Written by Candace on August 30, 2013 | 9 Comments

Happy Birthday, V!

Tomorrow Vitaliy will walk into the next decade of his life. Below is the letter I wrote to my 29 year old husband.

Dear Vitaliy,

What a decade it has been! The past 10 years have been marked by love and loss, joy and sorrow. But that’s life, right? It was within these years that we met each other, fell madly in love, and eventually married. But it was also within these years that we lost your mom, dad, and little brother Daniel. The pain and sorrow that followed was unspeakable, but throughout it all, there were still many moments of joy. Unspeakable joy.

This is our story, our journey, and I wouldn’t change a thing about it. And though it was your family we lost, I know you wouldn’t change a thing either. The fact that we can both say that today is a testimony of God’s grace in our lives.

Tomorrow starts a new decade of your life. As you move forward and walk into this new chapter, I hope you consistently look back. I am confident these next 10 years will not be without their own difficulties and struggles. But I know that whatever hard times come our way, as we look back, we’ll be reminded to look for the unspeakable moments of joy that will come also.

Vitaliy, there is nobody I admire more than you. You are one of my main sources of unspeakable joy. My life has never looked the same since you entered it. We are not promised another decade, but I am thankful that I have you today. Tomorrow morning when we wake up, I will be thanking God for giving you another year of life. Another year for me to enjoy you. Let’s celebrate!

Goodbye 29, hello 3 – 0! Happy, Happy Birthday to the love of my life. My handsome Ukrainian! Let’s continue our adventure.

xoxo
CP, your cutie pie

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Written by Candace on August 26, 2013 | 6 Comments

Our First
Big Fat Greek Wedding

This past weekend we had the pleasure of photographing our very first big fat Greek wedding.

When Nicole initially emailed to inquire about our services, she asked if we had ever photographed a Greek wedding. I believe in transparency, so I told her we had not. Then I followed with, “But we have seen the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding so perhaps that will help us prepare.” She played along and assured me that was exactly what we should expect. I loved Nicole’s sense of humor and was thrilled when she and Anthony chose us to be their wedding photographers.

Nicole and Anthony’s wedding was this past Saturday and I’m still smiling about it today. It was everything I dreamed a big fat Greek wedding would be and more. Towards the end of the reception, I hugged Nicole’s mom goodbye and told her I wanted to be Greek. We laughed together as we had many times that day. I don’t know if it’s the Greek culture or just Anthony and Nicole’s family and friends, but they not only made us feel welcome, they made us feel like we belonged.

As we drove home exhausted and achy after the long day, I couldn’t help feeling thankful. I love being a part of doing whatever it takes to make our clients’ wedding day the very best it could ever be. This brings Vitaliy and I true joy. And it’s achieved in many more ways than just taking a picture.

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Written by Candace on August 20, 2013 | 8 Comments

7 Years:
The Deets

As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, Vitaliy and I celebrated our 7 year anniversary.

Though I made the announcement, I realized I never followed up to share how we celebrated. It was an absolute perfect day so I wanted to tell you all about it in case anyone wanted to steal any of the ideas.

The night before our anniversary, we swapped ideas, but we went to bed without any real decisions being made. That morning we woke up and decided to do 7 things that day to celebrate. We decided not to plan the day out, but to see how we felt after each activity at which point we’d plan the next. Without having a set plan and feeling like we needed to rush off to the next thing, the day flowed with total relaxation and ease.

Here are the 7 ways we celebrated.

1. Alana’s Cafe: One of our favorite things to do is go out to breakfast. We have a lot of memories together at Alana’s so we naturally found it to be the best way to start the day.

2. Oceanic Foot Spa: Getting pampered always feels like a good way to celebrate. Oceanic does incredible foot massages for an unbelievable price. The best part is that it ends up being a full body massage with an emphasis on the feet. We left feel relaxed for the rest of the day. I don’t think we’ll be waiting another year before we go back there.

3. City Lights Bookstore: The very first place Vitaliy ever took me when we started getting to know each other as friends was to Borders bookstore. He took me straight to the photography section (go figure!) and picked out a few of his favorite photographers. Then he sat me down and completely impressed me with his knowledge of the craft. Sadly, Borders is now a store of the past, but City Lights was located right by the restaurant where we planned to eat dinner. Vitaliy grabbed a few photography books on San Francisco and we enjoyed a little history lesson on our great city.

4. The House: We were first introduced to The House while celebrating our friends 10 year wedding anniversary. The food was so spectacular we decided it was a perfect place to return for our anniversary. As usual, it did not disappoint! If you live anywhere close to San Francisco or are planning a visit, you must checkout The House. It’s small and always packed so make a reservation or show up 15 minutes before it opens.

5. Anthony’s Cookies: After dinner, we needed something to satisfy our sweet tooth cravings. Chocolate Chip cookies are my go-to dessert so Vitaliy spoiled me with Anthony’s. We grabbed an assortment and made our way to the next destination.

6. Two Guns: Vitaliy and I like to think we’re movie connoisseurs. We love to watch movies of all kinds; we even go back to the old black and whites. We love to talk about the characters, the cinematography, the music, everything that makes up a good film. It only made sense that going to the movies would be the perfect way to end our day of relaxation and celebration. We picked Two Guns for a good laugh, and it did the job.

7. I take that back! We wanted to end our day with…I’m sure you can guess what the final activity was for our anniversary date. The best way to celebrate and keep the love alive. :-)

The photos above were taken at Alana’s Cafe.

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