I’ve Moved!

Please visit me at my new home at http://www.crystalle.net

Thank you!

While Waiting :: Chau and Long Slideshow

Yes, I’m still waiting on debuting my new look and my new blog… but I can’t wait to post something about the fabulous wedding that  I shot with Catherine on Labor Day weekend. It was a wedding to remember; a wedding that sets the bar for all weddings; a wedding extravaganza!

Chau and Long had the most beautiful wedding that I have ever seen. They are truly blessed to have shared this day with so many friends and family. I won’t say much more until I can properly blog with my new look. Thanks again for being patient and remember to be on the look out for the new site!

Enjoy the slideshow!

in the mean time…

You can see my latest/updated work via my flickr. Thanks again for being so patient!

hang in there

Bear with me people! I’ve been MIA for good reasons! I’ve been working on a new look and a ne w blog…

I have tons of pictures to blog about, but I really really want to wait for the new blog! Thanks for waiting!

Anniversary Dinner Disaster :P

For our anniversary, I wasn’t planning on going out or doing anything extravagant because school is taking up all of my time. I did, however, leave school early to have a quick bite with Chris before I having to get back to work.

Chris and I went to M Cafe on Melrose and La Brea for some light and healthy food. After going outside to sit and then moving back inside because it was too cold, Chris spills his ice water all over my lap! We ate as fast as we could so that I didn’t have to sit in soaked jeans… which means, no dessert.

Being that I looked like I peed in my pants, we couldn’t “go” anywhere else for dessert. So instead, we went to Micky Dee’s for a chocolate covered soft serve. The idea was better than it actually tasted. Partly because it just wasn’t as good as I remembered and partly because it was a hot mess. Trying to keep that thing in tact and not all over the place killed all of  the enjoyment.

Oh, wait. errrrk! Back up. We order two soft serves in the drive thru and Chris decided to use some of the change in his car. He swears that he counted exactly 82 cents, but the girl at the drive through insisted that he was sort thirty-some cents. It took three tries and five minutes, but they finally figured it out.

It was pretty hilarious. As we’re  eating our soft serves, I look over at Chris and he has yogurt all over his mouth/nose, and chocolate all over his hands.

That was our anniversary dinner. No 5 star restaurant experience, but memorable to say the least.

My Favorite Gift

My sweet, sweet husband sent me this at school today! Well, it’s supposed to look like this:

But of course, by the time I got it home to take a photo of it, I had already eaten most of it (with the help of others, of course!). So now it looks like this:

It was tasty! This is the best gift! Practical, pretty, and yummy! Thanks agapi mu!

happy anniversary kiki

Wow- One. Full. Year.

Happy 1st Anniversay to us! We made it! I must say… that year flew by! It’s been a surreal year to say the least. I know we’re married, but it still doesn’t feel real. How is that, you ask? May be it’s because I went back to school and being that I’m at school about 80 hours a week, it still feels like we’re dating… only living together 🙂 Technically we haven’t really felt what it is like really be married. The good news is, we have the rest of our lives to get into the groove of being married, starting this June. Woo-woo!

Chris has been a really great husband though. Not a lot of people would put up with their spouses being at work for long hours, but Chris is. He does the laundry, cleans from time to time (when I ask), does the grocery shopping, lets me sleep in the car whenever we drive anywhere, and he even brings me dinner and occasionally when it’s nice out, he’ll bring me a subway sandwhich and we’ll picnic in the quad. Good thing, UCLA is picturesque.  I’m really lucky to have him. I have a very difficult next 3 weeks and I’m relieved to know that he’s there for me, whatever I need, whenever I need.

*Love you hun. I look forward to many more years with you!

This blog wouldn’t be a blog now, if I didn’t post pictures right? So on with the wedding day recap. All photos were taken by the fab, Sarah K. Chen and Micah Gilmore. They are both so awesome. I loved every minute of working with them. I secretly wish I were getting married again so that I can do another shoot with them 🙂

Sunday, May 18th, 2008.

Natalie Boketov got me all dolled up and ready. I was on the phone with Chris freaking out because he was ready and on schedule and I wasn’t.

A girl’s best friend(s). Diamonds and SHOES!

My mom getting me fastened and pinned up for the tea ceremony.

Then the Kiki came with his entourage bearing gifts 🙂

Then it was time to change and to take some photos.

Boys always complain about this stuff, but deep down they love it.

My flowers are from Kim Chi Flowers. They were perfect. I didn’t care about flower type, so I told her my colors and, ba-da-bing ba-da-boom. Perfection.

