My poor kitty...

Shelf kitty hides in shelves.

My poor kitty...moving has really gotten him freaked out the last few days. I don't know what is going to happen when I have human babies one day in addition to a kitty-child, because I worry so much about the kitty already! Otoro spent the first day slinking around under the furniture, which I did expect. However, in the last few days he has developed the habit of incessant meowing and being rambunctious starting at 4 am. I am sure it must be a "I'm freaked out by this place with all new smells and different stuff" reaction, but it also means I'm not sleeping that much at night either. I'm getting worried I have psychologically damaged my cat! It's only been a few days though, and I wasn't able to spend much time there yet. Hopefully he will calm down soon! 

My dad was a sweetie and brought over this rug that Otoro really likes in the hopes that having more familiar things (and one laden with familiar scents?) will help him calm down. I wonder if this rug was secretly made out of catnip, because the following video shows his reaction after the rug was unrolled; and it was rinse and repeat for the rest of the day. Kitties are so strange sometimes...

Jen and Paul's Engagement Photos

 I had the great honor of shooting Jen and Paul's engagement photos a few weeks back.  I've known them for about eight years now; though not so well in the beginning as we started bumping into each other through mutual friends.  I have to say, I totally thought Paul was a thug and kind of scary when I first met him due to buzz cut bleached hair (turns out that hair was "gold" to go with the blue and gold colors of Cal).  Later on Jen, Wei-Ling and I were roommates in one of the most fun apartment I've ever been in, 3 gals together - 4 if you count Charcoal!

The photos were taken around Berkeley in the Rose Garden, a few in downtown, and down by the Marina.  We totally crashed someone else's wedding down in the Rose Garden (don't worry! They were just setting up.)  I hadn't done a formal shoot or a location shoot in awhile, but the light was perfect and I was reminded just how much fun it is!  I imagine it was more fun for me than them, because I didn't have to face up to giant camera lens staring at me; and I started getting a bit gleeful in telling them to kiss again...and again...and again.

Mwahaha THE POWER, er, all in the name of getting a good shot!

Doing a photo shoot is a great way to test that wedding makeup and hair before the big day  Jen had gotten her trial run done right before; and I think we all quickly figured out that the updo was pretty, but it made Jen look like not-Jen.   And on your wedding day, it probably helps to still look like you, especially for the pictures!

Special guest appearance by Charcoal in these photos; I can't really imagine Paul and Jen without her there too.  I had a blast...I can't wait for their actual wedding day!   

For the full gallery, take a look HERE.

Motto for the Day..week...month

<3 honey badgers

This ought to have been my motto last week, actually, but I think it will apply for the whole summer.  And I don't mean that I oughtn't give a sh...er..I aspire to be like a honey badger because honey badgers don't sweat the small things in life!   Even when things are really tough, like being poisoned by a cobra...honey badger just takes a nap and gets back to work.  I can get behind that philosophy.

It's really easy for me to feel overwhelmed when I think too hard about everything. Busy season (weddings, bachelorette/bridal parties, more weddings) just started and the rest of the time will be filled with packing, picking out linoleum for the new place and the logistics of moving.  I start stressing when I think too far ahead about all the work I want to do on the house; as the mighty Wei-Ling said "The future is then.  Now is...now."  Better to just think about the now; everything will work itself out! 

Update about the goals board, I'm not bad at getting the goals done.  However, I turned out to be too much a cheapskate (am I'm now really poor) to get the prizes!  So I'll have to adjust with some non-monetary types of prizes for myself. :)

Upcoming blogs: can't wait to process some of of Jen and Paul's engagement photos to share!