The Palace of Versailles

Digging through my photos from Europe made me so happy especially after finding these scans of my little self-portrait project I did while at the Palace of Versailles. Oh man, that place is so so beautiful!!! (That extra so is no typo).

My beau and I had brunch in Paris prior to hopping on a train to Versailles. It was super easy to do and from the train station, it was an easy walk to Versailles. We arrived around noon and felt like we were already late given there were a ton of people everywhere. Getting inside required standing in two lines: a ticket line and an entry line. I’d have to say my beau and I make the best traveling partners; while he waited in line to buy tickets I waited in the entry line and once he got our tickets we were steps away from the entrance killing two birds with one stone and making the couple behind us very jealous of our strategic planning. High five babe!

The palace and garden of Versailles is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. Being there felt like a dream. Inside the palace there were gold covered trimmings almost on everything, meticulous paintings on the ceilings and the chandeliers inside the Hall of Mirrors are astonishing! Like so many others, the Hall of Mirrors was my favorite room and is significant to history. In this room is where the Treaty of Versailles was signed to end World War I. Yes, I am a nerd and love to learn the history behind things when I travel. I think it brings more life and meaning into the place.

With my traveling companion, my Pentax I walked around the Palace of Versailles lost in my thoughts, absorbing the information I was learning as I roamed through each room and sneaking photos of my own reflection…

Palace of Versailles // September 2014 

Kodak Porta 400. Developed and scanned at RPL.

Lately

• - This picture pretty much sums up what I've been up to: playing maid of honor and bridesmaid for Jodie and Mailee's wedding. 
• - In between that I'm squeezing in hot yoga, spending time with my beau, looking for bridesmaid dresses and some blogging. Yay! Notice my consistency this week with blogging. ;) 
• - Oh speaking of hot yoga, I desperately need a cut and color but I'm holding off because I hate having my hair too short to put up while I'm sweating. Is that TMI?
• - Quarter end has been tough for me at work as I'm leading many projects but I'm powering through it. 
• - I'm anxiously waiting my for my Hawaii scans to come back from the lab. The suspense is killing me! 
• - Which reminds me, if you've been following my instagram you'll noticed I just got back from a nice long vacay with lots of r&r! 

A Walk In The Park

Central Park | NYC | 09/2013

Looking forward to romantic strolls through the city this weekend…

Happy Weekend!

My Birthday

Birthdays to me are a personal holiday to celebrate being you. I believe every person should take the day off every day routine to be pamper, do something they love and spend some time reflecting on the past year and what's to come or however they wish to celebrate being wonderfully themselves.

This year my little sister was getting marry on my birthday weekend therefore I was busy helping with wedding stuff and didn't have much time to reflect. However, I did get to spend my birthday with my favorite people - my sisters and my beau. My sisters and I had some spa time, a yummy dinner and a fun karaoke night where I sang 'Dancing Queen' to my heart's desire. My sweet beau surprised me with a birthday fruit cake and champagne. The festivities will continue when we take our trip to NYC in the next week which I'm so excited about.

If I had to use one word to describe this past year it would be simplify. From my workload to my wardrobe, this past year has been difficult to accept that I can't do it all and have it all without burn out. As I peeled back the layers of distractions that were not necessary in my life I saw the beauty in simplicity. I embraced shooting with my Pentax K1000 focusing on honing my vision and letting go of all the technicalities that come with a DSLR and my love for photography grew. This year I want to see where simplicity and focus will take me... to new exciting experiences and adventures I'd hope...

Think Pink!

Me and Pink - my favorite color.
xo

To the Market

Sometimes you get lucky and find someone who doesn't mind tagging along with you to the market (and waiting patiently for you to take photos of everything). For as long as I've lived in the city, going the market on Saturday mornings is one of my favorite things to do. I love having fresh flowers in the apartment... a new bottle of wine to try... or being able to enjoy in season fruits. 

These photos are from this past weekend's trip to the market with my beau. Knowing how much I loved and wanted peonies, he beat me to buying them because I was too busy taking photos (as you can tell I caught a perfect picture of him buying me flowers)! 

 

I was also excited to put to use my new bag my baby sister, Mailee gifted me. This Tiffany blue bag had the softest leather handles and was so perfect for the market. It fit my flowers, wine and fruits perfectly and it didn't feel heavy at all. Also, I almost forgot to mention I chopped off over a foot of hair! Thanks to Mailee. I love it and I have no regrets! 

All images taken on Kodak Gold 400 film.

Self-Portrait

 A weekend full of self-portraits around our hotel in PDX. 

xo

Shangri-La Vancouver

We stayed at the Shangri-La during our weekend getaway to Vancouver and it was beyond wonderful! I was mesmerized by the glass chandeliers... I stopped and smelt all the fresh flowers.... and the romantic dim lights gave me dreamy eyes... this place was definitely made for lovers...

Shangri-La Vancouver

1128 West Georgia Street 

Vancouver, B.C., V6E 0A8, Canada

Vancouver, BC

I am a very spontaneous person and I count myself bless to have someone who can easily adapt to this as I can imagine it could drive some people crazy. Spur of the moment, my beau and I took romantic getaway to Vancouver, B.C. this past weekend. The planning all started over dinner last Thursday night when we thought of how we’d like to spend our weekend. At the end of dinner, we agreed to the location and logistics. That night he booked our hotel, we packed and the next day we were on our way.

Although a bit cold, something beautiful about Vancouver during this time of the year is how blue the snow covered mountains are. Also, the sun doesn’t set until after 7:30pm and there is something so magical about the golden hour. I think Seattle has a lot of similarities to Vancouver; however, I don’t think about these things when I’m home. It could be that I’m just a sponge when in other cities.

While in Vancouver we stayed at the beautiful Shangri-La. We ate at Zakkushi and had the best yakatori ever, Zabu Chicken for some delicious KFC (koren fried chicken), and Kirin for fresh and authentic dim sum. We shopped on Robson street and had drinks at Xi Shi Lounge. We had a few romantic but cold walks - one around the Vancouver pier and the second at Spanish Banks Beach which had a beautiful view of the city skyline and mountains. These photos were captured during our walks…