OUT OF A BAG

I decided to work from home today after the long week I've had. I slept in a tad bit to catch up on some much needed shut eye and then turned on my lappy. I had plans to do laundry, unpack and just sit and catch my breath. When, what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a missed call from work saying there was a project that needed me ASAP. After hearing it I knew that there would be no way I could work from home AND give this project my full attention. So grudgingly I went into work, cranky, tired and longing for the weekend. Until tomorrow dear duffle, until tomorrow.

CALIFORNIA DAY 3

Today was basically a repeat of yesterday, only change out one model for the other and replace one location of shooting for three. We first shot at the canals, then we moved to a fisherman's dock off of Fisherman's Village and then ended the day at Fisherman's Village. By the end I was pooped, a tad grumpy and very ready to go home. We made our way back to the eclectic-confused house we stayed in, packed up our gear and headed to the airport. Caroline and I were in the same van and decided to make one more final stop before heading back to the ol' U T: Roscoe's House of Chicken and Waffles. You may snark and turn up your nose, but son you are missing out. We also had a drink called 'the sunrise' that was basically the most amazing thing ever: fresh squeezed orange juice with fresh squeezed lemonade; for. reals. After the scrumptiously late dinner we found ourselves back on a flight to Salt Lake and landed just before midnight. Tyler picked me up and even had the house cleaned for my arrival. Poor guy was still recovering from my early morning take off and had to come pick me up from my late night landing. He's the best!

CALIFORNIA DAY 2

This day got off to quite the early start: breakfast, getting models into hair and make-up, prepping bags, going over shot lists not to mention keeping everyone on schedule. The morning went fairly smooth; we shot the entire day at Venice Beach. Some shots on the boardwalk, some on the beach and some in between. My job was to walk each model to the spot where Matt, our photographer, and Caroline, our art director, were setting up the shot from the van where Ashley, our stylist, dressed and accessorized the model. Tough job, I know. I sure got my walking in; this place is massive. We wrapped right on time and made it home before the sun set. After we went over all of the shots of the day on Matt's computer and made a plan for tomorrow, we made our way to a wonderful little Cuban place around the corner for dinner. How amazing was that food? Do the words 'plantain chips' for appetizers and 'sweet and spicy mango stir fry' for my entree ring a bell? Boy howdy, they rang my bell—I'm going to be full for days.

WEIGH-IN RESULTS: None, for obvious out-of-state reasons. Although, I am sure all of these exotic places my palate has been tasting aren't helping my waist-line. Until next week…

CALIFORNIA DAY 1

Last night I packed late into the night and woke up extremely early this morning to catch a plane to the Sunshine State. We got in to LAX in the late morning, got a rental car and went to the house we'd be staying in to unload all of our gear. The rest of the day was spent scouting out all of our potential locations for the next two days of shooting. One location was the Venice Canals; to. die. for. We met this cute little old lady who volunteers to take care of the canals. She explained to us the history of the canals, what they were used for and how popular they are for filming and photo shoots these days. I had no idea they even existed; they're quite breathtaking. That night I worked on those projects I had left at work over the weekend thanks to Sydney emailing me photos of the edits. Then Ashley, our stylist, and Matt, our photographer, walked with me to an amazing authentic Italian restaurant where they served little bread stick balls, gigantic pasta platters and had the entire restaurant sing 'That's Amore' at 8:00 P.M. Terrific day one; tomorrow we shoot!

PLACING PINS

Tyler's family has a pretty sweet tradition for the way they guess where everyone is going on their mission. The future missionary gets a color; everyone has a corresponding color of pin and we go in order—except the future missionary—pinning where we think they are going to serve. The giant map with all of the pins hangs in their kitchen. I have adored this tradition every since it was explained. I, as odd as I am, have been so excited to be a part of this tradition and finally have my name up there. Tonight, after Jason's birthday dinner of sloppy joes, we pinned our guesses as to where Kevin will be serving; I chose Rome, Italy for my guess. We shall see in a couple of weeks where the final yellow pin will go.

A TWO TWO BIRTHDAY

Tonight we celebrated Jason's birthday. He turned two two on two two (yesterday); GOLDEN BIRTHDAY! We started off the day going to the Jordan River Temple with Nikki and Spencer. After the session we went to an Indian place right down the road called Saffron Valley; they do a lunch buffet there and it is the perfect way to taste all the Indian things you'd never be daring enough to try. After that, Tyler went into work to get a few things done before we went to another buffet in honor of Jason's golden celebration. We had plate after plate at Chuck-A-Rama and then ended the night at Desert Star to see a hilarious spoof on The Lord of the Rings (not The Lone Stranger—I just wanted a fun photo of the two of them for Jason's birthday photo).

PACKING

Today was a bit of a mad dash at work to get everything in order for our shoot next week. They are flying a handful of us out to California to shoot the rest of our catalogue, and boy am I stoked. I brought home this huge and awkward suitcase and realized later tonight that in an effort to remember everything I left a couple of projects I was going to get done this weekend on my desk. So now I guess I will be doing double work in California: shooting by day and projects by night.