I have a joke book job due tomorrow that I’m only two pages into (Yes, I’m in TROUBLE and praying for caffeinated miracles) and I have 32-plus gigs of photos to process from a wedding I shot yesterday (first ever real wedding job. Oh man! So hard!) so naturally, I feel like blogging would be a great way to deal with this feeling of overwhelming overwhelment.  Is there a word for that?  Brain stuck.

I just thought I’d pop in and share these photos. They came out really cute. My niece is in town. She’s sixteen and things have been a bit, turbulent. But amongst the ups and downs there have been little moments of happiness and love. On a whim, I took my big camera with us on a trip to the candy store on Balboa Island and I’m so glad I did. That place is so colorful. It somehow captures what happiness looks like, even though I don’t even like candy that much.

Of course, the kids love candy. Even though these salt-water taffies are probably made in some factory in LA and have nothing to do with the local sea flavor, they somehow just taste better when they are purchased from a little store on an island surrounded by murky Pacific Ocean bay water. Maybe it’s the ocean air we breath while we walk around the island, eating them out of a bag and admiring all the little cottages. Memories are funny that way. We’ve done it hundreds of times and it’s sentimental.

We love you, Rapunzel! With all of our flawed hearts.