Chris definitely had something in his teeth.

The guy would not stop yawning! He got caught on camera twice!

One of my fav’s.

Another fav. This one was Micah’s set up.

Can you tell Chris is having a blast?

Pretty dresses!

We had a nice ceremony of about 100 people in the backyard of my friend’s house! Isn’t it a dream? I loved every minute of it. Intimate and low key!

Ha, fil, was snapping away as expected!

Of course Chris ordered his ring without trying it on, so we really had to squeeze it on. This is a picture of him spitting on his finger for comedy relief. Ha.

Sealing the deal.

Finally. 5 years and some months later.

My parents are so cute. I love them.

Are you ready for some cuteness overload? 1… 2… 3… Meet Evie…

…her sister Sofia…

…and of course, Elle. She’s going to be a super star!

A-Dor-able.

And our favorite baby, Melia.Isn’t Chris handsome here?

At the reception, fil got choked up and mil stepped in to support him and take over the thank you speech to the attendees. Talk about teamwork.

Yum! I loved my cake. It was so pretty! It’s from Lily’s Bakery in Westminster. Affordable, tasty, and beautiful!

Then it was time to visit the tables.

Then, speeches. Catherine and Rachel DElivered. Their speech was off the chain!

See? Rachel knew it. She even did the fist pump after 🙂

Did I mention cuteness?

Then the guys unsuccessfully taught Chris how to dance Greek… Hmp. He claims he’s Greek. *sure…….*

And they dragged me into it and obviously I failed.

And that’s all she wrote. One year later and still married as ever!

Jacquie and Jason :: 04.19.09

A few weeks ago, I went to Northern California to shoot Jacquie and Jason’s wedding. It was a beautiful day, of course filled with laughter, love, and even a few tears.

For as long as I have known Jacquie, she has been searching for Mr. Right, and after all these years, he has finally come! Jason couldn’t be a more perfect fit for Jacquie (and the rest of us crazies in the family)! His pure adoration of her and her glowing love for him melted all of our hearts. I’m guilty of shedding some tears when she walked down the aisle with my father in law to meet her new husband.

I have really enjoyed shooting your engagement and wedding. I hope you make lots of little ones soon so that I can capture them as well!!

Hope that you had a wonderful honeymoon and that the move goes smoothly! I’m really sad that you’ll be living across the country, but at least I have our big family get together(s) to look forward to! I wish you both an exciting journey together. I love you both!

Now on to the photos 🙂

Thanks to my sister Catherine Tang for helping me with the shoot.

I met the girls at Shelly’s, Jacquie’s cousin and brides maid, estate! It is a breath taking home! Just perfect for the wedding day! The girls had quite the task to get Jacquie into her gown, but totally worth it.

Catherine got this detail shot of the bling!

Photo by Catherine Tang.

Jacquie and Elle.

Then we headed to the church to catch the boys in action. Cat totally capture the cool in this shot.

I like how COOL these guys look!

Kostaki is such a cutie! He speaks Spanish, Greek, and English! I hope my kids will be trilingual.

The Mr.

Look at the way they look at each other. It just makes you melt!

Brotherly and sisterly love…

Then, back to the estate for the reception! Jason’s father led us in prayer before we headed to the buffet.

By the way, we have the cutest babies in our family! L-o-v-e!

And finally… I got to steal the couple away for some photos.

I like the passion in this one!

And then, they lived happily ever after.

back from a fabulous weekend!

Agh, back to reality.

This weekend I went to northern California for a wedding and got to spend some time with friends and family. It was a HOT weekend! I got dizzy from sweating so much!

Congratulations to Jacquie and Jason on their nuptuals! I hope you have a wonderful honeymoon! I had such a good time with you and am very, very sad that you’re moving 😦 Thank goodness we’re family now so we’ll see each other soon again!  I’ll have to get some teasers up as I go along. Thanks for understanding that I’m in my last 7 weeks of school! I love you both  xoxo

Also on my weekend fun was the Britney Spears concert with my girlfriends in Anaheim! I had a blast! I love Britney and I’m happy to see her back in the game! I felt like a teenager going into the concert, but felt like an old, disheveled lady when I walked out. I’m beat from my weekend of fun.

Now back to studio work… boo!

Easter

Last weekend Chris and I went to my in-law’s house for an Easter brunch. It was good times with the family, as usual. We ate, talked, joked around, and then went bowling… a perfect end to a perfect weekend!

Here is Melia again with her uncle Chris.