HAPPY BIRTHDAY GARY!

Today Gary turns 36 so to kick off the celebration last night, we met up with Michael at the Beauty Bar in Hollywood and then to see Conroy's improv group. Afterwards trying to find a decent place to have a quiet drink in Hollywood on a Friday night is nearly impossible. Our target bar was Musso & Frank's which is supposed to be a cool, sort of retro hipster bar. Well we walked in and it looked more like Denny's at night circa 1945. The 4 of us looked like we were there to visit our grandparents at this joint. Somehow it just didn't live up to its reputation. So, the next stop was the Pig & Whistle. They had about 4 big bouncers at the door and a velvet rope to make it look important. We had to pay 5 bucks to get in. And inside? Deafening music that I specifically remember doing cheerleader dances to during the early-mid 1990's. And crazy tourists convulsing (I mean literally convulsing) on the dance floor. And it's not often that you get to see such big celebrities as...Justin Guarini! :) The big American Idol fan in our group didn't even manage to notice him.

So, after we felt like we had damaged our hearing enough, we finally settled into a place called Boardner's which just hit the spot. We cozied up in a corner booth, had some beers and some garlic fries and finally got to have a conversation. Yay!

Tonight is Michelle's baby shower and then it's out for dinner at Pace to continue the bday celebration. No party this year. Maybe next. :)

THE HOLLYWOOD HILLS ARE BURNING!

At about 1pm this afternoon, I got a call from Gary...he said turn on the news and then go outside and look. I walked out the front door and this is what I saw...


It's 3 hours later now and the fire is contained. It's not out yet but it definitely looks a lot friendlier than it did earlier. When I heard on the news that it could head into our neighborhood, I grabbed Oliver and my camera and we went over to meet Gary for some birthday pie, courtesy of Mind of Mencia. Yum yum yum! I actually forgot all about the fire for a bit but I must admit I was pretty freaked out.

LIVE FROM VEGAS

I've been in Las Vegas for the past 4 days attending the annual WPPI (Wedding & Portrait Photographers) Convention and Trade Show. This is my 5th year in a row attending and if there's one thing I've noticed it was, "hey, where did the past 4 years go?" When did I become a show regular as opposed to the newbie? I certainly don't know when that happened! :) Anyway, it's been a bit of a whirlwhind but a few moments stick out in my mind that are actually totally unrelated to WPPI altogether. One was getting carded for loitering in the casino. Apparently pigtails = under 21. I wasn't going to argue but I didn't want to leave so I had to cough up the ID amidst my shock and amusement. I wanted to tell this person that people who are trying to look older actually don't wear pigtails but I'll let her figure that out on her own. That's definitely the first time I've ever been carded for just standing around somewhere. :)

Gary came with me for the weekend and after doing our usual Sushi Roku dinner on Saturday night, we went to go see Roseanne Barr on Sunday night. Now I have a minor Roseanne obsession anyway but to be that close to her in person (we were in the 2nd row) was pretty surreal. She even did a little striptease at the end of the show and Gary tipped her a $5 bill which she stuffed right into her bra. All I could think was "oh my god, Gary's money is in Roseanne's bra right now", really crazy. We talked to her afterwards and got a picture. Love that woman even more now....

Us talking to Roseanne. I don't remember what I said but she's smiling at me so I guess I was at least vaguely entertaining or maybe it's her polite face.


And the photo op...

BABY NEWS!!!

I am in Vegas right now but I just got a text message reporting that Ryane Ashley Devlin was born at 1:38am ET by c-section. 7 lbs. 10 oz, 21 inches long. Congratulations to Mary and Andy!!! I can wait to meet your darling little baby girl. Let's get her ready for her first portrait session next month. I love you and miss you and I hate that I'm not in Fairfax for this. xo

THE BETS ARE IN

I swear, these days you would think my blog is all about my friends' pregnancies and so what? It's exciting and there's always new "up to the moment" news regarding who's miserable, who's vomiting and who just wants to have a baby already. This week, Mary sent out a poll for everyone to guess the baby's arrival date & time, sex and weight. Here is her email and the bids so far:

When will baby Devlin arrive?

Points:

5—date
3—sex
2—weight
1-- am/pm

Mary - April 3, girl, 7.11, am
Ashley - April 6, girl, 7.6, PM
Justine - 3/31, boy 7.7, pm
Erin - 3/29, boy, 7.8, pm
Katie - April 5th, Boy, 8 pounds, PM
Erich - March 28, Boy, 10 pounds 4 oz, PM
Courtney - April 2nd, BOY, 7 pounds 12 oz, PM
Kelly - March 30th, Boy (but how fun will it be to have girls together!!), 8 lbs, AM
Molly - March 31, Girl, 7 lbs 0 oz, PM

Mary, is there a prize for whomever has the closest guess? I think there should be. :)

MOVIE REVIEWS

Friday night Gary and I met up with Lisa and her friend Stephanie in Burbank to see Reno 911, the movie.

