a few pictures of our new home.

Just had to break out the camera and snap a few photos of our new couch. So I dug into our equipment bag and pulled out a 7d and a 16-35mm and tried to figure out how to take pictures with it. Video I can do, photos are a whole different story.

Pillows:: IKEA (surprise, surprise) and Pottery Barn

It's still pretty bare, but we have some big plans..like painting the wall behind the couch a subtle burnt orange (can burnt orange be subtle?) We'll see!

getting settled

"If I ever get the itch to move in the next few months please remind me how hard this was" Quote from me to Paul that sums up our weekend. The boxes and furniture seemed endless, I couldn't imagine how hard it would be to move an entire family! We were so lucky to have our wonderful parents and Paul's brother Jared come help us on Saturday, it only took about 4 trips total and ended with a well deserved Pat and Oscars luncheon. I may or may not have eaten by body weight in bread sticks..

Overall though, moving has been a huge blessing. I've been in work, work, work mode and this weekend finally broke the cycle. I was finally able to take my mind off work for an entire weekend and give my editing brain a rest. Now it's my IKEA furniture building brain that's overloaded. Check out our weekend projects!

This picture doesn't do justice to the radness of this couch. 

I can take 0% credit for this entertainment center. Go husband.

Before.

After.

Obviously I was there for moral support. Obviously.

New home. I love you.

Oh! Happy Halloween to everyone. I'm not much of a Halloween junkie myself, but I appreciate those who brave the world in costume for a night. Unfortunately Paul has class all day, no really from like 10am-10pm! Crazy kid. So I'll be caching up on some work, organizing, and hitting up our gym here. (Gym? Who is this girl?). 

all packed up!

Well..the big move is today! We'd appreciate prayers for no chipped or broken furniture and for the whole process in general, it's all new to us! Prayer requests for no broken furniture may sound really silly but I'm totally serious. 90% of our apartment is Ikea furnished, and well..Ikea isn't known for the most sturdy products. Plus, replacing a damaged bed frame or bookshelf isn't in the budget for this month, or next month ;-).

I'd like to thank this guy for being my life saver during this move. He might allow us to receive some of our deposit back despite the amount of nails we pulled out of our walls.

Hope everyone has a wonderful and relaxing Saturday! Think of me when you are out and about and I'm hauling a refrigerator up 3 flights of stairs.

home {before's}

Yesterday we took a little trip over to our new home to sign and initial lots of paperwork only to find out we weren't actually getting our keys until Saturday...bummed. But we went up there to check things out, measure some stuff and get stoked all over again for the move. These photos are horrible but I just snapped a couple with the handy iPhone

Living room.

Kitchen

SUUUPER exciting right? ;-) before we start getting things situated I'll be sure to snap some more for some before/afters. Our kitchen is the tiniest little thing, it's kind of funny..only 1 person can occupy it at a time, but it gives us a "dining room" so I'm not complaining. Afterwards we made a visit to IKEA, our furniture store for all things and did some more couch shopping. We were totally stoked on this couch, only to find after measuring that it would swallow up our entire living room. 

So we are downsizing to this bad boy.

Why the second one is only $20 cheaper? ..I have no idea. 

Lessons

For any who have known me for awhile knows that I grew up riding and showing horses. Yes, I was that girl with the black velvet helmet and tall black riding boots. It was hot, don't laugh. Oh man, I wish I took more pictures. Ok fine, heres one.

Elf and I (2010) ..I think.

I miss riding so much! I probably think about it everyday. It was such a weird transition when I sold Elf right after Paul and I got engaged. No but literally, I sold him like a week after Paul proposed. There were so many changes going on at the time. In a matter of days something that had been a prominent aspect in my life suddenly wasn't (we're getting all Dr. Phil right now, hold on for the ride). When I sold Elf, I aways had the mentality that I'd get another horse a few years down the road when Paul and I were more established financially (horses are $$$$!). But I don't think I can wait a few more years so last night I started researching trainers in the area we live to check out their lesson programs. A lesson once a week would be plenty for me! Nice thing about living in the OC, lots of people have money = lots of horse trainers. Anyways, we will see how it goes. I pitched the idea to Paul last night and he wasn't buying it. 4 lessons a month would add about $250 onto our monthly expenses :( and with student loan payments started in the next few weeks (thank you, Vanguard). We are waiting to see how that alters our budget, being responsible is no fun sometimes.

