{a surprise birthday!}

About a month ago, MH turned the BIG 3-0. In commemoration of this HUGE milestone, I wanted to throw him the most awesome-est, special-est, radical-est birthday party of his life. Okay, okay that might be reaching a little bit. But I at least wanted this party to potentially reach top five in his "all-time-greatest-parties-ever-thrown" book.

A little fun fact about MH. He is a huge, huge, (and I mean HUGE) movie buff. He has about a thousand DVDs in his collection. It's scary that I'm not even remotely joking. MH is especially fond of 80's movies. One of his favorites is a 1985 flick called "Berry Gordy's The Last Dragon." I've never even heard of this movie before meeting MH, but of course my handicap didn't last very long. MH owns several copies of this same movie, because he likes to spread the Sho' Nuff & (Bruce) Leroy Green (characters in the film) "love" around. How cute (and slightly fanatical) is that? :)

With that said, I thought that his 30th birthday party should be a collaboration of all of his favorite things. MH loves movies, so why not rent out a small movie theater as the party venue? He loves "The Last Dragon," so of COURSE that's the movie that should be playing in the theater. I ordered and made (with the help of one of my bff's (*shout out to Lei!!) all of his favorite foods/beverages/desserts. Everything else (invites, favors, etc.) was DIY. Here are a few pictures of MH's special day :)

White Castle Burger Stand
(OMG, Yummmmm!!!)
Concession Stand Snack Boxes
(which included a box of popcorn, theater candy, and a hotdog)


The Infamous Electric Fender Cake
Probably, THE coolest cake I have ever seen! MH LOVED it!
Thanks Rick & Sasha!!(Cakelava)
And just some of the birthday boy's presents!!!
(Can you guess who wrapped the bottom RH gift?) :)

The BEST part (well to me, anyways) was the fact that the entire party was a SURPRISE!!! Little tidbit about me - I'm one of the worst liars in the world. I'm a terrible liar. Everytime MH brought up his birthday, I would make something up and immediately start giggling. I had planned out his party for months. Trying to keep secrets from him (for THAT long!) was tough. I felt bad for telling fibs, but my "lies" turned out to be well worth it in the end! Yessssss!! I FINALLY surprised "Mr. Surpriser" himself! Whooop whooop!! Hope you enjoyed this year's birthday MH!! ♥

{the men, the myths, the legends}

Last week Friday, MH & I had the pleasure of attending the All-Natro CD Release Party/Concert. We were there like mullets (the bad 80's hair faux pas) - total business in the front/party in the back! Why business? Well, first lemme give you some background on how I "know" the band. My friend Toby is the lead guitarist/singer in the group and I've known him for (hold on, lemme count) TWELVE years! Holy Batmobile! I didn't realize it was THAT long!

Anyways a couple of weeks ago, Toby and I got to talking, and he invited us to join them at their concert. So by "joining them" he meant he would give us the major hook ups: V.I.P. treatment + the chance to shoot my first concert, which equaled an AMAZING opportunity! So where did I get to go? Um, it was more like where didn't I get to go? V.I.P. lounge balcony? (*check!) In FRONT of the front row?? (*checkity-check!!) FROM the stage??? (*check! check!! check!!!).

The energy in that venue was awesome!! All-Natro was awesome!!! As MH is my witness, I could not stop saying the word "awesome" the whole night! It was THAT awesome! Thank you guys for the one of the awesomest opportunities/nights I've had in a long time!!!

View from the VIP lounge.

View of the lead singer.

View from the front row.

View of the Toby.
*Photo Credit: the last picture in this set was taken by MH ♥

{it slices, it dices...}

Yessssiirrr! My brand-spankin' new shootsac bag arrived today via UPS! For those of you not yet down with camera bag lingo, you may be a little confusizzled (*confused) right now. What's a shootsac you might ask? What's it for? Well, in laymans terms: a shootsac is a uber-comfy camera bag with (deep!) pockets used to hold all your extra lenses, and various photography goodies (i.e. batteries, flash accessories, remotes, etc.). BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE...it also holds all of your personal items (cellphone, car keys, wallet, gum, and so on). The bag (which is carried on your shoulder) "molds" to your body, and makes it easy to "shoot-on-the-go." I "popped my shootsac bag's cherry" at the recent All-Natro concert (more on that coming soon!) recently, and fell in love. OH. MY. GAWD. I was able to get the shots I wanted, all while moving with super-stealthy ninja speed. I did my ancestors proud! Shootsac = Mucho Awesome Fabulocity! And its all mine, muahahaha! Get yours (here)

{all-natro cd release party}

Just wanted to do a quick shout & show some blog love to my friends in All-Natro. Congratulations guys on your CD release!! And a special thanks (again!) to Toby for inviting us. This is gonna be SUCH an awesome event, I'm bouncing-off-the-walls with excitment!...
...but more on that later! To be continued :)

{ethan: anytime}

An "anytime" shoot is pretty self-explanatory. Its a photoshoot with has no rhyme or reason behind it. Its a photoshoot that happens just because. Today, I had the opportunity to do my first anytime photo shoot with one of the most ADORABLE two and a half year olds that I've ever seen :) I've been very blessed to watch this tyke grow up, since his mama (Mari of HeartCore Studio) is one of my very best friends in the world. This little guy is the epitome of cute, seriously he has the words "future heartbreaker" written all over him! Thanks again Mari for letting me shoot your son....oh wait, wait, that didn't come out right! Hehe, you know what I mean!

{um...awk-ward.}

I stumbled across this website today, and thought I would die laughing. Yes, it's THAT funny. Like almost-pee-in-your-pants funny. Here are some of my favorite entries from the site, submitted with the original titles and descriptions. For more awkward awesomeness (click here)

NOTE TO SELF: As a budding photographer, try NOT to shoot any pictures like this. But if you do, remember to submit them to this website! Hehe =)

"Osh Kosh: The Prequel"
The Hanscom Family.
"This father was so relieved,
when he found out he was gonna be Eeyore.
"The Choker"
This is what happens when your male role model
is both a priest and a gym teacher.
When you're madly head-over-heels,
why not shout it from the rooftops?
"Too Close for Comfort"
When it comes to mom, hand placement is everything.

{better late than never.}

I know, I know, Mother's Day was a few days ago. But I just HAD to share these beautiful and oh-so-gorgeous Mother's Day flowers that MH (a.k.a. "my heart") sent me! They are super kawaii and SO unexpected. Even though I always say that I hate any and all forms of surprise-ment (yes, I said surprise-ment!), I secretly enjoy them. With MH being a "surprise-giving-machine," and myself being the "surprise-loving-receiver"...I would have to say that this Mother's Day was theBOMBdotcom!!!


On that note, I want to wish all the mommies in the world,
"HAPPY BELATED MOTHER'S DAY!!!" :)

{that's what she said.}

Please allow myself to introduce………myself. I am a recovering shopaholic, who sometimes falls off the wagon. I love reality TV & am a daily reader of celebrity trash magazines. I enjoy crafting, interior decorating, & the overall element of design. Photography recently became my newfound love. However, my preference for making silly,(slightly) grotesque faces in pictures, is what keeps me behind the camera. I am hopelessly dorky, mostly girly & sometimes klutzy.

S I M P L Y * A W E S O M E is a collection of random musings about who I am & the things I love. P.S. Yep, that's the "money" shot :)