to end in about a week… more on that some other time) I’ve begun to really enjoy being by myself.  I’ve been soaking in the quiet.  Last night I sat in the back yard under my magic lights (that’s what I call them) and ate my dinner with the sound of the fountain bubbling behind me.  I took a breath and thanked God for this wonderful, peaceful moment.

So while I’ve had brief pity parties, God has been working on my perspective.

A few weeks ago I was talking with my mom on the phone and she asked me if I was doing any internet dating right now.  I said no, not right now.  She told me I’d better be careful.  I asked her why, assuming my paranoid mother was going to launch into some horror story she heard on the news of someone getting chopped into pieces by someone they met on the internet.  You know, the “normal” concerned mother stuff.  :)  But instead she said, “Because my Bible study is praying for you to find “the one”.

I giggled.  That’s not what I expected at all!

I’ll admit… there are times, especially in regards to this desire to get married and have a family, when I’ve felt like God just doesn’t hear me.  I’ve thought that maybe if I had the right people praying for me, God would listen to THEM since He clearly didn’t seem to be listening to me.  So, as I hung up that day, I felt a sense of relief.  Like a weight had been lifted.  Kinda like when you’re carrying something by yourself that’s almost too heavy for you to carry on your own, then two people join you and it’s suddenly bearable.  It felt like I wasn’t alone in this anymore.

Not like I ever really was.

On Saturday I shot a wedding with my friend Kate Noelle. The couple was in their 40’s and neither of them had been married before. Both of them light up when talking about the other and they couldn’t stop thanking God for clearly orchestrating their meeting in His perfect timing.

As I listened to them talk about how it was so worth the wait, my heart smiled.  I couldn’t help but feel encouraged. There was a peace that seemed to blanket the entire day and crept into my heart.  And while I hope that it will happen for me sooner than later (please let it be before I’m 40!!!!!  I wanna have kids!), I am encouraged, knowing that God is faithful.  He’s got a firm hold on me and I am so thankful for the experiences and people that have been and are shaping me.  I’m grateful for the times that have made the pictures of who God is and who I am a little clearer.

So I wait.  But now with a little more trust that God knows what He’s doing.  And with a little more peace than I had a few days ago.

I love that it’s so personal.  Here’s the story behind all of the places.

Broadway: I love New York, mostly because I LOVE Broadway.

34th ST: Every Thanksgiving my brother and I watch Miracle on 34th Street to usher in the Christmas season.

Central Park:  I love Central Park.  It’s just beautiful and I have some great memories there.

Brooklyn: mmmm… I’ve only been there once, but I’ll admit…. it just looked cool in my design.

Greenwich Village:  I love the character of the Village and I have great memories wandering around there trying to find Magnolia Bakery.

Washington Heights:  I’ve actually never been there, but I love the musical In the Heights and it takes place there.

42nd Street:  The beginning of the Theater District and a classic musical.

Avenue Q:  Not really a street, just a really funny musical.

via Roma: The street I stayed on in Florence.

Monamarte:  yep… I know…I spelled it wrong.  But even though I didn’t use spell check, it’s still my favorite area in Paris.

via delle Cinque Terre:  the main road in Cinque Terre, one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been.

Firenze:  Florence… mmmm…. I love that city.

Union Station:  One of the most beautiful buildings in LA.  I’ve done some really fun shoots there.  I love riding the train there and taking the subway.

Hope St.: My great aunt lives on Hope Street down by the music center in LA.  And hope has sort of been my family word for the past several years.

Lawrence Ave:  Home sweet home.  No matter where I travel, Dorothy was right… there’s no place like home.

So the other night, when I had my neighbors over for a barbecue, I couldn’t wait to put together something cute for the table.  Side note… we had the best burgers I’ve ever had that night.  I made the patties myself adding a little Worcestershire sauce, salt & pepper, fresh basil from my yard and feta.  OH. MY. GOODNESS.  Delish!

Anyway, I didn’t have a table cloth long enough for the table I was using.  Luckily I had a roll of brown kraft paper which was exactly the same width as the table.  Nice!  Then I set the table with a few doilies, some mason jars with candles, a little greenery I picked, some succulents I had and some billy balls.  Billy balls are just happy little things, aren’t they?

I left everything out overnight and thought I would take photos of it the next night (although, without the place settings).  I’ve been having a little trouble with stray cats in the back yard lately.  I didn’t really think it was trouble until I came out to take photos and found this.

One of the cats ate through my doilie!!!!!  It must have gotten something delicious dripped on it.  Grrrrrr.

Oh well.  It was still a wonderful evening with friends and it all looked magical.

We left off in the cute little Medieval town of Segovia.  Next we headed to Granada, but on our way, we stopped through Cordoba for the day.

I just loved this little church we stumbled upon.

One of the coolest things about Cordoba were the flowers we saw throughout the city.  I loved how people hung flowers everywhere.

They were having some sort of open house of peoples courtyards.  These spaces were amazing!  I could have spent all day here!

We went there for really one reason and one reason only.  To see the Mesquita.  The building of this amazing place was begun in 600 AD as the church of St. Vincent.  Then it was a mosque….. and then a Christian church again.  It’s kinda weird because it feels like a mosque, but with a cathedral dropped into the middle of it.  It doesn’t fit at all.  But all of the detail was amazing and because of the low light, it was the moment I knew the decision to bring my 5D was a great one!