Valentine's Day
Personal
Austin TX

Hey everyone. It’s been a touch quiet in here recently. I  have been back home in Canada for a few days now and my office has assumed the ‘worked in’ look (as in the sign on the door that reads ‘Creativity comes out of chaos!’ is now an apt warning). Things are getting done I am happy to say.

I can hardly wait to share images from the six different countries I visited in the past five weeks.  I am going to start with the last country before returning home however because of all the wonderful experiences this one brings the biggest smile to my face. Let’s delve a bit more into ‘me’ first before I tell you about the wonderful city that is Austin and the wonderful people that live there.

I adore people. Despite being an introvert I count myself so fortunate every day for the people that are in my life that inspire me, challenge me, teach me, and care about me – especially when I really don’t deserve it. I adore seeing couples just bask in each others’ presence. Together with my adoration of photography it seems to be rather natural I am a wedding photographer. Nothing brings me greater joy than seeing two people and their closest family and friends focus on the relationship they have built and promise to share forever together. Here’s the confession. I am entirely love cynical for myself. Entirely and thoroughly.  I am the friend and adviser.  If there was a fat lady wearing a polka-dot dress and flowery apron standing on the doorstep with her arms crossed smiling contently at the world going by in some idyllic fashion that’d be me (if you don’t follow the visual remember I’m the girl who thought the caribou was upside down on the quarter as seen here. Rest assured you are not alone in your confusion). Translation: Relationships were not for me and I was entirely okay with that. For every wonderful relationship I had seen I had seen equally devastating ones. I’m not a gambler.

Last year on Valentine’s Day I met with two dear University friends at Saigon Star across from the Foothills Hospital to celebrate a Singles Awareness Day lunch. Enjoy it we did (despite learning halfway through the meal one of said friends was a poser and was indeed in a relationship).  So many laughs, ridiculous jokes, and general poking fun at our singleness. It was lovely.

It was just a handful of months after said Singles Awareness Day. I’ll keep this part to a minimum.  The story is much more fun to share in person and far too convoluted to write in text without a diagram.  A series of coincidences, mutual friends, social media and random timing led to a new friend on my Facebook feed and ridiculously nerdy conversation. I’m a sucker for nerding out as seen on my About page. Nerdy banter led to sarcastic offers of seconding and unfortunately for said person a serious reply of ‘sure’ if they could make it work they could help with a wedding and I would show them the parts of Alberta I have fallen in love with and call home. There is no way to present this without thoroughly embarrassing myself. I, being the “girl that is the guy’s friend and not the girl that is the guy’s girlfriend” was completely and utterly oblivious to what was happening. Yes. Laugh. I give you full permission. He had to work hard. And be evaded (I prefer this over rejected because it truly was an evasion rather than a blatant rejection) once.

So started a long-distance-international-interracial-intercutural-relationship. Ya-da ya-da no one cares about all this so let’s move on to the pictures.

One would think Santiago, Chile to Austin, Texas would not be that painful of a trip. I mean Santiago to Houston, or Santiago to Miami, then a domestic flight to Austin. Twelve hours later from South America to North America thank you very much. Oh no. Twenty-two hours. How is that possible you ask? Air Canada only flies from Santiago to Toronto. Yes, I sacrificed my sanity for a few hundred dollars (that’s a lot of fuel money!) and points.

Twenty-two hours later it is Valentine’s Day and I am sorely low on sleep. I’m half expecting Sam (I just realized I have a tendency of leaving out crucial information. His name is Sam. You can see his wedding work here and his personal work here. Yup. Kind of awesome) to pop out from behind a pillar as he did the last time I visited. Nope. Among the rest of the people waiting was a well dressed young guy wearing a newsboy-ish cap and a sign reading STADDON. Bless my heart.

I was told there was going to be a homemade dinner. This is mostly on account of my adamant assertions that I really didn’t want to indulge in the kitsch-iness that is Valentine’s Day. I mean not seeing each other for two months was reason enough to consider it a special day in my books. There really aren’t words to describe my reaction to seeing what he had prepared. Perfectly set linens, place-settings, and a centrepiece. I gasped (I am not much of a gasp-able type if you know me). At least four months prior I told Sam about how as a child I would go into rock filled drainage ditch behind my neighbours property that was lined with pussy willows. I would take them in my hands and just feel them against my skin.  There in the center of the table – pussy willows. Freak. Guys aren’t suppose to be this thoughtful.

Then this. Enjoy the visual feast that Sam prepared.

Lobster Wrap

Banh Mi Sliders. Drunken Shrimp Noodle Bowl

Tuna Pizza

Boston Cooler. Mascarpone Cheesecake. Miles of Chocolate

P.S. My apologies for the less than lovely photography. After 22 hours in transit photography was the last thing on my mind. Om nom.