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Ahhh with a great first week comes a major setback in week 2 of the New Year! I was kinda bummed about this obstacle, but it definitely drove me to work even harder in terms of my photography so I guess that’s a silver lining in disguise. Going to stick to the highlights for this […]

January 12, 2018

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Ahhh with a great first week comes a major setback in week 2 of the New Year! I was kinda bummed about this obstacle, but it definitely drove me to work even harder in terms of my photography so I guess that’s a silver lining in disguise. Going to stick to the highlights for this week!

– Nothing like trivia to lift up your mood! I got to go to trivia with friends I haven’t seen in MONTHS and we had so much fun 🙂 It’s become our tradition to do trivia at Crafthouse (formerly known as World of Beer) and apparently we always look so clueless that people OFFER their help to us…..also can I say that I’m a big fan of their bacon tots?

– I also got to go to Ted’s Bulletin to catch up with former co-workers! I love that even after 2+ years we’ve stayed close and get together when everyone is back in town 🙂 Highly recommend their chicken biscuits!!! Me and Naveen are known for having an obsession with biscuits and this meal definitely satisfied the recent craving. If you sense a general theme of loving food with the first two bullet points, you are not at all wrong!

– I loved kicking off a new blog series about tips for brides on their wedding day! You can read the first post here about tips for the getting ready portion of the day. In the upcoming colder months since I won’t have as many shoots, I’ve decided to take some time to write out a bunch of longer-form educational blog posts for brides chockfull of useful tips for their wedding days. I hope that someday these will help them have a super smooth and relaxing wedding day! There’s the stereotype that all wedding days are crazy, something goes wrong and the timeline gets thrown out the window but I’ve never witnessed this in person. All of the photographers I’ve had the pleasure of working with have gone the extra mile beforehand to educate their clients about how long each part of the day realistically takes. So this is my attempt to do just that!

– Anyone else enjoy the unseasonably warm past couple of days as much as I did? I mean I know they’re not stellar for the climate, but I just have really been missing warmer days! I’m convinced I need to eventually move out to California….

– And speaking of California, I actually have a wedding consultation with clients who live in San Francisco tomorrow and I’m super excited to meet them virtually! They have a vintage travel themed wedding in the works which sounds amazing, such a unique theme!!

– I’ve had a ton of inquiries lately for portrait sessions within the upcoming Spring, so if you’ve had getting pictures taken on your mind, definitely reach out within the next couple of weeks because my dates are filling up super quickly!

January 12, 2018

Another week has just flown by! It’s interesting seeing how summer has turned into fall so quickly this year. I feel like each year it’s super different, but I can tell you that neither me nor my immune system was ready for such a rapid change. The sudden change in weather definitely threw my body […]

September 15, 2017

Another week has just flown by! It’s interesting seeing how summer has turned into fall so quickly this year. I feel like each year it’s super different, but I can tell you that neither me nor my immune system was ready for such a rapid change. The sudden change in weather definitely threw my body for a loop. I’ve been trying to take it easy and rest up before the busy fall season kicks off this weekend! Here’s a couple of things I’m looking forward to doing over this fall along with second shooting weddings in Northern Virginia, D.C. and in Charlottesville!

-Going apple picking or to a pumpkin patch! If you’re ever down near Charlottesville, going to Carter Mountain is a MUST in the fall. See reasons below

– Eating/drinking all the apple cider, pumpkin spice lattes (no I’m not basic, I’ve always loved all things pumpkin including Indian food with it!!), apple/pumpkin pie, and apple cider doughnuts. Yes, I repeat, APPLE CIDER DOUGHNUTS GUYS!!!! They’re soo good! They’re not even like traditional doughnuts but these are just something that you have to try!

– Here’s a fall apple pie recipe & a pumpkin pie recipe for any of you bakers out there! I will most probably be sticking to a store bought versions because if you know me, I tend to burn things 🙁

– I’m so excited that I can drive my car around (that hasn’t had A/C for years) without sweating!!! So random drives through the fall leaves in Reston when they start to turn colors will definitely be a thing. Well at least for when I come home for weekends because….

