this weekend was full of fun things. saturday morning i went out for breakfast with my brother & mom at one of my favourite local spots: wendell’s cafe. i was supposed to have an engagement session that afternoon but it poured rain so we cancelled. then i opted for a treadmill run at the gym instead of in the pouring rain: in preparation for sunday. [see below] saturday afternoon i went to another favourite spot: bellingham with my dear friend leah. we did a little shopping: buffalo exchange for leah, trader joe’s for me [grocery shopping is soooo much better than shopping for clothes] before heading to woods coffee for a game of scrabble by the fireplace. it was restful and wonderful.

sunday morning, i had signed up to run the fort langley 10km race. why? i don’t know. spontaneous decision. i saw on my friend tania’s facebook that she was running it and next thing i knew i was messaging her asking if i could run with her. the things i do, sometimes. i’m not a race-girl. i like running alone, on my own time. running with hundreds of other people at 8am on a sunday morning in the rain is not always my idea of a good time. in hindsight, i legitimately did have fun and i’m glad i ran. i was really proud of my time [1 hour, 2 minutes] and i even got a medal…. along with everyone else. [the last time i ran a timed 10km race was back in grade 12. i also ran a 15km once.]

a big thanks to everyone who entered the uppercase journal giveaway! wow, lots of entries. that’s fun. the random number generator said #61 — Felisha Perez! send me an email with your mailing address and i’ll get your magazine sent out as soon as i can. finally, one last thing to round off this totally random post — friday afternoon i photographed a super sweet couple named becca + austin. i love their images and can’t wait to share more soon! have a beautiful monday.

my mom grew up in vancouver, my dad moved to vancouver for work [from alberta], they met at a church in downtown vancouver, they got married at the vancouver hotel, i was born in vancouver general hospital. we lived in vancouver until i was a month old [i think] and then we moved to a nearby suburb. then we moved to a farther suburb. then a farther one. then a farther one. and now we’re in langley — about an hour from downtown on a no-traffic day. most kids that grow up in the ‘burbs have no concept of the city… and i would have included myself in that category until i started my business. one of the coolest things about shooting weddings/engagement sessions for the last four years has been the opportunity to work in a place i don’t live. i have never experienced city life. eleven days in downtown montreal without a car is the closest city-livin’ i have experienced. [which i adored, by the way. take me back.]

in the last four years, i have come to learn vancouver. i’ve almost explored every part. i can drive without a GPS. i can tell you fun things to see and do in every area. i am far from a “local” but i feel proud of my knowledge for a little langley girl! through business connections, i’ve had the pleasure of making some really awesome friends in the city as well — which equals a lot of “let’s drive into vancouver and coffee-date three people back to back today” days. i really, truly love the city. not downtown, but the outskirts of the city. commercial drive, main street, granville island. some of my favourite spots.

yesterday, i drove into vancouver to visit my friends annie & spencer and see their brand new coffee shop that they opened. CRAZY. i’m so proud. i met annie through my friend jess — and it’s soooo cool to see a dream her and her husband spencer have had for years come to pass. they opened matchstick coffee roasters with their friend aaron, a month ago,  in the mount pleasant area of vancouver. fraser and 15th avenue. i dropped by, snapped a few photos, caught up a little with annie over coffee, answered some emails and… ran into two clients. ;) this happens to me SO much in the city! i love it. i saw sophia + her lovely mom having coffee, caught up with her about her & jamie’s june wedding and then i saw laura, whose birthday party, engagement session and wedding day i shot a few years ago!

i spent the afternoon catching up with robyn for the first time in six months. her and her husband andrew have been traveling all over the world the past few months — they moved to paris and managed to find time to squeeze in a whole bunch of incredible trips. scotland and morocco, to name a few. loved hanging out in her cozy olympic village apartment. robyn makes the most incredible food. finally, i was off to meet cat watson, a friend of my friend kristen from maryland, who had just moved to vancouver with her husband matt. the four of us, cat, myself and her two cute kids, walked to whole foods for some food & coffee and chats.

after a long day in the city, i got in my little car and drove an hour and a half home on highway 1 in traffic. ever since replacing my radio last month [i can now listen to my iPhone and not just the radio!] i really don’t mind the drive. absolutely in love with hillsong united’s live in miami album. check it out. it makes every long drive better. hope you are all having a great thursday!

it’s been one of those weeks. everyday i have wanted to blog and everyday, i couldn’t find the energy or words. the week went by without… unless you count the sparse “hey, look at rev conference” blog on monday. after a weekend full of people at conference, i need a dumb amount of time to recover. i don’t mean sit on the couch kind of recover [boring] — but i mean time alone to think, or sit on the floor with my bible, or journal random thoughts, hey, even run 10 kilometres like i did on monday. basically be alone. alone alone.

my schedule this week: non-stop meetings, coffee dates, an engagement shoot in the city, commitments every evening, didn’t leave me with that time to recharge. my parents have been out of town for two weeks, so add in two high-maintenance dogs to co-ordinate and consequently, a house to keep clean [not an easy task, i'm finding]… i’m feeling done. my laptop hard drive failed earlier this week and the new hard drive that i had installed recently crashed as well. so all of my scheduled “in between” meeting time was anything but productive.

but this is okay, because it’s saturday & next week is a new week. i have a new laptop coming. a few days behind isn’t the end of the world. there is soooo much i want to write about [conference, friendships, engagement shoots, what God is teaching me!] — but i’ll leave that to this next week, on my new laptop. hopefully.

in the meantime, all you get is this boring post.

ps. juuuuust loving the old school alicia keys lately. anybody, anybody?
pps. also juuuuuust pumped to see “the vow” tonight.
ppps. enjoy your weekend.
pppps. i took this photo and texted it to my friend leah last night. she was blessed greatly. i trust that you will be likewise. hahaha.