A few pictures from the UCLA Anderson Commencement Ceremony

It's a very unusual name for a long-legged chihuahua-beagle mix. But he wears it well, especially when he utterly disregards Ricky and pelts after another dog at the park.

      

This post is long overdue, but it's a Sunday night and I've just had a caffeine overload, so here it goes. A few weeks ago we headed inland to watch my friend Diana perform with Naruwan Taiko at the Los Angeles Taiwan Festival. Needless to say they were the best show of the day. This is how you can tell you're in Monterey Park. I think they meant "park." :) That and the fact that everything smells delicious. Though I guess that depends on the person, I haven't gotten quite accustomed to the smell of stinky tofu yet.


They recently played at the San Diego marathon for four hours, and I have no idea how they managed to sustain their high energy performance. I saw the pictures of their blistered hands on Facebook to prove it.
 
Diana

 

Tony's finals are winding down, as is his two year MBA career at Andersen. It feels like college again, and I can tell he's feeling quite nostalgic when he's not overwhelmed with finals/projects/papers/interviews/(insert more busy activities here). In an effort to give him a break, we decided to do... a four mile, 3.5 hour hike with almost 1500 feet in elevation gain. Probably not your average relaxation technique, but that's Tony. :) In a desperate attempt to go back to our previously healthier ways, we've been trying to hike around the area more. We ended up choosing Hondo Canyon Trail in Topanga, which is a pleasant change from the sight (and smell) of cardio machines and weights. It's a lovely little sylvan canyon that feels a world away from the blare of Los Angeles. Finding the trailhead is somewhat difficult (you drive up and down the street looking for a tiny sign that says "backbone trail"), but the drive itself is full of interesting knick knacks like abandoned boats and antiques (I'd love to take pictures there and yes, I have photography on the brain). Here are a few pictures of the hike:

 

The gorgeous valley and the interesting rock formations
 
One of the few times that Tony managed to wrest the camera away from me. We ate lunch at the top (I use that term loosely, we made it to the top of that trail, and walked partway up another trail). On the way up I ran a few short parts of the trail, which was awesome because it's such a great workout. But on our way down, I was essentially full/lazy/careless. I ended up rolling my ankle on a fat, clearly visible rock on a flat, easy stretch of dirt. D'oh.
 
So I consoled myself by taking more pictures.
 
I have no clue what this thing is. At first I thought it was a rather oddly colored snake, but then I noticed upon uploading the pic that it had legs.
 
Moss graffiti
 
You can sort of see the ocean from our vantage point.
 

A grasshopper masquerading as a stick, and doing a pretty good job of it, too!
 

I like all the colors. It's definitely not as lush as other, wetter seasons, but still so lovely.
 

Ok folks, this is going to be a slightly longer one since this is my first wedding ever. It was a really wonderful experience, and Kelly and I both had a lot of fun. More than any wedding I've been to, Jen and Gustavo's wedding really symbolized more than just the joining of two people, but the love of two families. It was a really heartfelt affair, and the whole family pitched in in a myriad of ways from cooking the wonderful meal (for that, thank you!) to decorating the gazebo. The wedding was located in Palmdale, CA, at the Chimbole Cultural Center. The prep photos (of course) start with the shoes. Heels are my waterloo, I can't wear them without tripping and falling on my face. But Jen rocked it out with these, and willingly went all over the place for pictures. What a trooper. :)





 

Their first meeting was very shy and sweet.



 



 

We also took Jen and Gustavo's portrait session before the ceremony. But more on that later in this entry (no peeking!). Not only was this my first wedding, but it was also conducted entirely in Spanish. Talk about a tough rite of passage! But actions speak louder than words.



 

Like this (I love Jen's dad's expression on the far left).

  And let's not forget this. :)

In lieu of a recessional, they had a receiving line at the ceremony, and people came up to greet them for the first time as husband and wife.





And some of the little ones amused themselves while the adults were greeting Jen and Gustavo.

 

We were able to squeeze in a few more portraits between the ceremony and reception.

 

The staircase of the cultural center is lovely. I love how much variety Jen and Gustavo were giving in their pictures. They are relaxed in this shot.

 

But then can turn it up at the drop of a hat. Love it!

 

The reception was awesome. These people know how to party and eat! That's my favorite combination. The horchata and pineapple juice were really tasty, and Jen's brother-in-law made some really amazing food. I was totally dorky and gave him a thumbs up when my mouth was full of food. I blame Tony for the thumbs up impulses. Throughout the reception their family kept asking us if we were ok, if we had enough food, and we even had a table setting with our names on it. It was all very kind, and Kelly and I were very touched at the way they were so inclusive of everyone.

 

The parent dances were cute. You could tell the whole family was bursting with pride and love at this joyous occasion.



Jen and Gustavo's first dance

 

Jen and Gustavo are very sweet together, too sweet to smush cake in each other's faces or engage in other such silliness. But that's ok, because that would've been a waste of cake. The array of desserts they had at their wedding was amazing. :)





And of course, I can't forget the dancing. These families definitely know how to celebrate.

 

I'm going to backtrack a bit and talk about my personal favorite part to shoot, which was the couple shoot. The area of Palmdale is full of fascinating locations, and though some spots were sadly out of reach (read: private property + guard dogs), we managed to find a few to shoot at.

 

I love the intimate shot that Kelly was able to capture between the two.

 

We were all scorched from shooting outside in the sun (desert sun is definitely quite different from coastal sun!). As we were shooting, an ice cream truck rolled up. What were the odds...? But it made us all very very happy.

  The desert landscape is very striking, here is one of my favorite pictures of the day.

Congratulations Jen and Gustavo! Thanks for letting us photograph your special day!