When were waiting to buy tickets, it struck me that there were children around. It's funny but where I live, you almost never see any kids so you sort of forget that they exist and then you go out to the valley and think "oh yeah, some people have kids and they take them places." That's a deep thought by Justine Ungaro. Anyway so we saw Reno 911 and I have to say it was a major disappointment. There were a few laughs in there but I think that the brilliance of the tv show is in it's short little 2 or 3 minute clips that are hilarious. Trying to drag on the idiocy of the Reno Sherriff's department and all of the "self-pleasure" montages get a bit old. I rate it Netflix at best but don't waste $10 to see it in the theatre.

Last night Gary and I went to see Zodiac in the dome at the archlight.

It's such a great theatre because the screen is HUGE and practically encompasses you so that you really feel like part of the movie. Anyway, the movie was fantastic....beautifully shot and keeps you almost on the edge of your seat throughout the more than 2 1/2 hour duration of the film. Robert Downey Jr. gave the best performance in my opinion portraying a slightly femme, drunken journalist who befriends Jake Gyllenhaal, a young cartoonist at the San Francisco Chronicle who becomes obsessed with solving the mystery of the Zodiac Murders in the late 1960's and early 1970's. It includes one of the most graphic and upsetting murder scenes that I've ever seen. I highly recommend that everyone see this one right away. Makes me want to investigate and read up on the Zodiac murders.

SAD NEWS

I just received the following email from my friend Jenny Lehman in D.C.

I am sad to pass along some news.
Monte Zucker has just passed away.
His passion for wedding photography inspired thousands. He was a true
pioneer.
I had the pleasure of shooting with him and he was truly an artist.
I will miss him.

-Jenny Lehman



Monte Zucker was arguably the most famous wedding photographer in the country if not the world. Some have toted him as the "grandfather of wedding photography". He perfected the classical style of wedding photography with amazing technical excellence. He actually shot the wedding of my best friend's parents back in the early 70's. The bride was only 19 and he insisted that she wear no makeup...only false eyelashes were allowed. There's no way I would be caught dead being photographed without makeup but I'm certainly not 19 anymore. :) I never got the opportunity to meet Monte even though we worked in the same circles in D.C. although I was in an elevator with him one time in Vegas a couple of years ago. He will be greatly missed by the industry and I'm sure there will be an enormous tribute to him at WPPI at the end of this month.

MARY'S PREGNANCY PORTRAIT

Since I've been in D.C. for the past week, I got the opportunity to shoot Mary's pregnancy portrait. I just realized that I have gotten to shoot her engagement portrait, bridal portrait and pregnancy portrait. It's always been easy since she's so gorgeous and actually seems pretty comfortable in front of the camera. If she's not, she fakes it pretty well. We got her husband Andy to be in some of the pictures as well. I even coaxed him out of his shirt! Just in case anyone is wondering, it was absolutley NOT his idea...all mine but I'm glad he was willing, just barely. :)

Now I can't wait for this baby to arrive to get him/ her into the studio as well!
Here are Mary's favorites...

These 3 will be matted and framed together

MULLIGAN SHOOT

This afternoon I got to do a portrait shoot of my friends (and former co-workers) Jenn and John and their two gorgeous girls, Molly and Kiera. I met the two of them back in 2002 when I did actually have a regular job where I had to show up somewhere every day and when I still had benefits. We all worked in the same small office and Jenn and John were having a not-so-secret romance. It was the sort of high stress job that really makes you crazy and I have very fond memories of Jenn and I taping pieces of paper to our bodies to create clothes out of our payroll edit reports. I think there are still pictures of that hanging in the office at Maxim...healthcare, not magazine. Anyway, it was wonderful to see them while I'm back in the D.C. area this week. Here are a couple of images.
The whole family

Kiera, the new baby

MARY'S BABY SHOWER

This afternoon a bunch of us threw a baby shower for our dear friend Mary who is expecting her first baby at the end of the month. We were lucky enough to host the shower at Courtney's parents house, which is just the most incredible house! It just screams for a party. Courtney is actually going to be having her wedding here later this year.

Of course everyone wanted a tour. Here is my own little virtual tour.
The foyer

Kitchen...makes me want to cook

Indoor pool

Lauren decided to take a steam

And Gizelle tried to get a tan

Self Portrait


As for the shower itself, Mary really cleaned up.

No one knows if they are having a boy or a girl so there were a lot of yellow and green gifts and Mary received a large library of baby books, a coach diaper bag and lots of other goodies.

Kelly & Lauren

Katie & Patti

Erin & Katie

Courtney

Gizelle & Natasha



Mary trying to look stern with me :)

Me and my sister Lauren

Kelly, me, Mary & 2 babies

Justine & Ashley (I'm shooting Ashley's wedding in January of 2008, yay!)


I think the best part for me besides getting to celebrate this baby we're all about to meet was getting to spend the afternoon with all of my best girlfriends. Even though some of us have moved far away, it's so nice to be able to come back and pick up exactly where we left off. I think it's so rare in life to find such wonderful friends and I cherish them all like sisters.