Lots of Pretty Pictures!

i know i've been MIA... but i've been busy!!  it's a good thing, so don't be sad.  :)  my next book, The Perfect Game will be out on OCTOBER 12th and i couldn't be more excited about it!  this book is different from the other two in the sense that it's more mature- there is sex in the book... foul language... lol... 

so while my book is at the editor, i got to shoot one of my most favorite seniors ever for her senior pics. (side note, that's her fantastic booty and legs on my Chance Encounters cover)...

and then literally right after taking those photos, i headed out to half moon bay for a super
fun wedding!  it was so pretty and so much fun.  congrats you two- FINALLY!  :)

and thennnnnnnnnnnnnnn, we had the end of the year party for blake's travel baseball team! it was a busy weekend. i'm tired. lol love these families and their kids! i will miss seeing them on a regular basis.

 

 


























so yeah.. that's it. no big. just been a little busy!  but see! there i am!  alive!  happy!  and awesome!  :)  hope you're doing the same. 

bored

i went to san diego last week. that's why i've been MORE mia than usual. crappiest part? i took like ZERO photos.

we were so busy running around and doing things, that we really didn't take any pics together. i took plenty of pics of the property- which was stupid amazing by the way. but there are like NO pics of us girls together.

suck major.

the only ones i did take of all of us together were with my phone. double major suck.

opposite of amazeballs. argh.

oh well, here are some pretty pics.

this is the view from the balcony outside of my bedroom. it overlooks the main pool- but you can't really see it


and this is a pic of our villa. i swear it's not "pink"... the smaller garage door is for our golf cart!


another shot of the pool area FROM the pool area! :)


oh yeah, i updated my book cover too for the kindle! it's way more fun now! :)

if you see me in the grocery store, you should probably run the other direction

um.

y'all?

if you know me, know me.... (you know, like in real life and stuff) then you know that i'm not really a klutz. i do however do lots of stupid and silly things like, put gravy on my salad as the dressing... or fall completely sober on the dancefloor while having a pretend makeout session with my girlfriend during the song, "i kissed a girl"...

but otherwise... i don't think people think of me as a "klutz."

at least not to my face. haha :)

so, these last 2 trips of mine to the grocery store have been completely out of character. not to mention, dangerous! oooh, i've become dangerous. how sexy.

no no, this is not that kind of dangerous! it's the bad kind. the dangery kind. for reals. so if you see me- i am not kidding when i tell you... RUN THE OTHER WAY! get as far away from me as possible!

because two times ago i was in the pasta aisle and i turned a jar of sauce to read the label on the back, it fell off the shelf. i tried to do the whole juggle thing with my hands, while one arm was holding a carry on cart thing, and then my hair fell in front of my eyes and i had no idea where the jar was anymore. so i just threw my foot up in the air in the hopes that my leg would have eyes and be magical or something and i'd actually catch the freaking jar of sauce on my foot. or at least break its fall.

but no.

i don't think my magical foot was anywhere near the jar of sauce as it plummeted to the ground. do you know that my brain actually thought, "oh, it's not going to break. it's going to hit the ground and be totally fine. i broke its fall enough with my mad juggling skills that maybe it will BOUNCE when it lands."

ahem.

bounce?

i think my brain bounced.

that bitch SHATTERED to the floor below and broke into a billion pieces. did i mention that this aisle is right by the door? so everyone walking in was muttering things like, "awwwwww" and "oh no!!!" and there were gasps of horror. because this was clearly a tragic moment in grocery store history.

and i realize that people probably break things all the time in stores, but i never have before. and it looked like a freaking crime scene. it would have been awesome if someone had busted out some tape and outlined the blob on the ground. lol

okay... moving on to TODAY!

i grabbed a cart that had a weird front wheel. but me, being the non-discriminatory cart person that i am, stuck with the disabled shopping cart.

so once i was done shopping and the cart was filled with all my stupid shit... the front wheel STOPPED moving.

it just stopped.

have you ever had a cart stop moving on you before? well if you haven't, let me tell you what happens. you turn into a complete non functioning person. because your body doesn't stop trying to push the damn thing. but it's done moving. and then, everything happens really quickly.

so the wheel stopped.

but i didn't.

and the fucking thing TIPPED OVER ON ITS SIDE!

holy shit, i can't stop laughing right now. lol

it was so loud as it crashed to the freaking ground. and everyone waiting to check out was like, "OH MY GOD!" and "OH NO!" "WHAT HAPPENED?" "ARE YOU OKAY?"

