Summertime is definitely the peak of my busy season, but even knowing that could not have prepared me for the madness that was the month of July of this year. It was so crazy in fact that it is one of the reasons why this monthly highlights post is several weeks behind schedule. Anyway, it seems that every event planner in Seattle waits until July to host events, as pretty much every weekend of the month had at least 3 events happening simultaneously.
July actually started off rather serenely as Martin and I took our first international vacation together since our Belize and Mexico trip earlier this year. After that initial 4th of July weekend getaway, I had a photo shoot nearly every day for the rest of the month. My craziest weekend was by far the Capitol Hill Block Party weekend, during which I undertook 3 full days of concerts in addition to 3 corporate events. I also began to take on new clients for my web design business, which I launched earlier this summer. Throughout July and August, I continue to work with these new web design clients, hoping to get their final products up to speed for showcasing soon. Overall, despite July being overwhelmingly busy, it was one of one of the busiest and most exciting months of my full time freelancing career.
Thank goodness for Google Calendar, keeping me on track.
Travel
Our 4th of July tradition is to spend that long holiday weekend somewhere outside of town. As holiday flight prices are generally too ridiculous to consider, this usually means a road trip! The first year we met, we did an epic road trip from Seattle to Glacier National Park and back; the follow year we spent it down south in the gorgeous beach front towns of the Oregon coast. This year, we went north to British Columbia, spending a night in Victoria, British Columbia, before spending the rest of our long weekend on Gabriola Island up by Nanaimo. It was my third trip to Nanaimo, but my first to Gabriola, and I recalled the peace and beauty of this northern getaway. By far one of our highlights was seeing our favorite animal in its natural habitat: the sea otter! More details and photos from the trip are available here.
Concerts and Music Festivals
July was full of music festivals galore, beginning with metal music goodness at the Rockstar Mayhem Festival, which I attended the day after getting home from Canada, and the exciting Capitol Hill Block Party. Other one-off concerts were on the lighter side this month, but they were still rather exciting including a sold out show by Jurassic 5 and Dilated Peoples and another by hip-hop duo Audio Push. Jay-Z and Beyoncé also came to town for their “On the Run” tour at the end of July, but sadly no photo passes for anyone this time around.
Events
In terms of corporate events, I was honored to spend time in July working with repeat clients: the EMP Museum for their Myth and Magic Faire, and Barneys New York for their Parkinson’s Project brunch and shopping events. I also had a couple of new clients this month including Sisters of Providence for their annual Jubilee (marking the first Catholic mass I’ve ever attended), and Valve’s DOTA 2 International Championships.
Restaurants
July was a relatively light month for restaurant openings, but there were a few including Bryant Mioposto in the University District, Belle+Whete in downtown, Pomerol Italian restaurant in Fremont, and the new installation of Monsoon in Capitol Hill. I also had several independently contracted restaurant photography opportunities, one with Jason Stratton’s Aragona in downtown Seattle, another with Local Burger, the Bellevue location of Local 360, and another with Rockbox karaoke box in Capitol Hill. Additionally, I had a bunch of portrait sessions with restaurant figures including Josh Henderson of Skillet and Westward, Jamie Boudreau of Canon, Nico Borzee of Book Bindery, and Tyler Stamon of Damn the Weather.
Real Estate
Summertime in Seattle is not only an event planner’s dream, but also that of property managers, many of whom take advantage of the blue skies and sunny weather to have real estate photos done. In July, I traveled everywhere from Bothell to Puyallup to photograph rental properties. Good thing I enjoy long drives!
Song of the month that kept me going:
