i've been waiting a long time to grow my hair out, but now that it's long, i'm getting tired of it! is anyone else in the same boat? i covet beautiful long hair and now that i have it, i don't know what to do with it and now i'm adoring this hair cut. you just can't win with hair! ;) i'll probably end up cutting it sometime this fall/winter, it's only BOUND to happen...

so friends, just as i promised, today i'm partnering with my sister, steph, for a giveaway!! who doesn't love to win something?! steph just launched her new blog, Shearly Perfect, where she'll be your go-to girl for everything hair! read about her experience and follow along to see upcoming tutorials from easy hairstyles to bridal up-dos!

** use the rafflecopter below to enter the giveaway! the winner will be announced in 2 weeks


a Rafflecopter giveaway

it's crazy to think that my school years will be ending this december. i've always had school be a big part of my life and my yearly routine. now that we will be graduating at the end of the year, what comes next? this summer has been a little glimpse of my future to come; kevin working (but hopefully not nearly as many hours as this summer, i would die!) me hanging out at home or with friends and discovering new places around the city, focusing on growing my photography business, and the list goes on. where will we be living? when will we start having kids? what school will kevin be going to for his MBA? will we travel new places and explore the world together? these questions have been the topic of conversation every night. i'm excited for what's to come and i know that wherever we end up, home is where he is, so i'll never have to worry.

bought these all at world market. i've been there before but have never taken the time to look at their beautiful jewelry or house decorations. i'm in love with that store now!! i'm so sad there's not one close to rexburg when we move back there this fall... i guess i'll be taking full advantage of this store while i'm here!

+ i was so excited that i found those adorable drawer knobs! they'll be perfect for my nightstand (stay tuned, i'm still working on that project...)

this weekend my sister tagged along with me to reno. i photographed a beautiful wedding and the cutest family while there. these are some photos from our roadtrip. it's so fun that lake tahoe and reno aren't too far from where we are so it was a quick trip over and back! i'm hoping we'll be able to head up to lake tahoe soon.

hey friends! first off, i just want to give a big THANK YOU to all who read this little blog of ours. i'm amazed at how much it has grown since i started it a little over a year ago. i love reading all your comments and compliments ;) if it weren't for all you readers, it would probably just be my mom reading my blog... (and hopefully the rest of my family). 

back to talking about the free stuff...i'm only 3 away from 600 followers! once i make it to 600, i'll be hosting a giveaway. woohoo! conveniently, my sister will be launching her new hair blog, Shearly Perfect, who will also be in on the giveaway awesomeness. (if you can't tell, the image above is a little sneak peek as to what the giveaway will be)

so who wants to follow along and help a girl out by getting to 600?! ;)

since my younger sister and her friend are visiting this week, we decided to go check out old folsom. it's such a cute place with the most adorable shops! if only we were living here permanently, i definitely would be buying some furniture. (oh the day i'll have my own house to decorate!) we enjoyed walking up and down the streets and window shopping. this place is also loaded with vintage/thrift stores. me being an instagram junkie, loved all the beautiful scenery and little details of the town so you probably saw all these photos if you're an insta follower! (@andreabrionne) to sum up that afternoon, it was a lovely day in the beautiful warm weather!

i'm not one to post a million photos of myself, mostly because i forget and i don't have anyone to take photos of me! so here's some fun ones that my sister took of me wearing my new polka dotted blue pants. yes, i have worn them in public and i get lots of stares. also, my hair is getting longer and i'm kinda obsessed.

on sunday evening, a bunch of us couples went over to the park to play bocce ball. i don't think i've ever played bocce ball with such a big group! when you have a bunch of boys playing, it gets competitive. they start making up their own rules like "you have to throw it 15 ft in the air and through that tree for it to even qualify." who knew bocce ball could be so competitive? once the girls lost interest, the boys took it to the next level trying to play it on the playground. good thing there weren't any kids around! we ended the night with watching a movie and eating homemade ice cream. yumm.

