lynn in love with camera bags and wicked stitch designs

Good afternoon everybody!
I'm half done with my craziest, busiest week of the year, but I wanted to pop in and say hi and show off my new arrival! My lovely Wicked Stitch Camera Bag! Isn't she a beaut?


So I've been on a search for a great camera bag forever. At first, I was just using the huz's grey messenger bag to lug all my gear in. I really loved this bag as it was just big enough to hold all my stuff, and just small enough to travel everywhere with it. I went to Vietnam, SF, Atlanta, NY with this thing. However as it wasn't padded, my Diana died in it and I'm pretty sure my SLR was damaged in the process.

So I've started carrying my gear in my Kate Spade tote that has been heavily padded with scarves and sweaters. Not optimal.

Meanwhile, looking for the perfect bag has been hard! I knew I couldn't just get any bag, it had to have all the following qualities: 1. Be durable and have enough padding to protect my gear 2. Large enough to carry all my cameras (my dslr, polaroid, point and shoot) and other small travel items. 3. Be small enough so that I can actual carry it everywhere when I travel! 4. Has to be stylish, but will work in a number of situations: Travel, in-town, shoots. I don't want a standard fugly camera bag.

Here were some of the options I have found:
1. Of course the shootsac - probably the most popular bag carried by wedding photographers. There are interchangeable covers and it's very easy to wear. However it's really intended to carry extra lenses and not the camera body. I really need a bag that will hold my camera body and since I only shoot with one lens at this time, it really doesn't make sense. Once I upgrade my equipment and expend my lens collection, this will probably be a must have on shoots.

2. Emera Bag - This is really new cute camera bag that comes in blue, red, and a print. It looks very well made and doesn't look like a camera bag at all! It's large, but not bulky. However, it definitely is a "city bag" and I can't really see myself traveling with it, or really on a shoot. I'd like to have a shoulder strap option.

3. The Kelly Moore Bag - this bag is just out and ready for pre-order! I really like the shape and the black option. It's stylish and very wearable. It has interchangeable dividers inside. You can carry your body, but the lens has to be off of it. I'm not sure how I feel about that. Plus the price is a bit much for what I would like in a camera bag.

4. Epiphane - This is the newest bag that I have come across since after purchasing my bag. I'm a little obsessed with it. Made of beautiful synthetic materia, great size, and interchangable compartments on the inside, they are both stylish and versatile! And it's a pretty fair price! I'm a little undecided about the colors right now and can't wait to see what new bags they will come up with. Plus with leather, I wonder how travel-friendly it is. This will probably be the next bag I will get! Fabulous!!


5. Wicked Stitch Designs - so what do I usually do when I can't find something I love?? I go to Etsy!! There are so many custom dSLR bags available on Etsy, and I really like the designs of Wicked Stitch. I ended up getting the Maia bag which I thought was everything I was looking for in bag. Basically you choose one of the designs she offers, then go choose whatever fabric you want to make the bag completely your own!

Things I like about the bag:
1) It's very durable. It's made of Codura fabric which is high performance fabric for baggage and luggage. 2) It's custumized to you! You get to pick out the cotton flap fabric to match your style and personality. I wanted to pick a neutral Black/Gray color so that I can stay professional when I go on shoots, but with a stylish pattern that I can use the bag when I travel. This Black and Gray Damask pattern is perfect! I feel like I can take this bag anywhere, shoots, rugged travel, and city travel.

3) I like the Maia bag because it is very sturdy, lined everywhere with 1/2 high density foam, and the bottom has a chipboard. With my track record of killing cameras this was high priority.

4) There are adjustable dividers inside so you can customize your organization. I'll probably always put my SLR in the middle, but the sides can hold either my lens/flash or Poloroid and other travel necessities.

5) My flap is removable, and I can easily order a new flap when I get tired of the damask to change up my look!
6) I also got the cute little Julia pouch in the matching fabric. It's perfect to hold my extra batteries and memory cards. It's also on a key clip, so I can clip it to my belt for easy access.

7) It has a zipper front pocket and two easy to access back pockets that I can stick my cell in.



