1. Sleeping in (One of my favorite pass times)
2. A “pedi” with my BFF Julie
3. Dinner at my favorite restaurant, Fleming’s with Ryan, Julie & her hubby Jimmy
4. Snuggling up on the couch to watch a movie with Ryan

Well, 1 through 3 were right on the money. What I didn’t know was, as Ryan was driving us home from dinner, there was a big surprise that he planned waiting for me – a house full of some of my favorite people! He even did a bunch of decorating and set up a super fun photo booth to commemorate the evening. SO FUN!!! I was totally surprised and had such a blast.

My sweet hubby put so much time and effort into planning such a fun night for me! Love that guy TONS! And a big shout out to Ryan’s mom Lanie who headed up the party set up while we were at dinner and to Julie & Jimmy for being such good little liars!

Here are a few of my favs from the photo booth:

My fabulous gal pals :-)

With 3 pregnant women on hand, we couldn’t help but get “The Biebs” in on the action too. Nothing wrong with incorporating a bit of current events, right?

Silliness :-) Oh how we do love the silliness!

It’s a good thing we had Molly to class up this shot :-) LOL! Luv it!

Several people couldn’t make it for the “surprise” part of the night, so we recreated it with Katie and Justin for photo purposes.

BFFs!

The conspirators and their victim.

All these fabulous peeps are couples who we first met because they hired us to shoot their wedding! Man are we lucky that our job allows us to do something we love AND form awesome friendships along the way!

Loved my gorgeous Red Velvet Cake from LGO! So yummy :-)

Ryan – you outdid yourself. I love you SO much! Thanks for making me feel so special. I honestly couldn’t have had a better birthday. If day 1 of my thirties is any indication of what’s to come, then I’m in for a pretty awesome decade!

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Our first stop at the farm was a huge bounce house type structure that they refer to as the “Extreme Air Pillow.”

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Love this one! She totally looks like she’s having a blast, doesn’t she?

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Makena’s best friend Greyson and her mom came along to enjoy the fun.  How cute are these two bouncing away together?

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A little bestie love :-)

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Simon says, “touch your shoulders!”

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While Makena & Greyson bounced the day away, Kaleb was hanging out with his “Papa” Dan and Helen.

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The kids loved checking out the animals!  Makena was a total crack up because she kept making the noise of each animal and tried to talk to them.

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It’s hard not to take a million pictures of this little guy!

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Tee-he! Who could possibly resist this face?

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The adults got in on a bit of the fun too :-)

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That’s right, even I got to put down the camera and enjoy some fun on the swings.  Love this girl!

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We took advantage of the pumpkin patch for a few posed shots too.  I seriously couldn’t choose just one of Kaleb.  He’s such a little ham in front of the camera :-)  This first one just may be my favorite shot of the day!

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And boy does this little man love his Papa (Grandpa)!

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Miss M doing an excellent job of modeling her little pumpkin.

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The task of picking out a big pumpkin clearly took some very intense thought.  And pumpkin hugging apparently.

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YAY! Check out those happy smiles!

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One more with Mommy (my awesome sister Amy.)

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Such a fun day!

Apparently a purple monkey makes quite a tasty snack.

This photo is proof that playing with a balloon can make a kid insanely happy.

I’m ready for my close up Aunt Denise :-)

Being primarily wedding photographers we were totally up for the challenge when Brandon got excited about our offer to be his paparazzi for a few hours.  My only knowledge to this point of BMX riding comes from the 1986 movie Rad!, which I probably watched when I was about 10 years old.  Needless to say, we were completely blown away by Brandon’s talent and enthusiasm for the sport.  Completely. Blown. Away.

(Please click here if you’d like to be notifed when the rest of their photos are online.)
AND don’t forget to click “love” under your favorite images along the way!

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See what I mean, this guy can literally fly!

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Just for fun we wanted to show this image.  I know, it looks totally photoshopped right?  Nope.  This is how it looked in our camera when we shot it.

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It’s not an extreme sports photo shoot without a little danger right?  I decided to lay down inside one of the ramps to get  a lower angle on this next shot.  I didn’t notice, but Denise said he landed like two feet away from my head.

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Look how high in the air he gets!  Every time Brandon did a trick, the other people at the park would “Ooh” and “Awe” at the things he could do.  He was quite popular with the other riders.

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We decided to pull out the off camera flash to add some fun flair and depth to the photos.  I love these next few!

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I wonder if Vans is looking for a new sponsor?

