Live Love Photography » holiday

Happy Love Day!

Tina — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 19:12:45 +0000

Friday I attempted some crafty treats for my daughter’s school party and I must say I delivered!

I have to be honest and let you know I am NOT a baker! I am an eyeballer when comes to a lot of things so when I bake which calls for preciseness, yeah not working. Cooking is a little more forgiving, but baking not so much. Last time I baked cookies for a Christmas cookie exchange and it was disastreous! They tasted okay, but I like BIG cookies! And I made then way too big so they didn’t cook right. Therefore didn’t cool right, and just stuck together which resulted in a cookie log chunk! Some girls didn’t even want them mixing with all the other pretty cookies, SAD! But they were still edidble but yeah pretty? Not so much. This is my sister eating hers. She said they were good. I think she was just being nice……

So I must say I was pretty happy with myself when I did these! I love making rice krispy treats. No baking involved. It’s okay if the measurements are off and you add too many of the 3 whole ingredients! And I could go crazy with sprinkles! The dipping was a little tricky because they had to dry upright. And the dark and white chocolate melt differently and you don’t want it too melted. So needless to say I had chocolate dripping everywhere! To make them extra pretty I added some Tomkat Studio DIY labels! Easy Peasy and PRETTY! Yay for me! My mother-in-law thought I bought them somewhere. Hmmm, really?!? That made me smile and I could feel my head get bigger too! Ha. I am happy to know I redeemed myself after my Christmas cookie fiasco!

See cutie patootie huh? And YUMMY! Wishing everyone a wonderful day with all of their LOVED ones!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Tina — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 10:14:36 +0000

I am already stuffed!! I have been hanging out with the sweetest little pumpkin pies all week! Like her……..

And her…….

And these two with mom’s TINY little butterball……..

This little Ham………..

And this Turkey! Cracks me up! Lots of fun stuff coming up!

I am so grateful this year for so SO many things and people! As I get older I feel more and more blessed. Stopping in the moment I am in right now and knowing I have truly everything I need to be happy. Knowing THAT makes me SO happy. And content. And Thankful. Wishing you and your families a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving!

Happy Halloween!

Tina — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:55:15 +0000

Today I took some pictures of the kiddos before we headed out to my daughter’s school party. I love having them match. This will probably be my last year of them matching. My daughter picked Minnie and so by default I made him Mickey. Here they are all dressed up in their homemade Minnie and Mickey costumes!

I am very blessed that my children get along and love each other so much! We just got my son a big boy bed with a trundle and they sleep together everynight! Many times she falls asleep right away but he stays up and sings to himself……..VERY loudly. My husband and I just look at each other and laugh. But all I have to do is ask him do you want to sleep with mommy and daddy? He then literally squeals Nooooooo!!! He then shuts his eyes and goes to bed. He would rather be with his big sister than mom and dad. I love that.

And here is a meat and cheese platter I was proud of. I am not really a presentation person or very good party thrower or hostess. I leave that up to my sister or my friend Kim. But I signed up late for my daughter’s party so all that was left was the meat. And it was take 2 kids to Costco to pick up a tray or make due with what I had. I chose Lazy and stay at home!! I think it would be super cute to make for Thanksgiving into a Turkey. I thought about making these into spiders with the sticks as legs but yeah too lazy! But aren’t they cute???

I hope everyone has a happy and safe Halloween!!

Grandma Geisha

Tina — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 05:11:46 +0000

I spent the day today sewing my kids’ costumes. Even though I normally do sew them I wasn’t really in the mood this year because I was so behind. But my husband and I took them to the halloween store on Friday and it was a madhouse! And the costumes were out. My daughter wants to be Minnie again (she was her when she was 1 but of course she doesn’t remember, but I do). The Disney store was out too of costumes. So I went to Joanne’s got my fabric and have been sewing all day! So Minnie and Mickey it will be. But I love halloween and have so much fun creating costumes and dressing up. I get it from my mother. Last weekend she was a Geisha and I did her hair and makeup for her. She is so beautiful! I only hope I look like this in my 60′s!!

Happy October!

Tina — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 18:01:52 +0000

It’s the first of October! My Fave! I love this time of year because it kicks off the holiday season and ends the heat! I also love it because my eldest was born this time of year and my husband and I celebrate our anniversay this month. Lots of things happening! Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. Just because I LOVE to dress up. I take after my mom. As a a 60 year old woman she still get all decked out on Halloween and goes dancing!!! And since she is an AMAZING seamstress she always has THE best costumes. Last year she made this crazy huge web that she wore like wings that had a huge spider on it! This year she wants to be a Geisha lady. It is my job to do her makeup and hair, so I will make sure I post pics!

