Maui Day 2 - Tuesday!

Bryan and I woke up at a decent hour and started scouting for that day's trash the dress shoot!  We found most of the spots the day prior but I wanted to go check out Olowalu Plantation house where the weddings would be held.  We went over there first thing and walked around the gorgeous property.

After scoping out that area of the island we stopped for Bryan's birthday lunch at Maui Tacos! Yum! We both had the mahi mahi and they had a bomb salsa bar.  A little pricey for what you got but still good.

After we stopped at Walgreens and picked up some snorkel gear and head to the Sheraton for Black Rock Beach.  We had heard it had some good snorkeling!  It definitely paid off.

We swam super close to a ton of fish and even one sea turtle!  You can see the outline of him in the photo just above.

After our fun snorkel day we had Vanessa and Crayton's trash the dress session!  We had all the places mapped out to where we were going so we picked them up and headed to location #1!  First stop was the Banyan tree in downtown Lahaina. It was pretty crowded so we didn't stay long.  Then we hit up a cool top secret location with the mountains in the background

They were such troopers, trampling around in waist high grass, jumping over large drainage ditches and avoiding spiders! Well worth it, I think!  Next stop was the tide pools that I had learned about from last years trip!  We got some awesome reflections!

Just before the sun set we stopped at a little beach on the side of the road and shot some underwater shots of the two lovebirds! Overall a super fun and rewarding shoot!

For dinner we hit up Aloha Mixed Plate where Tami and Adam had their rehearsal dinner last year.  Yum!  It was a gorgeous warm night and I quite enjoyed my well earned Mai Tai!  Bryan went out with Crayton and his friends for a mini-bachelor party and I headed back to the condo to say goodnight to my man.  Early night - we had weddings the next day!

Maui, Day 1 - Monday

Aloha!  Jason and Alyssa dropped me off at the airport super early (7am) and joined me for an expensive airport McDonald's breakfast.  Adrianna dropped Bryan off around the same time but he forgot his cell phone at home. Doh!

The flight was uneventful, if a little turbulent.  They did give us free Mai Tai's and macadamia nuts.  Go Alaska!  We arrived a few minutes late to some humid Maui weather.  Ahhhhh.  After rounding up my baggage and our Chevy Impala rental we were on our way.....to the AT&T store to get Bryan an iPhone! :)

After a trip to the mall and 1 iPhone junkie later...we tracked down a place to eat lunch. Which turned out to be closed!  Boo!  Lots of restaurants close after lunch and reopen for dinner in Maui.  We were starving so we decided to just eat at Costco since we had to shop there anyways.  We ate, bought too much food and headed over to check in to our condo, Papakea.

My wonderful bride Tami got me a great deal at her parent's condo for the week.  It was nice already knowing the property and we had a killer ocean view!

It was a few hours before sunset and we still had a ton of scouting to do for the next day's shoot!  We drove around to a few new spots and a few old spots and found some killer locations!

 We had a late dinner that night at my new favorite restaurant, Star Noodle!  Another Tami find :)  It's kind of asian fusion with a real trendy gourmet vibe.  So good!  I ate there 4 times on this trip!

Malasalada's  - Portuguese donuts!

Great first day in Maui!!

Vegas Baby!

Evey year around this time is the annual WPPI celebration.  Wedding and Portrait Photographers International.  The last few years its been at the MGM, this was my 4th time going!  We got a suite at the MGM Signature again with my girlfriends.  Sadly I took very few photos.

Sunday - I drove out alone, took about 5 hours.  Nothing too exciting, I quite enjoy the time to think and sing Ke$ha at the top of my lungs.  I got to the hotel room and immediately got ready to go out to our first networking party.  Our first stop was dinner at Diego in the MGM.  We had a horrible experience last time, so this one was a little better.  After we went to the GoBee party.  It was super crowded, hot and sweaty.  I usually have a total blast but this time there were just too many people!  My college sorority sister Marisa and her new hubby just happened to be in town so they met us there.  We went back to the hotel around midnight and I stayed up with Marisa and Ryan for a drink at Rouge. It was really great to see her!

 

Monday - Trade show day!  Allie, Milisa and I spent the day checking out the trade show floor and running in to old friends.  We got to see Erin and Ben Chrisman (my favs) speak at one of the booths so that was fun!  After the trade show, we went to a vintage thrift store and the mall where I bought myself some TOMs shoes!  Love them!  We had dinner at an awesome place called Strip Burger, Allie introduced us to.  I will definitely be going back!  We went to a networking with SD people at Rouge for a bit and then headed off to another party.  As soon as we stepped off the elevator we were informed the security shut down the party! Bummer!  We just went back to the room and hung out until we crashed for bed.

Tuesday - My last day!  I had to go home early because of a mid-week wedding.  We got up and ran a few errands on the trade show floor.  I got on the road around 1pm and was home to see Jason by 6pm!  :)

Can't wait for next year!!!!

Our annual bed jumping tradition :)

I want to go to there.

And I am!  My parents and I are headed to East Africa for a 3 week vacation!  I've been waiting to go to Ethiopia since I was a teenager and am beyond stoked its finally happening!  We will be leaving on Easter and I'll be gone for three whole weeks!

WooHoo!!

Vegas & Arizona!!

Jason and I decided to take a whirlwind trip to Vegas and Arizona since he took a few days off of work for vacation.  We got a killer deal for a room at the Luxor so went there the first two nights.

Tuesday - We got on the road around noon and drove straight to Jimmy John's in Vegas.  Jason had never had it before and it was a hit. He tends to like a little bit crazier (spicier) foods but for what they offer he was content.

