Weekend with the ladies!!

As I am typing this I'm in Sedona, Arizona with my mom, my auntie and my mom's friend Karla. I have been looking forward to this trip since the first time we talked about it. I can't even begin to tell you how much fun we're having and what an amazingly gorgeous place Sedona is! My aunt and I arrived at the Phoenix airport around noon and were promptly picked up by our limo drivers (otherwise known as Karla and mom). We began laughing before we even got in the car, and I don't think it will end until I get dropped off at the airport on Monday.

We arrived late yesterday afternoon at the timeshare and couldn't wait to hit the shops (it helped that our room wasn't ready yet, so we figured "what else is there to do besides shop?"). Our first purchase was matching wine goblets that are hand painted. They are beautiful and we each bought one so that each time we use it at home it will remind us of our long weekend together. Naturally, once we got back to the room, the first thing we filled it with was a margarita :)









One of the other things we purchased were two little stuffed animals named Dot and Blackie. My aunt and I will be sharing Blackie and my mom and Karla will be sharing Dot. The plan is to take our new little friends on future adventures and photograph them along the way :) After we shopped for a while it was time to purchase the staples for the weekend, margarita mix, goodies to munch on, and, well, really nothing very healthy. Oh, actually, I think there may have been an avocado involved.



Today we went to Tlaquepaque which is a beautiful, spanish inspired outdoor shopping area with lots of shops, restaurants and and art gallery area. One of the things I loved most about the Tlaquepaque Center was the architecture, along with the rock chairs; yes, rock chairs, that were extremely comfortable.
I love photography because it forces me to really SEE things instead of just looking at them. It seems that every turn we make there is something new and exciting to observe. After we enjoyed an afternoon of eating mexican food and shopping to our hearts content (with no husbands and children asking "are we finished yet?")we wanted to go exploring. As a person who grew up in the bay area and always saw mountains and pine trees, the landscape of Arizona is something that I'm enjoying so much! The colors, the trees, the rocks...everything!!!!!




As the "lead photographer" of this group :), I pulled everyone's photos together tonight and we had a little slideshow we all viewed. I was really impressed with everyone's point and shoot camera photos, but I think I've created at least one monster!! Karla watched me today as I was taking photos and she's discovered that she really enjoys it. Tonight she decided she wanted to do a still life photo shoot with some coasters and a wine glass. Now, as you're trying to envision this, keep in mind that there is laughter coming from everyone and it almost seemed more like a Saturday Night Live skit than anything. My mom was holding a white sheet (and when that wasn't good enough Karla said she needed something tan, so mom pulled a big blanket out of the closet), and auntie was holding a penlight sized flashlight, that I think had a blue light. It was absolutely hysterical!!! To all my clients, trust me when I say these are NOT my assistants! I can't tell you how funny the three of them were. Actually, why don't you picture the Three Stooges (or maybe Lucy and Ethel plus 1) doing the SNL skit, and you'll get an idea of what I was witnessing. Well, I'll let you be the judge of her photo-do you think I should enter this into my next month's blog poll?...no, I don't think so either.

I'll be posting more images in the next day or so from our adventures on the pink jeep tour, but for now take I hope you enjoy looking at what we've been doing!