In other news...we are signing the dotted line and getting the keys to our new place today!! Pictures to come? Totally. 

Random Wednesday: Please don't stop the music.

I'm thinking of starting a new series called "Random Wednesdays" I always seem to have random things to blog about but never know when is the right time to write about them. Here's to the first Random Wednesday post!

First things first, I love music. My iTunes collection is always vast and growing and my Pandora stations are very much the same. I am up for pretty much anything, when it comes to choosing music for our wedding films, we can be very picky. I'm not joking when I say I have devoted entire days to searching for the right music for trailers and main films. Nothing is sweeter than finding that hidden gem :) Recently I came across a question from an individual who asked one of the many film companies that inspires us, Shade Tree Films.

The individual asked: "the song Lonelily is about a cheating wife! Great video, but why that song!"


Their answer was so great: "We believe that music is one of the most crucial parts of film making... it can either make or break your film. The lyrics to a song, when put to film, are hardly ever noticed, as long as your film has a compelling and interesting story. Its much more about the characteristics of the instruments, and the emotion that they invoke. We see so many films with songs that have fitting lyrics, but the music does not match the footage... that is far more distracting. Regardless of lyrics, if we have moved people emotionally and the music has strengthened the film, we have done our job. We feel like this song, regardless of the story told in the lyrics, matched the footage and the feeling of the day perfectly."


It's so true!! Off the top of my head I can think of tons of songs with "fitting lyrics." "Marry me" by train, "Bless the Broken Road" by Rascal Flatts, "I do" by Colbie Caillet, "Everything" by Michael Buble, "I'm Your's" by Jason Mraz..lol Jason Mraz, oh Jason. Yes, the lyrics are good and fitting and wedding-ish, but they lack the ability to enhance the overall emotion of the couples day. All the time we get the phrase, "I'm crying watching your videos and I don't even know these people." Along with piecing the film together, a large percentage of why they become emotional is because of song choice and the instruments and melody within that song. Trust me, I'm no music major and couldn't tell you a thing about music theory and all that fancy stuff. I just choose what works.

Hows that for some Random Wednesday-ness ;-) have a great day!

A little about me..

WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?

 Grace Kelly.

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED AND WHY?  

Read about it Here. I just really love my job.

 YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? 

All the cool girls always had better hand writing then me.

 WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? 

 Boars Head Oven Roasted Turkey (I'm not high maintenance)

 DO YOU HAVE KIDS? 

NO.

 IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?

Ya, I think so.

 DO YOU USE SARCASM ALOT?

In times of need.

 DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? 

yes

WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?

Maybe

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?

Frosted wheats!

DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?

 No, that takes too much time!

DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? 

Mentally, emotionally, physically, or spiritually?

  

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM?

Good 'ol Chocolate Chip cookie dough.

WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE ?

Teeth :-D

RED OR PINK?

 Is neither an option?

WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE  THING   About yourself ?

I have my dad's calves..they are beefy. 

WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST  ? 

Mama

    

WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?

 not wearing pants OR shoes

WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE ?

Dinner at Leigha's, I'm not quite sure what it was..

WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?

Paul's FIFA game.

  

FAVORITE SMELLS?

 Horses and leather (both take me back to riding).

WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?

 Paul's Mom

FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?

Basketball 

HAIR COLOR? 

Blonde

EYE COLOR?

Green

DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?

Nope, 20/20. Babbyyy

FAVORITE FOOD?

Tomato soup + grilled cheese

SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? 

Both are great on the right nights :)

LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?

 I don't remember yesterday.

WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? 

white 

SUMMER OR WINTER?

Where’s Fall as an option?

I love Fall

HUGS OR KISSES?

Hugs

FAVORITE DESSERT? 

Tough one.. something chocolate I’m sure 

  

WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?

It's black and plain.

WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON T.V. LAST NIGHT? 

We don't have TV, we live the Amish life.

FAVORITE SOUND?

The rain.

ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? 

I'm 22, ask me about N'SYNC or the Backstreet boys.

WHAT IS THE FURTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?

Jamaica 

DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? 

 I am an extremely fast eater, ask any of my friends.

WHERE WERE YOU BORN? 

Poway, CA

weekend fun.

Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend! Anyone do anything crazzyy fun?! We had a fairly traditional weekend, meaning we worked and played. Saturday we shot a wedding at South Coast Winery in Temecula. Check out this ceremony location!

and Sunday we hung out with our good friends Max and Leigha who just got ENGAGED on Friday! We welcomed them to the club with an ever fancy homemade spaghetti dinner :) and cheesy engagement card. (Why are engagement cards so cheesy?!).

