There's something SO relaxing about just getting out of town! I'm fortunate enough to have been raised by parents that love to travel and get away for a while. For example, we go to the States quite a few times a year and rent a room in a hotel just to chill; unwind; catch up on a little TV. It's so wonderful to have those times with your family!

This weekend was no exception. Thursday night we drove to the BC Ferry, and caught the 7:30 boat to Victoria. Our hotel was beautiful; right on the water. My Dad was there on a business conference for a half-day on Friday, and it was the perfect opporunity to sleep in and have brunch at the Blue Crab Restaurant downstairs.

The afternoon was spent driving and enjoying the drizzling rain (well at least I enjoyed it!). There's so many areas of Victoria I just don't remember! The last time I was on Vancouver Island must have been at least four or five years ago. Absolutely adorable homes, right near the water, gorgeous scenery. The fall colors were out in full force and we pulled over at the neatest little park for some photo ops.

Brother Brandon & I:


The good lookin' fam

Our beautiful brunch view:


There were lots of really neat nooks and crannies in downtown Victoria. I hope I get to shoot an engagement session down there someday!


Me sporting my latest, and only one of two purchases on the weekend, the hat:


And last, but not least, in Victoria we stopped into a local fudgery where we indulged in some Cookies n' Cream fudge! Mm!

Saturday morning we caught the ferry (2 actually!) and eventually made our way to Seattle. Unfortunately, I have no pictures to show from Saturday or Sunday, as we didn't do much "city exploring."

Saturday night we had tickets to the David Crowder Bandconcert at the Moore Theatre in downtown Seattle. I LOVE downtown! We seem to visit the suburbs of Seattle a TON! Edmonds, Redmond, Kirkland, etc--but we never make it to downtown. We had a little trouble finding the theatre (doesn't that always happen where you're running late?) and then had trouble finding parking, but I didn't mind. It gave me lots of time to absorb the sights and sounds!

The concert was phenomenal! Truly, the reason I was there was to see Phil Wickham, and through searching for his live tour dates found this concert. I could listen to that man all day! He only sang 5 songs, completely acoustic, and it was not enough! Definitely check him out (I know I've mentioned him before on the blog--I just love his spirit and his passion). As a photographer, I obviously "love" art-- and witnessing artists creating their art with such passion is inspiring.

The cherry on top of the weekend? New 4-inch purple suede high heels from the Premium Outlet malls.

Score.

Yesterday, Rachel and I had such a fun session for her senior portraits, running all around downtown historic Cloverdale. Isn't her dress gorgeous? It was so much fun to shoot with Rachel: we've been friends for over 5 years, but hadn't got together for almost 4 months. The shoot was a great time for catchin' up and creating some amazing images.

Rachel: Thanks for braving the laundromat, the scummy stinky back allies, and many interesting stares/looks with me! Hope you like your pictures.

The slideshow is below! (The cute song is by Natasha Bedingfield and called "How Do you Do.")