New Job Toys

I'm literally a zombie right now.  Many of you know this week I started my new job.  It's been great so far.  I've already learned a lot and my new coworkers all seem to be awesome people.  This job so far has given me the feel of accountability, challenge, and ownership that I was looking for from my last job.  And that's a great feeling.  There is one catch though...this job requires longer hours.  Not a lot more...but enough to make a difference.  I've said before that I'm not a morning person.  And let me tell you...waking up half an hour early has taken a toll on me.  I know...I know...I'm a wuss right?  I just need some time to adjust to the new schedule, then I'm good.  Next week is my first monthly close and in the accounting world, that means OVERTIME!  I will try to post as much as I can...but word has it that I'll be working at least 12 hours a day next week.  Eeeek!

In the meantime though, I've started to try to make my workplace as comfy as I can.  I hate the feeling of always using a paper cup for coffee everyday even though the company provides it, so I went and got some of these:

I got the "C" and "J" for home and the "X" for work because I loved the baby blue color and "X" is the first letter of my legal Chinese name.  I can't wait to carry this mug around into meeting rooms.  I bet it'll get a bunch of comments! :)

My last job didn't require me to get a laptop, but this one did.  So this also gave me the opportunity to get this:

This bag will comfortably fit my laptop no problem.  I love a good, stylish bag for a career woman.  And the mustard color is just so lovely.  

As you can tell, I've been pretty busy the last couple of days.  Busy SHOPPING!  :)  What have you all bought lately?  

One Year Blogiversary Surprise Giveaway!!!

Hello World!!!

That was my greeting to you, almost one year ago, when I started this little blog of mine.  I mentioned in my last post that I had a surprise celebration to share with everyone, and despite much speculation from my friends and followers, I'm sorry to report that I am not expecting!  :) 

I am, however, hosting a giveaway to celebrate my one year blogiversary.  If you've been following me for the last year, you already know a lot about me...and what a year I've had.  From getting married, to buying a new house, to starting my photography business, to changing jobs...I've documented it all on this blog.  I'm so thankful for my followers and those that comment.  You guys are the reasons why I keep going.  I seriously do not realize how many people out there follow this little blog and I know I take that for granted.  I'm always astonished when someone says they follow my life on here, and to that...I thank you.

This giveaway fuses my love of fashion and photography together and I'm so excited to share it with you all.  For those that want to enter, the prize will be an 8X10 printed canvas of your choice of one of the photos below.  You can choose to hang these anywhere...maybe in your closet or above your shoe collection!  Chris and I spent this whole weekend traveling all around the Seattle Puget Sound area to try to come up with the perfect photograph of my favorite pair of Anthro shoes, and we think we finally were able to capture it in two photos.  I couldn't pick between the two favorites, so I decided that the winner will choose.

So...now...to enter...I won't make it hard...simply:
1. Be a follower and comment in the comments area that you are following
2. For an additional entry, leave a comment and let me know which pair of shoes you own you can't live without.  (Obviously mine are the ones in the photographs)
3. For a bonus entry, blog about this giveaway on your blog and comment that you've done so

Entries will be accepted until 5pm PST on May 7th and I will announce the winner that night.  Thank you all for your support and your participation

A Simply Cindi Surprise

A special celebration is coming up and I'm not only referring to Easter.  There's no one else I'd love to commemorate this occasion than with the rest of you!  Check back Monday because you're all a very important part of it!  Happy weekend and happy Easter!!!

Different Perspectives

When Chris and I made the decision to start our photography business, there was this unsaid understanding between the two of us that we'd each equally put in the same amount of time and dedication into it.  Now, this doesn't necessarily mean that we split everything down the middle or we need to keep track of how many photos we each edit.  It's not like that at all.  If we were to sweat the small stuff like that, our business would never thrive.  However, one of the most important things we believe we must do to grow our business was to decide that both of us would be present at every photo shoot.  We believe this is one of the key things that'll help set us aside from all the other photographers in our market.

We understood that the typical wedding package usually offered two photographers.  It's totally understandable because in order to capture so many needed moments during a wedding, there usually needs to be two people around.  We carry this same philosophy to our portrait and engagement sessions because even shooting a single person, or a couple, we find having an alternate perspective helps the overall feel of the session.