We checked in to the Luxor and after getting ready, went down to the casino to gamble a bit.  I lost $20 and Jason won $20 so that was good!  We decided to try this Ethiopian place we found on Yelp and it was so good!  It was called Merkato. Probably the freshest injera i've had in a long time!  Oh and Jason loved it for his first experience.

Wednesday - We slept in and then checked out the Fat Greek for lunch. It was pretty good. After we went to this Bar that Jason had heard about called Big Dog Draft House. This place was huge!  We ordered a beer each and started playing video poker and blackjack at the bar.  Jason had one more beer and we chatted for about 2.5 hours. When we went to pay the bill, the bartender Dave wouldn't let us and said you get a free drink every $10 you play!  Score!!  We'll definitely be going back there.  Jason was up more money so we got paid to drink there! haha
When we left, it was pouring so we opted against going downtown. We headed back to the Luxor and got ready for a night out.  We started off at the video roulette table where I lost more money. Boo!  Just $5 though :)

We were starving and we thought the Cathouse served food so we went there. Turns out the stopped serving food in May!  So we went next door to the Pyramid Cafe. It was just okay.  After dinner, we headed back to the Cathouse club and danced for about an hour!  We swear that Pauly D from Jersey Shore was there too!
Thursday - We left the Luxor in the morning and got on the road to Flagstaff.  About half way through the 5 hour drive, we started to see snow and then there was a blizzard!  I hate snow driving, but luckily Jason is a pro. I only screamed in terror and grab the car door a few times! 
The town of Williams where we made a pit stop

We got to Flagstaff in one piece and found our hotel even though the main driveway was snowed in!  We had been recommended a brewery in town called Beaver Street Brewery and I have to say, seriously one of the best meals I've had in a long time!  We had an appetizer of huge pretzels with 6 different dipping sauces, a berry beer (for me!) and a fantastic thin crust pizza. Jason had a chicken burger that was bomb too. We finished up with another beer and a blueberry/peach cobbler.  Yum!  When we left, we found  out it was 4 degrees but with wind chill it felt like -1. For reals.

 

Friday - We ended up making the decision to not try and see the Grand Canyon. The roads were still snowy and we had to get back in time to meet friends for New Years. It was a long 9 hour drive home (ok it was only 8, plus the time change) but still.  I was happy to be out of the snow!!  

 

It was a fantastic spontaneous road trip with my new man - we had a wonderful time!  I'm looking forward to getting back and seeing the Grand Canyon in a different season!!

The vacation that never was...

My poor neglected blog!  :)  I've been home for a few weeks and its been nice playing catch up! I'm able to see the light at the end of the tunnel right now and I may even have a relaxing December! 

Kitty came home from the pet hotel with a nasty cold (kennel cough?)  She lost a bunch more weight (she was already down to 6lbs because of her bad thyroid) and I was getting really worried.  I'm happy to say that she is finally back to normal and after being on her new thyroid meds, she is gaining weight!  She is eating much better than she has been in years too so I'm really grateful for that. 

Allie and I were supposed to be on the Carnival Splendor this past Sunday with my friends, Mick and Julie.  But 2 weeks prior a huge fire hit the ship and now its out of commission for a few months.  They plan on refunding our money and giving us 25% off another cruise.  Not enough in my opinion.

I was supposed to be seeing my parents today :(  They drove to Puerto Vallarta to meet the ship.  Obviously they know we aren't going to be there, but decided to go on their vacation anyways.

Just to rub it in, my mom posted this view from their PV hotel room.  :(

It looks amazing there.  I hope I get to visit some day!!!

The cruise!

Sunday (Halloween): We were up early to grab the shuttle with everyone else to the ship.  The port is actually about 30 minutes outside of Orlando.  We got on the ship without much issue and had some lunch while waiting for our room to be done.  We soon discovered that two of the groomsmen were in the room next door which ended up being alot of fun since we hung out with them for most of the down time.  We were lame and didn't dress up for Halloween but went out and had fun anyways!  We went to the costume contest and then to the dance club.

 

Monday: We woke up in Freeport, Bahamas.  We planned to meet Shawna and Jason around 10am to head to the beach for their underwater trash the dress shoot!  The images turned out awesome and we had so much fun.  The cab took us 20 mins to a beach and it was crowded.  We shot for about an hour and a half.

A storm looked like it was coming in quickly so we found shelter in this little outdoor bar. I ate fried conch and Mandi had super fresh fish and chips!  Oh and the local beer, Kalik of course.  After, we sat on the beach and played in the clear water.  That night we had dinner and then went out to the dance club again!

Tuesday: Wedding day!  We slept in a bit and left the ship to catch the cab to the Atlantis resort.  We were there early so we went scoping out spots to shoot.  We got the guys photos done, then had the ceremony. It was about 95 degrees plus humidity! The ceremony was absolutely gorgeous.

After we went back to the ship for dinner.  We desperately needed a shower, so we got cleaned up and met with the rest of the wedding guests to go out (sans camera) to Senor Frogs in Nassau. 

Blurry photo of me and the bride!

We danced, played games and drank! After we headed back to the ship and went dancing and stayed up til 3am!  Such a fun day!

Wednesday: Fun day at sea.  I slept in. Let's just say I had a really good time the night before and needed the sleep!  Mandi and I just hung out and explored the ship for the final day. Nothing too exciting. We drank a bottle of wine and kept it low-key for the night.

Thursday: Debarkation day.  We were up super early to get off the ship. We got to the airport around 10am and our flight didn't leave until 6pm!  It was a long day of waiting in the airport!  I finally made it home around 10:45pm...long day of travel! 

Whew - that was a long 3 weeks!  Makeda was so mad and then happy to see me after that long! She has been so clingy since being home.