– I’M MOVING INTO AN APARTMENT THIS WEEKEND!!!! This isn’t exactly fall related, oops but I just had to share. It’s in Ballston behind the mall and I’m super excited to be closer to D.C. I don’t necessarily have a “commute” right now but have ended up going in to the city 2-3 times every single week for the whole summer, and that trip is no joke. I mean and I enjoy the metro wayyy more than the average person, but it’s still draining. So my utmost respect to everyone that does it on the daily!

– Having every excuse to wear flannel shirts, combat boots, scarves and cozy fall sweaters again 🙂

– FOOTBALL SUNDAYS!!!! I used to actually watch football all the time in high school but when I got to college, I no longer had TV or the time to curl up on the couch for lazy Sundays. They were actually spent running around like a chicken with no head. I’m so excited to have more relaxing Sundays back where I can tune in to the games again. Maybe this will help me up my Fantasy Football game a little this year, no promises on that, but we’ll see! I’ve implemented little reminders to set my lineups, so leagues you better watch out, trying to finish better than second to last in the league which means someone is going down >:)

– I’ve never been to an Oktoberfest before but I think that this is the year to change that! I’m by no means a huge fan of beer but I do enjoy Oktoberfest drafts more than normal beer! If anyone wants to tag along to any of these ones, let me know!

That’s it for this week, will be back after a wedding this weekend and moving into my new apartment with updates!!

{ Photo by Vanessa Smith Photography who totally caught me in my element….aka with a lens cap in my boot hahaha }

More Friday Fun Posts:

Take 1 –  Why Friday Fun, CAMERA UPGRADE!! & The Best Sangria Around

Take 2 –  Grad Parties, Taste of the Town & Mini Pineapples!!

Take 3 – A Summer Wedding, Picnicking & an Old Town Senior Shoot

Take 4 – Cousins, brunching & Midsummer Plans

Take 5 – Behind the Scenes of Manali Photography

Take 6 – Fun Fall Things To Do!

 

September 15, 2017

Two Friday Fun posts in a row? Oh my…well I actually decided to take a break for this week, partially because of Fourth of July! My aunt, uncle and their one year old baby boy came for a couple of days and I spent so much time playing with him!! It was such a nice break from the past couple of crazy weeks. And just before I knew it Tuesday turned into Thursday night and this week just flew by!! So no, I didn’t hit my goal of blogging three times this week, but I’m ok with it! Here’s still a recap of some parts over the past week and a quick look at what’s to come!

July 7, 2017

Two Friday Fun posts in a row? Oh my…well I actually decided to take a break for this week, partially because of Fourth of July! My aunt, uncle and their one year old baby boy came for a couple of days and I spent so much time playing with him!! It was such a nice break from the past couple of crazy weeks. And just before I knew it Tuesday turned into Thursday night and this week just flew by!! So no, I didn’t hit my goal of blogging three times this week, but I’m ok with it! Here’s still a recap of some parts over the past week and a quick look at what’s to come!


-My aunt’s baby was sooo stinking cute!!! I spent about five days playing with him and getting to know him, it was amazing 🙂 He was so full of energy, crawled all over the place faster than I could really keep up with sometimes! His favorite things to do included climbing our stairs (his house doesn’t have any so he was fascinated with ours), making things spin (the fidget spinner was a great hit), making noises with objects (I made a game of throwing a seashell in a bowl), and playing roll catch (I’m totally making that up) with a ball! He definitely could recognize who I was a couple of days in and we became great friends 🙂

-On the flip side, I didn’t really leave the house except for getting dinner on Friday and Saturday night. A lot of Gilmore Girls was watched which was great but when I don’t leave my house in like a day or two, I get SUPER antsy. I don’t know what it is but I get restless if I don’t, which often leads to trips to Harris Teeter, Target or the mall which can be dangerous

-Such a dangerous trip to the mall was made on Wednesday. I went to buy a new candle and came back with an additional lipstick, two dresses, and a top……so there goes my shopping for July! But I regret nothing, they were all great finds and things I will definitely be making use of

-I miss my brother who’s in Austin, TX for a school club project test run this week. I keep almost asking my parents where he is. It’s safe to say it’s been a little quieter around here after the baby left and without him around