7)For a custom bag that is one of a kind, the price can't be beat!

All in all, I'm in love with my bag! I took it out for its first shoot yesterday, and it was perfect and comfortable! Love it and highly recommend it!!

If you are going to order from her, I suggest you look at her flickr site first, to see what some of the fabric might turn out like on the bag. It's a little hard to know how large or bright the print will turn out so it's nice to get a little preview. Love how my damask turned out!! :)

*Edit* Oh! If you happen to be interested in this bag, it appears that this is the last week to get the discounted price for the Maia for $76.50! Here's the link again: http://www.wickedstitchdesigns.com/maia_waterproof_cb.htm

lynn in love with kenny & patricia's loveshoot!

Happy Friday Darlings!
Do you have exciting plans for this cold weekend?
I'm resting up for probably the busiest week I've had in 7 months!
I have 4 night shifts at the hospital and 3 shoots including 2nd shooting a wedding with Jenna Cole. It's a crazy schedule, but I'm thankful to be able to use both my head, my hands, and heart to do what I love!

Meanwhile... I just posted a special photoshoot on lynninlovephoto, so please check it out.
I just did my precious friend's winter love shoot and I'm in love with the images. Kenny, my husband, and I went to medical school together and Kenny was huz's roommate for 6 years until he became mine! Kenny and Patricia are a fun and loving couple that pretty much started all the ideas to start lynninlovephoto. They rocked their super cold session so go on over there and give them some comment love!!

lynn in love with the community of prayer

I usually try to keep the content of this blog light and airy... it's about being in love after all. However sometimes I like to get just a little more personal.

I've just been thinking about some things lately. First off, I've really been touched by a few people near me or in my community. Being the season, people tend to get sick more often. One of my college friends recently reached out via facebook and email about prayer for her mother who suddenly came down with a bad case of pneumonia and was in the ICU. Since her mother was in a Dallas hospital, I was able to come visit for a little bit. I'll have to be honest, and say it was a little bit odd to be on the other side in that waiting room. I will always remember being in a circle with her and her family as we prayed out loud and earnestly for her mother. And honestly, I did feel God's presence in that room listening and I felt the power of the community of our prayers together.

Unfortunately, my friend's mother passed away a few days ago which is very sad news. However, I still feel the spirit of the community of prayers that surrounded this event.

And then again, a outpour of prayer requests have been filling my twitter and facebook page for Natalie Norton, wedding photographer in Hawaii, and her 8 week old son, who suddenly developed RSV pneumonia and pertussis and was fighting for his young life. Again, this community of prayer felt so real to me as everyone reached out to provide a sense of comfort and support. Unfortunately, Gavin passed away this morning. You can read about it here.

It's funny. As an internal medicine doctor who works in the hospital, I pretty much deal with death almost every day. Either inevitable death (for those with cancer, or terminal infectious diseases), or on the verge (critical patients). Over the years during training and work, I learned to build up a wall around my own sensitivity. You have to in this line of work. While a sense of empathy and compassion in paramount; objectivity, competency, and calmness is vital to be an effective clinician. You have to access and evaluate facts and data as quickly as possible to make good swift decisions. You have to provide the same data to patients and their family objectively to help them arrive to good decisions. No matter how tragic a situation, you cannot let that show when you're with a family. You're the doctor; you are supposed to be the support and you have to instill confidence in them. After a while, I'll admit you do become de-sensitized. You have to be or you'll be overwhelmed and burnt-out with your job.

I have noticed that I've changed quite a bit since I started medical school. Now, I'm still a big girl in my personal life, I cry at movies and when I hurt. I do pretty gory things at work, but I won't kill a bug. However, if something medical comes up ever, I immediately feel a big wall come up. When I hear stories about so-so with this and that, I think "well that's unfortunate." and I immediately think about their risks for morbidity and mortality, what complications can arise, what are the chances of survival, what is the best treatments proven be research evidence. I'm very clinical and I wonder if that is a good thing or not?

