[Photogs on Vacation]

One of my best friends Amanda Elkins came to visit us for New Years from Southern Ca. Its always so much fun when we she comes up, we share stories of shoots during the year, and new things we've learned, I get to show her some of my favorite new locations I've found since the last time she came up, and we laugh a lot. Its also nice that our kids get along really well, its like a big slumber party. This time our husbands also got to hang out, and we all celebrated 10 years of friendship, and its was so great to look back at all good old days and all the ups and downs. The many visits. Here's one back in 2003...

It's also been a pleasure to see our kids grow up together, Alannah and Ethan are the best buddies, and even though they only see eachother once in a while, they just pick up where they left off. They have very similar personalities, and are just two peas in a pod!

The picture below was taken in Tahoe, summer of 2003 back when we both had only one child and no businesses and life was just simple! It is still one of my all time favorite pictures, it was one of those perfect happy summer days.

Ahh.. fun times! I really appreciate her friendship, and look forward to many more years of fun and memories and photographs.

So what do photographers do when we're on a break from working? LOL! Well Amanda and I love taking pictures. And like I always say, like the cobblers children have no shoes, sometimes we don't get a chance to get pictures of our own kids. I don't know why I have been blessed so, but my kids LOVE to get their pictures taken, they ask me "when do we get to have another photoshoot?" is that crazy or what??

So we called on our other awesome photogs buddies Fara Smith, Dawn Roberts & Crystal Petersen to hang out with us, drink, play games and come shoot. We took our kids out... and I should probably put these on my website but I'm so LAZY! So here they are... I love THESE! Here's some of Alannah, she is so sweet, and growing so fast. She just got her braces last fall... ugh.. pretty soon she will outgrow her mummy!

This dress Alannah is wearing is was one of the first things I sewed for her, she really liked it, but we never really knew what to wear with it, but Amanda was able to pull together this super cute outfit worthy of a couture photoshoot!

:Lots more of hers in a bit.. but here are some rare footage of Mr. Mason, he is a hard one to capture but I love these... doesn't he look handsome?

And already a supermodel little Miss Isabeli... remember when she was a wee thing? Well look at her now... she's also a tough cookie to photograph but she sure shines when she turns it on... it sure will be fun to watch her modeling career blossom.

And my own little Miss Avy... such a sweetie-pie. Love her to pieces, even at times when she makes me want to pull out my hair!

Back to miss Alannah. Wow. Who is this beautiful girl? She rocked this shoot and since then keeps asking me "when can I be a model?"... how do you answer that? I say, "you ARE a model", like a magazine cover, clothing advertisement, and featured on many photog websites doesn't count! Hahaha...

But I must admit, she is a natural poser, and she is so easy to work with, no drama, no bribing, pleading and for me no pay! HAHAHAHA!

Oh what a blast we had, if it hadn't gotten so cold, we could've stayed there forever. Isabeli showed off her new outfit, don't you just love her signiature pose? Omigoodness the boots, the hat, I could photograph her all day! Its too bad she only gives you split seconds. but how cute are these pics??

Love you gals. Can't wait till our next get-together. XOXOXOXOX.

[Kevin & Brittney - Happily Ever After]

This wedding was near and dear to my heart, Brittney used to be Alannah's babysitter when she was 3, and we haven't needed a babysitter for a while since we have had my brother living with us, but Brittney still remembered my number (off by heart she says!) and called me out of the blue and asked me, are you still doing photography? Can you shoot my wedding? I was over the MOON! I was so flattered and honored she asked me, and after her amazing engagement shoot, I couldn't wait to see her as a bride! And here it is, I know its been forever to get to my blog, but I just could not decide what to post... cause I loved so many... I have heaps here but there are were heaps and heaps more!!

So here she is getting all beautiful.. like she needs ANY help! Tall, smart, beautiful. Kevin is one LUCKY guy.

Shoes and earrings...


Final check over by mom. so sweet... love them both!

The beautiful girls...

And Beyond beautiful blushing bride. What more can i say?

Okay... and here are the boyz... the handsome groom:

And his fellow partners in crime:

Mother in-law and Mother of the Bride:

Inside the church... communion.

Skip to married... LOL!

Next... pure eye candy... LOVE the fall colors. Glorious. They were one of the very first weddings to be hosted by the newly renovated HIGH HAND NURSERY. And I'm so thrilled that they finally opened it as a wedding venue, because its one of my all-time favorite places to shoot and to just visit, tranquil-lush-picture-perfect.

I hope you enjoyed viewing this wedding as much as I enjoyed photographing it, thank you Anne for assisting, it was a BLAST. Make-up was by Prima Donna.

[2010 already?]

Gosh. Is it really January 15th??? Ugh. I am just not ready for 2010... seems like something monumental should be happening, shouldn't I be wiser or richer? lol. but really I've just been procrastinating... on putting the Christmas decorations away... my lights & candy canes are still outside, i did turn them off though. heh. and hibernating. I don't leave the house unless I *have* to!

