Adventure Time!

Credit

I'm packing and getting ready because at 7am tomorrow morning... I'll be on a plane to Seattle! My boyfriend will be picking me up and then we will drive to the ferry to get over to San Juan Islands. Kris has to drive 7 hours to Seattle to get me and I won't be sleeping period (I never do before a trip) so I figure we will be crashing hard once we get to the hotel. 

I can't wait to explore a new place, go hiking, take lots of wildlife shots, and most importantly...

Kayak with killer whales on my birthday!!

(My birthday is Tuesday hint hint nudge nudge)

From my last trip to Oregon

Then a few days spent in Oregon with my bf and his family.

Then back home to good old Sin City!

I'm really excited for this trip but I'm also pretty nervous..

I think it's safe to share with you guys that long distance has become really difficult for both of us so we will be deciding some things when it comes to our relationship...

But I'm focusing on the fun times, so is Kris, as this may be our last good time together.

I'll try to update as much as possible while I'm gone but if you don't hear from me..

NO WORRIES!

I'll be back on the 26th.

August Playlist

I am not a Bruno Mars fan by any means....

But I can't get enough of this song.

"Treasure" - Bruno Mars

If he keeps making music like this I might just start liking him.

August '13 Playlist

+"Meant to Be" - Parachute

+ "This is Gospel" - Panic! At the Disco

+ "Summer Fling Don't Mean a Thing" - New Found Glory

+ "Sweater Weather" - The Neighbourhood

+ "Beautiful Girl" - Party Supplies

+ "Coffee" -Misun

+ "22" - Taylor Swift

+ "Seek Bromance" - Tim Berg

Missed the rest of my summer playlists?

Check out my best jams for June and July to get the full summer experience before the season ends!

Monkey Bars & Bighorn Sheep

One of the members of my barn family needed some last minute photos done of her daughter and her cousins who were in town visiting. There is a great park in Boulder City that I found out about on a field trip when I was little. What makes this park special? It's filled with Bighorn Sheep! They come down from the mountains during the day to just graze and hang out. You can get pretty close, they are use to humans being around, but I wouldn't say they are tame by any means.

We had a great time watching the sheep and thinking up fun ideas for the photos. All the kids were fantastic and I can't wait to photograph them again!

See the whole shoot here.

Featured Sponsor + a Giveaway!

I'm getting ready for my flight out to Seattle on Saturday and I'm not gonna lie, I'm a little nervous! I really hate flying alone! It's going to be worth it though once I get there and get to kayak with killer whales for my birthday!

Before I go, I want to make sure you guys meet my Super Foxy Featured Sponsor for August!

Meet Danielle from Danielle Faith!

Tell me a little about yourself.

I am 24 years old, I just graduated college and I am ready to take on the world. I have some chronic pain issues so, I spend a lot of time online tapping into my inner creativity one of my current projects is My Beauty Empowers Me, its a site dedicated to finding your inner self and self-worth. I am all about positivity and just living life to the fullest despite any challenges that may present along the road.

Why did you get into blogging?

I got into blogging as an experiment for myself. It started as a way for me to find something everyday that made me smile. From there I noticed patterns and now over a year later we have weekly features of things that used to and still do make me smile. Anything from music CD reviews to whatever I so happened to come across on YouTube to poetry that either myself or a friend wrote!

What's the most important thing you think people should know about you?

That I LOVE the color pink. ;-) Because, life doesn't need to be serious all the time.

If you could do anything in the world, what would it be?

Anything?! I would fly! Without an airplane! I would love to just be a free spirt and fly.

Blog | Bloglovin | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest | My Beauty Empowers Me

Danielle has a really special surprise for you guys. 

A giveaway!

One lucky Mocha Fox reader is going to win an 8x10 print from I Candy Photos!

This talented Hollywood photographer is a friend of Danielle's and not only do you have a chance to win one of his prints but Mocha Fox readers can use the code "IWANTCANDY" for a 20% discount off your purchase! 

An Etsy giftcard and a mystery prize is also up for grabs so make sure you enter! The lucky winner will be announced at the end of the month!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Lavender Coffee Syrup

Ever since I saw Katie @ Skunkboy talk about getting amazing lavender iced coffees at a little place by her home, I became obsessed. I love coffee. I love lavender. The two together sound amazing! Unfortunately Las Vegas doesn't host any kind of place that makes such a thing which means Starbucks really needs to up their game here.... How are they not serving these already?

So it seems I would have to take matters into my own hands and try to make my own. I tried my own variation based on the following three recipes I found: here, here, & here.

I tried the first one to a T but I'm not a big fan of brown sugar and I had the wrong part of lavender since I had a really hard time finding the buds... So I scratched it and started again. I luckily came across the buds in a spice and tea store that had just opened up near by and I used white cane sugar instead of brown.

Lavender Coffee Syrup

1 cup water

1 tablespoon lavender buds

1 cup sugar (white or brown)

Combine all three ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a light simmer until the sugar is completely dissolved. Strain the buds out of the mixture and bottle it up!

It's really that easy but it takes some practice to find the level of lavender taste you want. The longer you cook it, the stronger the lavender taste will be and that sometimes means it might be a little soapy. Double the recipe to make more of it. I also suggest that usually this way comes out a lot more watery then syrupy. To fix that, go ahead and strain the buds out and then continue to reduce the mixture...Basically boil it down till it reaches a consistency you like.

I'm still trying to find the iced coffee mix I like the most.. I enjoy putting a little of it into my Starbucks though!

I found the syrup bottles for super cheap (like $2) at TJ Max. 

This syrup is good for more than just coffee. You can put it in a pound cake or sweeten tea with it. The possibilities are endless!

Let me know if you tried this recipe and any twerks you might have made to it... Or if you have an even better version then I would love to hear it!

I Heart Faces Photo Challenge : JUMP

I'm just starting to edit this session from yesterday and realized I was just able to squeeze into this month's I Heart Faces challenge... Jumping was the kids idea and I'm so glad it was!

Canyon Skyline

I had a really fantastic shoot in Red Rock a few days ago... I found this new place for hiking, exploring, and photo shooting completely on gut instinct. I had a great model who would pretty much do whatever she needed to for the perfect shot. We even had a bit of a nature experience seeing lizards, chipmunks, and even a coyote while we were up in the canyon! It was a really fun experience and I just wanted to share a few of my favorite images from the set.

It was hard picking all my favorites so if you want to see more, you can see the whole collection here.