Category Archives: family & friends

merry mexico

My family vacation to Mexico this year was relaxed, restful and rejuvenating! We were a smaller group this year including only my parents, grandma, RJ and me…we missed everyone else.

My dad had his birthday on the first full day we were there and he spent the rest of the trip saying “It’s my birthday, I can do what I want”. I tried to object that he was overusing this privilege, but he’s so funny that we let him keep using it. Here are my parents at his birthday dinner…

telling stories mama y papa

And here’s my dad modeling his gift of a new lululemon shirt, which he then wore to yoga for the rest of the week. Notice his “model face”…

mature male model for lululemon

~~~

We spent a lot of time lounging at the beach, but no pictures were taken of this lazy lifestyle. We did however take some photos of RJ’s new margarita concoction: The Spicy Margarita. This drink is your basic RJ margarita with some jalapeno peppers for a kick. It is surprisingly delicious and we enjoyed them frequently throughout the trip…

sour and spice makes everything nice salud!

RJ and I spent Thursday morning on a Canopy Adventure, which meant zip-lining through the treetops of a nearby canopy of trees. We were understandably not allowed to take any photos (can you imagine? happily zip-lining and trying to take a photo while promptly smacking into a tree). We assume we looked something like this…


~~~

We had such a great time and decided we prefer adventure excursions to romantic excursions. Next year we plan to try out the Outdoor Adventure, which includes more zip-lining, some donkeys and a waterfall (I know, funny mix, huh?)

On the last night we did make it to Fajita Republic for our annual dinner and silly face contest, but the silly faces made it onto my dad’s camera instead of mine. Hopefully he’ll share, but here’s what I ended up with…

finishing the chi chi

~~~

We ate way too much as usual and rounded out a wonderful week…
*

holiday season recap

I am finally getting around to adding some holiday photos…and some other things.

I did most of my shopping on December 23rd when the sky in Santa Monica was so beautiful I had to photograph it…

los angeles in december

I worked on Christmas Eve day and December 26th, but I was still able to jump on plane for a short visit with my family. I enjoyed a mellow Christmas morning with my parents and then we had a sweet dinner at my Aunt Carole’s house, where everyone wore fun paper crowns. Here I am with my Grandma who was being particularly cute…

teasing grandma

Upon my return R and I went to Akasha’s birthday {R’s brother Casey’s girlfriend} at the bowling alley! I heart bowling so much and it turns out despite unusual style, I am not that bad…

i *always* get points for style look at my three strikes!

Akasha did a birthday bowling dance and thought I was taking a picture when I was really making a video…notice her start to wonder what’s happening.

We had a ton of good old fashioned fun…

couple self-portrait i think they're so cute

We also spent New Year’s Eve with Casey & Akasha, but unfortunately I forgot to take snapshots of our chilled out celebration over pizza and cocktails.

All in all, it was a great couple of weeks of holiday celebration!
Happy New Year!

exploding with smiles

Sunday was my Grandma Finch’s 90th birthday party and practically the whole family was there which is no small feat. There are about a million cousins to round up, not to mention my brothers and me!

Here’s my favorite photo; everyone exploding with smiles, even Doug!


The only one missing was my guy, RJ…