i bought my very own instax camera (!!!) seriously so happy right now. does anyone know of the best place to buy lots of film for it?

oh, and i'm wearing my new dress i found at target on sale. fits perfectly so i'm even more happy.

i woke up this morning with my husband cuddling with me. for those who know me, i am not a morning person. i just can't POP right out of bed every morning like my husband. i have to warm up to getting out of bed. so i tell kevin to cuddle with me for a bit then i'll be in a good mood to wake up. (i know, i'm pathetic)

back track to friday last weekend when i did the styled bridal shoot. i had thrown on my running shoes (bad idea) because the fields we were in covered my shoes in those sticky weeds that do not want to come off, and they would poke right into my foot. so the other day when i actually wanted to go work out, i sat on the porch for 20 minutes trying to pull out all the splinters and weeds. that only lasted so long, so i did homework instead.
so when i woke up this morning, kevin told me that while i was sleeping, he had picked out all those splinters from my running shoes for me. (!!!) i was thrilled and i felt so loved.

ever since i met kevin, he was always so thoughtful in doing the littlest things for me. just the other night i was showing him film photos from photographers i adore and how much i really love film photography. do you know what came to my door the next day? the jose villa fine art wedding photography book. (!!!) i was thrilled and i felt so loved.

it's in the little things that make all the world a difference in a marriage. 

where did the weekend go?! fridays just don't seem like part of the weekend anymore, so it's basically saturday night and sunday as our weekends together this summer. i was busy saturday photographing a wedding in 108 degree weather - i was practically drenched in sweat the whole time, but it was such a fun wedding! meanwhile, kevin was with the sales team guys and their wives celebrating at the cheesecake factory with the money they won from a tournament. i don't know how he did it, but kevin managed to spend all the $60 on his meal, including a slice of godiva chocolate cheesecake for me :)

sunday was a relaxing day. we went to church, ate lunch and took a nap together then visited with friends that night.

+ i did a styled bridal shoot friday night! the lighting was perfect along with the location. also, the wedding dress is up for sale! email me if interested. you can view the blog post here. 
 

it's one of the most important days of a bride's life and she's put a lot (time + money) into looking her best. here are 3 tips to making sure you get every detail within the session!




1. start farther away to get the bride warmed up to the camera. if her groom is nearby, have her look over at him and you'll definitely get a genuine smile. you can have her turn her back to you to get a full length photo of the dress in the back. another pose i do is having the bride take a few steps back and slowly walk toward me while looking down, to the side and back at me when i tell her to.

my family visited san francisco when i was really little, so i don't remember much of the big city. so my sister and i decided the other day to take a little trip over to the bay area. we didn't plan ahead, just decided on places to go on a whim! we had a great time! we began our day at twin peaks to see the beautiful view of the city skyline. we then headed down to the fisherman's wharf where we ate at Boudin for lunch. they are famous for their delicious sourdough bread (+ they even make cute sourdough bread animals too!) i ate the sourdough bread bowl with tomato soup and steph had the sourdough pizza. both were delicious and warmed us up because it was a little chilly out. we walked around the pier and looked in the stores then decided to head over to Alamo park to see the painted ladies. we kept singing the "full house" theme song in our heads. (ohh thank you 90's) 
til next time san francisco...

here's a little video of our quick trip to San Francisco! my sister and i decided spontaneously to visit the big city so we made it happen. i'll be posting the photos soon!

+ with a little help from youtube and now having a wonderful iMac, i am so excited to start sharing a little film from the trips we take! perfect timing for our big trip coming up to poland and denmark.

last week my sister and i took a little road trip to visit my mom and relatives in reno! one thing i love about living in sacramento is how close you are to different places. san francisco not too far on one side and lake tahoe/reno on the other! my mom was in reno to visit her sister so we drove over to spend time with her. we went shopping, ate cupcakes, treated ourselves to pedicures and went out to lunch at a yummy restaurant downtown to celebrate my aunt's birthday. we had a great time visiting but it was so nice coming home to a loving husband who missed me dearly. ;)