As a kid my sisters and I were never anything typical. My mom always inspired and brought out the creativity in us. We always made our costumes. Either sewn by my mom or constructed by us kids from paper or cardboard boxes. One year we were Christmas themed. I was a present, my sister a Christmas tree, one a snowman. One of my older sister’s has been a Lady speedstick deodorant and a toilet. Yes, a toilet. When we went trick or treating she put her candy in the bowl. I was a dice one year. A flower. Raggaty Ann.

As I got older I still made my costumes. I can actually sew and made some cool costumes. I was the Chiquita banana lady, Wonderwoman, even a mermaid! I had bought a blonde wig intending to be Smurfette. But after buying some blue face paint and putting on the wig, my husband and sisters were laughing so hard and advised me NOT to be Smurfette. Apparently I looked pretty scary. But the wig was like $30 and I had to use it. So I ended up being a mermaid. I couldn’t walk and everyone at the party I went to were calling me Donna Martin. Unfortunately I missed that episode of 90210. I have been a pregnant pig, what else?… the bride of Frankenstein. This year I hope I have the time to make my kids their costumes. My daughter is simple this year and wants to be a cat. I want to be DJ Lance and the Gabba Friends or The Incredibles. Ha. My husband in a tight super hero costume. Yeah right.

Here are some pictures of last year of the costumes I had sewn for my kids. I like to have them “matching”. They were a butterfly and caterpillar the year before. This will probably be the last year for that since my son doesn’t really know this year. I wanted him to be the lion but he wasn’t having anything on his head. I really wanted him to be the Mayor of Munchkin city but yeah I don’t know know to make a tuxedo! So I went with Lollipop Kid.

And here are some ghosts I made last year. I got the instructions from Martha Stewart. Not as easy as she makes it out to be. VERY messy. But turned out cute!

SO WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO BE THIS YEAR???

Happy Father’s Day!

Tina — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 16:05:00 +0000

Happy Father’s day to all the Mr. Moms out there! I wrote about how my mom taught me to be strong woman and mother. What my dad taught me was it is never too late. Never too late to learn from your mistakes. Never too late to do what you want. Never too late to learn. Never too late to live your life the way you want. When I was young my Dad was a successful engineer. However he was always dreaming. Dreaming of music. He would play the guitar all the time for us. He even bought my little sister a mini-guitar for Christmas once so she could play. Dreaming of going to MBA graduate school. Dreaming of being a pilot. He took hours and hours of flight classes. Dreaming of working for Disney. I remember him showing me the rejection letter he saved from Disney years before I was even born, stating that he didn’t have just what they were looking for to be a Disneyland Imagineer. As a kid I thought my Dad was soooooo cool cause he almost got a job at Disneyland!!! The fact that my dad saved that letter too. He easily could have tossed it, be upset, and never talk about it again. The fact that he tried to get the dream job at the Happiest Place on Earth. The fact that he saved it to show his daughter. And how proud his daughter was! That right there is what I have learned from my Dad. It isn’t about the destination but the journey. Not about things but about experiences. And to this day my Dad continues to inspire me. Painting in his garage, or on the beach having conversations with random or homeless people and learning their stories. Traveling, speaking and learning from all cultures. Photographing and documenting everything he has seen and done. Doing things he loves. Always learning, learning, learning. I recently told you how he turned 60 last month. He just completed a 23 day trip on his motorcycle with my stepmom following the distinct route of the Tour de France the year he was born. He had a private blog I was able to follow and read about his adventures. My Dad has taught me to live life to the fullest. I think one day my husband and I will tackle his trip and try it too! I just have to get over my fear of motorcycles! Thank you Daddy! I love you! Happy Father’s day!

Now my husband. I could not ask for a more amazing father for my children. I feel he will teach my kids the things my father taught me. He teaches my daughter so much already. Their connection is so amazing. Things I never would think to explain to her, he can, and she understands. Since losing his job last year he has been home full-time with the kids. People always ask me how I do it. How do I have my salon, photography, and kids? This is how. Love and support at home makes everything much easier. When I am feeling overwhelmed, I know he is taking great care of the kids or keeping the house together and allowing me to focus on my work and do a good job for my clients. My children simply adore him and I love that. My son just recently started calling me Mama instead of Dada! They are very lucky to have a father who loves them as much as he does. The love he has for them I know is what completes his life. Whatever he is meant to be or do, I don’t know. But he definitely was meant to be a dad. I love you babe! Happy Father’s Day! xoxo

I will end this post with and image of a new father and baby from my recent newborn shoot. And this is where it all begins…………..

