BIG NEWS! I’m going to be an Aunt again! My sister is expecting her second child next month, a boy this time, so of course another baby shower was in order…a SURPRISE baby shower that is.  My sister is the QUEEN of party planning so we had to make sure this surprise baby shower was one to remember. My friend Yung and I were enjoying tea at Reynolds Tavern, located in historic downtown Annapolis, earlier this year when we spotted a private party- a baby shower to be exact- going on in the next room. “Oooo”, Yung said. “Why not throw a Tea Party for Phuong’s baby shower?” “I’m in!” I responded. And that was the start of our party planning. We wanted to build on the tea party theme so what was more fitting than an Alice in Wonderland Tea Party Baby Shower?!  We decided on blue and white for the party colors. It was the perfect color combo since 1.) My sister was having a boy 2.) Alice wore blue and white in the classic novel and 3.) my kitchen colors are blue and white! (which made decorating much easier).  Over the next few months we would start planning and go shopping for decorations to create our own little Wonderland.

As some of you might know, I have a background in graphic design and I absolutely love designing for print. Earlier this year,  I got my hands on an old but still working 10×15 Chandler & Price letterpress. After a couple months of cleaning, restoring, and purchasing press parts, I was itching to start printing. The surprise baby shower was a great excuse to literally get my hands dirty with my new 1500lb toy.  I’ve still got a lot to learn in the letterpress trade but here are a few shots of the invitations. Thank-you Yung for helping me with printing and cutting!

The invitation was designed to look like a playing card. Since playing cards are double-sided, I decided to go with 220lb Crane Lettra paper in order to get a good imprint on both sides.

Close-up of the back of the card.

Smaller playing cards designed for the center pieces. I found some great images from the original Alice in Wonderland book to act as artwork for the cards.

I found these wonderful tea cup shaped pots at Michaels Arts & Crafts store! The white flowers were purchased from AC Moore and the blue hydrangeas came straight from my garden.

It was a ladies only tea party (with the exception of my husband who was our official treats taste tester). Here’s a photo of the guests as they anxiously awaited Phuong’s arrival.

SURPRISE! Thank-you Tina for your help getting Phuong over to my house!

I purchased three different “Alice” themed outfits for my sister to change into when she arrived. She decided to go with the cute blue dress pictured below.

What’s Wonderland without a long tea table and mother nature inspired pieces? We wanted to bring the outdoors indoors so I borrowed a little something from work… YES- that is ASTRO-TURF under the table!

My Aunt Mai made these delicious carrot cake cupcakes! Aunt Lan and Aunt Lisa also made some yummy desserts but I was too busy eating them to photograph them!

The treat table! Our friend Yung has a sweet tooth! I swear the girl has stashes of candy hidden everywhere- in her purse, in the glove box of her car, and even in her coat pockets! It was only fitting to put her in charge of the blue & white candy shopping.

We stayed up until 1AM making chocolate covered pretzels (sticks and traditional mini pretzels) and cake pops (inspired by Bakerella).

Each guest received a stack of specially wrapped Wonderland Tea to take home with them.

Yung found these cute bug inspired headbands at Target during Eastertime. They worked perfectly with our theme!

Bettercreme cake from Giant

A HUGE thank-you to all our friends and family who attended the party and helped make it a success! Now to get some sleep! Have to rest up in preparation for Baby Nephew!

Sorry, this is a long post. If you are a fellow photog this might interest you. If not, just look at the pretty pictures…

I’ve been trying to find a good way to back-up all my photography and design work. My usual work-flow is right after a shoot, I copy all my RAW files to an external hard drive (usually Western Digital MyBooks) and then burn DVDs of the files as backup. However, because I shoot in RAW, the files are SO LARGE that I’ve found my external hard drive collection growing exponentially! I now have 6 external hard drives- none of which are the same!! So that means- 6 different drives, 6 different power supplies, and a bunch of cords to go with it. It was starting to be a pain in the a@@. There has to be a better way! So I did some research and weighed the pros and cons of each (along with costs – short & long-run). I know I still wanted to utilize external hard drives for easy access- but need some sort of data redundancy like a RAID set-up. I needed something with preferably a Quadruple Interface (eSATA, firewire 800, firewire 400, usb 2/usb 3).

