I am currently finishing up Marissa and Mida’s wedding. Next, I’ll be working on two of my friends’ family sessions: The Hernandez Family and the Maranan Family! :)  This weekend, I’m praying for good weather, because I have another family shoot with the Maranan Family as well as an engagement shoot! It’s going to be a busy weekend, but that’s okay :) I’m thankful!

Tomorrow, my church (Iglesia Ni Cristo) in the local congregation of Long Beach will be holding a Winter Wear Clothing drive! It’s going to be so awesome and I am excited for this event! More on that later.

I think this post is long enough as it is… but before I sign off for the night, I just wanted to post up a teaser photo for my friend Yvonne! I miss her and even though we haven’t worked together for the past 6 years… she always keeps in touch with me! I love that about her! :)  Happy Thursday everyone! The weekend is almost upon us!!!

After five years, Ryan and I have been able to travel to different places, meet many wonderful people, made so many new friends, and have been inspired with so many events… These are things that we probably would have never experienced if we didn’t start this humble business of ours…

So, to celebrate ES-Sense’s 5th Year, we are going to do a simple contest! WOOHOOO!! It’s been awhile and I feel that today is a perfect day to do a contest on our blog site. All you need to do is leave a comment telling me what you’re most thankful for these past 5 years (2006 – 2011).

Tomorrow, I will randomly pick 5 winners to win a $5 gift card to amazon.com. Then, within the 5 lucky persons that were picked, I will randomly pick 1 to win a $25 gift card of their choice (to wish es-sense continued success for the next 25 years) :). Contest ends tomorrow, Friday, June 17 at 5:00 PM.

Goodluck, thanks in advance for participating and happy anniversary again to our es-sense business!

When we arrived, we told the guy there that we had reservations, but we were late because of traffic. He asked me for my name and he checked the reservations book that another girl was looking at. They weren’t talking loud, but I heard the girl say it was too late. They gave our table to someone else, but the guy was persistent and told her, “They hit traffic and it’s hard to find parking around here.” She just shrugged her shoulders as the guy led us to an available table. I think if it wasn’t for this particular guy, I would give a negative review, but he made us feel welcomed, I only have good things to say about our evening there.

The At Last Cafe was shown on the Food Network a couple of weeks ago. Ryan and I wanted to try out the restaurant last week, but they only took reservations. So I made reservations for Ryan’s birthday. Ryan ordered the Brick Chicken and I got the stuffed Pork dish. The food was delicious and flavorful, but our favorite is the Macaroni and Cheese side order that we decided to get after watching another person eating it. :)

We had a really simple birthday dinner celebration for Ryan, but it was memorable nonetheless. Especially when Ryan made me laugh saying: “At Last Cafe” is such a perfect name for this restaurant after what we went through to get here.  :)

Happy Birthday my Ryan! :)

Last Saturday, Ryan and I had the opportunity to do a photo session with Krystle and she brought some of her arrangements with her as props! Ryan pretty much described Krystle’s floral arrangements perfectly. He told me after a wedding we had worked and which Krystle was in charge of florals that her designs are simple yet so elegant. I couldn’t agree more. I’m always blown away by her designs. It doesn’t overpower the event, instead, her floral arrangements just compliments and accents the theme of the event.

I also had the opportunity to ask her a few questions about her business, so take a moment to read them below. If you’re looking for a florist, Bloomeria Floral Designs is high up on my list!

1) What made you decide to start your business?
After taking a 6 week course at nearby community college, I was asked to help with a friends wedding. After that I took a few weddings here and there and when I finally graduated from College, I decided not to go to work right away but focus on something I LOVE to do and it was my passion to do floral arrangements. I graduated at good time and decided to start up the business when many of my friends and peers were reaching this milestone of their lives! I was blessed with the opportunity to work many events, mostly weddings of friends or friends of friends, which led to Bloomeria~Floral Design’s business venture.

2) Who inspires you to do what you do?
I am truly inspired by my clients especially those who are preparing to celebrate their special day together when they become ONE. It inspires me to hopefully one day be in their shoes, but also to know that they have considered BFD to make their floral designs come to reality.

3) What three things have you learned in your business?
I’ve learned so much through this business. One of which is to love what you do and when you do, it shows in your work! I’ve learned to not only double check but triple check my work, cross my t’s and dot my i’s. It has also strengthened my patience, responsibility, organizational skills and love for people.

