Ali and Adm's vacation with Ellen, Brendon and Quinn on Orcas Island, WA, July 11-13, 2015. Photos by Alison Yin and Adm Golub
We had the best mini getaway to Orcas Island in July. What made it so good?? Best friends with the cutest baby, gorgeous sceneries, and a sunset kayak trip with a visit from a few seals (sadly, I didn't have my camera handy for the seals).
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We've got weddings up the gazoo right now, but to stay fresh and help us deal with all of the crazy, we took a mini break to Mendocino in Northern California. It was perfect. The trees, the sunshine, the food, the dog and the boy.
We got to play superfunauntanduncle last week when Adm's nieces, Abby and Hava, came down from Oregon to stay with us for a few days. We kept them super busy with day trips all over northern California - including the Russian River to go swimming and a visit to their grandparents' house in Greeley Hill (which has chickens galore) and to Yosemite National Park, among other things, and we had a ton of fun with them. I just love these two - they are so full of fun, youth and sweetness. Every time I get to see them, it makes me miss them even more when they leave. Luckily, we have lots of photos to remember their visit.
By the way, I might have a new favorite vacation lens: 35 mm 1.4. The 50 mm has always been my go-to when I'm just doing personal stuff and don't want to carry around a bag of gear, but all of these photos were shot with my new 35, and I LOVED using it!
This past weekend, Adm and I headed to the Outerbanks in North Carolina for my dear friend Nicole's wedding to Grant. This is one of the few weddings we've attended as guests, and so we were super excited to have a fun, non-working weekend with old and new friends to celebrate with Nicole and Grant. They had a lovely ceremony along the water, and if you've never been to the Outerbanks, then I definitely suggest a trip: the beaches are pristine, they have amazing sand dunes, and there's lots of fun swimming in the ocean (something I never underestimate since I now live in the Bay Area where the ocean waters are FREEZING!). At any rate, we had the best time getting to play all weekend with some of my closest friends. In between all the partying, I did snag a few quick photos of Nicole and Grant. The weekend went by way too quickly, but we're so happy for Colie and Grant. Congrats you two! We had the best time and hope you're having an amazing honeymoon!
Buenos Aires is a city for the night owls. Everyone seems to be operating on the late night schedule, which is very pleasant when you're on vacation and have no agenda. Early in the morning, at 1am, when all the exhaust from the traffic of the work day has settled and the weather cools to present a balmy summer evening, we'd wander through the streets of our neighborhood in San Telmo. Cafes are bustling, people dance tango in parks and plazas, teenagers hang out on the street drinking mate and blasting music from their car stereos. Even though there's so much activity, we still feel like we're on our own little secret adventure - maybe it's because we know that back at home at 1am everyone is probably sleeping, or maybe it's because it's so easy to disappear into the shadows during the night, or maybe it's because everything we see is new and exciting for us. Whatever the reason, with the night there's a sense of drama. In looking through our collection of photos, I found a lot of pictures that were taken at night where the dark is overwhelming. Even many of the photos we took during the day were dramatic either because of the contrasty light or the imposing architecture or use of intense color. Overall, the city is very colorful, boasting vibrant street murals and people who wear bold bright colors. So, here is our collection of Buenos Aires, the dramatic city, with a few fun and silly vacation photos thrown in.
Lounging on our rooftop terrace, soaking in the sun with cervezas in hand, wondering "which restaurant to try next?" followed by "which ice cream place to hit afterwards?", these were the tough decisions we faced. This was our first vacation in four and half years, and it marked some major milestones: Adm turned 30 and we completed our second season of photographing weddings full-time. What better way to celebrate than head 6000+ miles down south to Buenos Aires where there was summer? With Oakland and the Bay a world away, we finally had some time to rest and relax, and boy did we do just that. We didn't travel with an agenda of things to do and places to see. We went to try to fall into step with another lifestyle and to explore a new place at our leisure. We did our best to disconnect from our world of email, Facebook, and work. We lost track of the days of the week and only discovered that it was Sunday when tango music from the infamous San Telmo Sunday street fair filtered through our windows. Although we wandered around Buenos Aires with our cameras at our side, our vacation wasn't about the pictures. We photographed things when we wanted to and took pictures for our vacation scrapbook rather than our travel portfolio.
Since returning home, sitting at our desk, working side by side with our puppy at our feet, Adm and I have jumped right back into work. That's not a bad thing though because we LOVE what we do. However, in looking through all of these photos, I can't help but yearn for the summer heat (especially since it's been so rainy here) and the chance to escape reality for a little bit.