PLEASE NOTE: I am in NO WAY an expert in computers or IT. I just wanted to share with you my problem and solution to data storage for my photography needs. It might not have been the “best” solution but it was the best solution for me at the current time…

Option 1: DROBO S = $399 for JUST the BOX. $1200 for Drobo 8TB -includes 4 – 2TB drives

Drobo 8TB Bundle with 4 X 2TB Western Digital

I researched and read up about the DROBO  – a very user friendly/mac friendly system. It utilizes “BeyondRAIDTM technology” for data reduncy. It’s hard for me to explain so refer to Drobo’s website for more info. The site states “Drobo S protects your data without any user interaction, even in the event of multiple drive failures. It can hold up to five hot-swappable drives, for on-the-fly drive capacity expansion with zero downtime.”

Sounds pretty sweet huh? I’ve read a lot of photogs use this system- some love it, some HATE it due to drive failures and/or long rebuild times in the event of drive failure. I decided NOT to go with the Drobo because 1.) Inconsistent reviews + slow data transfer rates ,  2.) The big price tag,  3.) Did I really need 4 drives of redundant data????

Option 2: Wiebtech SilverSata Series 2TB (1000GB x 2 drives) $428

SilverSATA II SJ features dual swappable SATA drive bays, two independent eSATA connections for two fast mountable drive volumes to your computer. I would set this up as a RAID 1. Good option but only comes with 2 – 1 TB drives. I’m a DATA SPACE hog.

Option 3: Lacie 4TB Quadra : $699.99

I’ll admit, I was going to buy this drive strictly based on it’s looks. Ain’t it futuristic looking? So pretty too! However, with my past experience with Lacie Drives failing it was a no brainer to stay far far away from Lacie products.

Option 4:  Western Digital MyBook Studio LX 2TB: $250

Still utilizing external hard drives but just keep consistent with the brand and model of drive. I love that the MyBook Studio drives allow you to “label the drive”. I can see a bookshelf full of these drives labeled by the year for easy reference. However, I’ve had 2 WD MyBook drives fail on me recently (oh the horror! Thankfully they were still under warranty. I’ve sent one back to the company – still need to send the other one back.) NOTE: WD sends you a new drive but say goodbye to your data! Thankfully I had already backed up my backup. Can we say- Trace Buster Buster! (only those who are Marky Mark fans will remember this from one of his early flicks “The Big Hit”)

Option 5: Caldigit VR 4TB $899 , current special pricing $599

The CalDigit VR is the most advanced two drive RAID array on the market, supporting a quadruple interface for easy connectivity. Its design provides two hot swappable drive modules and an easy to read frontside LCD.

What I went with: CALDIGIT VR 4 TB

In the end, I decided to invest in the Caldigit VR – 4TB system. It comes with 2 – 2TB drives that are hot swappable. I could set it up as a RAID 0 (which means it would just act as my other external hard drives did when copying over) or I could set it up as a RAID 1 – which means one drive would mirror the data on the other. So if one drive ever fails, the other one has all your data backed up. I’m sure there are plenty of IT folks who think RAID 1 isn’t the best way to go and would suggest multiple RAIDs but remember- I’m just a one- woman shop so RAID 1 works for me at the present time.

This is only my first week of using the Caldigt VR 4TB drive but so far so good. The only complaint- it’s really not a 4TB drive…more like 3.6TB! What’s with the ROUNDING??? I later found out on the Channel Register forum that, “A 4TB disk is in reality only a 3.6TiB disk, or 90% of the advertised “capacity”. WTF? Okay, so they cheated me out on .4TB, not that big of a deal though they should really put that in the specs section…

The Set-up was pretty easy. I decided to do a RAID 1. The drive comes with a CD with software for Macs and PCs. Installing the software was easy but it took awhile for the program to actually start up when I tried opening it. At one point my finder froze…. Note- it is advised to read the install directions carefully. I tried skimming through it. Had I actually gone step by step, I think the RAID 1 setup would have gone a lot faster. :}

What I like about the Caldigit VR is it has an easy to read frontside LCD so you can check on the status and health of your drives. I also like that it uses hot swappable drives – so when my drive reaches it’s 1.8TB capacity, I will archive the drives in this handy dandy Caldigit archive box and buy a new SATA drive for new data.

archival box-

Caldigit VR Spare Drive

I also like the clean sleek look of the drive. The bays can be accessed from the rear with a key.

