{iwi: anytime}

So during this Saturday’s (morning) shoot, there was one letter that constantly running through my mind. THE “B” WORD. And no, it didn’t stand for anything bad. This “B” actually stood for: birthday, baby sister, balloons, and BOM-CHICKA-WOW-WOW.

Yes, this past Saturday was my little sister’s birthday shoot. Our plan was to wake up early and take advantage of the beautiful sunrise. Only problem was that we arose to no sun. The lingering island vog produced a type of dreary weather that could basically be summed up as “sucktastic.” But we ventured out into the cold anyways determined to turn lemons into lemonade.

And lemonade we made. Along with Lil’ J we scoured random locations until we found what we were looking for. I may be biased, but we ended up with some of my favorite pictures so far…

{kiki: anytime}

THIS. JUST. IN.

A supercalifraQUICKstic blog update of a shoot I did with my gorgeous cousin Kiki. I am SOOOOOOO happy that she and her sister (Shout out to my cousin Lani!) came to visit. Sadly, usually this is only a yearly occurance. I wish it could be more often, but sic vita est (such is life).

I have many blessings in my life, and Kiki is definitely one of them. Growing up we were as close as Lucy & Ethel, Laverne & Shirley, and maybe the Olson twins (only more asian, and minus the greasy hair). Even with *counting* onetwothreefourfivesixMILLION states in between us, we have continued our bff-cousin-ship into adulthood. So without further adu, here are some of my favorite shots of one of my most favorite people evvahhhhhh!

{lights...camera...TAXES?}

Although Christmas has already come and went, I wanted to do a quick *blink-and-you'll-miss-it* post about some of the holiday lights we saw.

In almost every neighborhood on Oahu, there's an area known as "Christmas Lane." A row or street of houses where the magic of Christmas reigns supreme via throngs of sparkly lights, lights, and even more lights. Basically it features homes that look like it was caught in an upchuck of seasonal Christmas decorations. And I seriously mean that in the best, NON-Scrooge-y way possible :)

There was one house in particular that caught my eye. Let's see if you can catch it...

A "open house" garage of beautifully decorated Christmas trees with Sister Awesome and Lil' J in the background.

*singing* "Do you see, what I see?"

Would you consider this a Christmas faux-pas? Or smart marketing? Hmmm...

{I lost my voice...}

My blogging voice, that is.


The only way that I can start this off is by saying, HOLY COW. It's been two months since my last post and its already almost Christmas. I got so lost in the hustle and bustle of daily life, that I involuntarily pushed aside the simple things that made me happy. Photography. Crafts. Dance-offs. :)

It sounds silly but I literally forgot how to relax. I had stress seeping out of my pores and overflowing my eyeballs. I had so much on my plate that I could've fed all of the Gosselin, Duggar, and Brangelina kids. Easy. But sometimes, you just have to break away and start standing up for the one person you've neglected the most...yourself.

With that said, I offer you (dear sanity) this auspicious and official decree:
I WILL stop and smell the roses. I WILL learn to exhale. And I WILL return to the roots of what I love.

***

{And because posts are always better with pictures, I leave you with an image of what I was up to last night. 3 hours of down time + 1-2 paper cuts = only five Christmas cards. But I got to create again. And I loved every second of it :}

"Life is like a coin. You can spend it any way you wish,
but you only spend it once." - Lillian Dickson

{ryan + consuela: lovestory}

It's kind of funny the way technology is able to bring us all together. The 'net has metamorphed itself into an irreplaceable staple of mainstream America. While my camera is a permanent fixture in one hand, my beloved blackberry is practically fused to the other. I seriously don't know how I could do without either.

I'm still a fairly new tweeter (@simplyawesomeHI), so as a fun way of introducing myself, I thought I'd offer a free photo session. By the power of twitterverse (*spoken with my manliest He-Man voice), I was able to instantaneously connect with Consuela. And thus, a new client and (most importantly) friend was born.

Through our tweets and emails, Con unconsciously referred to Ryan as "her better half." And that same type of loving devotion was evident in their pictures. For my first sunrise shoot, there was no sun. But nevertheless, they rocked it out and their love shone through the clouds anyhow :)

{LOL! comedy slam}

This past Saturday, I was fortunate enough to attend the "LOL! Comedy Slam" which was held at Pier 11 in the Aloha Tower Marketplace. I first "met" Lanai Tabura (who is a HUGELY popular media personality here in Hawaii) through the social network Twitter. For all you "tweeps" out there - be sure to add him! @LanaitheDJ. We chatted a little bit about photography, and he invited me to get some shots of his comedy show.

I've heard Lanai on the radio before and have seen him on television - so finally getting to meet him "IRL" (twitter term for "in real life") was nothing short of AWESOME. He's one of those people who exude "je ne sais quoi." He's confident, sophisticated, and classy all rolled into one. Yet, he is still very humble and extremely down to earth. With his recently launched new wine collection ("Look Me In The Eye"), he will no doubt add another notch in his belt of success. He's like the Hawaiian Midas - everything he touches turns into gold.

Okay, back to the comedy show. The show itself lived up to it's name plus a gazillion times more! In the acronym slang of today's generation it was a total LOL!/LMFAO!!-fest and made me wanna ROFL!!! The entire show was THAT funny. It featured Lanai, Shawn Felipe, Kaleo "K.P." Pilanca, with special guest appearances by Andy Bumatai (tweet him too! @AndyBumatai), and the insanely awesome, Kennyhune. My sides are still sore from all the laughing I did!!

Here's a short recap of that night.


This just goes to show you how much Hawaii LOVES to laugh!
Pier 11. WAS. PACKED!


Shawn Felipe takes the stage.


The living legend, himself.....Mr. Andy Bumatai.




Kennyhune & Kaleo - so funny together!




Kaleo & Lanai.


And lastly, Mr. "Omg-I-just-might-pee-my-pants-because-he's-THAT-funny," Joey Guila.

Lanai, congratulations again on all your recent achievements!
I hope we can work together again very soon! :)

{i'm featured!}

I was beyond thrilled when one of the event coordinators, Jennifer from Hawaii Tents & Events contacted me yesterday to let me know that she chose to feature an arch shot from the Li wedding on their website. I was like Whaaaaaaaatttt!? Omg.

She also let me know that she listed {simply*awesome} PHOTOGRAPHY under the company's "Links of Interest" page!



And THEN it was brought to my attention that the band All-Natro featured my blog under their "media" news!


A special thanks once again to Hawaii Tents & Events, Jennifer, Alan & Gina Li, and once again my friends at All-Natro!
Here's to the first (two) of hopefully many more amazing features to come! I feel like such a proud mama! :)