Today I want to share the Hostess Blog....I cannot remember how I found this blog, but I looovvveee all the ideas.  There is inspiration for brides and for any kind of special event...holiday parties, bridal showers, birthday parties, etc, etc.  If you go take a peek I guarantee you will be oozing over this blog for at least an hour...so many cute ideas!  Now I want to throw a party...hmm, maybe I could throw a Thanksgiving party or a "I'm having my wisdom teeth taken out, please bring ice cream" party  ;)

Make sure you check it out:

And here is a quick detail shot from a beautiful wedding that I will be blogging very soon!

As I am viewing our images from our quick trip to Monterey and Pebble Beach, I realized that this past weekend was my fifth time up there in the past 2 months...can we say I'm a bit obsessed with Monterey!?

After my parents flew in on Wednesday I showed them all the awesome spots of Santa Barbara on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday and then we ate a delicious dinner at Trattoria Grappolo in Santa Ynez.  After that we took off for Monterey, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach and Carmel.  Friday was spent checking out the sites and drooling over the Pebble Beach links  :)  On Saturday we hit up our favorite wineries on Foxen Canyon Trail, like Riverbench, Foxen and Demetria and then we finished that day off with a bite to eat at Cold Springs Tavern--so basically Mike and I had a mini vacation and now it's back to reality!

Mike's go-go-gadget arms always come in handy for group pictures :)

There are tons of seals near our house and in Monterey (which is where this image was taken) and I finally was able to show my mom...

More seals!

Before anyone assumes that I did this (too bad I can't take credit for it, but if you know me at all, then you know my pumpkin carving skills are pretty lame!) we found this in the Pebble Beach Pro Shop...

The famous 18th green:

SOOO glad y'all came out Mom and Dad!  See you next weekend :)

Blogging may be limited over the next few days as I enjoy hanging out with my parents and take them around.  

Here are a few cute images of Bear from the other day...he was not at all interested in posing with our pumpkins....

Letting out a great big yawn to let me know how much he doesn't care...

and the cute pumpkins :)

Happy Hump day!

But first...I am thinking of holding a contest on my blog.  You know, I just love contests.  In the photography industry there's always multiple contests going on..."want a free website?" and I'm there doing backflips as a prerequisite, "want to win a brand new 5d mark ii?" and I'm right there capturing video of why I think I deserve one.  So, I just love contests...who doesn't love to win free things!?!

What is this contest about, you ask?  THE HOLIDAYS!  For some unknown reason I am super pumped about it this year...despite the current 90 degree weather and the fact that I haven't worn a sweater in over a year...but needless to say, I'm excited.  The other day Mike and I were swapping our favorite holiday time stories and I'm telling you, if he would let me, I would put a tree up TODAY!  But Mike did reason that with the dry and hot weather we've been having, our tree probably wouldn't make it til Thanksgiving and it would be the biggest fire hazard of the season...so I'm waiting somewhat unpatiently, but I thought a little holiday contest might get everyone in the mood.  What do you think??!

While you're contemplating here is a sneak peek from Saturday....