Had a wonderful time photographing my good friends on the University of California, Los Angeles campus. He & I attended UCLA at the same time but didn’t know each other, & we remarked how interesting an experience it is to be there 20 years after graduation. When I was about the same age as his daughter, my father (who was b-school Class of 1978) took me there to visit. We ate & visited the Sculpture Garden, & my dad told me that one day I might attend UCLA too.

One of my FAVORITE things about the holidays is receiving holiday cards with photographs of all my beloved family & friends! For the past few years, we have displayed the cards in our entry way, just scotch-taped to the wall & door, & we leave them up waaaay past New Year’s, because it’s just so wonderful to see all those beautiful smiles from all over the world!

I usually try to do our own family portraits in October, so we can send out cards by Thanksgiving (which is really my favorite holiday, because what could be more important than gratitude?). This year, we are in Taiwan, so I chose the bamboo forest in Daan Park, so we had some nature that reflected our new surroundings. As usual, it was a lot of wrangling & “herding of cats,” so the combinations of who is in the pictures is just a matter of luck. So long as we get one of the children together & one of each child, I’m overjoyed!

This year, I didn’t have my tripod, so there isn’t a whole-family shot, but the unexpected bonus was that our 6.5-year-old daughter took some GREAT photos of the hubby & me! In focus, wonderfully composed, & excellently timed! Looks like someone has been paying attention at all those shoots she got to see me do. I’m a proud mama.

Also because we’re overseas this year, I’m taking advantage of Shutterfly’s stamp-&-mail service. They charge for postage & a few extra cents per card–which means we might actually get them to people on time. Totally worth it! Plus, with the great deals they have for 10 free cards & 20% off, I think we’ve offset the mailing cost.

Even though I’ve gone eco, & we send digital greetings to many friends & family, we always send real cards to the grandparents, great-grandmas, & siblings. We know how much fun it is to have those cards be part of the holiday decorations!

 

I am so, so lucky to have had the chance to take these photos for my wonderful, long-time friend Marla & her amazing wife Rachel! I can hardly believe that I’ve known Marla now since 1995! Where did the time go? I will say, I have never seen her so happy as in the past couple years–what a joy to see her with the love of her life & to see them both as moms. And I was just saying to my husband tonight that Marla & Rachel are sooooo in love–it makes me want to giggle, & it makes for great pictures! Here they are with their beautiful Maddy…

So excited to get the green light to share Mrs. Dooley’s boudoir session! Here’s a sweet sneak…more images to come!