what the hell? who has a shopping cart just tip all the way over? and do you know how ackward it is trying to put it back upright is? it doesn't want to go!!! good lord. lol

did i mention the eggs? oh yeah, they died.

another tragedy in the grocery store. thanks to yours truly.

clearly the lesson here is that i should no longer be allowed to grocery shop unsupervised.

or supervised.

i should probably be banned altogether.

why does everyone always want everything for FREE?

i have found that trying to start your own business(es) means:

that people will constantly surprise and amaze you.

in both good and bad ways.

the people you know will want your services for nothing. or at least at an extremely discounted rate. and while i understand that to a degree on one hand- the other hand, (you know, the one that's empty and has no money in it because i don't have a job and i'm trying to create ONE by starting a business) is like.. WHAT THE FUCK? if i give everyone i know all my services and products for FREE, then how am i ever supposed to make any money? i can't create or be successful in any business i try to launch, if i don't charge my friends at least something.

and that's the other thing- i cannot for the life of me, imagine asking one of my friends who is trying to start a business, to do some of the things i'm asked to do...

it's one thing if it's offered.

it's another thing if it's not.

part of me thinks that people just don't get it. what goes into everything i do. i mean, how can they?

if you aren't a photographer then you don't you don't know what it's like to shoot hundreds of photos during one session, and then spend over/up to 2 hours just narrowing down the best shots. and then i typically spend anywhere from six to ten hours processing the photos. it may not sound like much, but it is a lot of detail work. a lot of staring at the computer, making a beautiful shot, even more beautiful. i love the results i get, but it IS work for me to get them that way. and it's time consuming.

if you're not a baker then you don't know that i worked my ass off for over 16 months on my cupcake recipes and frostings. you don't know that i didn't have a chocolate frosting for almost 2 years because i couldn't make one that didn't taste like shit on my cupcakes. you don't understand how much time, care, and perfection goes into baking up the yummiest cupcakes in the world (ahem, those would be mine by the way... in case you were wondering-lol). but i guess the thing that tends to shock me the most when it comes to my cupcake business... is the sheer number of people who ask me for my recipes.

MY RECIPES!!!!!!

why the hell would i give you my recipes to my cupcakes? then you would never order them from me again because you could just make them yourself. and really, WHO asks that of someone?

i guess the same kind of people who ask me for my books for free. i wrote that book. it took me almost a year from start to finish to have that book ready to print. it came from my guts. why wouldn't you want to support it? i have to buy my books in advance. they cost money. and then i have to pay for shipping. that costs money too. i don't make that much profit on my paperback books. but some of my friends want them for free. for every person who i gave a free paperback copy too- i PAID you. not only did i give you the book, but i gave you the money it cost to make it, write it, ship it, etc.

you're welcome.

and i don't mean to sound like a bitch or anything, but it's just that i'm shocked i guess at how many people want something for nothing. especially when they know i'm currently unemployed. i don't have a job. i don't have an income. why the fuck would you want my stuff for free?

it surprises me everyday the people who choose to support me (in all honesty, it surprises me everyday as well, the people who choose NOT too). i never expected that so many people that i went to HIGH SCHOOL with would buy my book. i know that might sound weird, but high school was a long ass time ago. so many of my hs friends have jumped on the book train, simply to support what i'm trying to do. and that, is really what true friends are made of.

i could not appreciate their support any more than i already do. they all blew my mind. in the best way possible. so i thank them for that.

it's been amazing seeing who has supported and bought my book. it's also been a little sad at seeing certain groups of people not support, not help, not offer something to spread the word (when they have a lot they could do with their reach, influence, followers, fans), but i guess that's life.

i'm definitely learning who i can count on to be there for me ... as well as who won't. it's just funny, the people i expected hands down to really do something- haven't at all. a group of people who claim to be so focused on community, support and building each other up- they all just want THEMSELVES built up.

but then again, maybe i haven't done enough for them in the past?

who knows?

all i do know is- if you have a friend who is trying to start a business- be considerate, and offer to pay for their services. they'll thank you for it down the road.

