The Whirlwind - Part 1

I can't even begin to describe the craziness of these past 5 days. It has been absolutely incredible and amazing and stunning and surprising (and exhausting!) all rolled into one blurred stretch of time. I'm going to attempt to blog a lot of it (with photos OF COURSE), but it will definitely take more than one blog, so this is just part one. ;-)

So Thursday, my friend Kristen Leigh arrived with her bff Natalie from Maryland. I think that California knew that Kristen was considering a move here, so she put her best face on and turned the weather to clear blue sunny skies with 75 degree weather the entire time. ;-)




We headed home in the wondrous LA traffic (4:30pm from LAX to Santa Clarita baby!) and enjoyed some laughter, stories, and music (I HAD to throw together a playlist for the drive - some country for them, some rock and r&b for me, and of course, some Justin Timberlake for everyone else on the road too - we totally brough sexy back).

After dinner, which my husband and our friend Jared made for everyone (with my husband's famous SAUCE for the pasta - not gonna lie, it's amazing every time), we headed to the bowling alley. :-)




Preston whooped us all, but I gave Nathan a run for his money - we were like Hillary and Barac out there for the points. ;-)

That didn't spoil the mood for Natalie though! She gave a valiant effort!



The next day, we got up and drove to Santa Barbara to cruise around and check out the sites for Kristen's big day shooting with David Jay, Jessica Claire, and Josh Newton.

We had to pick up smoothies from Coffee Kiosk on the way though. ;-)



We also got to eat at one of my FAVORITE places on the planet - La Super Rica. I ate there with my sister last year when we were up on Santa Barbara and it knocked my socks off. It was still as good as I remember - authentic mexican food, home-made tortillas & guacamole...mmmmmmm..... I'm so glad Kristen took a picture of it. ;-) (a lot of these pictures are hers, btw)




We definitely wandered around had had random fun though. :-) Check out the hats from Cost Plus World Market. I don't know why I couldn't talk them into buying them....



After that, we enjoyed some good chimping on our cameras comparing what we got for the day. You'll notice I do that a lot...



About the time that we were doing this in the hotel, I got an email from Melissa Jill - one of my photography heroes - saying that she could use some help with a wedding she was shooting the next day in Palm Springs. After frantic phone calls all over the place to DJ, Josh and Melissa, we got it all worked out so that DJ could pick up Kristen for their wedding the next morning, Natalie (the Trooper) could go along, and I could drive from SB to Palm Springs. :-) Isn't amazing how God works sometimes?

So I hopped on the road, drove home for a quick nap (that's what it felt like), then got up early to drive to Palm Springs. I felt like I was bursting with excitement the whole time, so I hardly even felt the tiredness.

Next post -- the wedding at the Paker Hotel (amazing!), Melissa Jill and Jamie Hammond (her assistant), and Kristen's adventure in Santa Barbara....