Woohoo! New Blog!

I am so excited to announce the launch of my brand new, beautiful blog! It has BIG pictures and an awesome flash header! Check it out and be sure to update your blog readers!

http://blog.drewbphotography.com

I've also updated my website with my new logo and branding!



This blog will stay alive, but will no longer be updated so don't forget to update your blog readers!

40 Week Update

Thank you so much to everyone for all the comments and emails I received about Cindy. I didn't realize so many people read my blog, but I'm glad you were all so touched by her story. I got an email from Jeff who second shot Cindy and Jared's wedding with me and he said, "It's so strange because I only knew her for that one day, and I felt like I've known her forever. I guess that's just the kind of person she was, right?". That pretty much sums Cindy up. She was that girl with the contagious laugh and smile who made everyone feel like their best friend. If you knew her even just for a day you were a much better person for it.

I believe the school where she is a teacher will be accepting books for their library in her name. When I get more information on that I will post it here.

I know many of you are eagerly awaiting baby news, but there is none. Today is my due date. The day I have been looking forward to for nine long months. And there's no baby. I'm pretty sure there is going to be no baby today. My doctor won't induce me until the 17th. That's a week from Sunday. I really don't want to be pregnant for another nine days so maybe if everyone thinks really good thoughts for me I will go into labor! In honor of making it to my due date I have treated myself to a gourmet breakfast.

Mmmmm, just looking at the picture makes my mouth water and want another. Good thing I have a couple more donut holes left! Happy Friday everyone!

Rock the Vote!

Remember to get out there and vote today if you live in one of the Super Tuesday states! How awesome is it that we have a woman and an African American running for President? I wasn't sure that I would ever see that in my lifetime. I'm torn between the two, but I think I will vote for Hillary. I just can't pass up voting for a woman. However, I would be happy with either Clinton or Obama in office. Anyone would be better than the president we have now. I would even venture to say McCain would be better if he wasn't so adamant about staying in Iraq. Whatever he has to do to look "conservative".

Anyways, no matter who you are voting for remember to vote. I like to go and vote with my Dad because I cancel his vote. Plus the place we go usually has good food!

I took a trip to Urban Outfitters to stock up on new political shirts. Here are a couple that I got.





I think I will wear the "I Only Date Democrats" shirt today. I wore it last week and got a lot of people giving me funny looks. It's a pretty funny shirt to wear when you are 39 plus weeks pregnant. Although, I'm so large and in charge that I did rip a hole in the side seam. I wish I knew how to sew!

And here's an oldie, but a goodie from way back in 2004.

I miss John Kerry...

My in-laws got us a great shirt for the baby, but it's in Chuck's car. I'll post a picture of it later.

Sneak Peek!

I know I'm probably showing too much and I wanted to wait until my new blog is done for the big reveal, but I'm so excited about all my new paper goods designed by So Divine Designs, that I just had to show you a little preview! I have new business cards, stationary, and labels! It's like the first day of school! I'm so excited to start using them! Here's a little sneak peek. I can't wait for you to see the rest!!!



As for a baby update, there is no update. I'm exactly one week from my due date but no progress has been made. The little guy is still very comfortable inside my stomach. I spend my days sleeping (because why would I be able to sleep at night?) and eating (a lot). I'm able to work a little, but sitting for long periods of time is uncomfortable. But so is laying and standing. I guess I'm just uncomfortable in any position. Thanks for everybody's well wishes! I'll do my best to post a blog before I leave for the hospital if he ever decides to make an appearance :)

So excited!

No, the baby is not here yet. Sigh. But, I do have other things to be super excited about.

First, I just saw the prelimenary design on my new blog and it is SO gorgeous! BIG pictures and a rad flash header. I can't wait for you to see! It's being designed by the brother of the very talented wedding photographer Jessica Strickland. Ben, with Redwing Studios is awesome!

Second, I have a whole new logo and branding! I'm waiting to unveil everything until the new blog is ready, but it's pretty awesome. It was designed by Chris Ford. I just love it. It's perfect.

Third, I have a top secret new website that me and three of my awesome photographer friends have been working on for the past year. It's very, very close to being done!