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You can tell from his face in this next shot that he’s in the zone.  Totally concentrating on his next trick.

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Had to throw in a little photoshop magic to show the progression of one of Brandon’s tricks.

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Here’s a shot that I took from the other side of the park.  If you look closely, you can play the popular new game “Where’s Denise Taking This Same Shot From?”

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Denise’s shot – I love it!

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Can’t be a famous BMX rider without a few awesome portraits, right?

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We call this next one the “King of the Bike Park.”

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Oh yeah, one more thing – Brandon is dating my beautiful cousin Allison so we did a couple at the end of the two of them together.  You may remember Allison from her senior session a couple years ago.

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Love Brandon’s look when Allison gave him a little smooch on the cheek : )

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Cuteness . . .

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Thanks Brandon!  You are truly unbelievable at what you do.  We can’t wait to see where you go from here with your talent and love for the sport!

Dictation Dragon

We’re always in search for the latest and greatest in iPhone apps.  (And when I say “we” I really mean that Ryan discovers cool new apps and then tells me to download them. Thanks honey :-)  One of our most recent discoveries is called Dictation Dragon.  I hate to admit it, but I tend to text and update my facebook status when I’m in the car.  What can I say?  I’m an addict.  I know, I know. It’s terrible.  But in my defense, I do try to keep it to stoplights when possible!  Anyhow, the Dictation Dragon app has revolutionized the way I text!  You simply launch the app, then talk into your phone and it types out what you’re saying.  Once your message is complete you choose whether to share it on facebook or twitter, text it to one of your contacts or just copy it to the phone’s clipboard so you can paste it into an email or another application.  SO EASY!  We’ve tried dictation apps before and they’ don’t usually work very well so you end up retyping half your message anyway.  But this one is actually CRAZY good!  Totally worth checking out.

GNC Omega-3 Soft Chews

Omega-3 is really super good for you and helps prevent things all kinds of things like coronary heart disease (read more about the benefits here.)  Unfortunately, the body doesn’t produce Omega-3, it can only get it through food.  And of course, we don’t consume nearly enough of it.  In an effort to adjust for that, Ryan started taking daily Omega-3 supplements a few years ago. The only down side was that they come in the form of a HUGE, horse-sized pill.  And they taste terrible.  He recently discovered that GNC makes a chewable version.  These little citrus flavored squares of goodness taste just like an orange starburst!  Seriously, they’re really, really good.  So good, that I’M even eating them on a daily basis.  On top of that, they’re actually kind of a good snack.  You take 3 a day so, if you get a late night hunger crazing (which happens a lot around here) you can eat a couple of these and it tides you over. Probably a bit better for you than eating 3 cookies – my snack food of choice.

MAC Lip Conditioner

My name is Denise.  I am a chapstick-a-holic.  Since my junior year of high school, I’ve been using the same chapstick.  For many years, my Christmas stocking has been filled with Softlips cherry flavored chapstick.  In fact, I may be the only reason the company is still in buisness. Well, when I went to have my makeover at the MAC counter earlier this year, my chapstick affections were unexpectedly wooed by a stylish little black and white jar.  When I came home from my make over, and reapplied my usual Softlips chapstick, I was struck by how much better my lips had felt during the makeover.  I literally could not stop thinking about that lovely little jar.  It haunted me.  So, a few days later, I had to go buy one of my own.  And I’ve been in love ever since.

Spotify

If you love music (or Facebook for that matter), you’ll love Spotify.  It’s basically a streaming music service that makes listening to your favorite tunes a social experience.  On top of having an amazingly huge catalog of music to pull from to create your own playlists and things like that, you can connect it to Facebook and it automatically shares what you’re listening to with your friends.  Likewise, you get to see what your friends are listening to and view their playlists.  It’s such a fun way to discover new music!  We’ve been using it since it’s US release a few months back, but the recent Facebook integration updates have really taken it to the next level.  Very exciting stuff.

Tumi Tech Shoulder Bag

Ryan rarely leaves the house without his iPad and sadly, it’s not the most convenient thing to put in your pocket.  Last year, before we headed out on our string of destination weddings, we stumbled across the Tumi Tech shoulder bag.  It turned out to be the perfect carry on and travel bag for him.  Well, what began as a travel accessory has slowly molded into a full on Man Purse (“murse”).  Call it what you will, (he prefers satchel by the way), this little bag has been worth it’s weight in gold.  You just can’t beat the convenience of having all your techie toys on hand AND I’m sure he’s not missing the ever so fashionable wallet-butt-bulge.

