Nina's 4th Birthday | South Florida Event Photographer

"A spoon full of sugar makes the medicine go down...

the medicine go dooown, the medicine go down..."

Some great childhood memories came to life when I entered

the hall for Nina's 4th birthday.

It was definitely a Supercallifragilisticexpialidocious celebration!

Nina had picked a Mary Poppins theme and the movie

just came to life at the party!

There were penguins everywhere, on the tables, on the cake,

and at every door to greet you.

A custom made character display took center stage

and welcomed the arrival of Mary Poppins herself!

It was a non-stop day with face-painting, sack racing,

bounce house bouncing and hula-hooping.

Happy 4th Birthday Nina!

Sheila & Chris | Engagement Session | South Florida Portrait Photographer

I've known Chris just as long as I've known my husband.

And among those 5 or so years that I've known him,

I haven't seen him this happy. :)

It was great photographing the two of them.

They were funny and goofy and full of laughs.

I think this was the first session that I actually had to ask someone to act

a bit more serious! Usually it's the other way around.

I loved that they were so into each other and just enjoying each other's

company (even though I was there snapping away).

Congratulations on your engagement!

Looking forward to the nuptials next March!

:)

March for Babies | Donate to Win - Contest Results | South Florida Portrait Photographer

A big special thank you goes out to all the sponsors

who donated and/or walked in the March for Babies

this Saturday, April 24th in Key Biscayne.

Jorge and his family walked in memory of his niece, Alessandra.

They carried sunflowers in her honor.

Jorge and his team raised $10,486! Good job!

We hope to have as much support, if not more, next year.

Now for the contest results...

And the winner is...drum roll please...

Andrea Vineard

Congratulations Andrea! You are the winner of a Mommy + Me session.

For details, refer to my previous post:

March for Babies | Donate to Win

Here's a photo of the Carnival Team and those who walked on Saturday.

Thank you again for all your support!

Tracy & Roger | Maternity | South Florida Portrait Photographer

I have known Tracy for several years now and for as long as

I could remember we would talk about the families we planned to have.

And now our dreams have come true!

I am super excited for her and her husband Roger.

They are expecting their very first born, Oliver Williams, on June 5th.

We started off at Matheson Hammock Park then

wrapped up our session with some studio shots.

Tracy and Roger were so sweet with each other and I could just tell

how eager they are to meet their little Oli.

Congratulations to the soon-to-be parents!

Stay tuned for Oli's newborn photos in a few weeks! Can't wait!! :)

Patricia's Baby Shower | South Florida Event Photographer

Patricia and her husband Julio are expecting their first baby on May 10th.

The mommy-to-be celebrated her baby shower

at her lovely home with family and friends.

We had a mini-maternity portrait session before the event.

I must say Patricia is looking as radiant as ever!

They had a very cute cake covered with question marks.

The expectant parents still do not know if they're having a boy or girl.

Holding an envelope marked "baby's gender", Julio teased the guests

of the shower that he had information that revealed what the baby will be.

I guess we'll all find out in a few week! How exciting!

Congratulations to the soon-to-be parents!

Looking forward to meeting him / her! :)

Glutton Tuesdays | The cupcakes are back!

My latest guilty pleasure: cupcakes (aside from MTV & internet shopping).

It's official...the cupcake shop is on my speed dial.

Today I actually called ahead of time to order a batch of cupcakes.

No special occasion, just for the fatties in my house to feast on. ;)

While waiting for my last few cupcakes to be iced, I spotted this,

an oldie but goodie guilty pleasure:

My dozen consisted of oreo overload, peanut butter cup,

thrilla in vanilla, & guayabera. Deeeelish.

And I was able to steal a bit of the peanut butter cup cupcake

on the drive home. :)

Mike + Brian's Commitment Cermony | Destination Wedding | South Florida Photographer

Mike & Brian celebrated their commitment to each other

with their family and closest friends

in a very spiritual and sentimental ceremony

at the La Ceiba Tree Lodge in Costa Rica.

The ceremony site was the base of this ceiba tree that

towered over us at about 200 feet while the

breath-taking Arenal lake surrounded us below.

Family and friends were asked to join hands and

create a circle of unity, a circle of life at the base of the tree.

Everyone was asked to remove their shoes and stand bare foot

in the grass to have a more intimate experience

with the encompassing beauty.

After Mike & Brian exchanged vows and rings, the participants

in the circle were given the opportunity to say a blessing for the couple.

It was a very heartfelt dedication and not to mention,

not a dry eye within the circle.

Congratulations to you both!

Thank you for inviting me to be a part of your special moment.

Here are a few of my personal faves from the rest of my trip.

I was amazed at how colorful this tree was.

(And how big the bugs were!)

March for Babies | Donate to Win a Photo Session | South Florida Photographer

My great friend Jorge will be walking for the March of Babies

on April 24th in Key Biscayne.

He will be walking with his sister in memory of his niece, Alessandra.

Please help out and donate to this great cause.

Any amount is greatly appreciated and it's super easy to make a donation.

To encourage donations,

I'm giving away a Mommy & Me session
(great for Mother's Day!).

For all those who donate, you will automatically be entered to win.

I will use a random number generator to select a winner.

We will be accepting donations until the 23rd at midnight and

I will announce the winner on Monday, April 26th.

To donate, please click on the link below:

www.marchforbabies.org/jlmesa05

Thank you for all your support!

Adria | 7 months | South Florida Photographer

I first met Adria, who goes by the nickname Addie, about 6 months ago.

Now she's 7 months old and full of smiles!

As you can see, Addie has these remarkable blue eyes that

stand out from her porcelain skin.

I found it so sweet how Daddy would try to get her to laugh

just by saying "Utah" & "Iowa" but it was more like

"yooooou-taah" and "aaay-yoooh-waaaah".

Truly exaggerated of course. :)

He mentioned that when she babbles it sounds like

she's trying to say those words.

My favorite outfit was her little tutu, of course (I'm so into tutus right now).

She just looked so darling in all those ruffle-y layers.

It was such a treat to see Addie again!

Glutton Tuesdays | Pizza & Frozen Yogurt | South Florida Photographer

Yesterday Valeria & I were joined by a fellow glutton, and no stranger to this blog, Jorge.

We met a Pizza Rustica, one of my favorite pizza places.

But then again, with me, you can never go wrong with pizza!

Our next destination was a fairly new frozen yogurt place, My Yogurt Bliss.

There were about a dozen different flavors of yogurt

and a myriad of toppings, including condensed milk (which Jorge indulged in).

We had such a marvelous time...eating, laughing cracking jokes.

Just like the good ol' days. :(

It depresses me how much I miss hanging out with these two friends

but I'm so grateful that we can always have a blast when we're together. :)

Back to Reality

Ah yes, we're back home...with a heaping load of laundry to do

and hundreds of photos to go through! :)

Costa Rica was just AMAZING.

Incredible.

Beautiful scenery, delicious food, and humble people.

If you haven't been following already,

I posted a few sneak peeks on twitter.

www.twitter.com/remotography