i left my heart.

cliche? i know. but i seriously left my heart somewhere. or at least part of it. some of my corazon is in san francisco with the urban semester peeps. on lombard street. in a cable car. on a bench overlooking the pacific. with the sweet old russian man. and part of it is with my friends in santa barbara. at hidden beach. on the gaviota coast. in country club apartments. at the summerland beach cafe. while this is sort of depressing in some ways, perhaps my pieced-out heart is a reflection of what is most important to me and how much i treasure the simple moments in life. i have noticed a marked shift in how i experience life since my attending westmont and becoming photographer. i feel like both have made me a better person, more intentional, more aware and more alive.

of course, i don't attribute it all to westmont or my 5d but also to my people: my friends, my family, my community. my family has taught me how to have fun no matter where we are or what we are doing. if no one else is dancing at the party, we are. when the room is silent, we are laughing. when most are watching tv, we are listening to holiday and telling stories, and making funny sounds and faces. and my friends have taught me how to live a life of purpose, intention, love and laughter. i have so many fond memories of heart-to-heart convos, uncontrollable fits of laugher, random adventures and countless inside jokes. i am so blessed.

with all that said, here are a few more images and tales from my san franciscan adventures. part two if you will...wednesday morning started off with a delightful breakfast with Flavia at her favorite restaurant in the Sunset district. so yummy. then she drove me up to Twin Peaks and mapped out the city for me. such an incredible view. i am so grateful for the moments and conversations i had with her.

soon thereafter, Adrienne and I took my little jetta for a drive through the narrow, hilly streets of san fran. i just had to take a drive down the twisted bricks of Lombard Street and alongside a cable car. we cruised along the Fisherman's Warf and through the Marina District past the Presidio and Palace of Fine Arts. we were leisurely driving along when we realized that we were on the fast track to the Golden Gate Bridge with no way out so we thought. we resolved ourselves to the reality that we were going for it and i secretly got excited about it. why not? let's do it. come to find out, we did have an escape but we decided not to take it and venture across the suspended bridge. luckily i had my camera on my lap and was skillfully able to snap some photos as we crossed. i must have had Adrienne fearing for her life. but she didn't show the signs and kept her composure as i giddily inched across the bay. so fun. we stopped off at the view point on the other side for a spectacular view of the bridge and the city. and then hopped back in the car to explore the hills of Marin County. i craved a view of the bridge from the other side and we happened upon a road that twisted us up the hills on the Pacific side of the bridge. not only that but we crawled through a drafty tunnel that led us to a row of benches that faced the Pacific. we sat in awe of the beauty and watched the sun dip toward the horizon. as we walked back through the tunnel, i noticed how cool our shadows were on the concrete walls. we posed for a few shots and then made our way back across the bridge and into the city limits. after forging against some traffic, navigating around the "no left turn" signs, and finding a hard-to-come-by parking space, we made it back just in time for me to hop on the 21 and head down to meet up with Zak for dinner and drinks with Cory & Cora.

Zak is serving at the Raphael House, a shelter that loves, feeds and houses families in need. i had the honored of breaking bread with them and seeing a bit of Zak's city life first-hand. What a cool thing to be a part of. after dinner, we then huffed it up to Cora's cute little apartment and shared stories, beer and sorbet for a few hours. what a treat. zac then put me on a bus homeward. and i just so happened to come across the entire crew from the urban house when i stepped on the bus. so funny.

i hit the sack early so i could hit the road first thing in the morning and make it back down to santa barbara for a photo shoot that evening. and so, naturally, i left a piece of my heart in francisco. how could i not?