Lots of new things to look forward to! I can't wait for you all to see! For now, I will leave you with a picture of this amazing rainbow that I saw on Monday. This picture doesn't do it justice (it also doesn't help that it's with my point and shoot while driving). You could see both where it started and ended. It was perfect.

All I Wanted Was a New Lens...

and I almost ended up with a baby!

Chuck and I went to Samy's Camera last night to pick up the 85 1.8 lens I ordered last week. On our way back to the freeway we got side swiped by a car pulling out of a driveway. Luckily we weren't going that fast and the car that hit us wasn't going very fast, but their car was totaled and our car has a pretty fat dent in the back passenger car door. Chuck saw the guy coming and was able to speed up and swerve so the car avoided hitting me. We fishtailed for a least 100 yards and almost hit a tree and then a curb before we came to a stop. Needless to say, it was pretty scary. I kept thinking that the airbags were going to go off. When we came to a stop I was really panicked and couldn't breathe so a fire truck and ambulance came for the pregnant girl. My vitals were totally fine, but I hadn't felt the baby move since the accident so we called my doctor who sent us to labor and delivery to get checked out. Everything initially looked fine and they were just going to run some tests and observe me for a couple of hours. About half an hour before they were going to discharge me I started having minute long contractions about 1 to 2 minutes apart. I was dilated to 1 centimeter and 50 - 60% effaced. After walking for 45 minutes the contractions subsided and I hadn't dilated anymore. At 12:30 we were finally discharged and went to In N Out for dinner. Finally. Exciting night!

At least I got my lens and I got to sample the ice chips at the hospital, which were really good! I'm off to shoot Ashley and Tyson's wedding! Yes, I'm crazy. I realize this. But, what else am I going to do? Lay in bed all day? I have the help of my amazing friend Trista who is there backing me up. I doubt I'll make it for that long, but at least I can go and make sure everything is okay. And who knows. Maybe this will help speed things along further and we'll have a baby tomorrow! Keep your fingers crossed!

Edit:
Here's a picture I snapped of our car before sending it off to the autobody shop. Not super bad damage, but I'm just happy Chuck speed up so they didn't hit the front passenger door.

Chuck and Drew - Crimefighters!

What was a very uneventful, rainy Sunday turned into a very exciting Sunday for a few minutes. Chuck and I were driving to my parents house when we saw an accident on the freeway. We didn't actually see the accident, but we saw everyone braking and turn to avoid it. It probably happened about 30 seconds ahead of us. There was a pickup truck that was turned completely the wrong way and two smaller cars that had smashed into it. As we drove past it the pickup truck started backing up. I told Chuck that I thought he/she was leaving and Chuck said that he was just pulling over. But, why would he pull over? Why wouldn't they just stay where they were? So the truck backs up and almost gets hit by a semi and then speeds past us onto another freeway! This is where it gets really exciting. Chuck and I followed the truck and I got the license plate number (or tried. I only got 6 numbers/letters). I called 911 as we tried to follow them, but it was raining and they were driving very fast so we ended up losing them. On a side note, it's a bit disconcerting when you call 911 and hit any button to say, yes it is an emergency, and you are still on hold for 2 minutes. When I finally got through to 911 I told them everything I knew and they took down my info. How fun would it be if we got to go into court and testify? There was another car that looked like it was trying to follow the truck too so hopefully they got the rest of the license plate. Anyway, we do what we can to keep Orange County safe :)

Bad Blogger!

I have been an absolutely horrible blogger! But, I've been getting lots done! Besides enjoying a few days off at Christmas and spending this past weekend in Laguna, we've been working hard on the nursery to get that ready just in case our little guy gets here early (hopefully he will get here early!). And I've been working hard on designing albums. I also shot a cool wedding the Friday before Christmas and an awesome engagement shoot last week. I'll be blogging about those after the New Year. I have two weddings in January that I've been really looking forward to. I've hired two of my awesome photographer friends to cover those with me just in case my water breaks in the middle of the wedding. Hopefully that won't happen because that would be gross, but I have to be prepared for anything :)

I have decided that January 18th will be my last day in the office before I go on maternity leave. It's just getting too hard to sit in a chair all day. I will officially be returning April 7. So, if you are a current client and want your album or proofs please order them in the next week. I'm getting very backed up because everyone wants their albums before I go on leave. And if you are a prospective client please schedule a meeting with me soon as well. I will probably be scheduling meetings again in early March, but I'm not making any promises. I will still be checking my email and returning phone calls, but it is going to take me a bit longer to get back to you.

