A Very Christmas 5 Things Tuesday

Hello Friends and Merry Christmas to you all. It’s my first California Christmas away from my immediate family and it’s a little strange for me, but at least I have friends and cousins to spend the today with. So I’m OK.  

I just need some great holiday movies, time to make a crap load of Christmas cookies (snowflakes & snowballs galore!), and to be in the company of people I love.  

Today I thought I’d bring you some of my favorite Christmas-themed Youtube videos for my 5TT. So here you go!

1  The BEST E-Card you will ever get - This is one of my all time favorite Natalie Tran videos. She’s the best. Seriously, if you wanted I may sing this song to you. Dance motions included. All you have to do is ask. 

2  WFW: Holiday Edition 2010 - It’s no secret that I’m a fan of Wong Fu Productions. These guys are a hoot! But of all their videos, this WFW holiday video is one of my favorites. So many great quotes in this one video!

3  Dave Barnes Christmas Extravagan Za Part Two - Seriously, Christmas wouldn’t be complete without a little bit of Dave Barnes Christmas Extravan Za. It’s been happening seven years in a row!  WHAT!?!!?

Yes. 

Dave Barnes is one of my favorite musicians (you may heard of his hit Grammy nominated hit “God gave me you” made famous by Blake Shelton). And I’ve seen him perform live with Matt Wertz (best duo ever slash amazing show). But Dave Barnes is just as hilarious as he is talented! These videos prove it.

4  MATT WERTZ’ “Christmas Just Ain’t Christmas Without You” Acoustic Video! - I had a hard time finding a non-movie related, non-music related Christmas video to top off this list. So I decided just to finish it off with a great acoustic hit by Mr. Matt Wertz.

Enjoy!




5 Things Tuesday

Happy Tuesday folks. It is COLD business here in LA. Probably not as cold as it is back home in Seattle (I hear it’s snowing), but it’s cold regardless. Gives me an excuse to wear my eskimo boots! Yay!

Anyways. Here’s 5 Things going on with me:

1  TIME FOR A NEW MOLESKINE NOTEBOOK - I can’t believe it’s almost the new year already, which means time for a new Moleskine planner! Yes, I’m that much of a nerd that this excites me. What’s even better is the fact that I had to graduate to a bigger planner. Between life notes, biz plans, client meetings, church notes, and random doodles I’m realizing that a regular medium sized notebook isn’t enough for me anymore.

BOOM. Bigger planner equals seriousness. 

One day I’ll do a post about my random doodles. I draw a lot of robots. And t-shirt designs. 

2  I SURVIVED THE BUSIEST WEEK EVER (JUST BARELY) - Considering I did Help Portrait and Disneyland back-to-back last weekend, and then headed straight into a full work week … I have no idea how I made it through alive.

Monday night meetings, crafting pizzelles on Wednesday, emergency model test shoot/headshots on Thursday (taking advantage of good weather when we have it!), taking on a new client with a rush ordered turnaround, trip out to IKEA for Help Portrait frames, random movie night Lauren’s house (without Lauren present).

By the time I got to Saturday, I was EXHAUSTED. And I basically cancelled my weekend plans just to rest.  

3  SPEAKING OF NEW CLIENTS & GRADUATING TO BIGGER THINGS - I got a great referral this week from my Wittlebee friend. Apparently I did something good to have her pass my info on to a fashion magazine! Sweet.

So I just landed a small job doing an editorial spread for a summer clothing. It’s small, but it’s different and for a print magazine that’s in conjunction with Macy’s. That’s right. My photography just reached a whole new level of awesome. And on top of that, the clothes they gave me to shoot are all super cute. They even got Andi’s approval. That’s huge.

4  WINTER FINALES BE DOING IT GOOD - So last night, television reached a whole new level of BEST. Seriously, I haven’t been that enthralled with TV in awhile, but since both HIMYM and Gossip Girl were nearing their ends it was time to wrap up stories. 

And I’m not going to go into details because I don’t want to spoil anything for you - but dude, seriously. The writers did it right. I literally was crying last night watching HIMYM. And then rewatched today and cried again.

Then I watched the series finale of Gossip Girl and was baffled by the revealing of who Gossip Girl was. I seriously was floored. Totally didn’t see it or expect it to come. But it totally makes sense. But at the same time my mind is blown.

So yeah. TV. Thank you.

5  CHRISTMAS PLANS - I’ve been on the fence about travel plans. I’ve just been super tired lately and I kind of want to stay put for a little bit. And since my family doesn’t really do much for Christmas, I’m going to stay here and spend it with my cousins in Burbank. A little Garcia family fun. What what. 

