michaella + paulo sneak peek!

Michaella and Paulo was such a shy couple but what do you know, they're a natural in front of the lens! We went back to the place where they got engaged for their engagement session, the beautiful Unionville in Markham. Everyone loved our red balloon idea, we even had a bridal party borrow it for their wedding pictures. We were tired at the end of the day, but it was worth it. 

lulu + don sneak peek!

Congratulations, Lulu and Don

 Update: I'm adding more pictures just because! So many beautiful shots coming out from this set! I can't wait to share it will all of you =)

balloon love

Sorry, I couldn't resist! How much do you love this picture??? Love, love, love!

first favourite summer photo entry to our Instax contest!

Shirley would like to share with us their amazing hot air balloon experience this August. Love, love, love hot air balloons! This looks like a lot of fun! Thanks for sharing, Shirley!

The contest is open until September 30, 2011. Send us your favourite summer photo now and win this!

watermelon lemonade

Looking for a refreshing drink? Try this!


Watermelon Lemonade Recipe:

6 cups of watermelon
1 cup of water
3 tablespoons of sugar
1/2 cup of lemon juice

Preparation:

Remove as many seeds as you can from the watermelon flesh. Place water and watermelon in the blender and blend until smooth. Add the sugar and lemon juice. Refrigerate until it's chilled.

Although, what's more refreshing than this??

an elephant never forgets

"You know... they say, an elephant never forgets

What they don't tell you is, you never forget an elephant."
- Bill Murray, Larger than Life

I just realized, one of my favourite animals are elephants. I want one! =) What beautiful creatures!

themed engagement sessions

I love themed engagement sessions! I can't say that enough. Looking around for ideas, I found these amazing photographs of themed engagement sessions. Enjoy!

Candy themed engagement session by photographer, Danielle Aquiline. Love the colours!

A vintage Breakfast at Tiffany's themed engagement session by Axioo Photographers of Indonesia.

A Baseball themed shoot by Jeff Sampson Photography

Love this school themed engagement session from Harrison Long Photography

A cooking themed engagement session from Swoonoverit Photography

Vintage beach themed engagement session by Sara Evans. Beautiful!

Love this vintage inspired shoot. Check out the whole set at Shannon Nicole Smith Photography

Caroline Tran is undoubtedly one of our favourite photographers. Her pictures are just amazing. 

See what I mean?? She's amazing! Love this fishing themed one!

yummy shrimp and tomato pasta

 This recipe is so easy, you'd be eating this yummy pasta by lunch! The ingredients are simple:

1 bag of spaghettini

1 bag of shrimp

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tomato, diced

1/2 cup of chicken broth

2 tablespoons of "I can't believe it's not butter" margarine

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Set aside. 

2. In a medium pan, add the 2 tablespoons of margarine (or butter). I love this particular brand because it tastes like butter, but it's margarine. Haha!

3. Saute the garlic until medium brown. 

4. Add the shrimp and cook until it's brown. Add a little bit of pepper and a tiny dash of salt. 

5. Add the tomatoes. 

6. Add the chicken both to add flavour. Saute until the sauce is thick.

Serve over pasta and enjoy!

easy tuna salad

I learned how to make this Tuna Salad Recipe from my mom. It's great because you can eat it with your favourite greens/veggies and you can also use this on your sandwich as a filling. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

2 cans of tuna

6 tablespoons of light mayonnaise

1 medium carrot, grated

1/2 cup of shredded cheese

2 tablespoons of pickle relish

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Can be served with cucumbers, greens and tomatoes with Asian Salad dressing. You can also add almonds or walnuts for added texture. 

Enjoy!

lemon poppyseed cupcakes with lemon glaze

I love Starbucks' lemon poppyseed loaf and I've been craving for them for awhile now, which led me to find this awesome recipe for lemon poppyseed cupcakes with lemon glaze. Thank you, Joy of Baking!

The Recipe:

I've used the same recipe as stated except that I baked mine in a muffin pan. 

Ingredients:

3 large eggs 1 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1/4 cup (60 ml) milk 1 1/2 cups (195 grams) all-purpose flour 3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated white sugar 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (outer yellow skin of the lemon) 3 tablespoons (30 grams) poppy seeds 13 tablespoons (184 grams) unsalted butter, softened For the lemon glaze: 1/4 cup (60 ml) fresh lemon juice 1/3 cup (65 grams) granulated white sugar Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place the oven rack in the center of the oven. Butter and flour (or spray with a non stick vegetable/flour spray) the bottom and sides of a loaf pan (8 x 4 x 2 1/2 inch) (20 x 10 x 7 cm). Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and butter and flour the paper. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla extract, and milk. In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, lemon zest, and poppy seeds until combined. Add the softened butter and half the egg mixture and mix on low speed until moistened. Increase the speed to medium and beat for about one minute. (This aerates and develops the cake's structure.) Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the remaining egg mixture in two batches, beating about 30 seconds after each addition. (This will strengthen the structure of the batter. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 55 to 65 minutes (for cupcakes, bake for 20-22 minutes, or until the bread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. You may have to cover the bread with buttered foil after about 30 minutes if you find the bread over-browning. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, bring the sugar and lemon juice to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Drizzle the glaze over the cupcakes/loaf and refrigerate. You can also use powdered sugar dusted on top, Starbucks style =)

