Remember how I had that “special project” a few months ago?

Remember how I had some “special news” to share?

Well, it’s finally time to share my BIG NEWS with everyone!

FOOD NETWORK’S Worst Cooks in America, the hit primetime competition series that turns hopeless cooks into confident kitchen mavens, returns for a third season with two-time undefeated series champion Anne Burrell challenged by superstar chef Bobby Flay on Sunday, February 12th at 9pm ET/PT. The show pits Anne against Bobby, each leading a team of eight “recruits” in a grueling eight-week boot camp designed to transform these culinary disaster-makers into competent cooks. A $25,000 grand prize will be awarded to the winning contestant who achieves the most progress and best performance, in addition to bragging rights and victory for their culinary mentor.

As you can see, I will be one of the contestants on the show. So please tune in and root for me!

In the meantime, if you want to stay up to date with the latest news check me out on TWITTER AND FACEBOOK! Also, check out one of the promos for the show below! It’s HILARIOUS!

http://twitter.com/sarinalove

http://facebook.com/sarinalovephotography

As 2011 comes to a close, I could technically showcase all the wonderful weddings and engagement sessions I’ve shot in the past year. Seriously, I have so many favorite shots captured of all my wonderful and dear clients. But instead, I wanted to do something different this time and just simply blog and pour my heart out to all my readers.

In all honesty, this year has been an amazing growth year for me. Not only has my business grown tremendously, but I feel like I’ve really grown up as a person as well. I don’t often like to discuss my personal life here on my blog too much. I mainly try to just focus on my clients and the lovely pictorials.  But outside of my business, I’ve really dealt with a lot of loss this year that not many people even knew about. I had a very close friend of mine pass suddenly several months ago that really opened my eyes to living life to the fullest.  My dear grandmother who raised me, recently moved to the Philippines for better 24/7 care. And I’ve also had my share of a lot of heartaches and bumps in the road this past year.  But even though I had some heartaches and loss, my work has kept me smiling through it all. It’s kept me focus on what life is truly about which is simply being happy and making the most of it.

If anyone knows me, I go and get what I want in life. Nothing ever stands in my way. I always try to stay positive and keep focus. I love everything and everyone so hard and it’s simply because I am so passionate about living life like it’s my last.

So I wanted to take the time to remind everyone that even through the toughest of times, you can always prevail and things will get better. I’m all about spreading love and positivity in this world. You can never have enough of it! I hope that not only will my photos inspire you to keep positive, I also hope that my words will help you too. Life isn’t easy, but make the most out of it and stay positive! My motto this year was “Let your faith be bigger than your fear.” My faith is huge and I have faith that everything will be grand in 2012! I am quite excited!

So that is all…just wanted to say a big thank you for making 2011 sweet….but now let’s make 2012 ROCK!!!!  I have a lot of ideas and goals for 2012 and I’m already in the middle of making it all come true!  I’ll also be sharing some amazing news in the next week or so! So definitely check back for more info….you won’t want to miss out on it!

*knock knock*

Guess who’s back from her month long hiatus?!?! Did you miss me? Please just lie and say that you did.

I’m so happy to be back. I missed my family, friends, and just my normal day to day routines.  I had a great time in NYC working on my special project. Unfortunately, I can’t officially announce what that project is just yet, but trust me when I say that it is pretty darn cool and I honestly can’t wait to share with you all my adventure in the Big Apple.  I plan on announcing my special project some time next month or so. I can’t wait!! Keep checking back because you don’t want to miss out on what I have to say!

In the meantime, I plan on catching up on emails, phone calls, wedding albums, engagement sessions, etc. So thank you to everyone for being so patient during my hiatus. It is much appreciated on my end. I came home to a lot of emails wishing me well and waiting with anticipation as to when I would be returning home. I definitely felt the love and I hope to return the love very soon.

So I’m announcing to my past, current, and potential clients and readers that I will be heading to NYC November 12 – December 16 for a “personal project”. During this time, I will have almost no access to Email, Phone, and Facebook. So please wait until I come back to return all emails and phone calls.   Also, during this time I will not be blogging. (insert sad face here) I actually have a ton of sessions to share with everyone but sadly, you will all have to wait until I return for me to blog and share with everyone.

I also want to take the time to thank all my family, friends, and clients who have been so understanding, supportive, helpful, patient, and flexible with me throughout this process. It’s been a whirlwind of emotions and stress for me. I’ve had to rearrange my schedule and postpone a few sessions which I HATE to do. But I’m so grateful that everyone has been so kind and understanding about the situation and everyone is supporting me and excited for what’s to come.  I am not good with huge changes in my life or leaving my comfortable lifestyle, but this is a great opportunity and hopefully a wonderful learning experience for me. It’s just a few short weeks and once I return, it’s back to work immediately. So again, thank you to everyone for being so supportive. It is greatly appreciated and I won’t let anyone down!