And since my family does New Years big (all day Chinese Pot Stickers ftw), I’m going to go home for that and stay throughout the first week of the new year. I feel like that makes more sense than trying to get out sooner and stretching the trip out. 

A little bit of home but not too much. Somehow LA feels more like home. Is that weird? Oh well. I’m not a Cali girl though. 

In lieu of my missing Christmas back home, I bring you the BEST CHRISTMAS SONG IN THE WORLD.



MONDAY MUSIC SHARE: The Neighbourhood - Sweater Weather


I sort of pride myself on knowing good music. And I usually have my trusty list of sources when it comes to finding out who’s at the forefront of it all. RELEVANT’s The Drop has been hinting about great music for years. Paste’s samplers are always a win. SKINS has always had a bomb soundtrack. So did all the Twilight movies.

But I have to add a certain someone to the list. Miss Dianna Agron has GREAT taste in music. You know her, she plays Quinn Fabray on “Glee.” Seriously, I’ve been following her personal Tumblr for awhile now and I keep adding music videos to my Youtube “watch later” list. And every time it’s good stuff. 

Thanks for the recommend D. I am enjoying the Neighbourhood. And I’m totally digging this video. Split screen love. Dope.


5 Things Tuesday

Happy Tuesday. Whaddup. 

It’s approximately 7 PM and I’m kind of taken aback with the idea that I’m getting this post in within reason. Weird, huh?

Well anyways, here goes it. 5 Things.

1  PASTE’S TOP 50 ALBUMS OF THE YEAR - One of the things I miss most about working at RELEVANT is just being in the know of what’s hip in the music industry. And honestly, I love me some good music but sometimes I don’t know where to look. Obviously I can look to my awesome roommate for news about the Backstreet Boys, but as far as indie/hipster worthy music this list is gold.

Out of 50 albums, I’ve only bought one. But I’ve heard of a handful of them and have been subscribed to a few Pandora stations. So I’m not completely out of the loop. But it’d be nice to have that edge you’d have working with the likes of Chad Snavely and/or Ryan Hamm. They knew where it was at. For now, though, this list will work. I’ve got music to buy!!

2  PRINCESS KATE MIDDLETON IS PREGGO -  It’s kind of neat to think that we witnessed history in the making not that long ago with the Royal Wedding. And now to see a new generation of royalty happening before our eyes. So crazy. But that childlike love of princess stories kind of resurface. Just can’t help it.

3  RAIN RAIN GO AWAY!! - It has been RAINY DAYS lately here in LA and I have no idea why. And in most situations, I love the rain. But when it causes me to cancel four of my photo shoots, that just plain stinks. 

Other than that I love the rain and wearing sweatshirts and jackets. I really wish I had a pair of Wellies. I’m thinking about getting some. This may happen.

4  LAST STRETCH FOR 2012 - There’s only one more month for the year and my thoughts are as follows:

  • Time to hustle - because I didn’t do all the things on my NY Resolution list or Pinterest Boards. Let’s gain some momentum now!
  • I need to plan for next year - Time to strategize, plan, budget for next year. Because I’m such a Type A person, I have to have a game plan or I won’t follow through. I have a lot of goals that I want to reach, big purchases I want to make, and places want to visit. 

First thing’s first with that planning ahead thing. Need to buy me a Moleskine Notebook. Gotta be legit with it.

5  SHIFT IN CAREERS - So for those of you who don’t know, I’ve only been doing photography part time. I’ve actually done it on the side for years, never really giving it my complete attention but ever since this summer I decided to shift gears and pour more into that. But now that it’s starting to pick up, I’ve decided to quit my SEO marketing job and devote my attention here. 

I’ve thought/prayed about this for a very long time. And honestly it scares the crap out of me. Quitting my job to be a business owner is scary stuff. But I know that this is what I’m supposed to do. Over the next month I’m officially transitioning out of my Chicago-based job to be here mentally 100% to grow this business. So all that hard work and hustle, it’ll be worth something someday.

In the meantime, I’ve brainstormed different ideas on how to supplant that missing income. Obviously, there’s seasonal jobs at The Gap or Apple (either I would do for the discounts!). And the easy choice of waiting tables. But I’ve also thought about teaching adjust college classes at UCLA or Santa Monica College.  I honestly would love to do that. But we’ll see. God has something good up His sleeve.  I just want to make sure it’s something that doesn’t take away from what I’m already doing. Anyways, I’ll keep you posted on all that!

Using Format