Ellen and Alex and Tropicana

I'm moving in to Tropicana today-- my new apartment, which you will be hearing a lot about this year, because I am absolutely ecstatic about it.

So many good things.
#1, it's completely teal
#2, i will have things like a kitchen and a couch
(luxuries after living in a dorm room!)
#3, i have the best roommates ever ever ever
#4, these are the people who are in charge:el and alex and i collaborated on this little welcome postcard that each person will get when they move in! ahhhh! i'll pretend to be surprised when i find it in as i move in today. we did the photos outside of trop-- I need to post more of them this week, because they are so much fun.

okay, time to go put the boxes that i still haven't unpacked from the beginning of the summer back into the car to move in.

i cant wait
!

Tjepkema Family Photos!

Yesterday I did a family portrait session for the Tjepkema's. We had so much fun together! Being in college-land, it's always fun to hang out with families-- especially when there's little kids!

here's Reagan! she was such a crack up.

sweet Lila.Nate set up his train to show me.
I love this shot.

Kim and Travis!

each of their expressions just makes me melt.
woo-hoo for family photos!

Horton Staff Photos

This is an RA staff from Biola who had me take their staff photo--
I absolutely love Res Life-- and love making ordinary places
into an instant studio. We ran around Biola and took these.

Yeah Horton!!

Ahhhhh!!! (translated: i love this one!)this is Katie, the RD, the woman in charge!Katie and her husband!

they just, rule.

way to be blissful, blue-steelesque, excited, serious, scattered and genuine... all in the matter of 40 minutes.

- Shannon!

my summer was made complete

i saw a shooting star tonight

!!


the third one i've seen in two months!!!

ahhhh!!! so LUCKY!
the great part of the story: i was really bitter because i had to wait for 20 minutes outside for my brother, so i laid down on the sidewalk, bored and impatient. then the shooting star came and made my heart light up :) i was a little bit less bitter after that.

hollie wins!

its my mom's birthday today, so I had her choose the winner out of a hat. (Thanks everyone for being so enthusiastic about my contest. To the general public: i promise i didn't pay my 3 friends and my sister to enter my contest and make me look popular. i promise.)

Anyway,
HOLLIE WON!!

Now. Here's the thing: I have this amazing photo of my mom being all excited for choosing Hollie's name, but:
1. I can't find my card-reader
2. my computer is running out of battery and the cord is not in sight
3. i ate at Lucille's tonight (for my mom's birthday), and now I feel sick. I hate southern food. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I just do. I had a garden burger-- because I can't stand the taste of BBQ, and I accidentally ordered COLLARED GREENS as my side-dish, thinking it was SALAD. Collared Greens are not salad. Now I know!!!

BUT-- as a result of that fun fun fun fun fun contest, now I know without a doubt that:
I have 10 buds.
8 people like my photos
5 people LOVE me, and polas.
and, you like details about life. (like... the collared greens incident? eh??)

blehh-- i seriously feel sick.
this is not happy.

i wish i had that picture of my mom.
WHERE IS THAT CARDREADERRRRR.


oh! hollie! your book journal will be waiting on our new kitchen counter. (she is my roommate for my new APARTMENT!!

shhhhhhhhan.

free book journal! for possibly you.

You're here.

youuu you you.
Let me in on who you are!

in appreciation, and as a warm welcome to my life, one lucky commenter gets a free BOOK JOURNAL!! I'll mail it to you. :) Come out of hiding and admit you read my blog, and I'll reward you.
How fun.
______________________
A contest!
{all you have to do is
comment comment comment.}
______________________

Oh, do these exciting polls too.
click as many answers as you'd like.

6am photos: I was tired, but they RULE!

For about two years now I've wanted to shoot in the fog. Not just any fog... the 6am, I'm leaving early in the morning for a plane-flight kind of fog. ie: whiteness before the sun arrives.

My brother Ryan needed some photos for his new CD, and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to make someone get up at 6am! It'd be hard to do this to a client... but when it's your brother, banging on the door for a wake-up call is allowed.

this one's at the top of a hill, with a tree coming up from
behind him! from now on, all photoshoots will be held at 6am.
plan? {i love white!}

the plant is KILLING me.
i just love this photo.
simp-licit-yy.

he's so cute.
if he weren't my brother----

rocket.
shan

details, like i promised

i made a new blog header.
that is redundant, since you just scrolled past it to get here.

i figured i'd be less mysterious, and help stalkers know where they landed. eh?

so! onto the fun stuff.

last night for dinner i had this awesome, organic, natural, vegan, healthy, fresh, delicious, free-range, etc., meal.

I got a haircut in Hermosa Beach by a lovely girl named Marie (SHE RULES!!), and then I ate at a place called the Spot. I had a salad with jasmine rice, avacado, and tomato in it, with their famous tofu dressing on top. The tofu dressing was a stretch for me, but it turned out to be pretty fabulous. I also had iced tea, my favorite-- and it was a combination of chamomile, apple-cinnamon, and lemon zinger.
TALK ABOUT A ZINGER.
This iced tea
rocked
my
world.

wow.

oh, here's some leftovers from some photos brother Ryan took of me.
we shot them in the backyard.
my philosophy: photos need... light, and the world. then you're set.

a transformation: thugs --> supermodels

This was one of my favorite photoshoots.
These girls are good friends from high school,
and they asked me to photograph them.
Friends Photoshoot!
You don't know how excited I was when they walked up dressed as thugs. WHAT!! Who gets to do this! They totally rocked it.
Even better was their transformation. They hopped into a van halfway through, and came out looking like

this.

i have rockstars for friends.

here's lindsey
dayna.mon-icaSamira,and blythe.
{blx!}such lovely, lovely friends i get to have.ahhhhhhhhh!

what a blast!
do i say that after every shoot????
its true though.

[ps. aren't they HOT????!]

love, shan.

my grandma on a motorcycle

she emailed me this photo with the caption: You only live once!

zest! she brings such zest to life!