It's funny. I believe strongly in the power of prayer and yet, I cannot remember the last time I prayed for a particular patient of mine or prayed for God to give me the wisdom and the skills to treat a case. When did I seperate God from my very work? This was only one of the things that I was just really touched by as I prayed this week for these two people and prayed for their doctors. And I wondered how many prayers have been prayed upon me the last years as I worked on numerous patients. And I wondered if and what may change if I prayed for myself and my work.

I am still praying for my friend and for natalie norton as they grieve for their lost ones. And I thankful for how they reached out to their communities and how that affected me and helped me reevaluate my faith a little and my humanity.

Lastly, I strengthened by their own faith even in the midst of their heartbreak.
Directly from Natalie's blog:

"God is real

God is good

Because of the atoning sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ,

We will all live again."

lynn in love with turkey chili

Brrr... it's cold outside! Perfect for a large bowl of chili and cornbread.

As a Texan, I love me some chili! But, I hate how fatty and heavy it can be sometimes. So when my friend Mandy introduced me to a healthier turkey version, I've be hooked ever since!

I wish I had a picture of mine to show you what it looks like, but I gobbled it all up before I even had a chance to pull out the camera. This is really similar to what it looks like though!

My version of the healthier chili!:

Turkey, Corn, and Black Bean Chili

Ingredients: 1 medium sized onion chopped, a couple cloves of garlic chopped, 1 package of high quality lean white ground turkey, 1 package of frozen or 1 can of whole kernel corn, 1 can of black beans, 2 cups of chicken stock, 1/2 bottle of beer, 1 can of tomatoes (crushed, or diced, or stewed), 1 can of tomato paste, chili powder, cumin powder.

1. In a large pot, cooked chopped onion and garlic in oil until golden and soft.
2. Add lean ground turkey and smooshing into small pieces with your spoon. Cook until turkey is browned and cooked.
3. Add corn, beans, tomatoes, tomato paste,
4. Add chicken stock and the 1/2 bottle of beer (this is optional, some people don't like beer in their chili)
5. Add cumin powder and chili powder to taste - I use about 3 tablespoons of each.
6. Cook and simmer for about 20 minutes as it thickens and the flavors all incorporates.

While the chili is cooking, make some cornbread (I still love me some Jiffy). To add a little something something, fold in some corn that used in the chili into the batter before pouring it in the pan. It makes for some yummy chunky cornbread.

Serve with a large bowl of hot chili.
Optional to add a dollap of lowfat sour cream in the chili!

Enjoy! This recipe is great as it has a lot of give, and you can add or substitute ingredients as you have on hand. Just flavor to your taste. It's a wonderful chunky and flavorful warm meal that's healthy too!

Mmmmm.. I'm gonna have another bowl right now!

lynn in love with 2010 goals

Hello dear blog readers!
Holidays are over and it's the first real work week of 2010.

After all the ruckus of the holidays, it's time to set some goals for this year.
Although I never been a big fan or believer in New Year Resolutions,
I think it is really important to articulate one's goals!

2009 was a crazy year of new beginnings and endeavors and
I really want 2010 to be a year of really fleshing out my jump-started dreams
and provide some real substance to my plans.

I really believe in this blog community and have made some fantastic people and friends through this venue and I hope by writing these goals here, that you will help me keep accountable and on track! Throughout the year, I hope to keep you updated on these goals to see how I'm doing.

MY CAREER GOALS
1. Making lynninlovephoto legit! Now, that it seems that my lovely photography business might actually work, I'm excited to make it legit. I won a little scholarship to Stacy Reeves "Mind Your Business" and pumped to learn more about this business side of things
2. Shooting my first solo wedding. It looks like I'm getting my first opportunity in May 2010!
3. Finding a job in medicine that really caters to my talents. Not that my current job is a bad one, but I really want to find a job that I really love, more in the outpatient clinic setting than a hospital setting, and hopefully working with obese patients.