-The Fourth of July got super rained out and I didn’t end up celebrating at all!! And I really love the holiday because it’s during the summer, it’s the perfect excuse to get together with friends and family, eat all the food and I absolutely LOVE fireworks. I’m like a little kid that stares up in awe and gets really excited over them. So I made the next day my own little personal July Fourth. I celebrated with breakfast for lunch, iced coffee that turned out being better warm, making brownies and decorating them with strawberries & whip cream to make a flag, and watching the fireworks in Ashburn. I also sat for half an hour picking out blue sprinkles from a multicolored batch for the “stars” on my flag hahaha 🙂

-Thursday was a day for bookkeeping, backing up my hard drives, cleaning out my SD cards, recharging my camera battery, packing and planning for Charlottesville. I’ll be there this weekend celebrating being back with friends that I haven’t seen in so long and I am SO excited!! We’re planning on going to Pippin Hill (favorite winery) and Bold Rock (favorite brewery), eating at ALL the essential places on the Corner, celebrating a friend’s 22nd birthday and the soon-to-be moving out of another friend! It’s going to be such a fun weekend filled with sooo much food and a little booze 😉 If someone can muster up some sparklers, it’ll make it a week of celebrating the fourth! Here’s a couple of pictures of some of the girls I can’t wait to meet up with for dinner tonight!

July 7, 2017

Highlights from Week 3!

June 30, 2017

If you’re new to Friday Fun posts, check out the first one! Here are the highlights of week three!

-This past Saturday I got to wake up entirely too early, fuel up on a ton of coffee and drive down to Fredericksburg to capture Davion & Ebonie’s wedding with Chadia as her second shooter!! I blogged about what second shooting is earlier in the week so check that out if you haven’t already! Wedding days are super long but you operate on this crazy high since there is so much going on, so much to capture, so much to help with to keep the day moving smoothly. This was my first wedding with my new camera and guys, it was an absolute DREAM!!! It focuses so quickly and works wonders even when it’s super dark which helps you out SOO much on wedding days when moments go by in a heart beat and you need to catch them! I was so grateful that Chadia was incredibly open to letting me capture everything from getting ready details to setting up shots for family formals to posing the bride and groom during their portraits!!! This wedding gave me the confidence that I can capture a wedding on my own and that someday I do want to go full time with wedding photography! 🙂

I’m not posting any from their portrait session as bride and groom because I gotta keep them under wraps until Chadia delivers over the final images, but here’s a sneak peek of their day! All dark purple, wisteria, white and gold!!!

– Before going off to shoot the wedding, I got to do a quick cute picnic date near my house. Nav and I took some grapes and some chocolate cookies to a neighborhood spot to enjoy a cooler, summer afternoon with a lake view and a tire swing! It felt like being a kid all over again 🙂 I also spent an afternoon hanging out with him at a local café on Sunday while he worked on his secondaries and I worked on editing pictures I’d taken from the wedding! I enjoyed THE best hazelnut cappuccino I’ve had to date, so for any other coffee lovers, if you need a nice place to get some work done in the company of some espresso, check out Cafein in Chantilly!

-I’ve been trying to capture more behind the scenes photos on my iPhone so that I can have pictures of anything that I put in the Friday Fun posts! Despite being able to work my camera, there’s just something about me and phone cameras that doesn’t click quite as well. I always FORGET to take pictures of me and people that I’m hanging out with which is the complete opposite of what you’d expect from a photographer. So if I’m hanging out with you, remind me to take a picture of US together and I promise I’ll put you in here! Also, if anyone has some sick photo skills on an iPhone, teach me your ways and I promise I’ll teach you how to use a camera!! Oh also I finished up an online photo course that I took and it was seriously life changing!!!

-Tuesday was a whirlwind of a day. I met my friend Suma for coffee super early in the morning in Fairfax. It was definitely early but so worth it and I’m glad I got to spend some time with her before she went back up to the Burgh! Let’s pretend people actually call it that….But it was so nice getting to catch up with her about her stories about being a bridesmaid (!!!) and how her photography stuff is coming along 🙂 I came back home for a total of ten minutes and then left for Georgetown to do some photo scouting for something super top secret and super exciting that’s coming up in July!!! I brought along burgers from Good Stuff Eatery and HIGHLY recommend it if you’re looking for good grub in Georgetown! Also, if you love coffee check out Peet’s on M street, it’s super cute and cozy!! After scouting, my cousin came to Georgetown and I spent time with her braving out the Georgetown Cupcake line (really, I complained about my feet hurting) and eating tacos for dinner at Chaia where my mom joined us. For anyone that’s vegetarian and loves tacos, they have farm to table tacos that are all for you guys!!