So, now it’s your turn.  We want to hear what you guys are “into” these days?

I’m turning thirty in November. Yep THIRTY. As I inch closer and closer to the big three-oh, I’m realizing than my metabolism just isn’t what it used to be. I’ve always been a pretty unhealthy eater and whenever someone has asked me about it, I’ve defaulted to the Scarlett O’Hara: “I’ll worry about tomorrow” (aka, “as long as I stay skinny, I don’t have to worry about it.”) Well, as much as I hate to admit it, tomorrow has arrived. I used to be one of those lucky few who ate whatever I wanted and stayed skinny. It’s probably a mix of age and the fact that I spend 90% of my life sitting in front of a computer screen, but either way, It’s become increasingly hard to ignore that my clothes just don’t fit as well as they once did. Time to make some changes.

The logical first step was to cut back on the soda – one of my greatest vices. I’ve been a 1-or-2-a-day Coke drinker for as long as I can remember. And since it was already #74 on my 101 in 1001 list, I figured there was no better time than the present. These jeans aren’t getting any looser on their own. My journey began on August 1st and as of today, I’ve been soda free for two weeks! The first three days (with the severely annoying caffeine withdrawal headaches) were a little rough, but since then it’s been pretty much smooth sailing. I think I’ll reward myself with a nice big glass of water :-)

On top of that, I’ve been trying to change some of my eating habits as well, like eating a lot more fruit and trying to cut back on the carbs. I’m a super picky eater so the eating right thing is a little hard for me. I’d love to hear some of your healthy eating suggestions, so leave me some comments love below. Wish me luck!

To get started on this goal I downloaded Water for Elephants on the iPad back in March.  I started reading the first chapter and didn’t put it down for the next 24 hours.  I only stopped reading to sleep – literally.  And then I remembered something about myself – something from my childhood that I had forgotten all about in the busyness of  adult life – fiction is like crack to me.  I absolutely LOVE a good story.  I get totally sucked into the characters and the plot line.  (It’s the same reason why I love movies so much, they just happen to be a lot smaller time commitment that reading a book.)  So in the last six months I haven’t read 5 books, I’ve read 7 and managed to cram in 2 business books on top of that.

Now that I’ve rediscovered how much I love to read fiction (thanks to our 101 in 1001 list) I’m pretty sure I’ll be reading A LOT more.  I even set up an account on Goodreads.com so I can keep track of the books I have read and want to read.  I love that I can rate each one and connect with other friends to see what they’re reading and what they thought of the books on my list.  It’s fun!  If you’re a reader you should check it out :-)

Here’s a quick list of all the fictional goodness I’ve been devouring.  There’s a link to Goodreads for each book so you can read a summary if you want. (Beware of spoilers though if you have any intention of reading any of them – especially the Hunger Games Series.)

1. Water For Elephants:  FIVE STARS – Loved it!
2. The Hunger Games:  FIVE STARS – Loved it! The whole series is pretty much amazing, but this was my favorite of the 3 books.
3. Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, Book 2):  FIVE STARS – Loved it!
4. Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, Book 3):  FOUR STARS – Really liked it.
5. Divergent:  FOUR STARS – Really liked it
6. P.S. I Love You:  TWO STARS – It was ok.
7. Never Let Me Go:  THREE STARS – Liked it.

Hank was one of those guys you just wanted to be around; razor sharp wit, fun-loving, loyal to a tee with a rock hard exterior to hide his loving gooey center. Kind of a “Robert De Niro” type.  When I was a kid he would come visit our family in Arizona to get out of the freezing cold temperatures of the Chicago winter.  He’d lay out at the pool and work on his tan while mom bundled me and my sister up in coats and earmuffs to go to the bus stop.  I’m so grateful that Ryan was able to meet him on a trip to Chi-town about five years ago.  The three of them (Ryan, my Dad & Hank) sat in Hank’s basement and smoked cigars while I took silly photos.  I can’t think of a single memory of him that doesn’t include laughter and witty banter.  Saying goodbye was tough, especially because it’s hard to imagine that someone so strong could really be gone.  It was truly an honor to be one of  more than 200 people that come to pay their respects at his wake.  Since I’ve lived across the country from this side of my family my whole life, being there helped me to get to know him even better as I listened to the countless memories that his friends and immediate family shared.  He was a very special man and he will be missed by so many.