PERSONAL GOALS
1. Pray more - This year was not absent of hard times, and time and time again, my prayers have been answered. I want to be committed to prayer more consistently and to pray with intention for others.
2. Time Management - I've really struggled this year with this and really need to strive to do better. Even though my real paying job doesn't require that many hours, my life is incredibly busy with juggling quality to people I love and starting a new business. I also require quite a bit of personal time to feel grounded and often feel torn with feelings that I neglect the people who need me including myself, husband, family and friends. My soul often feels worn out with the struggle. I need to feel content with the time I have and how I alot it for others.
3. Exercise consistently - I was exercising regularly doing my time off and it felt great! But now that's I'm working again, I've left my motivation for exercise on the side of the road. It's time to work off the "fat face" & my little "food belly"!
4. Clean, clean, clean - my lifelove goal :)

What are your goals for 2010?

And speaking of keeping things legit! Haha... this is my girl Connie and I at a wedding this weekend :) Because we are soooooo gangster!

lynn in love with a new year's celebration

We decided to celebrate in this year. Since the Huz was working (again!), I invited my girls to come over to ring in the new year with me! We had a fantastic time noshing on our crazy amazing potluck buffet, wines, izze sodas, and playing games and counting down together.

I'm so absolutely bummed because my compact flash card crashed on me, losing all our super cute pictures from the night. I was so sad, I quickly took some pictures of the aftermath and shot some new pics with the remaining 2 girls (Sorry Reli!). Also thank goodness for polaroids pictures...since they came through when technology let me down.

Thanks girls for welcoming the new decade with me!!






I love these pics. If the coloring is weird to you, I'm trying out a new Photoshop Action set... this one is called Retro Lollipop. I think it's cute :)






I scanned in my beloved Polaroids just for you guys!





and lastly, a photobooth strip for ya off my iphone :)

lynn in love with 2009 in pictures

I'm a little late with this post, but I knew I had to review this amazing, crazy, wonderful, dramatic year that was 2009. This was a year of new beginnings, real hardships, family drama, growing pains, and answered prayers. I think I am 100% a better person from this year and I want to always remember it.

Here were the highlight of my year in pictures!

1. january - I rang the new year on my "engage-versary" with my friends in Victory Park. I donned my new cowboy hat and two-stepped in style.



2. february - one month left of singleness and was buried in last minute wedding planning. I took some cold cold bridal portraits in a field with the wonderful Heather Essian.


3. march - this was the month I married my best friend, the love of my life. I cried and laughed, and was surrounded by my family and best friends. It was amazing. We had a 4 day wedding extravaganza that I will never forget!




4. april - i spent a wonderful honeymoon with my husband in Playa Mujeres, Mexico. We had such a lovely relaxing time!



5. may - we travelled to Buffalo, New York and Niagra Falls to attend a good friend's japanese/peruvian/lebanonese/hungarian wedding and had a fantastic time.



6. june - I finished my internal medicine residency! After 11 years of training, I finally was done with school and training! I celebrated with all my fine colleagues. I also started this blog!



7. july - i spent a month travelling to my parents' home country of Vietnam for the very first time. It was one of the most amazing and eye opening experiences of my life!!




8. august - august was a crazy hard month for various reasons, but it also made us closer to God who answered prayers and comforted our souls. We also got celebrated husband's birthday and I started my first month as a stay at home wife. We noshed and cleaned and exercised and enjoyed ourselves immensely in these acts. Our wedding also got published in D Weddings magazine!


9. september - was a busy month for us! We celebrated my father's birthday, became grape stomping champions, and had a smashing time in San Franscisco!





10. october - we went to the fair, I second shot my first wedding, celebrated my mother's birthday, and got to spend time with some old friends in Atlanta. I got to accompany my husband on his reproductive endocrine and infertility conference.




11. november - i started my new job at the hospital as a nocturnist. I also took a big leap and started lynninlovephoto, my portrait photography business. Husband matched into his fellowship programing in REI which means we'll be in Dallas at least 3 more years. We also went to wedding galore! and go camping alone for the first time.


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12. december - sweet december, we built gingerbread houses, and celebrated my nephews birthday, and rejoiced in Jesus's birthday.



Lovely wonderful 2009... we can't wait for our new adventures in 2010!!