Saturday, January 10

Today is Rich's birthday: Happy Birthday Rich!
Last night Ana and I were joined by Ana's old roommate from Staten Island, Andrew. Andrew just recently moved to Phoenix, and really enjoys it here. We all went to dinner on Mill Ave. in Tempe to a restaurant called Z' Tejas, which I recognized from eating there in Austin, TX with Courtney long ago. The food was good, the margaritas were better. :) After that we went to a yuppie student pool bar and had some pretty good laughs at the ASU students. We were there for about a half an hour, and then had to leave before we lost IQ points.
This morning Ana and I got to sleep in a bit, waking up around 8:30. We had breakfast and then were picked up by Joe and Katie. We dropped Joe off at the country club to hit balls with JP and then Katie took us over to Mike and Maureen's house in Scottsdale. Mike was just leaving when we pulled up to the house, which really was a bummer to me since one of my goals of this trip was to photograph Mike and Maureen together in an artsy outdoor lifestyle scene. Oh well, maybe next time.
I did, however, get to photograph Aiden, who was a rockstar model debuting at the age of 7 weeks. This kid has talent I tell you! ;) I had a great time setting up a little area to shoot in the guest room, consisting of a draped white sheet and gold chenille blanket next to a large sliding door facing the back yard. Ahhh, natural light. My favorite.
I got some cute pictures of Aiden while he was awake, but my favorite shot of are him sleeping. Katie took the time to get him to fall asleep in front of the backdrop for me, and these shots are great!
A little while later Aided decided that he wanted to get some more camera time. He invited his Grandma Maureen to hold him and feed him for a while and to cuddle with him for a photo session. He sure loves his Grandma! I think the feeling MIGHT be mutual. Ha ha. Maureen is in love with this baby, and I know why!
So as for the photo sessions go, even though I didn't get to photograph Mike and Maureen together, I did get the pleasure of creating memories for the Casey Family. I have no way of getting these photos onto my computer to share with you yet, so you'll just have to wait.
After wrapping up the photo shoot, Katie and Joe drove us back to Phoenix. Once again we dropped off Joe, but this time to get his hair cut. Katie took us to the Dessert Botanical Gardens which we were told is a MUST SEE location of the Phoenix area. Aiden kept us entertained with what Katie calls his "3 stages of crying" the whole way to the gardens. Poor baby, he just wanted out of that car seat. Been there.
Ana and I had a great time at the Botanical Garden, seeing beautiful displays of cacti, trees, and blown glass exhibits. Uploading those will be another one of my "to do" items when I get home.
Ana and I took a cab back to the hotel, had a few glasses of wine in the concierge lounge, talked photography, went down for a bite to eat in the restaurant, and now we're heading to bed. Our classes start at 7 AM tomorrow, which means we need to leave the hotel no later than 6:15. Giddy up.
Good night!