Hi hi! It's the second day of fall. Heading into the middle of September it is freaking cold! Not only people are getting excited to snuggle into their sweater, the rain coats are coming out of hibernation to stay dry from heavy rain! These next few blogs were photographed last month and are finally being released now. The timeline are a bit off and I am working hard to catch up to the current week and be back on track. So you will see summer looking images when most of my readers lives in Washington and are dealing with the cold weather.

I am pleased to share a chipper friend of mine who I've known for six years. Her name is Jennifer. I was so happy for us to meet up, catch up on our lives, and do photography together. She is the 34th portrait of the week for August 20th to August 26th. I reached out to her and asked when was a good time to get together and see what is new in our lives. We set up a day on Mercer Island, Washington, an island in between Bellevue and Seattle, to see her awesome home, eat yummy seafood, and photograph each other at Luther Burbanks park. That is the gist of our time. The following will goes as learning a bit about Jennifer, how we became met, and what we did together. Prepare to have your cheeks hurting because you will be smiling all throughout!

Jennifer is a vibrant woman who loves to smile and laugh at anything. Whether it is making fun of something or someone, her smile is contagious. A La Cañada, California native, lived in China for two years around 2007 and then moved to Seattle two years after. She is the graduated class of 2013 from the University of Washington. Zooming into 2017, she has grown into an abundant and matured woman.

Gone were the days of intense partying. That was like that when we first met. In our early 20s, college was all about partying. That is normal and we are only human. How we met was through a mutual friend I met online from Tumblr through a League of Legends community. That mutual friend moved up to Seattle to experience a new scene for one year. I housed him in the beginning of his time here. During that time, we met up with his childhood friend. That childhood friend is the woman you see here. They grew up in the same town. Crazy how small this world is through connecting with people. The first thing that came across my mind is seeing how tiny she is compare to me. I am not a tall person myself even being at 5'5 ft. In the Asian circle, I would be consider taller than most. The second thing is how she can bring people together. She is small, yet, can radiate a genuine and lively personality when interacting with her friends and family. A small package with a big surprise.

The day of our shoot was a beautiful sunny day. After getting off of work, I drove to Mercer Island, chilled at a Starbucks, and waited until she got off work. Around 5:30 PM, it was time to see Jennifer after months from seeing each other at a music festival. Her home is beautiful. I can see why she lives in Mercer Island. We stopped for dinner before the shoot. After dinner, we headed over to Luther Burbank Park. This was the first park I ever set foot on the island. The park was massive! We walked all over the park. Not only was there an area for swimming and fishermen pier, there was a dog park! We walked into the dog park and had to SnapChat my moment with the dogs. Sure it was silly we walked in without a dog, but I did not care! This park also have a unique walking trail which opens up a small area for folks like us to chill. The entirety of our shoot, we had fun photographing each other and asking her to be silly like jumping in the air. The last portion of our shoot was at the beach. The sun was setting bright and warm behind us as she was checking out her Canon's photo, I snapped a few amazing shots as the sun shine in front of me. Truly a remarkable scene. As the final few photos, I set up my camera on a large boulder across the next boulder that was in the water for our self portrait. Walking in the water hurt the crap out of our feet! I was in pain moving around. No pain no gain right? I love our self portrait together. Shoot for the sky.

Before I end the blog, I want to share an incredible breakthrough. What grew us closer was sharing our darkest secret and triumphing beyond the circumstances. I opened to her about what happened to me within the time of our friendship and how I had to go counseling to essentially cure my PTSD from two sexual abuse. She opened up about a similar situation, too. I cried for her learning someone harmed her and took away her innocent. It wasn't until a year or so later, she shared she went to receive help because she was inspired from what I went through. I have witness a woman who was broken, confused, and sad who surrounded herself with false pretenses to hide her scars. She is a transformed woman who has accomplished a future meaningful beyond what has happened. We love the same music, attended almost all of the surrounding music festival together, and love photography. The one activity I have to do with you is sky diving since you beat me to the punch.

At last, thank you Jennifer for spending a day with me and being in my project. I love seeing your food post on SnapChat as well as seeing you having a good time. I know you have sky diving event coming up and I was not able to make it to that event. Have fun!

I am happy to release two blog entry in the same week! At this rate, I'll be caught up to the current week and have my project align with the time. Thank you for your time and patience. Week 35 will be out ASAP! Have a fabulous weekend!

- Sally

Week 34/52 - Dream On Little Dreamer