Happy Mother’s Day!

Tina — Sun, 10 May 2009 11:36:00 +0000

Happy Mother’s Day to all of you amazing mothers! I am having a wonderful day thus far. I am unfortunately not going to see my mother today as she is working . But she is an amazing woman. She is one who showed me strength and how to be a strong mother and wife. My family is from Vietnam and my mother came to this country almost 35 years ago with my father to start a new life. When she and my father tell the story of picking up 2 of my sisters, one of my sister’s being as small as 7 months, and leaving everything behind inspires me all the time. I could not even imagine what it would be like to just pack up and leave and have not an idea where to. I think about how my mother sat on a boat packed as sardines not being able to get up or else she would lose her spot. Literally sitting in the same spot for weeks. No bathroom. Nothing. My dad trying to make a fire to boil sea water to make formula for my sister. All the while with a 3 year old and a 7 month old. And I complain about taking two kids to the store?? If my mother can do that, I can do anything too. Days I feel like I have had it up to my eyeballs with my kids whining, I remember what my mother did and does. Even to this day she is in her early sixties, still working full-time. Yet every chance she gets she has one of her 10 grandchildren. That is what makes her happy. The funny thing is my mom won’t read this. She does not have internet. Nor does she know or have seen my work. It was so cute when one of my sister’s gave her a Christmas card with photos I took my mom held onto it like gold. My sister told me it was funny because she had left it at the restaurant or something and my mom freaked out and had to go back and find it. If only she had the internet and could see my work now! My mother is a very practical and humble woman too. She wants nothing, needs nothing. Just her grandkids. So of course for this Mother’s Day I made a big print of a picture I took at Easter with 5 of her grandchildren that live here. I hope she likes it. In fact I know she will love it.

Happy Earth Day!

Tina — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 10:25:00 +0000

So I just realized it is Earth Day. I used to work at an Aveda concept salon and would we always celebrated this day with a cut-a-thon, and did haircuts for $10. I try my best to be somewhat green, but sometimes it is so hectic with today’s society. One thing we have been doing lately at our house is washing our dishes by hand. I must admit we didn’t necessarily make the conscious decision to do this to conserve. Our washer is broken (I think a plumbing problem) and just too busy to get someone out. So my husband started to do them by hand with my daughter. She loves to “help” and he feels good about it so we just continued to do it. My mom never used the dishwasher when I was little, so I have done my share of handwashing! So I just let them do it But its been like 2 months! I don’t really know how much water or electricity we are conserving, but it is a nice feeling to know the small stuff helps. What are you doing to conserve our Mother Earth??

Bah Easter Humbug!

Tina — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 16:49:00 +0000

I don’t like Easter because of these. This was all that was left of my THIRD bag. THIRD! And Easter is still like a month away! How many more bags will there be?!?! Sigh……….Off to Walmart to pick up some more!

Jen & Will : a Valentine’s wedding

Tina — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 18:35:00 +0000

Last weekend I had the opportunity to second shoot with a fabulous photographer Tara Keator of Keator Photography. I had joined one of her groups on facebook and had sent her an email wanting some information on the group. She asked me to second shoot with her and I said YES! My husband was not as enthused as I was since I was going to be gone on Valentine’s, but he knew I really wanted to do this so we celebrated Vday on Sunday

I met Tara for the first time the day of the wedding. She is an amazing photographer! I love her work and she is great to work with. So cool and laidback. I felt so comfortable with her from the start. She trusted me and pretty much let me do whatever I wanted. She told me to just have fun! She let me direct the bride and groom a little and then take the girls off and shoot them while she did the guys. I don’t know much about the bride and groom except they were cool, calm, and very sweet. They were a great looking couple to top it off! This wedding brought back many memories for me since it took place at Val Vista Lakes where I got married 5 and half years ago. They have updated it a bit and it looks amazing. When I got married it was turquiouse and bright white. Now it is more neutral darker tuscan colors and looks much better, not so 80′s! It is such a pretty venue with the lake, waterfalls, and lush landscaping. The only thing they did change that I wasn’t too fond of was the bridal room. I remember getting ready in this HUGE conference room with lots of space and bright windows. The room now is pretty small and horrible bulb lighting, which if you are a photographer, is a big deal! I had so much fun doing this wedding with Tara. I always like to see how other photographers interact with the couple and guests. I picked up a few tips on shooting and flash too. Thanks so much Tara for asking me to shoot with you! Here are a few of my favorite shots that I got and some more put to my wedding song ……… CLICK HERE FOR SLIDESHOW