But what i have been doing is enjoying the time off, watching movies, catching up with friends. My husband and I caught up on all the episodes of our favorite TV shows, Fringe, Lie To Me, Heroes, V, Flash Foward, yes. A. Lot. of time on the couch! And we've been listening to Taylor Swift constantly... gals love TS. And she's a more enjoyable than Hannah so we're happy to oblige.

I even went back to yoga... have i mentioned i love yoga? its the only kind of workout for anti-exercise person like me, I never have to leave my mat! Its also nice because when I enter the yoga studio I can leave everything behind, all the laundry, work, kids, stress, life, it all can just wait 90 minutes. My new years resolution is to DO MORE YOGA! But boy am I sore right now!

I've also indulged in my other hobbies too, like jewelry making and sewing, which I will post some fruits of my labor later.. I got my own Brother sewing machine this Christmas! Thanks to my in-laws... been having some fun with it, made some cute stuff for the girls.. but that's another post. hehehe... and I've been cooking lots of homemade dinners. lots. I even went to the asian grocery store and got some of my oldtime favorite things.

Anyways... I am back to blog some before off to enjoy more hibernating time... I wanted to share some pics from the first snow of the season, coming so early even before Christmas and as low as Auburn! The girls and I rushed up after school and played until it got dark! Here are some quick snaps:

And then there was Christmas! Endless wrapping and bows... sure made a beautiful display in the living room, the kids were beyond excited. They had so much trouble getting to bed on Christmas eve... I think they stayed up pass midnight... so they didn't even get up on Christmas morning until almost 10am! wow! now that was the best Christmas pressie, if you know me, you know I love. to. sleep. hahaha.. here r some of my fav snapshots:

Half-way through unwrapping we took a break and played with Grandpa's new toy helicopter and it hit Avila in the face... hence the band-aid. lol.

My twighlight freak. ugh. why do kids grow up so fast?

The kids got some traditional Vietnamese ao dai from my mum, and they gave us a bit of a fashion show before opening more gifts... And these next two pics are my favs EVER. The look on Avila's face as she opens her gift from Santa. A Meeba. LOL! She also got a big Pet Shop structure but it wasn't as exciting as this one.

I hope you're having a great start to the new year... and may 2010 bring you happiness and joy. I am still officially hibernating until February when sessions begin all over again for a fabulous new year! Thanks for stopping by... XOXO

[January Issue of Sacramento Parents Magazine]

I feel so guilty that its so belated with posting this month's issue of Sacramento Parents Magazine! But again... back to the procrastination and hibernation. lol. But I did run out and grab my copy of this fabulous issue:

In this issue I got to do a couple of editorial shoots, which are so fun and interesting, I got to meet the Dubois Family, winner of the Green Family Contest. Such an inspiration to all of us to do more for the environment... they have some fun and easy eco-friendly ways for kids to make a difference too. Read about them on page 12!

This month's Meet the Mom next door! Susan mother of two super cute gals and the Director of Development for the Placer County SPCA. Super sweet, and her family was so gracious to accomodate me on a work day shoot. Read more about Susan on page 50!

[merry merry christmas 2009]

And here we are again! Gosh this year flew by... why does each year seem to go by faster than the last? I thought 2010 was FOREVER away... my baby is now 10! My second baby is now in Kindergarten! It has been a crazy busy year. But I am ready to slow down and relax and spend time with my family.

Here are the pics from our family photoshoot, my friend and occasional second shooter Anne Andrews did a great job even though my kids were wild and crazy. Pictures were then briefly post-processed by me and here they are.

Some of you might have gotten this pic on your card, my brother Corey has been living with us for the past few years, his here attending college. And I *heart* him.

[Last minute gift idea]

SEVENTEEN Days until Christmas??? Seriously, I am way behind in my Christmas shopping... I don't know how that happened... but I think I will be up Christmas Eve wrapping presents kinda like how I did it last year! LOL! But you don't have to, here's a last minute super easy gift. A GIFT CERTIFICATE customized to your budget! E-mail me at info@alexandrafrankel.com to order one today to be shipped to your door the next day!!

Or if you want to be really fast, you can pick it up the SAME DAY! LOL!

[Baby Max]

I am so thrilled to share these with you... here is baby Max in the oven...

And here he is only a few days old, looking oh so adorable...

And just when I thought he could not be any cuter... look at him NOW! He is one of the rare boys that I meet that makes me wish I had one too! And why not? Look at those eyes!

And the smile...

And the straight up sweetness...

More CUTENESS! I love how everything is new in their eyes, that its the FIRST for EVERYTHING, I remember how it is with your first baby, and you see it through their eyes, how exciting it is to experience with them the first time they see a ladybug, or eat applesauce, or swim in a pool... there's just no words to describe it, and its the best feeling in the whole world... well that and laying in bed with them snuggled tightly next to you! You all know what I mean!

A quick changeroo into a new outfit, and again looking even MORE adorable!

That's all for now.. a wave bye bye...

So how is everybody doing?? Getting your Christmas cards out?? I know my clients have already sent theirs out and I am not the only one ooohhing and aaahhing over them, they turned out especially CUTE this year for some reason! LOL... and I'm not biased or anything either... hahaha... come back soon, I will share our family portraits this year... and after all the blood sweat and tears I think we got a few cute shots.