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wisdom in the little ones

Kids are born with a superpower of finding joy in the everyday. They’re wired to find ways to create fun out of the most mundane moments. 

I’m convinced it’s the secret sauce we all need to drown our lunch in (and breakfast, brunch, linner, and supper). A perfect recipe for winner winner chicken happy dinner. 

Something tells me this wasn’t meant to expire as we outgrew childhood though. This is what we’re made for––rejoicing, laughing, enjoying life 24/7/365. 

Where did we lose this inner compass? 

Kids never strive to find fun; it comes naturally to them––they’re... fun magnets. 

It’s time to reclaim our superpower. 

My prayer is to become more childlike. I want to be so childlike that finding joy is second nature to me––my natural M.O. Cultivating joy every day, every hour like it ain’t no thang. 

Can somebody get their kids to teach a workshop on this? A PDF guide would work too. Moms and dads reading this right now, hit me up. 

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a los angeles baby shower

Sometimes you show up at an event thinking it’s going to be casual, only to be struck by the care and thought that went into every little detail. 

Such was the case for Sweet Pea’s baby shower here in Elysian Park. 

What guests saw was the fun & games, the pretty little things, and all of the noms. But behind the scenes, Yessi & Tomas put in hours on hours of planning and preparation for this party. The extravagance of this celebration... worthy of a princess.

Tears, laughs, 

accusation (?) 

and fun times were had.

Surrounded by friends and family’s prayers even before birth, Baby Girl has got it good.

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#bjyooled, post-proposal

Right after the most important Q&A of their lives, we naturally moved on to a photoshoot.

Happy couple, the Pacific, photographer on-site––why the heck not?

These moments will go down in history as the happiest I have ever seen Brian.

I kid. This is just the beginning.

Their joy’s only gonna grow from here on out. Glory to glory, nawimsayin’?

After photos, I said goodbye with the alibi of making space for them to enjoy their first sunset together as fiancees. 

Little did Julia know what awaited her: a surprise party all the way back in Fremont. Brian rented out Devout Coffee for the night (also their first DTR spot!) and hid a bunch of their closest friends inside. 

Life... happens (in the form of impossible SF parking and unforeseen Saturday traffic), and the couple ended up making it to the cafe before I did. No footage of the surprise, but there were tears involved, magazine-worthy deco by talented friends, a lotta celebrating, and

videos from friends around the world who couldn’t make it.

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#bjyooled – will you marry me?

With the #bjyooled wedding coming up just around the corner (what. in. the. world.) I figured there’s no better time to share the behind the scenes of the proposal.

I’ve photographed many a proposal–at a lake, in a cave, by the ocean, etc. etc. but watching my own brother get on his knee was a whole new experience.

The very flesh and blood you put up with, annoyed, and fought for the first 17-ish years of life–the one you hated to love and loved to hate and eventually grew to love–that existence (once the bane of your existence) declares he is ready to commit to loving, serving, and laying down his life for one special lady... forever.

But first, he gotta get her “yes.”

With gusto, I gave him my blessing and we began to brainstorm immediately. Strings of incognito texts via Snapchat ensued, peppered between a few face-to-face convos. 

Here’s how the day started: carbs on carbs on carbs. 

The plan? I’d ask Julia to hang out one-on-one, venture into the city for food and a photoshoot (we had shot before–the gorgeous gal is a natural model). It had to be a certain day with the excuse being my out of state move was approaching and I could only make that day work, cause you know, I’m a hot commodity. 

Being the chill soul that she is, Julia was down for anything. 

The day came and all fear dissipated that she might postpone–she stuck to the original scheJule. I picked up Julia, drove 30 minutes to San Francisco, and we went to town on appetizers at Neighbor Bakehouse. Then onwards to Tartine Manufactory for the real meal, plus sauntering through boutiques nearby. 

Oh wait, let’s rewind a couple weeks. 

February 11, 2018 – a day of location scouting all over the bay from Fremont to SF, disguised under the annual Yoo sib quality time. Plan A, Plan B, and many other options to consider in between. Mighty windy then too.

And we’re back at Marshall Beach, overlooking Golden Gate Bridge on February 24, 2018. 

A 10-minute walk from the parking lot puts us in the spot Brian and I had scoped out. Thankfully, no tourists or locals are hovering by the lookout. 

We’re taking some tester shots when ravenous winds howl all around us. Suffering under some fierce windchill and skirt blowing out of control, Julia asks multiple times if she can change into pants. 

Oh crap. 

“Wait, let’s just shoot a little more. The lighting looks great right now. Can you stand over there?” 

Internally, I’m yelling at Brian–come. out. of. hiding. n-o-w! 

Julia probably wondered what in the heck was wrong with me at this point. Model abuse. 

What seemed like forever later, this guy popped up out of nowhere.

She knew what was up. It was a faux-toshoot. 

“No!” She yelled. 

Just kidding.

Tbh, I’m not sure what was going on here. A little wrestling, 

scuffing, 

begging/reasoning

and a whole lotta laughin’.

[Insert romantic words I could not hear] 

And then, the moment.

Fire away.  

Commence the longest and funniest reaction to the infamous single-kneed question.

“Should I get down on my knee, too?”

“Ok, I pledge allegiance...”

Eventually,

she said yes!

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yessi & tomas, plus one

Can we talk about how stunning these two are? Tomas continues to run marathons for breakfast and well–to be fair, that makes it easy to upkeep his shape. But Yessi. 

Y e s s i––8 months pregnant and glowing. Hot. Mama. 

Straight out of a movie. So fitting for these Angelenos.