Solvang: The Land of Danish Pancakes!

From L.A. we went up the coast to Solvang, a Dutch inspired town, with the worlds best pancakes. I have never had any so good! We must thank Matt and Katie for the suggestion of Paula's Pancakes, they were delish!! I suggest the Danish style with powedered sugar on top! Yum!

Dom and I were both in food comas for the rest of the day.

After Paulas, we headed to the Mission Santa Inés that is in Slovang! It was a our first California mission. I love all the old beams in the ceiling, and most of all the beautiful gardens outside. From Solvang we headed to Santa Barbara, but returned to Solvang that evening to hit up their fantastic farmers market and wine tasting rooms!

 © Crystaline Randazzo Photography - All images are copyright of Crystaline Randazzo and in no way are to be used by Google, Google Advertisers or any third party. These are not your pictures. Steal them and I will sue you.

The Bright Lights of Hollywood: LA

The first night in California we spent with a fellow photographer Jessica. She literally moved there the Friday before we arrived and was kind enough to put us up for a night. Our first stop was to eat some Thai food! Yum!

Then Dom and I carved out a few hours to see his friends from Allegheny, Matt and Katie. We spent a wonderful evening on their charming, second floor patio drinking some bubbly and catching up. I got to hear some fantastic stories from their college days and topped of the night by eating some strawberry shortcake with fresh California strawberries. I am ruined on strawberries for life!

The next morning Jess took us to The Fairmont Hotel Miramar, which his where her hubby works as one of the chefs. It was a fantastic meal, and the hotel is beautiful! We left Jessica, and had to walk off our food coma at The Getty Center.

Luckily for me, there was a fantastic photo exhibit up! The exhibit was entitled: Engaged Observers: Documentary Photography Since the Sixties. This was truly a highlight from this trip. I fell in love with Sebastiao Salgado's work all over again. I found new inspiration in Larry Towell's long term documentary project on a Mennonite community. If there was ever a moment when the documentary path felt right for me, this was it. I love to be inspired! Of course, I bought the book, and you should too! Especially if you can't see the exhibit in person! Here are a few photos from LA.

 A must see for those of you in LA!

The view of LA from The Getty!

The Gardens at the Getty, we were shown the perfect shooting spot by one of the Getty Guides!

© Crystaline Randazzo Photography - All images are copyright of Crystaline Randazzo and in no way are to be used by Google, Google Advertisers or any third party. These are not your pictures. Steal them and I will sue you.

California Bound: First stop Joshua Tree!

I was so excited to get to the road trip portion of our vacation. We have planned a 4,000 mile road trip packed with camping, wine tours, and some of the most beautiful sights in California. We decided to take a bit of a detour to see Joshua Tree, which was so worth it!

It is a bizarrely beautiful place, the cactus and plants are out of a Dr. Seuss book, I wonder if the doctor drew his inspiration from this place. I could practically see Green Eggs and Ham taking place before my eyes. What a fantastic intro to Cali!

© Crystaline Randazzo Photography - All images are copyright of Crystaline Randazzo and in no way are to be used by Google, Google Advertisers or any third party. These are not your pictures. Steal them and I will sue you.

Independance Day: Part 2

Dom and I seriously miss having homestyle 4th of July's. It had been too long since I sat out on a blanket with my family and watched the sky light up. The kids had so much fun playing Frisbee and running around like little maniacs, and there was something so comforting about sitting with my mom and my sister and soaking up the moment. I have to give those two....they make pretty babies!

One of my favorite things about fireworks is after the explosions, when all of the little sparks begin to make their downward spiral toward earth. It always surprises me to see the delicate strands of willow trees within the fireworks. For me that is where the beauty is, the pictures of the aftermath. As usual, I was experimenting with that on camera, I think you'll know what I mean.

Many thanks to our troops who made it possible for me to sit with my family and enjoy the fireworks. Freedom is not free, and the sacrifices you and your families make daily were not forgotten on that day.

© Crystaline Randazzo Photography - All images are copyright of Crystaline Randazzo and in no way are to be used by Google, Google Advertisers or any third party. These are not your pictures. Steal them and I will sue you.

Happy Independence Day: Part One

Dom and I spent the 4th of July weekend at my parent's house in Dewey, Arizona. I haven't been home for the 4th in years, and Dom and I haven't been to see fireworks in I don't know how long. Even better, my sister Linda and her crew came down so I got to see her as well!

Saturday we went to see the parade in Prescott, AZ. It might be the longest parade I've ever been to! But we had a great time! I got some photos of the family while we watched. The kids are getting soo big!!

After the parade Jordann was a flag girl in a performance the church did in honor our troops. She did a fantastic job! Here are some photos from the event:

I am still behind in my photo ingest so I will do a second post regarding the weekend and the fireworks we went to on Sunday night!
  
© Crystaline Randazzo Photography - All images are copyright of Crystaline Randazzo and in no way are to be used by Google, Google Advertisers or any third party. These are not your pictures. Steal them and I will sue you.

Abilene & The Land of Enchantment!

Dom and I headed to Abilene after our fab weekend in Ft. Worth. We were royally spoiled by Judy's southern soul food! Ribs, black eyed peas, cornbread, and blue berry pie. Needless to say we never wanted to leave! Judy & Steve were fantastic hosts, and we enjoyed the relaxation, not to mention running around my old stomping grounds!

After two days in Abilene, we hopped in to the car and drove to my home state! New Mexico! The land of roadrunners, adobe, and hatch green chili! We made the 7 hour car ride to Taos to see Tim and the gallery. As soon as we arrived, we ran down to the Taos pueblo and got there right before it closed.

Approximately 150 people live within the Pueblo full time. Other families owning homes in the North or South buildings live in summer homes near their fields, and in more modern homes outside the old walls but still within Pueblo land. There are over 1900 Taos Indians living on Taos Pueblo lands.

The artisans were hard at work making beautiful pottery and tiles! It was fantastic!

The artists of Taos Pueblo produce beautiful handcrafted wares using techniques passed down through generations. Today, Taos Pueblo potters are challenged to produce high quality pottery by putting a high polish on vessels.

It was a very quick outing but it made me fall in love with the southwest all over again. I wonder if I'll every get the wilderness out of my system!

Here are a few more shots from the day:

© Crystaline Randazzo Photography - All images are copyright of Crystaline Randazzo and in no way are to be used by Google, Google Advertisers or any third party. These are not your pictures. Steal them and I will sue you.

Bon Voyage!

Our second night in Texas, we ate some mean Railhead bbq ribs with Gail and Christopher, finished it off with an old fashioned sno-cone.

Then we headed to downtown Fort Worth to celebrate Trisha's big move to her new job in Salt Lake City. We had a fantastic time and I got to see my favorite ex-roomates Trisha, Nicole, and Leighanne (Carrie you were very missed). I cannot say how much I miss these girls, it was such a highlight to have a night together.