AC & Shiri's Going Away Party

So AC and Shiri got married...


AC quit his miserable job...and now they're going away for a little discoveryadventure/honeymoon. Mark & Todd's hosted a little going-away party with mustaches and stuff.

Kristen/Chrispy Engagement

Look who's engaged!



Yes, yes. Chrispy dropped a monster rock on Kristen a few weeks ago.




They had a little happy hour celebration at their neighborhood bar.



Yayyy! So excited for a Chrispy/Kristen wedding!



Whoever came up with that stupid saying, "You can't find true love in a taco costume." is WRONG.

Wooooooooooo

Woke up to an email informing me that I had booked the beautiful wedding of a beautiful couple in Palm Springs next Fall. Full rate. All expenses paid. Several friends will be at the wedding.

Best. Day. Everrrr!!!!!!!!!

Sorry I have not updated meaningfully in quite a while. I am swamped. Swampy swampy swampytown.

Will post lots of stuff soon though. Promise.

Rainforest Frog

Maxy is just so fr*ckin' talented.

Ball Boy FAIL

My buddy Granto works as a ballboy during the US Open (you may remember him from his Caylee Anthony Halloween costume).

The other night he ATE SH*T while trying to retrieve a ball.

And now he's famous.



Kind of...

DC Sleep Study / Smathers & Brannnnson

So a couple of weeks ago when I was down in DC I had an informal sleep study done.

Turns out I have a slapnea.

(AKA Sleep Apnea.)

Basically what that means is my throat collapses when I sleep and often I stop breathing for minutes at a time until I wake up (usually without knowing it) gasping for air. Sexy, right?

This deprives my body of oxygen and as you can probably imagine in the long-term is not good for the heart and can be life-threatening.

So I came back down to DC for a more official sleep study. This time in the lab.

I would've done it in NYC, but Arj's sister Sharm happens to be one of the best sleep doctors in the country and my insurance doesn't cover a sleep study (they usually run thousands of dollars) and it just so happens Sharm's practice just moved into a brand new space and her boss agreed to do my sleep study in exchange for some pictures of their staff and new setup. Woo!

I arrived at 8pm last night and they hooked me up to a million wires to monitor everything from my breathing to my eye movements to my brain activity...




Then they attached a mask and I was told to go to sleep.



It was really hard.

I think I may have gotten two hours of sleep. But hopefully that was enough for them to get some kind of results.

In the end I will probably need a CPAP machine to help me breathe at night. But because the idea of sleeping with a big mask on my face sounds like the worst. EVER. I may explore the option of having surgery to remove my monstrous tonsils and other superfluous organs that are obstructing my throat so that I can breathe easier...

EEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKK!!!!

Will let you know what happens!

-----------------------------------------------

Anyway, while I'm in DC I'm crashing with Peter & Michelle.

And it works out that they needed me to come down to take some new pictures of some of Smathers & Branson's newest products.

We swung by headquarters...



And picked some items out of their giant stockroom.



The business is REALLY blowing up. (Each little plastic baggie in the shot below represents an order waiting to be filled.)



Here are some of their newest offerings...

Hats!



Cufflinks!



Christmas ornaments!



Pillows!



And totebags!



It's amazing because the possibilities for expansion are endless.

World domination is imminent!

Indian people are fucking crazy...

In the best possible way, of course!

This is a real email I just received minutes ago from a friend from college...

----------------------------------------------------

from: MF@gmail.com
to: d.k@gmail.com
date: Mon, Sep 10, 2012 at 1:31 PM
subject: wedding photography!!

so we've finally negotiated with the parents about dates and ceremony details. we'd love to talk about your availability to shoot the wedding events (events plural because we're sasian and we can't really argue about it).

here's what we're thinking

1. saturday nov. 24, 2012: small islamic ceremony for 50ish people at my house in orange county (note that's THIS year)
2. saturday may 11, 18 or june 1, 2013: nyc ceremony and reception (the real deal the way we want it). venue tbd
3. end of june 2013: OC reception hosted by my parents for their closest 500 family and friends
4. august 10ish 2013: Michigan reception hosted by z's parents for their closest 500 family and friends

i'm not really sure we are planning for an engagement photo shoot yet, so it'd be great to get a quote for the above 4 events, which i realize is a lot and all over the country but we really want ONE person handling all of our pictures.

let me know what your availability is and what the pricing looks like.

talk soon!

-MF

FML

Just in case you thought only good things happen to me.

Last night at 3am I found myself at the NYPD Tow Pound.

Why?

Because I had gone to Conlix's to play poker and there is a newly installed "NO PARKING ANYTIME" sign in a zone that used to be an OK to Park spot after 6pm.

UUUUUGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH....

When I parked, I parked among a row of other cars too that had clearly not seen the new sign, so those cars probably got towed as well.

SO aggravating.

HATES a tow pound!

Towing Fee = $185
Parking Ticket = $65
Cabs = $40
Hours wasted = 3

Plus I spent an hour calling 911, then 311, then the 9th Precinct, then the 6th Precinct, then finally the Tow Pound to locate the exact wherabouts of my car.

UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH



It's ok. More good things are bound to happen now.

Wooooooooooooohoooooo!!!!

I did headshots yesterday for my friend and pseudo-cousin Clare (she's the sister of a guy who used to date my 2nd-cousin). She works for her family's hotel chain, Warwick Hotels, and after our shoot I asked her if she could help me get on their preferred vendor list for weddings...thinking she was only going to help get me on the NYC hotel's list was plenty exciting.

But then I got this email just now...



And turns out she's hooking me up with their Dallas and Denver properties as well!

Upon further research I have discovered that they have more than 50 hotels worldwide in 22 countries: Austria, Belarus, Belgium, China, Dominican Republic, Fiji Islands, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United States, Thailand, The Netherlands, Tunisia and Vanuatu!

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKK!!! I want to shoot Tunisian-Fijian-Vanuatuan weddings!!!! EEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK

Off to give a headshot seminar!

EEEEEKKKK!

Public speaking.

EEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!

Boston / WeddingLOL / Shorehouse / Wedding

I got home the other night from Irene and Jon's wedding and PASSED the F OUT.

To recap the week...

I arrived in Boston Wednesday for a wedding consult (booked it!) and then had a photoshoot for a little actor child and then had some playtime Thursday with Danald and Kathryn.




Friday I drove down to RI for a wedding.

It was a fun wedding, though I did have a little "encounter" that I ended up posting on Facebook which got A LOT of "likes"...










I thought it was funny...but not THAT funny...

Apparently it hit a chord with some people.

Sad for that girl... we could have been friends.... but instead we became mortal enemies and I ended up trying my best to take photos of her in compromising positions.

Mission: Accomplished



Sorry. About. It.

This other girl was fun too. She's the one I was accused of "hitting on".

She did splits on the dancefloor. Woo!



My bride and groom were lovely, though!



The morning after, I booked it down (5 hour drive) to the Jersey Shore for some playtime with Katie, Semmesey, and Co.




We had a poolside bbq...



The Shorehouse is now furnished finally. It's pretty amazing.



We also played some pong-games.







Late at night there was, of course, a wine cellar danceparty.




I then woke up bright and early to drive up to the Hudson River Valley for Irene and John's beautiful wedding.

Prior to the wedding I had a delightful burger overlooking a waterfall.



And this happy couple was just beauteous. A beautiful beautiful bride and wedding!