Two weeks ago Jeremy and I snuck off to Australia just to get away for a little bit.  I'd never been to Australia before so I was really excited to visit & explore the land down under!  We spent half our time in Sydney and half on the Gold Coast (near Brisbane).  Here are some pictures from the first part of our trip in Sydney.

Sorry if it takes a while for all the pictures to load!

Enjoyed the pink lighting on our Virgin Australia flight!  The flight was 13 hours but I LOVE long flights...mostly because I get to watch a ton of new movies!

We arrived early Sunday morning so we decided to try and visit Hillsong church.  We had forgotten to write down an address or directions to the church, but we had a general idea of where it was, so we wandered semi-aimlessly through the streets of Sydney.  At one point we were about to give up....but then we saw a Hillsong shuttle bus drive by so we knew we were still on the right track!  As you can see, we did eventually find it. =)

We were lucky enough to be in town for Sydney Opera House's Open Day (basically an open house).  We got to go inside and see the opera theater, concert hall, green room, rehearsal rooms, backstage areas....all for FREE!

I thought this photo from Trent Parke's exhibition of life backstage at the Sydney Opera House was hilarious!  Some people had used the copy machine to photocopy themselves.  The first post-it reads, "Is this correct use of government property?"  The second reads, "Absolutely not! And we have your fingerprints."

Visited Cockatoo Island, the site of a former prison as well as shipyard.  Since Jeremy worked at a naval shipyard before, I think he was pretty excited to see the giant cranes & dry docks they used for building ships.

Last week my friends Alice & Michelle of Alice Hu Photography & Mele Amore Events hosted a fantastic event/mixer at Muzeo.  Muzeo is a museum in downtown Anaheim that hosts traveling exhibitions.  It also happens to be a great venue for weddings & events.  The evening was filled with food, sweets, & entertainment from lots of amazing vendors.  I had a great time seeing familiar faces & meeting new ones!

Alice & Michelle asked me to help take some pictures that evening, so for those of you who couldn't make it, here's a little recap.

*Edited To Add* Just finished uploading the full gallery of images.  You can check them out here:
http://www.serenagrace.com/events/muzeo

It was a gorgeous day for a wedding and Joanna & Tommy happily exchanged vows under a cool canopy of trees at the beautiful Fullerton Arboretum.  I know Joanna from college, and we were even in the same small group for a period of time, so it made it extra special to be able to be there to witness & capture such a special day for Joanna & Tommy.  I'm going to have to admit that when I first met Tommy I was slightly intimidated.  But on the day of their wedding, as he watched his bride walk down the aisle, I saw his eyes fill with tears and I couldn't help but shed a tear myself.

A great big thanks to Jean Tsai & Evan Robinson for shooting with me that day.  You guys captured some great stuff & I couldn't have done it without you!  It was also exciting being able to work alongside one of my couples from earlier this summer.  Joyce & Raymond are awesome videographers and they captured the day beautifully as well!  Check out their video of the day here.

Ceremony: Fullerton Arboretum
Reception: The Villa
Hair & Make-up: John Nguyen
Florist: Kim Sanders of Art With Nature Floral Design
Cake: King's Hawaiian
Videographer: RayJoyce
DJ: Dustin Kim

We gave one of our dogs a bath the other night, and she was so adorable I just had to take a couple of pictures!

Stacey recently emailed me asking if I could photograph her and her boyfriend together.  Gladwin is heading out to Afghanistan soon and she wanted to get some nice pictures with him before he heads out.  Growing up, Stacey & I went to the same church, so I was excited to reconnect and have the chance to do this for them.  (Btw, for those of you who know Stacey and might be wondering....no, this wasn't an e-session.)  Check out their portrait session in LA below!