Of note!

Hi everyone, remember my review of instant cameras last month?  I thought it appropriate to share this giveaway with you, hosted over at The Plaid Barn!  I entered ... have you?

Instagram Weekend in Review

Hello, sweet friends!  I had a busy, crazy, awesome weekend filled with Anna Delores goodness at Downtown Disney, a stop at the Renegade Craft Fair in Los Angeles, and a rocking Fiona Apple concert!  Here's a peek at the fun I had...

1. Fiona Apple at the Hollywood Palladium \\ 2. Anna Delores Photography at WonderGround Gallery in Downtown Disney \\ 3. My dad with our puppy, Freddy \\ 4. In-N-Out for lunch AND dinner? Yes. \\ 5. Mmmm...Starbucks... \\ 6. Our neighbors' new puppy, Boo! I want to steal her. \\ 7. More Fiona Apple \\ 8. More Anna Delores at Downtown Disney

How was YOUR weekend?

 

Four Things Friday: Letters

1.  Dear parents: I can't even BEGIN to adequately express how much your love and support means to me.  Mom, you told me today that your house is my "home" and that I should ALWAYS "be able to come home, no matter what age, and you should always feel comfortable asking us for help."  I am the luckiest girl in the world to have parents like you.

2.  Dear Mickey: Are you sick, sweetie?  Accidents in the house are not my favorite but they also don't happen often with you, so I imagine you have a little bug or something.  I hope you start feeling better soon, otherwise we'll need to take a trip to the vet...

My sweet Mickey, via Instagram! Pretty sure he has an upset tummy.  :(

3.  Dear printer: Please start working again.  It is SO MUCH EASIER to print shipping labels at home than it is to wait in line at the post office!  Pretty please?  I just bought you a lovely new cartridge!

4.  Dear credit card bill: Prepare to be eliminated. Mwah hah hah (that's supposed to be diabolical laughter).  :)

 H a p p y   F r i d a y ,   e v e r y o n e !
Linking up with Ashley!

July sponsor love {with} sponsor call + giveaway!

My sponsors this month TOTALLY. ROCK.  I feel so, so lucky that these ladies tag along with me on my Anna Delores adventures, and I send each of them a big, heartfelt THANK YOU for contributing to the blog via guest posts and giveaways.  Please get to know them!  They are truly fabulous!

Twitter // Pinterest // Instagram

Twitter // Facebook // Instagram

 Twitter // Facebook

Twitter // Facebook // Instagram

Twitter // Facebook // Instagram

Facebook // Pinterest

Twitter // Facebook // Pinterest

Twitter // Pinterest // Instagram

Twitter // Pinterest // Facebook

Twitter // Facebook // Shop

Facebook // Pinterest // Shop

Twitter // Facebook // Instagram

Please, a big round of applause for these lovely ladies!  For information about becoming a sponsor of {the Anna Delores blog}, click here! 

I'm also hosting a giveaway for one XL sponsor ad for the month of August!  XL ad spaces include the opportunity to write a guest post for {the Anna Delores blog}, host a giveaway, or BOTH!  Use Rafflecopter to enter below, and good luck!  :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

wedding album winner!

As a "thank you" for sharing your wedding link love with me, the winner of the giveaway for a gorgeous, professionally-bound Blurb photography book featuring her own amazing wedding photographs is GINNY CHASE of Chasing Sunshine!

{ check out the rest of Ginny & Bobby's gorgeous wedding images here! }

From Ginny's blog post:  "We were married on April 24, 2010 in the beautiful city of Austin. We couldn't have picked a more perfect place {this is where we met and were engaged}. We both LOVE this city and knew that it would reflect the type of wedding that we wanted, FUN + laid back.

"The entire wedding was a huge DIY project; from the invitations to the cupcake toppers I was determined to save as much money as possible while still adding my personal touches. We planned it in six months and man, was I glad when we were finally done! It was a lot of work, but so worth it in the end. The night ended with a big party! The reception was complete with awesome food, a packed dance floor, a photo booth and good company."

Congratulations, Ginny!  Ginny and Bobby will receive a one-of-a-kind 30-page Blurb photography book that I compile just for them.  The book will feature their wedding day photographs and be sent to your door compliments of yours truly.

 { wedding book example from Blurb }

Even if you already have a wedding album, have you SEEN Blurb books?  They are bookstore-quality, coffee-table-worthy archives and display your most treasured images beyond compare.  They're even offering a 15% discount for you to make your own book of wedding photos (so what are you waiting for?).

You can use Blurb to create professionally-bound works of art for preserving family memories, remembering amazing vacations, and giving lovely keepsake gifts.  Blurb has an "ideas" section on their website so you can create books for a variety of occasions, and they have resources for writers interested in publishing their memoirs, novels, and poetry.  You can even create books from your Facebook and Instagram photos.  AND convert your completed Blurb books to e-book format.  They literally have something for everyone.

Not married yet?  You can use Blurb to make wedding guest books, too!  Use your engagement photos (or just photos of you and your soon-to-be spouse) for your wedding guests to sign and leave special messages, and BAM: awesome wedding keepsake for years to come.  I made this type of guest book for my friend Jenn's upcoming wedding and it is GORGEOUS (and Jenn loves it!).  See?  I TOLD you: something for everyone.  And 15% off any one of these options.  Major score, if you ask me.