-To end the crazy night, I had my first bhangra practice of the summer and let me tell you, it kicked my ass. I’ve been working out here and there (should really work on being more consistent) and it was good to get back in the swing of things! I met a ton of new girls that were super welcoming and I’ll see how the rest of the summer turns out!

-Wednesday I did my favorite senior session to date with Helena in Old Town Alexandria. We started out at Alexandria Cupcake, meandered down to Princess Street for the cobblestones, headed over to Market Square and ended by the docks for the sunset!! I loved the nautical theme she wanted to tie in and think we did it justice! If you haven’t seen her pictures, check out her blog post here!

-Yesterday I spent an afternoon relaxing, editing, and catching up on photo webinars! The dishwasher guy came through but unfortunately was unable to fix our dishwasher, so that’ll make week three and running of that saga. TBD on when that will end hahaha! Went out to happy hour with past coworkers at Clyde’s and got their crab & artichoke dip and had lots of wine 🙂

-And to end, I apologize in advance for ridiculous amounts of caps lock but MY BABY COUSIN IS IN TOWN FOR JULY FOURTH!!! He is SUPER CUTE, likes throwing things on the ground hahaha and loves to smile for the cameras, so that’s a good baby in my books! Hahahaha kidding but definitely expect to see TONS of cute baby photos over the next couple of days as I cuddle the crap out of my aunt’s baby boy 😀


Past Friday Fun editions:
Take 1 | Take 2 | Take 3

June 30, 2017

Man this past week just flew by! If you’re new to Friday Fun on the blog, check out Take 1 first! This week’s memorable moments include a graduation party, going to a food festival TWICE, an unwanted creature, photo things and A PINEAPPLE!

June 23, 2017

Man this past week just flew by! If you’re new to Friday Fun on the blog, check out Take 1 first! Here’s some memorable parts of this past week:

– I got to celebrate (and take pictures) of Rupali’s backyard CMU themed graduation party! Her place was packed with a white tent, corn hole, a moon bounce, speakers, food and best of all, all of her school and family friends! If you missed it on the blog, check out this post to see more of the beautiful decorations & hear more about it!

– I had gone to Taste of the Town, a foodie festival where you get to try samples from various local restaurants, on Friday with Naveen but my family decided to go again on Saturday. You can never have too many samples I guess so I went along! It was pretty dark out so I tested out my camera’s lowlight functionality. I also ran into some friends which was awesome 🙂

-Sunday was Father’s Day which meant the morning was spent running to Harris Teeter to get the supplies to make EGGS BENEDICT!!! This brunch meal is a total tradition in our household, I even wrote a college application essay for it many years ago! In the evening we went to Gregorio’s Trattoria for dinner with my best friend’s family. They had really great wine, tiramasu and coffee! My brother and Sachi’s brother were dared to finish their ginormous pizza which didn’t end up happening hahaha They ended up finishing it on Tuesday where we each took the Sorting Hat quiz. Some funny photos from the reactions are below!

– I pulled a total Mom moment and geeked out in HomeGoods (it’s actually a great store) and bought some beautiful pillows hahaha

– A not so fun highlight was that one night I had already taken out my contacts in my bathroom and was about to go to sleep when I thought I saw something out of the corner of my eye. I dismissed it because I thought I was just imagining it (I have REALLY bad eyesight without my contacts on, like realllyyyy bad). But two seconds later I felt something CRAWLING ON MY ARM. Needless to say, I FREAKED OUT, it was a spider and I ran into my brother’s room and woke him up, yes I’m pathetic, I know…..

-I went to my first TuesdaysTogether meeting!!! This is huge because I’ve been meaning to go for like a year but never mustered up the courage since I never knew anyone at them. I didn’t this time either but I went and I was so glad because I got to talk to a bunch of other creatives in the wedding industry and made some friends. Everyone was so incredibly welcoming and open, I definitely plan on going back again!! Also, I met up with another photographer in the area, Maddy Williams of Maddy Williams Photography, later in the week (check her stuff out, it’s great!!). I met her at Blend Coffee Bar in Ashburn (just about the cutest place with GREAT coffee, if you’e never been). We talked about pretty much everything, photography and otherwise and it was actually super helpful and fun!! Here’s a snap of JUST how cute Blend is, definitely one of my favorite coffee shops!

