Jen + Brian = Married. Cancun, Mexico

I think traveling to Mexico should be mandatory for busy Minnesota folk.

We had a great time celebrating with Jen and Brian in Cancun, getting to know this fabulous couple and hearing their unique love story.

Without further adieu, here is the video we created. Enjoy this escape to paradise, I know we did.

どうもありがとう!

Yesterday the post worker left a HUGE cardboard package outside my door.

It was a special delivery from my brother and sister in-law currently living in Japan.

All of these goodies above were stealthily packed inside!  There is so much here I felt like I just won a Pachinko jackpot.

There truly was something for everyone here at Digital Art House-plushies, puzzles, snacks, tea, sake, toy robots, rubber stamps, bento boxes, books, a fancy red backpack, a Swimmer wallet, oh my!  What an amazingly thoughtful gift.

I especially liked the Sake “juice boxes.”

The “takoyaki” snack balls were actually pretty tasty and reminded me of the real thing…

And, I’ve already devoured my all time favorite Japanese junk food-chocolate covered macadamia nuts. (Sharon you know me so well.)

Violet said it best, “Arigato Sharon-san!”

Jennifer & Brian – Cancun, Mexico Part I

Well, it’s another frigid day in the great white tundra we call home.  There will be a high temperature of zero degrees Farenheit today.

I’m using my imagination today and pretending to be back on the white shores of the Caribbean.  You may remember, a few months ago I blogged about photographing Jennifer and Brian’s destination Cancun wedding.

Shooting a destination wedding has some obvious and not so obvious advantages, one of them being more time to hang out with the couple and attend events like the rehearsal and groom’s dinner.

Attending these events and spending time with a couple means getting more great photos and so, I am splitting this wedding event into a two part blog series.  Stay tuned for tomorrow’s wedding day entry!

I know, I know you can hardly stand the anticipation.  :)

Stay warm my fine feathered snow bird friends.

Adam and I scheduled some time with the lovely couple to interview them and take some quick casual shots of them on the beach.

Later, we met Jennifer and Brian along with their friends and family for a quick rehearsal and then headed to one of the couple’s favorite Cancun dining venues, Harry’s for an amazing lobster supper. Meanwhile, the dessert was most definitely a highlight of the evening, and brought out the kid in all of us.

In Living Color

Today is a typical November day in Minnesota, I know, the weather could be worse, it could be fifty degrees below zero.  Oh yeah winter bring it on!

Meanwhile, I am surrounded by bare branched trees, and by a muted canvas of gray, brown, black, and blah.  On days like today, I dream of different hues-turquoises, pinks, azures….I reflect on my first trip to Mexico last month, the first time I saw proof that these colors really do exist in nature.

Adam and I travelled to Cancun to shoot a wedding (stay tuned for that post) and although I had never before desired an adventure somewhere “tropical,” (remember I’m naturally so white I blind folks) I now understand why droves of bikini clad college students visit Mexico every year.

After celebrating for three days with Brian and Jennifer, the beautiful wedding couple, Adam and I had a full day of vacation before heading back to Minnesota.

There is a lot to do around Cancun, but we were most interested in relaxing by the incredible blue green waters of the Caribbean. So, we took a ferry to Isla Mujeras.  I was charmed instantly by this small “island of woman,” and spent the day floating on my back in the Caribbean (paying homage to my maternal grandmother), sipping the best margaritas I have ever tasted, meeting a great family from Utah, and enjoying some down time with my favorite photographer -my husband.

Okay, you can be extremely jealous of me now.  Heck, I’m jealous of my “October Cancun venturing self.”

Viva la Mexico!

Before getting on the last ferry back to Cancun, Adam and I grabbed a quick bite to eat.  These fish tacos pictured below were excellent…unfortunately, I didn’t end up feeling so good later in the evening, but that’s a story nobody wants to read.

When in Rome, well, you know…later that evening we gussied up and headed to the club district to pay some big money to check out the infamous Coco Bongo.  Yes, we know this place is a money making cheese factory, but somedays ya just embrace your inner cheese and be a typical tourist.

Adam and I tried to negotiate a better price with the club’s doorman, but ended up with two free t-shirts and a DVD.

Coco Bongo puts on a good show; canons shoot confetti, trapeze artists soar above your head, celebrity look-alikes lip synch to songs (instantly I thought of the show Puttin on the Hits,) and Jim Carrey’s mask character gestures obscenely. Around midnight, I kept getting yelled at by a male server for sitting down, obviously the man has never spent 6 hours in heels.