Photo taken by Peter Benito who apparently stalked it out in the bushes to get this shot. ;-) They will treasure it forever!

Things are finally slowing down! I'm beginning to catch my breath and so excited to have this weekend off, time to catch up on some editing, with only 2 weddings next month we are hoping to get all October and November weddings back to our couples by Christmas! "Merry Christmas, watch your wedding video!" 

This is totally off topic and completely random but since starting 618 Paul and I know so much more about weddings, probably way more than the average person should. I just wish we had this knowledge when we were planning our own wedding! If there are 2 things we could advise couples it would be.

-No Parasols

-No purple up-lighting. 

Both we see at sooo many of the weddings we shoot and I don't think there is an inanimate object I dislike more than parasols.

Groom's face during processional.

Thank goodness it wasn't blocked the entire time, but parasols man..little devil's. 

goals for next year!!

3 weeks from tomorrow we will be finishing off the 2011 season. We were beyond blessed with 28 very different weddings this year. Different in a good way! Some were small, others were big, many were fun, a few were rustic, a handful were formal, a couple were traditional, and plenty of them were beautiful. We want the weddings we shoot to be different, different makes our job interesting and enjoyable. If every wedding we shot was a black and white formal affair in a ballroom..we would get so bored! Getting to see the personally of each of our couples in their big day is fun to us.

As booking season is starting up (yes, there is such thing as a booking season). We had no idea! We are learning all kinds of new things in this industry. This time last year we just thought it was by coincidence that we booked 5 weddings in 1 week. Needless to say, it was booking season and we just didn't know. So with booking season practically here I've been setting goals for myself, writing them down, and adding to them each day. These aren't goals like.. "I need to book 2 weddings this week" or "have 20 weddings booked by December" They are more goals like this::

1. Be open minded to each inquiry. - Ballroom weddings aren't our favorite thing in the world but I want to be open minded to them or any other inquiries we receive that isn't the most popular venue in Southern California. I want to focus on getting to know the couple first to see if they are a good fit!

2. Limit checking my email to 10x a day. - Okay, that may sound like a lot anyways, and well...let's just not try and guess how many times I check it now.. I really want to break myself off from being a slave to my inbox and breaking myself from the mentality that I need to respond to an email within 5 minutes. My inner workaholic hates this goal.

3. Trust my gut. - Getting to know each couple and getting a feel for if they are the right fit for us. Last year we had a hard time with this because we were so focused on booking as many weddings as we could for 2 reasons. 1. to build our portfolio fast and 2. to get our name out there! We really want to make sure that our couples and us are on the exact same page, that they are hoping for a wedding video that is what we can deliver for them and that we can feel 100% positive that we can provide a video for them that they will love.

4. Know when to say "no" - I am very much a people pleaser, almost to the point where it is a fault of mine. Ask Paul, he has to remind me of it daily, "Kelley, you can't go through life thinking you are going to please everybody that's just not possible." Well, I want it to be. But deep down I know he's right. Here's a perfect example of when I need to know when to say no.."oh your wedding is on the 21st? Well that will be our 4th wedding in 2 weeks, yeah we can do it." This year was also very much about finding out comfort zone. 6 weddings in 1 month? Out of our comfort zone. 3 weddings in a month? Totally in our comfort zone.

2012, I can't wait for you to be here!

makin' plans

move time in 8 days. Wootwooo! Today was that day when I had to call and spend half the day on the phone with the gas and electric companies to get everything switched over, success! Meanwhile the list of "things we need" for our new home seems to be growing exponentially, by the day. Newest "need" (and I use the term need lightly because really we don't need anything on this list, it's more of a "this would be nice to have" list) is an entertainment center. In our first apartment there would be no way we could fit an entertainment comfortable in our already dining, living, and office space. Now we are ready! Here's the plan..

We currently use this as our Tv stand..

and also have this bookshelf..

So we're combining to create something like this! (found this creepin' on google).

So we are halfway there. the question is do we complete the other side with...this?

or this..

Paul is favoring the glass..which I love also, but my cheap self is telling me no. It's $100 more. 

here's a visual with the glass..

and the tears came.