I hope everyone had an awesome Christmas and has a great New Year! I'm just hoping to make it to midnight tonight. We're going to go see Juno in an hour and then I'm going to eat lots of sugar to try and stay up until midnight!

Christmas Lights!

Speaking of my competitive nature, we had our neighborhoods annual Christmas light contest last week. The past two years we've placed second. This year we really weren't planning on going big. We had no theme, we have been super busy working on the nursery, and our weekends have been jammed packed with things for the baby. Also, there's this house in our neighborhood that always goes crazy. They spend thousands of dollars on their decorations. Last year their theme was Christmas in New York. They had the New York skyline, decorated their windows to look like Macy's, and even had a hot dog cart the night of the contest. It's great that they are so into the contest, but it really doesn't make it very fun for the rest of the neighborhood. No one really tries because everyone knows they are unbeatable.

Well, even though I know they are unbeatable, I still have to try. Chuck was up on the roof the night before the contest until midnight putting the finishing touches on our lights. And it was 46 degrees that night too! I wasn't sure we were going to place at all, but we got second... again. But really, second is like first in our neighborhood so we were pretty happy with it. The crazy people made their house into a gingerbread house and had Polar Express playing on one of the walls in their backyard. They also brought out the hot dog cart and added candy apples this year too. Crazy. I want to win, but not that bad.

I'm very proud of Chuck for doing such an awesome job on the lights. He pretty much did everything himself this year because I can't get up on a ladder. I'm also proud of him because he went to our neighborhood board meeting and asked them to name the contest after our neighbor Roy who passed away last January. He was super into the contest and would go out in the middle of the night and add more lights to his house. He was the first one to win first place in the contest.

So here is a picture of our house. There's Santa up on the chimney. And we have a countdown to Christmas clock on our gate in the bottom right of the picture. We also had a snow machine going too! Apparently that's not good enough for first, but I'm not bitter :)

Vote For Me!

Last week one of my very favorite kid and family photographers, Tara Whitney, had a contest on her blog to decide on her best foot picture of the year. She also opened it up to other photographers to submit their favorite feet images and she picked one of my pictures! I submitted this picture:



It's my favorite picture of the year. I don't know why I love this shot so much. Maybe because they are some of my favorite people. Maybe because it was such a fun family shoot. I think it just totally embodies who their family is just by looking at their feet.

So go to Tara's blog and vote for number 3!!! Voting ends Wednesday morning at 9am PST. To vote you must leave it in her comments and only vote once or else your votes will get thrown out! I think I get a canvas print of the image or something like that. That's not important. I'm just a super competitive person and want to win :)

Happy Birthday to my Hubby!

Take Your Dog to Work Day

Yesterday Hauggy got to go to work with me! I volunteered at Laguna Hills Animal Hospital and took pictures of pets with Santa. My friend Nicole is the manager there and I can't so no to helping animals. Hauggy got his very own luxury sweet complete with a dog bed and his own TV tuned to the animal channel. However, he choose to lay on the hard floor right next to the door. He also got all of his vaccines updated and we took a DNA test to find out exactly what breed Hauggy is! How fun! I've always wanted to meet his parents and see what kind of dogs created him. We'll find out in a couple of weeks. Here are some of the cute little critters I hung out with all day!



And of course I had to get one of Hauggy with Santa

Our First Official Family Picture

I've always looked at pregnant women and thought they were so beautiful. It didn't matter if they were big or small, I just thought pregnant girls were so cute. I couldn't wait to get pregnant because I thought I would feel the same way. I thought no matter how much weight I gained or how uncomfortable I was I would just feel cute.