To give you a better look at what I mean, below is a couple of pictures we took during our photo session with Karen+Josh.

For this "pose" I was shooting from inside the cafe through the logo stenciled window and Chris was standing beneath the elevated entrance of the cafe, on the other side of the railings.  We gave Karen+Josh minimal instruction and kind of just left them to be themselves.  Meanwhile, we simply positioned our cameras to our eye...and started shooting.  The look and feel of these two photos are both different due to our perspective, but they were actually standing in the same place, with almost the same pose.  We ended up delivering these two photos and included these in their engagement slide show.

This past weekend, during our session with Stephanie, we shot the following photos:

For these shots, I was positioned on the side of the porch on the ground shooting up through the pole on Stephanie's left.  Chris was on the porch standing slightly behind Stephanie.  While he asked her to look at his camera, I took the first shot.  We ended up liking both shots and will be giving Steph both of these for her to keep.  

I know it's not always practical to have two shooters at every session, but Chris and I are lucky in that we are partners and can afford to spend our time together with our subjects.  We hope to continue this for as long as our schedules will allow us as we believe we provide our clients with the best end product this way.  

I hope you've enjoyed my little "perspective".  Happy Thursday!  

Portraits: Stephanie - Take Two!

We gave you all a little sneak peek of Stephanie a while back during our rainy day impromptu shoot and this past weekend, we got lucky.  It was a beautiful day and we got to spend it with Steph at Discovery Park.  For many people, being photographed is an extremely uncomfortable thing to do.  Not only does one need to pose specifically in a sometimes awkward position for a long time, most often they're also infront of complete strangers gawking at them.  Stephanie was completely self aware of the strangers around her and was so shy at first, but as we moved towards a more secluded area of the park, she started to loosen up.

At one point she asked us, "Am I one of the most annoying people you've ever worked with?"  To that, Steph, I answer, NO!  But I will tell you one thing, you are what I call an "unknowing natural".  And by this, I mean the camera loves you and you do not even realize this.  Steph, we were able to capture you in such a beautiful light, and most of the time, they were just naturally your own unposed self.  It's just ridiculous to even try to explain to you how UNannoying that is.  Not to say you didn't make us work hard...but it was worth it.  :)

Enjoy!

Tidbit Tuesday: I'm not picking my nose...

...I just love nose hairs.

Yep...I know this sounds weird, but well...that's just me.  When I was young, I loved feeling the inside of my nose because the prickly hairs felt soooo good against my finger.  Specifically, this is what I'll do.  I liked to use my left pinky finger and insert it into my right nostril.  I then would nicely stroke the hairs on the inside outer wall of the nose.  I can do that for a lonnnnng time...sometimes hours.  And I remember my mom once said to me, "If you continue to do this, no man will want to marry you".  I think that did the trick and that was when I tried hard to break the habit.  But even now, every time I see someone pick their nose or doing anything remotely close to what I did, it brings back some lovely memories of me and my little habit.

Happy Tuesday!!! :)

Engagement Slideshow: Karen+Josh

Photography has kept me and the hubby pretty busy for the last couple of months but I am not complaining at all.  I love everything about this little venture we're taking on.  From the beautiful parks and locations we've discovered around Seattle, to the most amazing people we've met and have gotten close to, I realized that this is what life is all about.  Not that life's about pictures, but more about doing what you love, with the person you love.  Putting together this slideshow for Karen+Josh reminded me of that amazing day we had with them again.  We sat in the coffee shop near Golden Garden's park for about a good hour or two, just chatting with the couple and discussing their wedding details further.  Once our session ended, I really felt like I wanted to just grab a beer with them.  Maybe once we deliver their final DVD of photos, we'll get to spend a little more time with this cute couple.  But for now...we hope you enjoy the slideshow!

Location: Golden Gardens Park, Seattle

Music: My Idea of Heaven (Leigh Nash)

P.S. The hubby and I received Karen+Josh's wedding invitations in the mail earlier last week and we were so surprised to find that she used one of our pictures we took as part of the invites!  She also acknowledged us on the back, so WE LOVE YOU GUYS for that!  :)  Muwah...we love you and can't wait to party with you on your special day.

