MOTHER’S DAY EASTER EGG HUNT & BRANDON WOELFEL-INSPIRED SHOOT

MY WEEK IN PHOTOS: MAY 8–13, 2018 (MOTHER’S DAY EASTER EGG HUNT & BRANDON WOELFEL INSPIRED SHOOT!)

The annual Mother’s Day trip with my family was full of food, poopy diapers, magic hour horses, and an feedworthy photoshoot for my younger cousins.

Enjoy!

Happy Monday. It’s my favorite thing to have leftovers for lunch. Here’s gyoza soup.

Monday night, treating myself to a stop at Mitsuwa and something quick from their refrigerated section.

To the pottery studio. Tonight I’m learning how to glaze. I had to sand my pieces first, apply wax to the bottom, and then attempt to glaze.

Samples already made so you can try to guess how yours might come out.

Only successfully glazed five out of my six pieces because I messed up the plate so badly I had to wash it off hah. I’m learning!

Tuesday night, went to see Infinity War. What a whirlwind.

Wednesday morning, worked on a card for Mother’s Day. I’m gifting one of my pottery pieces to my mom for Mother’s Day so I couldn’t resist adding a little hint on the card.

Drinks with a colleague from another museum in Los Angeles.

Zach went to pick up Korean grill supplies at the market when I was at work. Let’s do it.

Zach even made the ssamjang himself. So proud.

Feast. Zach got too much meat so we had a bunch leftover.

Zach and Tweedy helped me stuff a bunch of Easter eggs with candy. My family didn’t do a big Easter egg hunt for the little cousins this year—and since our annual Mother’s Day tradition is continuing this year, my cousin wanted me to organize the hunt over that weekend. So here we are.

Happy haircut boy! Now he can see again.

Wearing pajamas don’t tell anybody.

Zach said he had a belated birthday surprise for me. We were going to “a store” and I could pick out something.

Turns out the LA County Coroner’s office has a gift shop called “Skeletons in the Closet!” It’s in an old General Hospital building.

Definitely a sense of humor which I appreciate. You gotta appreciate a medical examiner who is kick ass at their job and can joke about mortality heyo.

Definitely got a few goodies.

Went to South Pas to hop in the car with my parents to head to our family Mother’s Day weekend away in Temecula.

We were a little too early for the Airbnb booking and arrival time, so we stopped at a sports bar and I taught my parents to play shuffleboard. My dad kicked my ass.

It was cold and windy but the kids wanted to swim so we did. So happy this tradition has survived I think…4 years now? The whole family gathers and stays together over Mother’s Day weekend.

Spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. Lots of boxes of spaghetti to feed us all, approximately 25-30 of us!

The little cousins spread out across the house. Thankfully, the older little cousins are in middle school and high school and can help watch and entertain the younger ones. I’m the youngest of my 1st cousins by 10 years, so the little ones are all their kids. It’s weird being in limbo…I basically became the family babysitter at age 12 when the first was born. NO complaints. I love my little cousins with all my heart, but it’s nice to have help now.

S’mores at the fire pit

We went exploring on the property and found this abandoned teacup that looks like the Disneyland ones. So…strange. Maybe haunted?

Night time now!

The last of the roasting.

Charlotte is a pro-baker so we all helped her cut and decorate a cake she made for our cousin’s baby shower the next day.

Saturday morning! The day of the belated Easter egg hunt, baby shower, and photoshoot…

The hunt was a success! I went out and hid over 100 eggs with the help of my cousins and we chose some…interesting places. I buried the golden egg in the mud. One egg was covered in snails…but everything was uncovered!

Aftermath of the younger cousin photo.

The other baby shower “cake” made of socks and diapers

Everybody back inside to chill before the baby shower started. Got some future billiards sharks in the making.

French dip sandwiches for lunch

Games after we all ate. And warning…there’s some fake poop haha.

Have you played this? I think it’s a common shower game. There are melted candy bars in diapers and you have to figure out what candy bars they are. It’s…truly disgusting visually but everything smells like chocolate and caramel it’s a mix of feelings.

Blackmail photos

Estimating the baby belly with string.

And finally busting out our artistic skills to sculpt a baby from play-doh

Art.

Attempting to take family photos

I love the chaos of a photo when you have a bunch of kids under 8.

Cake and gifts

And then it was time for more swimming! The sun came out for us.

The house had a waterslide! Pretty insane.

Almost time for dinner. Tacos tonight.

Took a walk with Syd and Char to a nearby farm with a bunch of horses and we took some pics along the way.

Beautiful scenary and magic hour.

Then we attempted our Brandon Woelfel inspired shoot. We discussed this idea when we got ramen together over Christmas holidays and they worked on acquiring fairy lights and reflective glasses. I just came prepared with the camera. Creative direction by Syd and Char.

Setting up a test shot.

We were literally in a closet haha.

Final shots! What do you think? Did we capture the Brandon Woelfel essence? I know the color grading could be different, but I thought maybe we should go for “inspired by” not a total copy of.

Then I taught the younger ones about light writing and longer exposures and we had a blast just running around in the dark closet trying to get crazy looking photos.

Time to pack up and head back home. Was such a crazy busy and fun weekend.

Stayed around my family house to hang with my parents, cats, and relax after having a bunch of kids hanging off me all weekend. 🙂

Much love friends! Hope you’re well.