I know I'm going ON and ON about Blurb, but seriously, they are amazing (and have I mentioned yet that they're the ones I use to give MY brides and grooms their albums as part of Anna Delores Photography weddings?).

Thank you so much to everyone who participated! I hope y'all had a chance to check out the links to their wedding and engagement photos; if not, they're right here for you!

FOOD: fresh strawberry summer salad

I am excited to share with y'all my FIRST EVER recipe post!  Quick disclaimer: I am not good with food.  I'm great at eating it, but preparation?  Not so much.  That said, this salad recipe is simple, painless, impossible to mess up -- I promise!

What you'll need (serves 2):

1 cup fresh strawberries, sliced

2 cups fresh baby spinach

1/4 cup raw pecans halves

1/3 cup crumbled goat cheese

1/4 cup alfalfa sprouts

1/8 cup pine nuts

sprinkle of flax seeds

raspberry vinaigrette dressing

Prep your strawberries by washing and then slicing off the stem (unless that's how you roll: stem on!).  Cut into quarters, or use an egg slicer.  Toss strawberries with baby spinach leaves (wash these too, if you didn't buy them in one of those pre-washed packages!), pecans, and goat cheese.  Sprinkle in your optional ingredients: pine nuts, flax seeds, and alfalfa sprouts (wash your sprouts thoroughly!).  You can easily do without the pine nuts, flax, and sprouts, but I enjoy the added nutritional benefits and flavors!

I strongly recommend Bolthouse Farms' Olive Oil Vinaigrette Raspberry Merlot Yogurt Dressing.  It is SO GOOD, creamy, and not too terrible on the calorie count.  Otherwise, any berry vinaigrette will do.  I've also had this salad with honey mustard dressing and that's delicious, too!  You could also go the route of oil and balsamic and I'm sure that would taste lovely, as well.

If you're not keen on goat cheese, you can use feta instead (this is also easier to find crumbled).  I like feta but I LOVE goat cheese, so I'll use it any chance I get!

More variations to try:

• raspberries or blueberries substituted for strawberries
• walnuts substituted for pecans
• sunflower seeds substituted for pine nuts
• add chicken for some extra protein

And that is IT, my friends!  Fool proof and my summer dinner staple.  Enjoy!

Four Things Friday: letters

1.  Dear photography: I love you and I am excited for what our future together may hold.  I've been editing photos from the past four weddings I've been to thus far in July and I've encountered both frustration and elation.  Cheers to more of both!

Here's a sneak peek and what I've been editing; stay tuned for many, many more images coming soon!  This is Cavannah and Angel; aren't they lovely?!

2.  Dear old job: Good riddance.  I wanted to quit you anyway, so thank you for offering the relief of a way out and, ultimately, making the decision for me so that I didn't have to!

3.  Dear weather: I know that you're much worse (i.e. HOTTER) in other parts of the country, but if you could cool down just a smidge?  We don't have air conditioning and now that I'm home all day, it's just too much to bear!

4.  Dear Mom: I love you so much and you have no idea how much your support and words of consolation mean to me.  It's so wonderful to know that I have somewhere to go if all else fails.

 H a p p y   F r i d a y ,   e v e r y o n e !
Linking up with Ashley!

Meet & Tweet: make some friends!

Today, as a co-host (thanks to the fabulous Laura of Our Reflection), I bring you the MEET & TWEET link party as an opportunity to meet new Twitter buddies.  

I love this opportunity to meet so many new friends. This week, Laura is raising the bar just a little more... If we can get to 300 link ups, one lucky person is going to win 250 custom business cards for their blog. How cool is that?!

Ready to make new Twitter friends?  Just follow the rules:

• Link up your Twitter account, not your blog.
• Follow your host and co-hosts {The first 8 in the linky}:
• Laura from Our Reflection
• Emily from the Anna Delores blog
• Neely from A Complete Waste of Makeup
• Courtney from Baxtron Life
• Lauren from Talk of the Trains
• Jelli from Jellibean Journals
• Lauren from Hippie Dog Company
• Hilary from Measure One Cut Twice

Loving this hop? Shout it out to all your friends!  The more the merrier.

Tweet

Thanks so much for linking up today!

Hope you've had fun and made some amazing new friends.

Save the Date! Next Hop: 7/26

Grab a button and add it to your blog!

<div align="center"><a href="http://our-reflection.blogspot.com/" title="Our Reflection "><img src="http://i1099.photobucket.com/albums/g383/_laurahernandez/MeetTweet-2.jpg" alt="Our Reflection " style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Weekend in review: Instagram

Hello, sweet friends!  I hope you all enjoyed a lovely weekend!  I've been a little all over the place lately; if you read my post on Friday you know that I'm busy building my wedding photography portfolio and working, working, working.  To play catch-up, here is my weekend via Instagram.  Enjoy!

1. Monday's dinner menu: Ben & Jerry's \\ 2. Flower shoe clips from Acute Designs \\ 3. Nail salon chandelier \\ 4. My cousin's drawing of a cow \\ 5. New business cards from Moo \\ 6. Feet in the pool: best part of the day \\ 7. Mani Monday \\ 8. Pepper

How was YOUR weekend?