Aloha and welcome to my new blog! I am so excited about the new look and the promo videos I did to launch the site! I feel this new site is a much better representation of myself. I hope by hanging out at my blog you will be able to get to know me even better. I am a what you see is what you get kind of girl! I am high maintenance behind the scenes but totally laid back on the outside. This does not mean I am fake it just means I like things a certain way but can let thing go if they are not. I wear makeup to the gym and if you come to my house for a visit it will look perfect when you walk in the door but I don’t expect it to stay that way long. Not sure where I am going with all this….I guess what I am trying to say is that when you read my blog I want it to be real and when you meet me in person I want you to feel like you already know me. I want my new site to be more personable then this is my job, here are my photos. So in between the shots I want to have some more personal blogs then I have had in the past. I used to write a personal blog long ago and people even thought I was funny….who knew!

So all that aside the first thing I want to share on my new blog are some behind the scene shots from the Trash the dress video. I cannot tell you how much fun I had putting this together. Ok I will admit I stressed a bit also but it was a good, excited, I hope this all goes the way I have it envisioned in my head kind of stress. An ugh I am going to be on camera and still have 20 pounds to lose kind of stress. It was basically like planning a whole wedding from the dress down to the flowers and I could not have done it without allot of help and great volunteers! I have to say a special thanks to you all for making my plans come to life. Thanks to Brook and Julian for being my models. Thanks to Coco Dela Cruz of www.modelmayhem.com/corvette for doing an amazing job on hair and makeup! To Patricia Inouye of www.fleurcouture.com for the fabulous flowers. Thank you peter Fowler of www.midshotproductions.com for your unbeleivable talent as a videographer. To the lady on craigslist selling wedding dresses at a great price! To Matsumotos and Haleiwa Surf and Sea for letting me shoot in front of their stores on a busy Saturday. Last but not least I want to thank my husband for producing my new website and letting me roll endless ideas off of him, and the rest of my family for putting up with me while being sleep deprived  because I could not sleep with all the excitment rolling around in my head.  Without all of you my vision would never had become a reality and I think you all absolutely ROCK!

I have included a link to all their sites because you future brides are going to want to check these guys out.  Because a picture is worth a thousand words I will leave you with some of my favorite images of the day!  Thanks to all family and all my FaceBook fans for all your love and support!

Oh and one last thing!  If you have not already seen the Trash the Dress video please go to my website and click on the video link!  I love comments so let me know what you think!

Last week I had the pleasure of meeting Arlene.  She wanted to celebrate the fact that she is in her 50’s with a photo shoot. Let me just say, if I look half as good as she does when I am 50 I am going to be a happy little camper!  Arlene and I had some time to chat it up while we were waiting for some good light.  Five minutes into our conversation I felt like I had known her my whole life.  Not only is she easy to talk to but  she just might be the sweetest women on the island.  She told me she is planning on cutting her beautiful long hair and donating it to Locks Of Love.  Having had long hair her  whole life, this will not just be a hair cut, but more like losing a limb.  I am in awe of her courage and her generosity.  I imagine she is both excited and scared to take this step but I think it is going to be gorgeous!  I told her we may have meet up again and do after pics!  Here are some of my favorite shots of Arlene being 50 and fabulous!

With a family of seven it seems there is always a birthday party to plan.  Finding creative ways to celebrate being another year older just might be the bain of my existence.  I mean how many times can a child high five Chucky Cheese  before  the mouse just  dose not cut the cheese any more?  This year Camryn turned 9 and as she puts it,  she is a pre-pre-teen.  Seriously is pre teen not enough to worry about now there is a pre-pre teen?  No wonder I have been frequenting the hair salon for that extra color touch up.  Pre-pre teen or not my little Camryn turning 9 is something to celebrate , and celebrate we did!

Camryn has been sharing a room with her little sister for the past two years and in doing so has been over exposed to all things that are pink.  Londyn is in love with anything princess and girly.  Although Camryn went through that same stage she feels it is time to turn in the Cinderella slippers for some lip gloss.  So we decide it was time for a room make over.  Her walls were already a light purple and I really did not want to paint them again, but we really wanted to do a black and white themed room.  As always Pottery Barn Teen was an answer to prayer and we found black and white bedding with purple accents.  I could not have found a better solution to our problem if I had designed them myself!  I painted their beds black and stacked them back into bunk beds to give them more room.  I repainted their doll house to match the new colors, created some canvases to match their bedding, and bought some new accents for their shelves.  I finished off the new look with some bench window seating and throw pillows, slapped some flower decals on the wall and called it a day!  Check out the before and after picks.

Now check out these after pics!

I know what you are all thinking…..Martha Stewart step aside!  In fact I think that is what Camryn gasped when she saw it for the first time.  Needless to say she is very excited about her new “pre-pre teen room!”  She still has to share it with a four year old, but at least now it dosn’t look like she shares it with a four year old.

So once the room was finished there was only one thing left to do.  Wait for it……..SLUMBER PARTY!

Call me crazy, but 8 little pre-pre teens lined their little sleeping bags all over the floor of Camryn’s new room, and giggles to the wee wee hours of the morning.  It probably did not help that they went to bed on an extreme sugar high from the unlimited trips they took to the candy bar during movie time.

We started the party off with this game which was a total hit!

Each girl got a part in the play and they had to read through the script to figure out the mystery.  I played the part of the grumpy old maid to a tee!

After the game the girls stuffed their faces with hot wings, and fries.  I set out a huge veggie tray but it kind of sat there like a shy nerd at a sock hop and did not get too much attention.  Who wants vegtables when you can eat things fried in grease and still rock skinny jeans?  Oh to be a pre-pre teen again!

After dinner we opened presents and got into our jammies.  Here is Camryn with a few of her peeps!

I am sure you are wondering  who taught them those amazing dance moves in the above picture….that would be MOI!

After shaking our groove thing it was “Off To The Candy Bar!”

Add some popcorn and a movie and you have the makings of a great night!  They got a couple hours of sleep and just so the parents don’t feel left out I heaped them up on more sugar with a homemade waffle bar before sending them home.  I am pretty sure that sugar + no sleep + more sugar = some pre-pre teens turning into moody teenagers all day.  My friends just love me when I do that to their children!

So my little Cammy Cam, Hope your birthday was everything you wanted it to be, and more!  You are best pre-pre-teen on the planet and I am so lucky to be your mom!  Happy Birthday Fabulous!

I had such a blast with the Bennet family who were gathered in Hawaii from all over the mainland for a big family Christmas!  We headed to Ko Olina for a beautiful sunset on the beach!  I wish I had time to write more but it is a busy holiday season so I am just going to go ahead and post the sneek peak that I promised.  I hope you had a wonderful Hawaiian Christmas Bennet family!