Here are a couple of my favorite “Hank Memories” that we pulled from the photo archives. (Right to Left)

• Ryan & I with Uncle Hank, Aunt Jan, my Dad and my two sisters, Cheri & Amy on a trip to Chicago (2006)
• Hank & I in Hawaii for Amy’s wedding (2007)
• Hank & Jan at our wedding (2004)
• Ryan, Dad & Hank smoking cigars in Hank’s basement (2006)

My Dad took us to see the house where he and Hank grew up.  It was still in perfect shape!  We got to hear all kinds of stories about what it was like to grow up there and all the trouble that the two of them got into!

Here’s a shot of my Dad sitting on the very same front stoop where my grandparents used to sit and watch the neighborhood.

We also stopped by his old high school.  He told us that Taft High School was the last school in Chicago to be integrated when schools were still racially segregated.  He was a student at the time and actually remembers students protesting on the lawn the day it happened.  It’s strange for us to even imagine a world like that so it was pretty fascinating to hear that he was a part of this turbulent time in history.

In doing a little research, I also discovered that Jim Jacobs, the writer of Grease, attended Taft and used his time there as inspiration in writing the musical.  Kinda cool right?  The way my Dad describes he and Hank at that age I think they would have fit right in with Danny, Kenickie & the rest of the greaser gang (minus the randomly breaking into song part of course)!

On our last day there we headed into downtown Chicago to do some exploring. We parked the car by the Adler Planetarium and were greeted with this gorgeous view of the Chicago skyline.

Chicago’s most recognizable landmark – the Sears Tower (as seen from Grant Park.)  Love the segway tour in the foreground.  Seriously, those things were everywhere!

First stop, Buckingham fountain!

The thing I was most excited to see was the Bean!  A couple of “Bean” fun facts for you: 1) It’s actually called the Cloud Gate sculpture and 2) It’s made of 168 stainless steel plates welded together and highly polished to hide the seams.  My Dad, being the engineer of the group, was pretty impressed with how much work it must have taken to construct it.  I just thought it was cool.

Love the way it reflects the skyline and the clear blue skies.

Here’s the view from directly underneath the 12 foot high arch.  Crazy, huh?  If you look real close, you can see Ryan & I in the middle section.

And what do people do at the Bean? Take tons and tons of self-portraits of course :-)  Here’s the best of our family shots – please excuse the millions of fingerprints that distort our reflection . . . and the group of little old ladies behind us.  We were lucky to only have 3 extra people in our shot actually.  It was a super nice day so the place was pretty crowded.

Ryan wanted to mix it up a little with our self-portrait so we went a little non-traditional.  LOL!

We cut through the art institute to enjoy the cool air and escalators.  Not sure what Ryan’s Star Trek reference is about. Now that I think about it, we WERE on our way to the Planetarium . . .

Sure, my Dad may look pretty sweet and innocent, but this photo shows proof that it’s all a big facade.  Though he looks like a bystander, Cheri and I can attest to the fact that we are, in fact, shielding ourselves from the water he was spitting at us!  Thanks Dad. LOL!

I had no idea that downtown Chicago actually had a beach too!  It’s official. They’ve got everything there.  Here’s Cheri resting her tired feet in the cold water. After lots of walking, boy did that water feel good!

One last shot of me & my hubby with the beautiful skyline.

Thanks Uncle Hank for giving us a reason to visit.  We only wish you could have been there to share it with us.  Thanks for the memories.  We love you & miss you.

I like to through up little gang sign every now and then – here’s my “I’m 31 and happy about it” sign.

Here is the view from our room at the Las Palomas Resort and Spa.  We spent most of our time in that giant pool closest to the ocean (Sea of Cortez).  The ocean water was very warm and uncomfortable and every once in a while you’d feel a bit of cold water pass around you – a little scary because . . . hmmm, it’s Mexico.

Take a short walk to the other side of the resort and this is what you see.  Desert and yes, nothingness. See that crazy winding dirt road?  Yes, that’s pretty much the way we came in.

Most of our three days was spent relaxing by the pool and beach.  We promised ourselves that we wouldn’t talk about business the whole time.  And I’m proud to say we didn’t . . . ok, maybe we did like twice!  Here we are trying to get our tan on.

The main pool had a zero edge view out into the ocean and an awesome swim-up bar!

I think we were the only two people in Rocky Point.  It was surprisingly deserted for pretty much the entire time we were there.

Adios Mexico!  BTW, thanks for the tan that you forgot to give me.