So far, so good with the Caldigit VR 4TB (err…3.6 TB) two bay array. You can read more about the Caldigit VR here.

Eventually this year, I’m going to also need to invest in some online storage system (just in case anything happens to the physical drives). Online storage – Roughly $200/year and I would like to add a BluRay Disc Burner to my arsenal ($250 for burner, $10 per  disc) Sigh…the cost of doing business…

It’s been so cold out lately that even 3 layers of socks won’t keep my feet warm! The forecast is calling for snow this week and while I love snow, I really prefer warm sunny beach weather instead.

Last Spring I took a trip to the west coast to attend the Jessica Claire workshop. While in SoCal, I stopped to visit a childhood friend near Huntington Beach and then drove  to Santa Barbara to visit my uncle and his family. I absolutely LOVE Santa Barbara with it’s Mediterranean-like weather, it’s beautiful coastline, and picturesque mountains. It’s cold Maryland days like these that make me wish I lived in SoCal.

Here are a few photos from my visit to Santa Barbara…ahhh…california dreaming…

Playing tourist for a day with my Uncle Tho & Aunt. My uncle is an awesome photographer and even though we there is a 30+year age gap between us, we always manage to have lots of conversations about photography.

These photos were taken at the Santa Barbara Yacht Club. I wish I owned a boat…

Just behind these beautiful palm trees is the Santa Barbara Community College. Why oh why didn’t I apply to school there??? Got an hour to spare between classes? Why not take a nap on the beach?!

Bird of Paradise flowers were abundant down here!

My uncle and I stalked this pelican who was sunbathing on the pier. I kept inching closer and closer to it until my uncle shouted, “not too close! those birds can attack!”

Until we meet again…

Family gatherings will never be the same…meals will taste a little different and there will always be a sense of something missing…

My dear Aunt Hap passed away last week, a month shy of her 64th birthday. She was a beloved sister, aunt, incredible cook, a great listener, patient babysitter, and “second mother” to many of us nieces and nephews. Being the eldest sister of 9, Aunt Hap (or as we called her “Co Oi” – “Co” the Vietnamese word for “Aunt” and “Oi” her Chinese name) was our link to the past and the future. Through our busy daily lives, it was difficult to keep in touch with all the family members. Co Oi always knew what was going on in everybody’s lives. She was the one who connected us all. She had an excellent memory. She knew everyone’s favorite foods and would always make it when she saw us. She wouldn’t let us leave her house on an empty stomach. She was a woman of little words but her thoughtful actions said it all.

We lost Co Oi to breast cancer last week. It was painful to see her so frail and weak at the hospital. There were some days where we would come in and she would be wide awake and responsive, a little ray of hope we thought! But as if life was playing some cruel joke, those days would quickly pass…

At her memorial service, all the nieces and nephews were asked to contribute to the eulogy- a little memory or a few words in her honor. It was difficult to hear my sister and my cousins talk about her in past tense. It’s difficult for me to type this blog without choking up in tears…

I am thankful for coming from such a big family. We all came together during this difficult time, some even flew in from California. We were all there for each other, something Co Oi would have been happy to see. Actually, I know she was there with us…sitting in a chair, listening and smiling, as we remembered her and celebrated her life.

While she never married and had any kids of her own, in reality, she had 20 of us. Goodbye Co Oi. We love you and miss you…one day we will find a cure…

The funeral proceedings lasted 2 days. I didn’t bring my camera but my uncle brought his small DSLR so I was able to photograph the traditional Buddhist funeral ceremony on Day 2. My husband thought it was weird that I would want to document any of it. I think it was the photojournalistic instinct in me, or maybe it was my way of hiding my emotions behind the lens, but either way, photos help us remember her through life and death.