I have felt anything but cute for the past 7 1/2 months. No matter how many times people tell me I look great it just hasn't sunk in. And that makes me sad because I know I've told other pregnant people they look beautiful and I know they didn't believe me. I never wanted to be "that girl".

Well, Jessica just posted our maternity pictures on her blog. I'm going to stop complaining. My bump is beautiful and Jessica's pictures made me realize that. Like I said before, Jessica is my favorite photographer so it was really fun to work with her. Everything she does is gorgeous, but she far exceeded my expectations. She also brought along another great photographer, Marisa. I met her earlier this year and she's a Bruin (woohoo!) so it was fun to have her along.

Here are some of my favorites, but you can see more on both of their blogs. Thanks again Jessica! You rock!

** A lot of people have been asking about my make-up. It was done by the absolutely fabulous Carina! She's the only make-up artist I will recommend. Not only is she super talented, but she's also one of the nicest people I've ever met. Book her! You will not be disappointed!

Go Bruins!

Tomorrow is one of my favorite days of the year. The UCLA vs. USC game. Well, it's my favorite day of the year when we win! Last year we went to the game and it was pretty much the best day of my life. I cried as the clock counted down the final seconds and we ended our losing streak. I rejoyced with the other Bruin fans when we won. I laughed as the USC fans walked out of the Rose Bowl with their heads held low. It was the best day of my life.

We're watching the game at home tomorrow with friends. I refuse to go to the Colosseum since we got stuck there at the game in 2001, which happend to fall on my 21st birthday. Our car got stuck in a homeless man's lot. He promised he wouldn't double park, but he did and we were stuck there for what seemed like hours waiting on the guy who's car was blocking everyone elses car on my birthday. I just hope UCLA can pull it off. How awesome would it be if we went to the Rose Bowl??? But besides that, I really want UCLA to win so Coach Karl can keep his job. He's too hot to get fired!

Hauggy can hardly contain his excitement. He's been wearing his UCLA jersey all day. Doesn't he look enthusiastic? Go Bruins!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving isn't my favorite holiday. I think because I don't like Thanksgiving Day food. I'm not a huge fan of turkey. Don't do vegetables. And hate cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie. My plate usually has mashed potatoes and M & M's on it. But, this year Chuck's mom is making lasagna! Yum! And my parents had a Thanksgiving brunch with my dad's famous french toast. They even had Turkey bacon and sausage. How festive!

I have a lot to be thankful for this year. Here's a short list of just some of the things:

1) My wonderful and supportive husband who has been dealing with "Pregnant Drew" for the past 29 weeks and hasn't complained once. Let me tell you, "Pregnant Drew" isn't always the nicest or most pleasant person to be around. But, he will rub my back at two in the morning, run out and get me my favorite food, bring my flowers, and pretty much do anything to put a smile on my face. He's going to be the best dad ever and I can't wait to seem him with his little boy.

2) My awesome dog Hauggy. That little guy just puts a smile on my face. I'm so lucky to have him by my side every day. My life wouldn't be complete without him.

3) The little guy inside my stomach. Even though I am SO ready to be not pregnant, I am very thankful for my little boy. I know all the kicking, sleepless nights, weight gain, and all the other fun things that come along with pregnancy will be worth it. It's going to be scary to be a mom, but I think it's also going to be one of the funnest things I will ever do.

4) My parents. My parents rock. I don't think I tell them enough how much I appreciate them, but I do. I'm very lucky to have two parents who love and care for me as much as they do.

5) My amazing clients. Without you all I wouldn't be able to do what I love and I am so thankful for you. I am so thankful for your trust and support. Each and every one of you have touched my life in some way and I am so lucky to have met you!

I hope everyone has a very happy and safe Thanksgiving!

Hauggy Says...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!


In case you can't tell, he's a lobster. He wanted to be a French Fry or an In 'N Out employee, but we couldn't find either of those costumes. One of his favorite toys is his lobster that we got him from Maine a few years ago so he decided to be a lobster too. Doesn't he look thrilled? I think he's ready for the baby to be born so I'll stop taking so many pictures of him :)

I'm off to go trick or treating with my two favorite little kids, Owen and Emma. I think Owen is going to be the black Spiderman and Emma is Alice in Wonderland. Should be fun. I hope they give me lots of their candy :) Have a happy and safe Halloween everyone!