4) What advice do you want to give us in regards to choosing a florist?
When choosing a florist, make sure they are allowing you to share what you’ve imagined your special day or event to look like. Make sure they are honest with you (doing research or asking a client they had before you, is always a good way to get reference), make sure you check up their work and that they will portray your ideas as you have asked them to….

OR you can always go the safe route and choose Bloomeria~Floral Design.

Bloomeria~ Floral Design “Making Every Petal Worth It…”

Without any further delay, I would like to introduce you to Krystle Eveza of Bloomeria Floral Designs! Don’t forget to be a fan of Bloomeria Floral Designs on their facebook page.

I can’t forget to post up this group picture. Yvonne, Earl, and Liz were so great! They are really great friends of Krystle and it’s because of the support of friends like them that Krystle’s business is, well… Blooming! :D

Jonathan and Jovete: Thank you both for giving us this opportunity to not only photograph your special day, but most of all, for giving us a chance to know you both! Have a wonderful New Year as well as a happy life as husband and wife.

For now, please visit The Sassy Bride blog site to see what they had to say about the wedding!

Juliet L. Patterson of Make Up By Juliet  did a beautiful job with the girls and they looked beautiful!  Some of them, I had posed, but others, I decided to just capture them as is (Kristi and her laugh and Gigi, who was working on some craft project)…I really wanted to do a black and white thing because I wanted to get that classy feel…

Nataly:

Gigi:
Kristi:
Sheila:
Ate Sherry:
Libby:
Juliet is really great with airbrushing and made the girls faces look so flawless!  No photoshopping here!
This is Faye :)
 All the girls:

For Juliet’s contact information, please e-mail me. :)

1) This past weekend we had our Buklod meetings at church. For those wondering what a Buklod Meeting is.. it’s a monthly membership meeting of those in our church who are married.  During our Sunday morning meeting, we had our meet/greet/eat afterwards and I made strawberry lemonade… but I think I need to make it a little more “lemonady” and more sweeter and add a bit more strawberries next time… oh well.. it’s always a learning process. I knew I should’ve looked online for a recipe and maybe I could’ve tried this one from Emeril Lagasse!

2) I had crabs last Saturday!!! Wait.. that sounds wrong :P  I meant Ryan and I went to Redondo Beach Pier and ate at the Pacific Fish Center & Restaurant and ordered some crabs for lunch and enjoyed our little afternoon together at the beach. It was a great couple of hours of just spending some much needed “relaxation” time. It was so therapeutic for me sitting at the restaurant, focusing on one thing. Eating crabmeat. I was hoping to see the sunset, but Ryan was still recovering from his sickness and it was starting to get cold… I think that’s why now I’m sick too.. :P

3) I got Google Earth Pro!!! My boss has been having these ideas at work for our team… which required him to purchase the Google Earth Pro and I LOVE IT A LOT! It makes my work so much more easier to do and I’m learning a lot about what Google Earth Pro can do! It’s always great to learn something new!!

4) JANICE GOT THE JOB with VQ Orthocare!! After months and months and months of searching for a job and hundreds of interviews, my sister finally got a job with VQ Orthocare! That’s the same company that my husband Ryan works in and he’s been with the company for about 5 years now!! I love VQ Orthocare! It’s such a great company to work for and I hope that the company becomes even more successful in the years to come.  Seriously. I don’t work for the company, but just the fact that my husband loves it there and now they hired my sister.. I seriously am thankful to God for the company :)

Well, that’s my updates for the last couple of days! I’ll be posting up my new finds/experiences and will post that up tomorrow on my Friday Favorites! Until then, here’s to more beautiful sunny days in California… :)

Here’s a teaser from the wedding Ryan and I covered on Saturday. Congratulations Amadelle & Nick! More to come :D

I am so honored to be their photographer! They are just two amazingly warm and friendly and if Ryan and I had a few more hours to hang out with them after their engagement session, I know we would’ve had a blast eating dinner somewhere in San Francisco.

Thank you Earl and Cristina for giving me and Ryan this opportunity! I’m excited to witness you both becoming husband and wife! :D Below are some of my favorite photos of you both! To view the slideshow, please click here.

Special thank you to Kuya Richard for sending them along our way! Thank you so much kuya!! :D