vacation

every week i get an e-mail with last minute 'deals' from vacationhomes.com. i enjoy seeing the exotic vacation spots and the idea of going away on a moments notice does seem appealing...for a moment or two. here is one of the latest listings that looks absolutely fabulous. i can't say that it is much of a deal since the place costs $1,400 a night (a bit out of our price range) but it does come with a chef, bartender, housekeeper, 24-hr security, concierge services, air-conditioning, internet access, cable TV, pool, jacuzzi, water & beach activities and airport transfers. anyone want to go?

doors & windows

when jerry and i spent two weeks in spain a few years ago, i started taking pictures of windows and doors. there is something so beautiful about old homes and how the doors seem to be the gate between the dirty streets and someone's little oasis. my sister came back from her travels to the middle east and europe with several pictures of windows and door and it appears that other people have the same interest as i just came across this blog. i can only guess that the blog is about windows and doors because i can't speak a word of french. here is a photo of the view out of my kitchen window. i love how the leaves on this japanese maple start out red in the spring and then turn to green over the summer. we painted our kitchen red while the tree was bare and had no idea that we made a match!

sneak peek

i met the w. family at the botanical gardens in san francisco for our photo session. what a great place for pictures! one small problem, it was super cold!
thank you to the w. family for hiking all over the botanical gardens with me. the rest of your photos will be ready in another week or two. their two little girls are such cutie pies!
enjoy!

play-doh

here is the other commercial. have a colorful weekend!

friday

happy friday! i apologize for the lack of photos...i am a bit behind with my editing these days. here is a beautiful commercial from sony. the play doh version will be another post. the song by jose gonzalez is such a perfect match.

calistoga

we just got back from a mini-vacation in calistoga. unfortunately the weather did not cooperate and it was pretty cold and wet. we had the place to ourselves since it was the middle of the week and the kids enjoyed the pools. we skipped the wine tasting and spent our money at the candy store.
a few weeks ago i told sam about our upcoming vacation to calistoga and here is our conversation - me - 'sam, are you looking forward to going to calistoga?'
sam - 'can we go swimming in the cat pool?'
me - (pause) 'the cat pool?' (what does he mean? ah yes!! the kiddie/kitty pool) 'sure!'
the things kids say!
i have to go through pictures from a family photo shoot from the weekend...stay tuned!

earth day

i love this commercial! kaiser permanente has done an excellent job with their advertising lately. this one is fantastic.

happy earth day everyone! reduce reuse recycle repeat

friday

i must tell you about an amazing woman - megan rosenhart from project warmhug. her mission is to "provide warm clothing, dry diapers and cool books to local children in need". i love the idea of supporting a local charity which gives useful items to people in need.
she is organizing a mothers' day drive which will give moms a basket with diapers and wipes, a baby blanket hand crafted by local moms, a new outfit for their newborn and a special gift just for the mom.
please go to the project warm hug website or blog to check out the details. each basket is $40 and it will go to a local mom who needs a little help.
i know we all have good intentions but sometimes the daily grind takes over and we are overwhelmed by our own 'to do' lists. please, take a few moments and check out her blog and give a basket (or two, or three).
have a wonderful weekend!

inspiration

are you addicted to blogs yet? i have a small obsession with blogs. i started out with a small list that i followed with bloglines but the number has grown and grown. there is so much inspiration out there - from photographers to wedding ideas and home decor. the nice thing about bloglines is that you go to one place and all blogs that have been updated are right there for you. google reader is another service which works the same way.
here are some of my favorite reads:
{photographers}
the image is found - i attended a workshop hosted by nate and jaclyn in december and they were soooo amazing and completely inspiring.
jesh de rex - he created the textures that i use. beautiful photography!
heather waraksa - her photography is very crisp and clean. i think her photography is very elegant.
jessica claire - she just shook up the whole photography world by combining her website and blog into one. her work is very colorful.
jeremy lawson - this guy is amazing...not your traditional wedding photographer!
{other places of inspiration}
style me pretty - the ultimate wedding blog - everything you ever wanted to know about the latest and greatest wedding stuff.
design sponge - all things design including product reviews, home design, before and after photos, etc.
mstetson design - home design inspiration
so, go out there and have fun! just promise me you will come back and visit once in a while! are you hooked on any amazing blogs? please, pass them along!

#1 fan

i am a huge fan of j.crew - i love their clothes and their ad campaigns are always so bright and cheerful. the picture shown above is from their wedding collection - isn't it fantastic? the big tree, the painted ladders..love it!

by the way, i started a new facebook page for loren weltsch photography. facebook is an interesting place. you can peek in on old classmates from high school and find lost friends from college. i am new to the facebook world although it can become quite addictive. my sister has over 700 friends! this is a true example of six degrees of separation where we are all connected. so, come on over to facebook and check out my new page and become a fan!

chocolate

have you heard about this place called candy bar? i have seen wine bars popping up all over the place but this is a "dessert and wine lounge". sounds good to me!  anyone want to go?

or, another yummy place to visit is miette.  the cake shown below is from this perfect little patisserie.

i think i have chocolate on the brain today.  i must confess that i am not much of a chocolate snob - a plain hershey bar is still my all time favorite.

sunday

we are having a lovely weekend. the weather is absolutely perfect. we had dinner outside on friday night and last night we just hung out in the backyard until it got too dark. warm evenings are the best. i met up with my girlfriends for lunch yesterday at santana row. hooray for girlfriends! i must say, i am so lucky to have such wonderful friends. we enjoyed a lovely lunch and then walked around and shopped a bit. i got to visit two of my favorite stores - anthropologie and paper source. fortunately for my bank account, i controlled myself and didn't go crazy even though anthropologie is overflowing with adorable clothing right now. {several people have asked about the dolls. i found them online at gemmielou's etsy shop. you can create your own custom family. if you have not been to etsy, you need to go!} goodbye...i am going outside to play!

friday

the sun is shining and it is going to be a BEAUTIFUL weekend! i am so excited. what could be better than a weekend with a few fun plans as well as time to relax? i came across this fantastic map of san francisco. this website has maps of several big cities and you can choose different colors as well. here are two more pictures from my photo session with evan and kristin in san francisco. happy weekend!

cake = yum!

ryan had her first encounter with cake on thursday. i think she likes it! i still can't believe my little baby is one...the year has gone by so quickly. doesn't it look like she is reading the card? ryan loves smiling faces - she will get a big smile on her face when she sees another smiling face. this card has a kitten so i guess that works as well.

preview

here is a sneak peak for the r. family. i was really looking forward to photographing these kids because i have seen them a few times over the years and it is always fun to see how much the kids have changed. my last photo session with the family was when julianna was just a few weeks old and look at her now! these three kids are adorable! the two boys are so high energy but were super sweet when it came time to be with their sister. they were giving her hugs and kisses and then they would pounce on each other a moment later. enjoy!