Kids & Paws Fashion Show

This weekend I had the pleasure of being a judge for the Kids & Paws Fashion Show for Charity. It was hosted by the lovely little restaurant, The Filling Station Cafe in Old Town Orange. If you're looking for a way to spend a Sunday afternoon, I definitely recommend stopping by for lunch then wandering through all of the antique stores that line the streets.

This event featured adorable kids and their pooches and all proceeds will be donated to Barks of Love, a non-profit dedicated to finding homes for dogs and cats that have been saved from shelters. I met some wonderful people and really enjoyed seeing the kids and dogs strut their stuff! The other fantastic judges were:

Ashley Greenspan the founder of Barks of Love
Kim Rubin of Paws Almighty 
Jina Park of Plush 
Karen Chao of OC.CityMommy.com 
Stephanie Blum 

Thanks to Elite Social Management for inviting me to be a judge and coordinating a great afternoon!

I only had time to snap a few photos, here are some highlights. If you want to see all of them or purchase any prints you can find them HERE and I'll be donating ALL proceeds from the purchase of prints and products to Barks of Love!!

 

Emerson

For many years now I've been volunteering at The Shea Center. It's such an amazing organization, helping hundreds of people who have physical and mental disabilities. I've blogged about my weekly rides before and you can catch up on it here. I've also photographed Emerson before, the Shea Center's facility dog,  but he's now a little older and wiser and Trish wanted to get some new photos with him. I always enjoys spending time with Emerson! He's sweet and cuddly and it doesn't hurt that he is really, really well trained :-)

I thought I'd also share a short video that shows how he's involved with clients at the Shea Center. This client walked the farthest she ever has, to get to Emerson! He has a profound effect on people that work with him everyday. Here's the video along with the slideshow from our session! 

 

Parker

Parker is one fun loving Goldendoodle and Kristin, his mom, probably never thought she'd own a dog. Kristin has always been very allergic to dogs, but when she met her now husband Brian, she made the decision to get allergy shots, so that they could one day have a dog. A few years and may shots later, Kristin and Brian became pet parents! On an unrelated note, I always like to ask how parents come up with the names for their dogs, so many have a story behind them. Parker is named after Charlie Parker, one of Brian's favorite jazz musicians.

Well, we had a lovely afternoon taking photos at Kristin and Brian's home, then wandering around the parks in Ladera Ranch. If you would like to see more, here is their slideshow. 

Max

Max is one adorable, rambunctious little Boxer! He's only 10 weeks old, but Kim, his mom, was telling me stories of how he already finds his way into the bathroom and likes to drag an entire role of toilet paper throughout the house! My favorites are below, but to see more here is his slideshow.

Just a week after our session Kim let me know that Max was really sick. He spent a number of days at the vet as they tried to figure out what was wrong. Finally they determined that it was a bone disease called Hypertrophic Osteodystrophy. As you can imagine it was a nerve racking few days for Kim, as they weren't sure if Max was going to make it. My heart was aching for her and Max and I shed a few tears, hoping he would be alright. Then when I heard that he had pulled through and was going to be OK, I was so relieved and thankful. He's now back to his normal self, dragging toilet paper through the house! 

Look at those paws! He's going to be a big boy. 

Spring is Here

Every year this small field by my house blossoms with bright yellow wildflowers in spring. What's funny that it's on the corner of two busy streets in Orange County, the last place I'd expect to see a field full of flowers that are at least 3 feet tall. Last year I wanted to take pictures of Missy in the flowers, but waited too long and they were cut down, so this year I decided I was going to make it happen!

We woke up early on a beautiful Saturday morning and had a great time frolicking through the wildflowers. I'm really glad we actually went out and got these pics. They're some of my new favorites of Missy and the hubs. :)

Chloe

A family friend is involved in the Assistance League of Orange County, a great organization that develops and implements programs to provide humanitarian services in the community. The main focus of the Capistrano Valley Chapter is to support the students in the elementary and middle schools within the Capistrano Unified School District in south Orange County. For their annual fundraising event, I donated a photo package for the silent auction.

Becky, Chloe's mom, was given the package as a gift from her friend, who had won the silent auction. I think that's so cool! When I met Becky she seemed excited for the photo session and clearly loves her sweet girl, Chloe. We spent a little time looking at pics of Chloe when she was a puppy, it's always fun to see puppy pictures!

Chloe is a Cavalier King Charles who loves her toys, loves her mom and looks stylish with her blinged out pink tag and collar :-) It was a wonderful afternoon and if you would like to see more of Chloe, here is the slideshow.