I'm not a very emotional person, my mother actually calls me "stone heart" (not kidding). Hey, all I can say is a got it from her ;-) she knows it too. Last week was probably the most stressful work weeks yet due to many different reasons and it left me completely drained both mentally and physically (I've been taking lots of naps) this week. Being emotionally drained as well, I was starving for any positive feedback. Being your own boss is tough because it's hard (especially for me) to pat yourself on the back and praise yourself on how great you are doing. Sometimes I long for a boss to reassure me of things like this or just to say, "Hey Kelley, great work today." 


Last night when Paul came home from school we went out to run some errands. First things first, burgers at five guys, then to home depot, target, and Albertsons. As we were walking into Albertsons I checked my email to find this little message from a bride and groom who had just received their DVD's and watched their wedding video for the first time together.


Kelley and Paul,

Again, thank you so much for the work you did.  We were able to relive our wedding day!  It was so much fun watching it and can't wait to share it with family and friends.  We hope you're well.  Good luck in all you do!

Immediately I begin to cry, Paul looks over at me as we are about to walk into to do some grocery shopping and I'm standing there looking completely helpless with tears in my eyes. "Oh boy" he says, and kind of begins to laugh at how pathetic this situation is. "It's just been a really hard week" and I begin to cry more. I can only imagine what the fellow Albertons shoppers were thinking. But I didn't care. 

Their message wasn't amazing, no it didn't change their life. But it was just the amount of reassurance I needed to refuel me for this week. 

making it official.

10 days till the big move!! The countdown begins, which would be more exciting if I had more than 2 boxes packed, yikes! Instead of packing, I'm spending that precious time doing none other than researching moving announcement. (Kelley, you suck). The real question is, who moves without moving announcements? Basically everyone, but for someone like me who is in love with anything snail mail/stationary it has become a necessity.

Here are some options I'm deciding between..they are from Vista Print which isn't my favorite but sadly we can't afford Paper Source or Minted :( two of my favs. So here are some that caught my eye.

below, I think this might be my favorite.

If you know of any cute stationary online stores, send them my way!! I'm always on the lookout for paper goods :)

add laughter to your day.

taking a little work break to crack up over silly pictures..join me.

ok, who does this?

true story.

a truthful name for a diary..

I just love this.

Dear boss

Dear Boss,


It's been a really busy year, especially in these past 3 months! What were you thinking when you booked 6 weddings in July and another 6 in September..Let's try to max it out at 4 per month next year. I know that because of your inability to say "no" you are now swimming in projects to finish. Back to back weekends? eh..lets try to not do those anymore either. 


Your "to do" lists grow by the hour and you spend WAY too much time working. Remember that it's important to have balance. Go for a run every now and then, take Paul up on that offer to go out instead of forcing yourself to finish color grading a ceremony, set reasonable working hours for yourself instead of staying up till 3am. All I'm saying is that you need to breath and know that it's all going to be ok.  


I know how stressed you are right now, but I know you can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Only 3 more weddings for the year! I bet that 10 week break is lookin' real good right now! You can do it!! 


love,
Self.


p.s. go outside already. 

little garden of love.

Our weekend project! And when I say weekend, for us that is usually Wednesday and Thursday as opposed to the normal Saturday and Sunday.

...Recently my husband is really into gardening, it's the most entertaining, sweetest thing ever. He loves his little garden. A few months ago we decided that after a year of living at our place it was time to decorate the patio a little so we purchased 4 little baby succulents (the only plant we knew we could maintain). Well, they grew a lot!

little garden, you rock. 

This weekend we are traveling up to Moorpark area to shoot at this awesome venue called Walnut Grove..it looks real cool. Google it. Who knows..maybe we will have a little highlight up next week ;-)

hair did.

These days are few and far between, especially on days when I want to stay in sweats and edit wedding videos till 2am without leaving the house. ...Yeah, about the whole leaving the house thing. I havn't been so good. I'm working on it!

p.s. the motivation behind this, client meeting. Wish us luck!

moving makes you organized.

It's true! I'll admit, I'm not the most tidy person in the world. Paul scolds me about leaving my clothes on the floor, not cleaning my dishes, not putting away my laundry. I'm getting better though! This moving process (which started today, while Paul was at school because he thinks it's too early to move) has really gotten me more organized. I should move every month! I started so early because if any one knows how much "stuff" I have, it's me, and I want to make sure I clear the clutter before getting nestled into our new home. Pat on the back for good wife award, ha.