Until then….spread the love and be good to one another! Here’s a picture of me on my last trip to NYC, eating a New York style pizza. I love me some pizza! mmm mmm good!

We’ve all seen the images and videos rolling in of the devastation from the Japan earthquake and tsunamis.  While aftershocks and tsunami scares are still happening days later, the nation is in for a long long road of recovery.  So far, the death toll is estimated to be 2,000.  In just one town, 9,500 are missing. Not only do the survivors have to suffer the loss of loved ones, but as temperatures fall, electricity, water and food are now scarce to none.  Many have tried to go back to their homes and to start picking up the pieces, only to find the tsunamis have plowed their homes down and there is literally nothing for them to come home to.  Convenience stores have lines hours long and a limit of 10 items to each person.  The second crisis has only begun and so many are left helpless.

On March 18th, I will be joining other Bloggers in a day of silence. I also encourage everyone to help in any way that you can. Either through donating through www.forjapanwithlove.com or through any other means.

Every little bit helps. Whatever you can contribute, will be truly appreciated.

On a side note, just wanted to say “Konichiwa” to my friend, Richard. He recently moved there and thank goodness he’s safe and sound. His family and friends were super worried when we heard the news, but all is well as of now. I’m super glad he’s ok!

I’m headed to WPPI again this year!! It’ll be my 2nd time going and I can’t wait!

Just so you know WPPI is a major Wedding Photography convention held in Vegas every year. It’s a time when Wedding and Portrait Photographers come together to learn, network, shoot, and have some fun together! I’m really looking forward to this year since I’ll be taking some fun classes, shooting around, and checking out the fabulous vendors. I heard that one of my wedding albums will be a featured sample at one of the album vendor’s booths so I’ll definitely go check that out and take a few pictures of it for my blog! So look out for that in a few weeks!

In any case, I’ll be heading to Vegas February 20-23rd for WPPI. I will be less responsive to my phones and emails during this time so just wanted to give everyone a heads up.

I’ve been busy revamping my site and it’s finally launched! Check out the new website here! What do you think? You likey??

Next project…revamping my blog! Look out for some changes in the near future!! Sarina Love Photography is taking it to the next level!!

So if you emailed me, just hang tight. I’ll try and get to your email as soon as I can when I return. =)

Here’s a pic of me last week when I met up with friends to celebrate my birthday. Technically, my birthday is this Sunday, but since I was going to be in NYC, we all decided to celebrate a week early. Thanks friends for the good times and the gifts! hehe I love ya guys!

I’m happy with my purchases. It is a very good investment for me. Anything that helps save me time and energy is always a good investment. The bag is lightweight, flexible, durable, and stylish. The extra shoulder padding is a must as well since lenses can be very heavy. I am happy to say that I have finally converted and now I am a Shootsac lover. Now I’m still waiting on Black Rapid to release their women’s line of straps and I will be complete.

I just got back from WPPI 2010 and I am simply pooped! My first WPPI experience was just awesome! I went with fellow photographers: Ashleigh Taylor and Jenn King. We all had a fabulous time together and I am so grateful that I got to go with these two chicas. They helped make my experience memorable and fun!

Highlights from my WPPI trip:

• Partying it up with photographers at the KISS/Pictage party at Studio 54. I’m so glad I won these tickets!!
• Partying at the MGM Skyloft Suite with other photographers. Thanks to June Bug Weddings for being such a cool host!
• Meeting tons of photographers and learning from their personal experiences.
• Getting to touch and feel different types of albums. I love wedding albums and now I have an even more clearer idea of which vendor I will solely use.
• Getting to see new types of products and services out there that I can implement into my business workflow. I can’t wait to sign up and get the ball roll’n! I’m most excited to get the Black Rapid R strap especially  made for the female body. It comes out late May and it’s definitely on my list of things to get in the near future.
• Splurged and bought myself a Shootsac cover and shoulder pad. I recently just purchased a Shootsac to hold all my lenses while I’m shooting.  I was looking forward to checking out the different types of covers they had. I ended up getting a baby pink cover. I adore the color pink so this matches me perfectly!

Downers from my WPPI trp:

• I came home sick! I hate being sick but maybe I exerted a bit too much energy the last few days and now it’s all catching up to me. I need rest, my family, my boyfriend, and sleep!

Overall, it was a pleasure meeting everyone. It was truly a very tiring yet very rewarding experience. I am overwhelmed with the information and inspiration I experienced the last 3 days. I am so excited to put the new knowledge to work and grow my business to another level. Watch out! Sarina Love is gonna spice things up in 2010!