Maki & Alan were married at La Valencia in La Jolla on a gorgeous sunny day. Everything about this wedding was absolutely beautiful from the bride to the decorations.



Maki's sisters gave her Sunshine Bear as a gift because they used to love the Care Bears. In her toast that evening, Maki's sister, Mikiko, mentioned how Maki was their Sunshine Bear when they were young, but Alan can be Maki's Sunshine Bear now. That got a lot of "Awwwww"'s.






Alan sees Maki for the first time on their big day. That looks like one happy groom!


Here's Maki with her sisters. The girl knows how to work it!




Heading back for the ceremony.


They do!




Cocktail hour. Looks yummy.




We were able to sneak away to the beach for a bit for some fun.



I think Alan models on the side when he's not busy being an anesthesiologist @ UCSD.















Maki's mom wore this elegant kimono.


Instead of one multi-tiered cake, they had several different cakes made. The origami throughout the table was hand-folded by Maki & Alan.


If you didn't notice their cake topping, here's a real live version:


Maki's father was quite the dancer! Everyone was amazed.


Time to say goodnight...



Congratulations Maki & Alan!

I had a chance to do a product shoot a couple of weeks ago for a new frozen yogurt shop that just opened up in my neighborhood called Yog-Art. They have some delicious drinks & exotic frozen yogurt flavors like taro there. If you're ever in the mood for some refreshing cold treats, check them out in Hillcrest!

Here are just a few of their drinks & yogurt creations.

Watermelon.


Jasmine tea with boba (the little black tapioca pearls).


Berry.



Honeydew with boba.

Hi everyone!

Ok, so I'm back from a week's vacation with Drew & his large extended family. And by large, I mean we jammed 22 people into his cousin's 3 bdr/2.5 ba house!

We started on a boating/crabbing trip around Puget Sound.



Salmon were jumping up all over the place in the canal, but we weren't allowed to fish there. :(


The water was so clear that we wanted to jump in, but fear of freezing cold kept us on the boat.

We stopped on an island for lunch & games. Eight of us played ultimate frisbee while Ann & Ashley (the native Washingtonians) flew their own airplanes.


On day 3, Drew & I visited UW's campus. They've got some cool buildings up there.




Day 4, part of the family drove up to British Columbia, rented bikes, and biked around Stanley Park.

That's some of the crew riding behind me.



The hydrangeas were in full bloom & looked fabulous!






On one of the stops, young & old, we all took turns running through the kids' water playground.


Everyone had such a great time that day. :)

Day 5 - we spent some time at the Butterfly Garden and hiked a bit around one of the parks near Victoria. Those blue morphos are my favorite butterflies.


I loved this tree growing from an older tree trunk.


The sunset on the ferry ride back was beautiful.


Drew & I spent our last two days of vacation in Mt. Rainier National Park. August is an amazing time to witness all the wildflowers while still being able to see the snow-capped peaks.

This park had so many breathtaking views of green hillsides, flowers, and of course, the mountain. The only thing missing was Julie Andrews singing the Sound of Music. What's up Mt. Rainier?






Catching our breaths from the long uphill climb.



After 5 hours, we finally reached the top! It seemed as if we were walking up to heaven with the clouds so low.


I love these little bearded plants, but I don't quite know what they're called.


And on the way down, we were rewarded with a brightly colored meadow.



Can I repeat how much I love this park? There were just so many gorgeous sites! I wish I could post all the pictures here, but I don't want to get carried away.

So I'll end with a few images of our ride back through the countryside and from the plane.






Good-bye Washington!