San Francisco & Presidio Engagement (Elizabeth & Matt)

I have mentioned to Elizabeth a few times now that she always seems to catch me when I feel like a hot mess. Julie, one of my brides from last year (the one published in Our Wedding Magazine) seemed to be the one who was always busting me with my proverbial pants down last year.

This year, Elizabeth seems to be stepping into Julie's pretty little shoes.

It started simple enough, you know, a little behind on email here or there. Not being able to schedule this session during my peak season. (But, it was like, peak season!) And then the weird stuff started. Like, you can schedule an appointment on that day, but I might have to drop everything and drive or fly to Utah to shoot the birth of these twins at a moment's notice and either cancel on you or run suddenly out of the room. Or, I had to park behind two guys who I swear were stuffing a body in the trunk wrapped in an army bag before I came up to see you and I'm a little weirded out...

Then when we started trying to schedule the engagement session, my main computer's motherboard decided to die (at the ripe old age of six months) and I was about to leave for just about a month of traveling and shooting and would almost be completely unable to work or communicate unless I manage to figure out how to stuff a full size computer monitor into my carry on baggage at the airport so I could use my back up computer, which is another broken laptop with a screen that doesn't work. (The system board on this one is dead. It's not the integrater or whatever that $30 part was we replaced in it.) Excellent.

We made it through that, and it was time for the engagement session. I was so pleased with myself. I had everything charged and ready to go, bags packed and I was going to prove to myself that I was not a hot mess after all. I just wanted to touch up my roots before I went to bed. (Being a REAL red head I didn't want Liz to see me going all fakey with my real Auburn roots showing!) So I touch up, stick a towel on my head, and as I'm about to hop into bed, decide to do a quick blow dry.

That's when I realized I was now Bozo the Clown's new sidekick.

F@*$!

APPARENTLY, I grabbed the wrong unlabeled bottle I had left laying around my bathroom and my roots were now FLAMING ORANGE with GIANT SPLOTCHES in RANDOM PLACES all over my FREAKING HEAD. I looked like I had tiger stripes.

HOT MESS, HOT MESS, HOT MESS.

It is now 2am. I have to leave here at 5am. Do I go to the session and laugh it off or do I run to the 24 hour WalMart and try and dye it out?

I picked door number 2.

When I got out of the shower the SECOND time, my entire head was orangier than Carrot-Top. AND I HAD USED DARK BROWN DYE.

I cried.

But, I guess it was some kind of optical illusion or reflection or dye on my scalp or something because when I blow dried it, it turned brown.

PHEW.

So I went to bed at 430am. Of course I was too anxious to sleep. I was up and out the door before 5am.

I got to the Financial District in SF early, and puttered around at a meter before deciding the three previous parking tickets I gotten in the city wouldn't be worth repeating and found a parking garage.

And the trouble began again.

I lost my keys IN THE CAR.

Seriously. (I know I had them to drive there!)

It took me 10 minutes to find them. (Between the seats.)

Then when I tried to take the elevator the 3-4 floors up to the street level I came up in the middle of the Hilton. What Hilton? Where the heck am I? I look out the street and it's like, China Town out there! What is this, the Twilght Zone?! I'm also a level above the street! So I get back on the elevator and try to go down a level... and come out in another parking garage! A different one! I can't even walk to where I was before! So I take the elevator again, and came up in a different part of the hotel! Now I am freaked out. I find my way out and the valet sends me down some back alley to get to where I was originally and I find Elizabeth and Matt, patiently waiting in the FREEZING COLD like the angels that they are, never complaining a bit! I was so embarrassed but they were such good sports! I felt terrible!

HOT MESS!

After we finished at that location, I went to go back to my car, and I did find it this time, but it still took 10 minutes to get back to it and then their payment machines weren't working and Elizabeth was teasing me if I was lost again! SEE! I am a hot mess!

BANG HEAD ON DESK!

By the way, I crossed another item off photographer life experience list! The gross and nasty section! Of course I have done lots of shooting near urine, kneeled in horse and cow manure, taken lots of pictures with naked people in the background (Baker Beach you know.... sooo many hours of editing to get that out), had a baby spit up into it's mother's mouth while she was playing "airplane" with it... Well during this session, we got to shoot near vomit! Excellent! LOL

Hot mess! Hot mess! Hot Mess!

At least the pictures came out awesome, and these guys are so pretty you're just not going to be able to stand it and you're going to forget all about all that embarrassing stuff I just told you about myself. :) Elizabeth and Matt will be marrying in Tahoe in March. Yay! Congratulations! They are having a pretty green wedding I hear too (their invitations are made of LEAVES and BARK or something!) so look for more from them soon!