:)

the beach!!!!

those of you who aren't familiar with northern california.... well.... let's just say that the beaches are often, F-R-E-E-Z-I-N-G!

they are usually windy.
foggy.
and cold.

but i spent the day at the beach yesterday and it was GORGEOUS!!!!! not a cloud in sight! and no wind!

i miss the beaches of southern california SO much, that i was over-freaking-joyed when i got the beach and it didn't suck! :)

i took pics (of course)!











wasn't it perfect?!?! :)

and this is my favorite pic i took all weekend. it makes me smile.

it's happened to one of us (again)

this blog thing. this big, beautiful, loving blog thing we each participate in... whether we only participate as reader, or we write... it doesn't matter.

because when a tragedy befalls one of us, this community pulls together to hold that family up.

and it's happened again.

one of our own, has lost her own.

and he was beautiful and vibrant and handsome... and only 12 years old with a faith in God deeper than mine's ever been.

i implore you to read her heartbreaking blog posts. and lift her up in the comments section. she needs your words of kindness, your prayers, your beliefs... so please take a moment to give her some love.

because that's what we bloggers do for one another.

we hold one another up when we can't stand on our own. she needs our arms.

http://aninchofgray.blogspot.com/

kristabella came to cali

and all you got were these stupid pictures of us at wineries!

ha! you know you're jelly! :)

this is us at MUMM.. i drank some sparkling something or other. i liked it so much i bought a little, tiny bottle. HA
(just curious, but um.. why does my face look oompa loompa orange in this picture?!)


and here we are at sutter home, where my new favorite wine (BUBBLY MOSCATO!!!!) was born (much thanks to sarah and geo for intro'ing me to the fab new flave)


i think we were at ruthorford here. have i mentioned how NOT FUN wineries are? everyone is sooooo stuffy and blahhhhhhhh.


thank god we had each other!! (and baby 24 year olds who just moved away from their mommy from delaware to harrass!)
kristabella has the blurry pics of them! HAHAH!

the 40 mile MS bike ride

it happened folks.


oh yes, did it happen.


i did 40 miles ON MY BEACH CRUISER for the second year in a row! (go me) it's not that riding a bike 40 miles is all that hard... cause let's face it, it really isn't. but you try going uphill on a freaking beach cruiser.


that.shit.sucks.

this year was WAY harder than last year. i have no idea why. other than maybe i was uber motivated last year? or maybe cause i KNEW where the hills were and when they were coming this year?! i have no clue, but i feel like i had to get off my bike a lot to walk it up those stupid hills. i'm a failure.

not really.

i totally rule.

like our team tent- WHICH HAS WON BEST TENT TWO YEARS IN A ROW MIND YOU! we (and by we, i mean robin the tent designer, decorator, purchaser of all things tent) TOTALLY ROCK!!!!!!!


speaking of our tent, did i mention that we had an arts & crafts section for the kids to make beachy picture frames? ahem. i'm a kid. so i made one. BUT LOOK HOW PRETTY IT IS!!!! :)
i named my frame MALIBU. like the beach, not the rum, alchies.


until the REAL pictures come back, all i have are blurry camera phone pics. cause i'm awesome like that!


to everyone who sponsored me... THANK YOU SO MUCH! i had fun (even though it may not sound like it)... i will be doing it again next year. i'll complain more then! ha


and YES, i did cut the sleeves off of my shirt. i don't believe in sleeves people. i'm not sure HOW MANY TIMES i have to tell y'all this! :)

today is my birthday

(and leah oliver's too)

in a day and age where we don't hand write letters anymore...
and 99% of my birthday wishes come in the form of a text message or a facebook post...

i wanted to post a couple of the ACTUAL! BIRTHDAY! CARDS! i got in the mail.. cause they are funny! and they made me happy!

you know what is the most hypocritical part??? i am just realizing how much i love getting cards in the mail- the little notes, the funny sayings... but i NEVER freaking send any!!! to anyone!!!

but you know what? i never have. it's not like i just stopped one day because the internet got popular or something. i've never sent cards- not at christmas- not ever.

i really need to start. cause if these cards bring me this! much! happiness! then other people might love it just the same!! :)

this freaking card made me LOL so hard!!!! thank you ali! :)





and this card just made me happy! apparently, the word FOR jennster is AWESOME!!!! i'll totally fucking take it! (thank you catjacks)



i think i may change my name to jennster, the gold star of awesomeness! you know, just for today!

so i crashed a funeral today

don't judge.

and i mean, i didn't really crash some random strangers funeral... i went with my girlfriend who didn't want to go alone (totally don't blame her at all. funerals alone SUCK!!!)

what i found the most interesting though, since i obviously didn't know the person who had passed... was that it doesn't really matter if i knew her or not.

human emotion is human emotion, no matter what.

people expressing how wonderful and amazing an individual was- is so touching regardless of who it's coming from, and who it's about. i found myself in awe of how many lives one life can affect. and how deeply one person can affect another.