– Today I’m prepping gear for second shooting a wedding in Fredericksburg for a high school friend!!! It’ll be my first one of the season so I’m totally pumped!!! 🙂 The colors are wisteria, royal purple, white and gold which I just know is going to look beautiful already! The venue is GREAT and the couple is laid-back, I just need the weather to cooperate and it’ll be a golden time!

– Andddd lastly, MY MOM BOUGHT A PINEAPPLE AND I AM IN LOVE!!!!!!!

That is all for this week, catch again next week!


Past Friday Fun editions:

Take 1 | Take 2

June 23, 2017

I’m starting up a quick and fun blog series called Friday Fun in order to remember a little bit what happened about each week to remember down the road! Follow along for just bits and pieces of life that happened each week! 

June 16, 2017

Growing up I kept an online photojournal that I would save something from each day in! It could be a handful of pictures, just personal notes (and some rants, not gonna lie….), ways to remember each small day however significant or even insignificant. I believe that there’s something in each day worth remembering (or even forgetting tbh) and liked the idea of being able to read something that I had written and remember how I thought/was years and years ago. I kept this journal running and have had it for over five years now. But during the college years (this is fun to say now haha) I was always so incredibly busy that I was perpetually writing up things from the past month and got out of the habit of regularly putting up photos.

So, I wanted to use my blog as a home for noting down a little something from each week, good or bad, that I could look back on a year or two or five from now. I got the idea and name from Amy & Jordan’s series so definitely check out theirs as well, it’s super entertaining!

Nothing fancy, just bullet form but here goes from this past weekend & week:

-My cousin is back in town so that meant multiple dinners in Reston Town Center! I got to go to Barcelona which I’d never been to for tapas styled food and they gave us dessert on the house which was awesome!! We also went to World of Beer (turned Crafthouse) for Tuesday night trivia! My cousin and brother each devoured four tacos while I stuck to my loaded tater tots topped off with a refreshing Apple Bold Rock, my cider staple!

-I’m in the works of setting up an engagement shoot with a couple in Georgetown that I’m super excited about!!! Georgetown is one of my favorite places to take pictures, I don’t think I could ever tire from it 🙂 Anddd I may, possibly be shooting a proposal and engagement party as well which would be amazingg!!! I can’t wait!

-On another photo related note, last week I FINALLY was able to upgrade and buy my new camera!!! I bought the NIkon D750 and actually scored a super deal that included a bunch of items in a bundle including an extra battery and a battery grip. Although I was able to pick up my camera last week, the battery grip & extra battery were only back in stock this week so I get to pick them up just in time to use them this weekend! Also I am IN LOVE with being able to share images from my camera to my phone & laptop so efficiently! Huzzah for in-camera wifi!

-I went to my first Jazz in the Gardens concert of the summer for date night and the sangria was everything I could have hoped for hahaha! I had been a couple times last year but hadn’t been 21 yet and able to enjoy snagria WITH the wonderful jazz music. Also, all throughout dinner we could hear this amazingly good street performer so it was like having a concert to go along with our dinner at Tavern 10. The poutine fries there, 10/10 would recommend! To top off the night, I ran into this beautiful area of D.C. that night that my mom had always talked about and it was perfect!!

-Wednesday was the four year anniversary of me graduating from South Lakes High School! Pretty cool to remember graduating from high school now that I’ve graduated from college! I still have my blue decorated grad cap with me now up in my room & it’s been joined by my UVA grad cap as well 🙂

-I finally got to hang out with Shivani & Rimsha who I worked with two summers ago while interning! I love these girls and am so grateful to have stayed friends with them long after we stopped working together <3 It was great catching up with them and making good use of happy hour at Bar Louie! You can bet said yes way to the bubbly rosé!

So that’s the end of the first installment and I can’t wait for more posts to come! You can follow along by looking at the Friday Fun category on my blog!


Take 1

June 16, 2017

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