So I headed to home depot to grab a couple boxes. If there's any store where I want to go to feel like a total loser, awkward to the max, and way out of my comfort zone, it's home depot. If you're a girl who has never gone to home depot by herself yet, you gotta try it, it's an interesting experience. So after 6 people asking me if I knew what I was looking for and an argument in the paint department, I made my way out with 2 medium sized boxes. I'll have to post some before and after photos soon as right now I am tackling our linen closet. ;-)

wonderful weekends

This weekend Paul and I laid low, with just a Friday wedding in the books (which was fabulous) we were able to relax Saturday and Sunday which was a huge blessing to be able to rest. Our first official wedding season is starting to come to an end, only 4 more for the year!! As much as we love this job, I can't wait to have a whole month off!! December is calling my name...

Friday's wedding at the St. Regis Monarch Beach..not too shabby.

Entering into booking season soon, Paul and I have been working on preparing ourselves for meeting, emailing, and chatting with new and future couples that we may have the privilege of working with in 2012. We have already been extremely blessed to have 13 wonderful duos on the calendar as of now. Going into next year we are hoping for our couples to have this important view of us..

1. Complete trust and respect for what we do.

Knowing that, we have been keeping that in mind as we meet with each couple and begin booking for 2012. So far we are so thrilled with how this next year is looking for 618.

pre-meeting fun.

sometimes you just gotta bust out photo booth in the middle of Starbucks before a client meeting..

home renovations

Not going to lie. This blog may or may not be turning into a series of "before/after" photos and apartment renovation stories in the next 6 weeks. Paul and I are beyond stoked for this move! First things first, new couch. For the past 15 months we have been getting by with this love seat (yes it only seats 2 people) as our couch. Pathetic. But really, if you saw our living room space we honestly couldn't fit anything bigger.

So little old love seat is moving to new little office. So in the weeks to come, a little trip to Ikea is in store aannddd this big boy is taking over!! 

movie nights on the "L" couch, yeeaa! Who's bringing the popcorn?!

which color? that's the question. It's a split vote. I vote gray, Paul votes Beige. 

moving!

Well..the good news came today!! We are approved for our new apartment. Even though it's only been a few weeks, it felt like the search went on forever. I can't even tell you how many hours I spent on Craigslist searching for anything and everything! Last Friday before heading to San Diego, we drove to the fireplace apartment in hopes to sign the lease. We met with the nice apartment show-er lady who was able to show us to the actual apartment that we would move into. We hated it. Paul and I quietly toured it not saying anything to one another, hoping that the other would say something. After the tour we went back to the office (still saying nothing) to talk more about the leasing options. They wouldn't be able to hold it for us for 30 days which is what our current home requires as far as notice. Yes! I thought, I'm sure Paul was thinking the same..we still had said nothing to each other. We may need to work on a little something called communication ;-)

We left the office, got in the car and it all came out.

The oven was ugly, the floor creaked, the view from the bedroom was lame, it was too close to the road, it doesn't have a walk in closet.. seriously, it all came out. We had been talking ourselves into liking the place..just like we had done with the place before, and the place before that. I did LOVE the fireplace though, I'll give it that. Frustrated, we headed back to our place to pack up for San Diego and Paul hopped on the computer for a last minute search and found a place! Keeping our expectations low, we decided to give it a shot.

2 minutes into checking the place out Paul and I turned to each other and whispered, "I love it!" You could say we had a moment..but really. It was everything we had been searching for. I'm not even feeling sad about leaving our old place because I'm so excited for this new home of ours :-) or..it could be our neighbors recent Taylor Swift Karaoke nights. In just 3 weeks we will be making the move! Then it's time for a paint party! Come join the fun!

rainy day survival guide.

Yeaa for rainy days in So-Cal. How I love thee..I literally smiled when I woke up to the sound of rain this morning, creepy? nah..

must haves for rainy days :)

grilled cheese + tomato soup

pumpkin spice candle burning all day

warm vanilla or spiced (my fave) tea!

In other news, we applied for an apartment on Friday (say what?!) ...and it's not the one with the fireplace (say what?!) I'll tell you all about it when all the paperwork goes through and we find out if we got it. Cons to being a full time business owner of year old business. No one trusts you. Lots of statements to show, balances to prove..all that good stuff. Just received a call saying that they will need a few more items to finish the paperwork so we are hoping to have an answer by the end of the day! Prayers are always appreciated :)