human life is human life. people touch each other every single day. and we are so blessed when we have others in our lives who give us so much positivity, encouragement and love.

i found myself bawling at one point during the service because an ex-student got up to speak about his old teacher. he talked about how he had never expected a caucasian teacher to take such an interest in an african american child, during a time when racial tensions and issues divided a nation. he was moved by her. he was inspired by her. he said she made him feel less like a student and more like family. he didn't know why she chose him, all he knew was that he was so incredibly grateful she had. he credited her with giving him the courage to be who he is today... for inspiring his fearlessness... for taking chances...

i was beyond moved.

i was inspired by his words. his emotions. his being.

and i found myself hoping that someone would be able to say something half as nice as that about me when i leave this earth.

we never know what kind of profound impact someone may have on us.

we never know what kind of impact we can have on another.

i say we go out and impact each other with magic! :)

hi, i'm the one who can't stand voice mail

i hate voice mail.

i mean, not your voice mail. yours is lovely. i should clarify that i mean, i can't stand CHECKING voice mail on my cell phone.

it irritates the living crap out of me. clearly, i've seen that you called. do you realllllly have to leave me a message that says you called? no shit.

it's right there.

on my missed call notification.

unless you have some super hot sighting of ryan gosling in the street in front of my house, there is really no reason to leave me a voice mail (and in all honesty, by the time i check the freaking thing, he'll be long gone anyway). can't you text me the information you need to convey?

it's just SO.MUCH.EASIER.

i don't say this because i'm lazy.

i say this because i enjoy being efficient. and checking my voice mail is ridiculously time consuming.

it takes forever.

i have to call it. then the stupid annoying lady bosses me around with all these directions i've heard 100 times before. the worst part is when i'm just trying to get the message you just HAD to leave for me, and i hear her say, "you have 2 messages that will be erased... first message from..." and then i have to deal with all of that crap just to get to your stupid message that says, "HEY. CALL ME."

i think to punish you...

i won't call you back.

for like a week.

you hear me voice mail leavers?

you're all on time out.

and i know you, friends of mine... you're all tempted to call me and leave me voice mails now just cause i told you not too. well don't get pissed at me when you tell me something "important" and i don't check it for a week.

that is seriously how much i hate checking my voice mail. and why i don't leave voice mails for other people. i assume y'all can't stand the amount of time it takes to check your voice mail either. if i call you and you don't answer, i trust that you saw i called. and if i just HAVE to tell you something, i'll text it to you. or if i NEED to talk to you, i'll text you to tell you to freaking call me cause i need to talk to you.

so i guess i don't really dislike my voice mail... i just dislike the amount of time it takes to check. i like things quick and easy.. you know, like my men.

you?

10:01pm... um- edited to add.. this isn't entirely true cause um, i like hearing some of your voices. and i'd be sad if i didn't have voicemails from my drunk friends, my hot friends, etc... there is a reason i have three voicemails saved. it's cause they rule.

10:15pm pss- i think i just had a bad night. i had like 4 voice mails to check and 3 ones to get through to hear them. and then each voice mail was REALLLLLLY long.

10:21pm ppss- carry on people. call me. leave voice mail. do whatever. i just may not listen to it for a few days... but if it's good, i might just keep it forever!

so cal trip!

i went down to so cal last week... which some of you already know because you saw my post about MAKING DONUTS AT A DONUT SHOP AT MIDNIGHT! which seriously, was pretty much the coolest thing ever!!!!!!

and you read about my high school reunion. which again, was ridiculously fun!! a billion times more fun than i ever anticipated it would be! :)

but you didn't see all the other things and people i got to see while i was down there! it was by far the best trip i've taken in a long ass time. i saw SO many people (and not in a rushed way either).. far more than i ever normally see when i head home.

i visited my super fun gf who i have known since we were teenagers!!! we made a reverse oreo with our hot friend franklin.




he was such a good sport and let us dress him up with silly glasses and do stupid things. we <3 you ft!!!!




i left santa monica in my rearview (literally)


and headed over to my most favorite beach ever... (enter malibu, pt dume, surfrider, zuma, etc)


headed home for my reunion, but not before stopping by my sister's house for a quick photoshoot with the fam!






then i headed down to san diego and loved my drive along the coast.


where i spent the night with my high school bff ali and her family. :)






and then i visited my college bff's family and had the best time ever!






what an overwhelming, emotionally satisfying, incredible trip- filled with people i love, adore and cannot believe i'm so blessed to have in my life. :) xoxo

happy summer everyone!