Waiting in Puerto...

Chuck and I are hanging out before our shuttle comes to pick us up from our hotel and I'm waisting money to get on the internet. Oh well. I've gone without for almost 4 days! I needed a fix!

Scott and Rita's wedding was so awesome. Probably the most gorgeous wedding I've ever shot. It was hot (really hot), but that didn't stop everyone from having a great time. I shot their day after session this morning and got some more awesome shots. I'll blog about it in the next couple of days.

For now, I can't wait to get home to my puppy and some In 'N Out! Adios amigos!

Adios Amigos!

I'm off to Puerto Vallarta to shoot Rita and Scott's wedding! I'm super excited about this wedding! Awesome couple, cool location, and I get to get away from the yucky, smokey southern California air :)

I will definitely have no phone access and will probably have no internet access either. I will be returning on Monday (hopefully very tan) and will return phone calls and emails then.

Have a great week everyone!
DrewB

I love my clients!

I was just working on some of my albums from this year and thinking about what a great year I've had. Only 3 more weddings left for the year and I've been so lucky to work with great clients, most of whom have become good friends of mine. Next year I'm only taking a limited number of weddings because I have to figure out this whole "mom" thing and I've actually almost met my goal and am completely booked up. And it's only October! I'm super excited for all of my weddings next year! Not only do I get to work with such great people, but I'm also getting to shoot at some of Southern California's best venues. I'm really excited and very, very lucky!

One of my couples, Nikki and Jeff, came over to meet with me this weekend. Nikki was a bridesmaid at Brigid and Dave's wedding last month and they are getting married at the Balboa Bay Club in April. Both of their moms came to our meeting and it was so funny because Jeff's mom takes pictures at all of their vendor meetings. How special did I feel? Here's the picture. No, my dog isn't possessed. For some reason my red eye remover in photoshop doesn't work for blue eyes... Shout out to Nikki who reads my blog when she's bored at work :) Don't tell her boss!

Happy Tuesday everyone!

It's a...

BOY! We're having a little boy! We found out about a week and a half ago, but things have been so crazy I haven't had time to blog about it. It's fun to know that the little thing that's been kicking me is not an "it" anymore. We have a name that we like, but if you have any suggestions let me know. I like Bruin, but I don't think it will fly. I really like B names with Bittel. Bruin Bittel. Doesn't that sound good? And there would be no way he could go to USC with a name like that :) Here's my favorite ultrasound pictures. You can see his little profile and his hand. Looks like he has my nose :)


I'm 21 weeks pregnant today and things are going pretty well. I finally got a break from my backaches yesterday and I hope it continues! My wedding season is done in early November so it will be nice to have a little break. Only 4 more weddings left for the year! I'm looking forward to all of the weddings I have left. Especially Rita and Scott's wedding in Puerto Vallarta at the end of October!

The baby got to go to his very first UCLA football game last weekend. He was so excited when we got there he was kicking me SO hard. Even Aunt Christy got to feel him. But I don't think he liked it when we got into the stadium and I started yelling. I tried not to curse... too much. We had an awesome tailgate and all of our best friends were able to make it. Kyle came from Pheonix with his new fiancee (yeah!!!), Johanna. They got engaged over Labor Day weekend in Hawaii and we're so excited for them. I can't wait to do their engagement pictures! Joey brought his girlfriend, Michelle, and Steve and Christy came too. It was so much fun. I wish they could all be there for every tailgate.






Christy always begs to be on my blog. She got mad when we went to San Francisco and I didn't blog about it (because I didn't take any pictures). So,here you go Christy. Are you happy now??? :) Christy's brother got us awesome seats on the 45 yard line. It was COLD, but we had a blanket to snuggle up with.

This would have been a really cute picture of Christy and I, but Chuck decided to ruin it. Look for the eyeball right in between Christy and I.




Check back next week for pictures from Christina and Corey's big, fat, Armenian wedding. I'm really looking forward to shooting it tomorrow! Have a great weekend everyone!