Couples Slideshow: Diana+Jesse

We originally posted a sneak peak of our friends Diana+Jesse back in March, and today, we were finally able to finish their full slideshow.  The hubby and I are still trying to perfect our post production workflow, but I realized after going through these photos again, how much I love doing this.  This...meaning becoming a photographer.  Seeing one photo after another on the screen seriously is not the same as seeing it flow nicely with music in the background that help define the couple and their relationship.  And as I looked through these photos again, then seeing it all put together in the slideshow, it reminded me how great a relationship Diana+Jesse has.  We had so much fun with them and I seriously am excited to deliver their DVD...because that means we get to meet up...and hopefully we get happy hour!

Diana+Jesse, enjoy this little slideshow and since we know you did not get a chance to do an engagement session, we hope this "everyday session" meant just as much...because it meant a lot to us.  :)

Love,

Cindi+Chris

At Last...A Side Table

My dad is a genius.  Literally!  He's one of the smartest man I know and I'm not just saying it because I'm his daughter.   OK...so maybe I'm a little biased.  But seriously, he knows a lot about everything.  When I was younger, I used to look up to him so much.  Kids had Superman as their heroes, but my dad WAS my Superman.

My dad's one of those people that excels at everything he does.  When he took the TOEFL (an academic test for students outside the US to test their understanding of English to get into the Universities here)...he scored number one in his Province in China.  He graduated Summa Cum Laude in his Ph.D of Electrical Engineering class and when he played soccer in college, he was the number one guy on his team.  Until about 10 years ago, he has never picked up a drill or any other tool in his life.  When I graduated from college, he wanted to get me a nice bed as a gift.  He decided to take a look at Macy's but as he started to look at their prices, he decided that rather than buying me a bed, he can make one for me!  Fast forward ten years and countless furniture projects later (including a deck project for our new house)...he brought me this today:

Facing the tv, the drawer is on top and there's a cubby at the bottom for magazines, books, etc.

On the other side, it's also functional.  This side, the cubby is up top and the drawer is on the bottom.

And the drawers have a sliding sectioned tray for remotes and other small knick knacks.  INGENIOUS!

I love my daddy!  He's also in the process of making an extension to our kitchen cabinets, a console table for behind our couch, and cabinets for our laundry room.  It'll take a while to get all of these projects done but once they're complete, I'll make sure to blog about it!

A Special Weekend...

This past weekend we drove about 3 hours east to a little sleepy wine town called Lake Chelan for Wai's (of Wai+Tats) bachelorette party.  This is not your typical bachelorette as the bride-to-be herself requested that we have a). a relaxing weekend and b). no strippers.  :)  We're all at an age where if we were to take about 2 shots each, we'd drop dead.  So we just decided to enjoy our weekend with some nice wine tasting.

The big event for the weekend was the limo wine tour and we had such a great time.  Out of all the girls, I probably was the heaviest drinker (I do love my wine) but by the end of the four hour tour, even I was starting to feel a hangover coming on.  But it was fun nonetheless, and that night after all of us rested a bit, we all cooked Wai and nice dinner themed with her favorite foods.  She was a happy camper and we all had so much fun.  Here are some pictures that'll help sum up our weekend!

You know me, I had to start my day with coffee

The girls infront of the limo

All of us girls have known one another since high school and some since middle school.  Our good friend Malena moved to Chicago five years ago for school and has since met her fiance!  She's getting married this summer/fall!

Ms. Marla being oh-so-fashionable

I got these fun bachelorette pins for the girls and Ms. Jean was the Rock Start of the group.

Unfortunately, I was unable to get a good picture of Ms. Marla with her pin, but she was Ms. Tease.  

Malena was the Princess of course...but I think we should have pinned this on Wai herself! :)

Look at how innocent our "Virgin (Maybe)" looks

And here's the Bachelorette Bitch herself.  Hmm...Sexy & Single huh???? =)

How proper our little Porn Star looks

And finally, our big Slut!

Ms. Jean chillin' in the limo

Mmmm hmmm...it sure is

We went to a winery that was an ex-brothel and this was their wall paper.  Pretty cute eh?  From far away, you'd never see these figures...but look closely and you'll be very surprised.

We're friends for life and we had such a great weekend.  One more month before we all unite in Western Washington's wine country for Wai and Tats' wedding.