Lulu and Don

Okay. I've been holding back on posting pictures of these two but today, I got the okay, so without futher ado.... Lulu and Don!

Love how easy it is show the love between these two. Their personalities just shine through.

Centreville was in fact the perfect place to shoot their engagement photos. It was so much fun!

And to end, I'm reposting my favourite photo from this set!

Lulu and Don are getting married next weekend =)

hello strangers, want an instax??

Hello strangers. I haven't been here for so long, I can't help but feel oddly detached. Anyway, I hope you're all out there enjoying this glorious summer and doing more interestings than me (than I? I'm sure this is the grammatically correct version. Oh well!). I've been so tired lately trying to get sleep in the middle of window renovations. Working nights does not help at all as I come home attempting to sleep, while workers are banging away without a care in the world. Of course, it's not their fault as they were only doing what they were paid to do. It's just bad timing, unfortunately for me.

Dust and debris and no curtains or blinds have prevented me from cooking anything that resembles a meal. Aside from feeling exposed, I just can't stand the mess at home, the furniture in disarray and everything in utter chaos. I don't know if it's the mess, or the fact that I haven't been so wifely lately, but we've also been fighting an awful lot lately. I shouldn't say fighting, I guess more like bickering. But still. In fact today, we almost broke the "no-fighting-before-bedtime" rule, as I left the house for a night shift without resolution though he knew I will not be seeing him until tomorrow. But of course, knowing how we've always been, he's bbm'd me already with a sorry and a sad face which made me feel guilty because today's debacle was partly my fault and due to my stubborness and incessant need to be right. This said, I know I have some making up to do. Still can't believe sometimes how lucky I am to have such a loving husband.

He used to say, "messy house, messy mind" and I always thought this was bull. I guess he was right.

Anyway, we're taking a photography class together this summer. We haven't been able to go away and do anything due to our work and photography commitments, so it'll be fun to do something different together for a change. I'm also thinking of taking other courses to fill my immeasurable free time. I don't really have that much free time, but it's nice to think of it that way. Hopefully we'll get to do some field work and take some artistic stuff to show you guys. A few more weddings are coming up and soon enough, we'll be busy again trying to catch up. But I do hope I can whip up some cooking/wedding/crafty posts for you next week. We're cleaning these weekend and hopefully get rid of the debris that's been clouding my mind and judgement for a few days now.

Whenever I feel bad about myself, I always feel like I have to do something nice to give back, so here it is. We love this camera so much I want to give someone a chance to win this camera to share the love. All you have to do is send us your favorite summer photo taken by yourself. You can edit it anyway you want it as long as no actualy parts of the photo are altered or changed (like placing the Eiffel Tower in the background to make it seem like you're in Paris). I won't really know if you did something outrageous like that, but I expect you to be honest =) I guess I should have a deadline, otherwise, this giveaway will go on for too long. Let's just say the deadline will be September 30, 2011 to submit your summer photos to adrianandjanaphotography@gmail.com. We will announce the winner on October 20, 2011 to give us time to decide who the deserving winner is. So, what are you waiting for?? Send us your photos soon and win this!

Photo from Photojojo Store

Oh and I'm throwing in instant film with 20 exposures just for fun.

Enjoy your weekend!

summer lovin'

Children have neither past nor future; they enjoy the present, which very few of us do.  

~Jean de la Bruyere

Spent the long weekend visiting my brother and his family in Delaware. Love these photos I've taken of his kids! Back when they were younger, I had the chance to play mommy with his girls and I was so lucky to have had the chance to spend as much time with them the way I did. You can almost feel Janey's happiness in this picture. Love, love, love!

It was a great long weekend spent with my best friend's family as well. It's been awhile since we had a road trip together. If I'm not mistaken, it's been at least a couple of years ago. Rory is such a happy kid. He was hesitant to play with the hippo (the sprinkler) and yet he couldn't hide his happiness in this picture. It was a hot day and this couldn't have been more refreshing. I almost wanted to join and and play in the water with them. 

Some random pictures taken this summer. I guess being a summer baby, I can't hide how much I love summer.