The only shot of the lake I took, the wind was almost blowing me away (I know I’m skinny, but really, it was strong).

From the 12th floor of the Hyatt Regency. Didn’t think my 20mm would actually not be enough. And, look closely, there are people in the pool down there! I’m cold just thinking about it.

I have about a zillion shots of my son, who didn’t like the snow at all (it was his first time and maybe seeing Mommy and Daddy sink in the snow to their knees wasn’t very reassuring for the pint size self that he is).

Here is a little extra. I know, I look crazy. I’m smiling but I really hate snow/rain being blown right in my face and eyes. Oh, and my fingers were falling off because I got smart and left my gloves in the car thinking I would be out for a few quick shots (the above macros). Not a good idea.

Since I’m writing this, it means I survived traveling alone with a toddler (the 10 hour flights were beyond challenging but I won’t go there).

I have yet to transfer all the photos I took in Italy (last night I crashed shortly before 8pm, without even having dinner – yes, jet lag does that to me), but I promise a lot of gorgeousness will be posted on this blog soon.

We flew back to Cali on Monday. Yes, quite some days but I haven’t had a spare second to update this blog. Between catching up with emails and returnig phone calls, updating clients’ orders, prenatal visits and looking for a pediatrician for our soon to be born baby… days have gone by really quickly.

Today, while organizing folders and downloading all the images shot during our little vacation I picked some random ones to edit and share.
I didn’t take many pictures though, I was ‘focused’ on enjoying our last vacation before the baby comes and I must say we feel so much more relaxed right now. It was a much needed vacation.

All (or almost) of the following images were randomly taken while Markino and I went geocaching (go on geocaching.com if you don’t know what I’m talking about) around the island. We spent most of our time there driving around and looking for this tech ‘treasures’ as I could barely stand the heat under the sun (despite my limited sun exposure by the pool I am about 5-6 shades darker now than when I got there! yes, I tan very easily).

On of the last caches we found on the island, a couple of hours before heading to the airport, was at the Waimea Canyon Lookout. The place offered breathtaking views.

Some more of my ‘Flower Power‘ series…

A gorgeous lizard.

This bird seemed fake, he didn’t move a bit… exception made for the eyes which kept rolling to follow Markino and me.

On our way to the next geocache! Renting that Jeep was the best thing we ever did!

My brand new grey Converse after a day of geocaching in tons of red dirt… picture taken right before getting ready to head to the airport. I, the 7 months pregnant lady, ended up doing all the travel on my high wedged sandals! I’ll let you imagine how comfortable it was… but there was no way for me to go around in muddy converse (trust me, the picture doesn’t do justice, neither does it show how the dirt ended up inside and onto my white socks… and I won’t even start talking about my jeans).

You were probably expecting a colorful beach but it is way too easy to get sunny and colorful shots here in Hawaii, you can see those on countless postcards… I like challenges better. :)

So here, is the picture… and then follows the explanation:

Two shots actually. I know, nothing special up to here…
I was going around the main streets of Tirana that afternoon, shooting a last-minute portrait session when these guys found us. As we were all chicks (and chicks don’t go unnoticed in Albania!) they came around… and were impressed by how BIG my camera was, asking me to take a picture of them. So I did.
To my surprise, they are like: When are e-mailing the picture to us? 
Wait, aren’t they like 8 or 9 years old? At their age I didn’t even have a Barbie doll to play with (I hated Barbies, but that’s beside the point).
The first time I saw a computer in my life was at the age of 14, 11 years ago, shortly after the first PCs hit the Albanian land! They are already chatting and emailing?
I’m impressed!
Ugh, getting old I guess…

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The other day I got Markino something he had been wanting all his life… :P Well, not exactly but he had mentioned it a couple of times.
The wine journal, so he can take note of the wines we try… much needed here, so that we don’t get the same bad wine twice in the process of getting to know the local market :D

K.

Right now I’m hoping jetlag doesn’t kill me like it did when I came here 4 weeks ago. I love travelling, if I could just find an easy way out of having to deal with sleeping issues I would be around the world 24/7.

And again, like when we moved to California Jan/Feb 2008, I’ll so be missing the food. Sigh…
Uhm, and of course the shopping… I did some pretty amazing shopping down here. I’m addicted to shoes!

Well, gotta go and pack up my things, hoping I don’t forget anything here.

K.

Too bad I already had the tickets to Tirana when I got an invitation for a couple of runways in the Milan Fashion Week… oh, well.

At least I’ll go and pampered at home. Can’t wait to see my friends. I’ll be busy doing nothing for the next couple of days :)

My flight is scheduled at 8.30am, meaning I’ll have to be out of here be 6am. OUCH! This is so NOT me, I am unable to function properly before 9am. But this is barely the hard part. It’s the 15 hours flight that will destroy me. Oh right, I didn’t mention where I’m off to. Destination: Milan, ITALY.
I’m connecting in Chicago, where I’ll have to wait for a couple o hours before my next flight.

I’ll finally land on earth, losing 9 hours (which I will suffer jetlag conseguences for), Fri 19th, at 8.30am (local time).

My Friday will already busy with work: meet with a client, check a studio, rent lighting for an upcoming photoshoot and maybe finally rest.

Sunday: Off to take another plane, going in Albania. A little visit home for a week or so.

I hope I can drop by for some more updates on my travels and post new pictures!

K.

Not much to say about Vegas:

- I have no pictures to show, didn’t even get my 5D out of the bag. Sorry, I was busy doing else :)
- I didn’t relax, AT ALL
- I didn’t even get a little tan poolside (it was hot as hell, but cloudy all the time)
- Last but not least, I didn’t get filthy rich (I can’t deny I hoped for it!!)

Huh, this came out as “what I didn’t do in Vegas”. :P

One thing is a bit weird though: we had one of the most delicious sushi dinners in the middle of the desert. I don’t even wanna know where that tender fresh fish came from, but Shibuya is a great place (your bank account may have a stroke but you’ll have an absolutely great experience).

K.

Maybe I’ll write sth here on the blog, maybe I won’t… in any casy, we’ll be back home on Tuesday night.
Anyone else in Vegas this weekend? :)