Monday, April 30, 2012

Smile.

Being the boss has its perks... but a major con is definitely forgetting what day it is on a given weekday. Let me rephrase, I have trouble distinguishing a Monday from a Friday. But I am most certain it is because I have yet to find and settle on a routine and/or schedule to meticulously follow or at least attempt to.

Back to the perks! I love enjoying the world... and everything in it.

That, my friends, makes me smile. Best feeling in a long while!


Cheers to a great week!

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Vintage Purse.

Yesterday I took a break from being at the office all day and took a stroll down the street to visit the antique stores in hopes of finding neat treasures, and I did! I found some more mason jars for my collection but the prettiest find was a cute little evening purse. I love purses, handbags, totes... they all scream femininity. 

When I came across this cute little black purse I squealed and knew I was taking it home. It's small and holds my phone, wallet, car keys and Chapstick. It is velvet with gold trimming and a row of six little rhinestones to add some sparkle. 

The best part, it cost me SIX DOLLARS! Wahoo! I found it at a cute little store called Coco's Vintage down Texas Boulevard in Weslaco. It is literally right across my office so I often do venture into it when I'm around. I searched for them online and found their Facebook page HERE






If you're in the area, you should take a stroll down Texas Boulevard and visit the antique stores!

Xoxo :)

Monday, April 23, 2012

Featured: Valley Wedding Social & Events Magazine

Ahhh!!!!

I may have slightly forgotten to share with you some great news!!! For the first time, ever!, my work has been featured and published in a magazine! 

{I am doing a happy dance at this exact moment. No, really I am.}

The Valley Wedding Pages is a local magazine that has grown into a hot magazine for local brides on their journey to planning a wedding. I've been a fan of collecting this magazine for years now!! I have always enjoyed flipping through it and admiring all the beautiful weddings and pretty pictures in it. I'm not a bride but the magazine has a soft spot in my heart regardless. 

I always wished and dreamt of the day that my work would appear in its pages... and guess what?! It has!!!

The Valley Weddings & Social Events quarterly magazine has featured Christina and Marco's romantic November wedding in their Spring issue. I am beyond excited. It is a small step for me here, but a giant leap of confidence I will treasure forever. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

I have met a great new contact and am so delighted Rebecca, with the Valley Wedding Pages, gave me a call. Again, thank you!

{To view Christina and Marco's Wedding Blog Post, CLICK HERE.}




Here I am... with all my cheesy glory! Ha ha!


For more information on the Valley Wedding Pages and Valley Weddings & Social Events, please visit their website at http://valleyweddingpages.com/. Don't forget to pick up your FREE copy of the magazine from many local shops around the Rio Grande Valley. You can find Christina and Marco's wedding on pages 26 and 27.

Have a great day friends!

Sunday, April 22, 2012

South Texas Wedding Showcase. 04/22/12

These past few days have been a whirlwind!!! The last I remember is it being Wednesday and now I have just realized that Sunday is a few hours from being over. Whoah. It had been a while since I was this busy; I had another wedding fair today and very glad that I decided to participate in it. Participating in these past two bridal fairs have made me realize a few things about myself. They served to teach me and to remind me of a few things I may have forgotten over the past few months while on some sort of unofficial photography sabbatical.  As a friend recently reminded me... it's time to take of the pajamas and hustle! Ha ha :)

First, I can do anything I set my mind to. Don't rely on any one but yourself so that you know everything you need to do and can prioritize your duties. When you forget something, you forgot to bring it because you failed to plan accordingly... no blaming mom's on this one. Ha! Second, think big and dream bigger. You won't be for every client and every wedding won't be for you. Third, don't eat popcorn while you are public speaking. Ha! Kernels in braces is a tough look to pull off. Fourth, don't fret on the other. Be yourself because nobody can do that better than you. No matter how much they replicate, you are still you - and no one else is. Fifth, bring wheels. I was smart today and packed to the max my little cart on wheels. Carrying, loading and unloading was way easier today. 

Most importantly, I remembered that although I am little, I am mighty and I am strong. Nothing beats girl power!  



In between last Saturday and Thursday, I managed to break my phone - again. This makes the FIFTH iPhone I have broken. I have a horrible track record... whaaa :(





My mom made my tablecloth and bows :)








If you came by my booth and were a bride, you received a bridal garter as a gift! These were custom made by my mother and me... I hope you like them! Happy Wedding Planning!!! Xoxo


South Texas Wedding Expo, thank you for allowing me to participate! Your event was wonderful and your staff was so cordial and helpful. I had a lot of fun :) Thank you!

And thank you to all my well wishers who were there with me in thoughts, prayers and spirits ;) Y'all are the best!

Friends, are you getting married?! Call me!!! Xoxo :)

P.S. Big hello to my new friend Melissa, who I second shot with on Saturday for a wedding!!! More on this soon... Hi Melissa!!!

Friday, April 20, 2012

D'Gala Grand Opening 04/19/2012

Yesterday I had a table at D'Gala Event Center as it celebrated its grand opening and held a bridal fair. I can't believe I was actually nervous... I have no fingernails left!!! I can't bite my nails or nibble on them because of my braces but I still found and managed a way to get rid of them all. I suppose it was because I was all alone at the event and have been surrounded by my loved ones these past few months that I felt as if I was swimming on my own.

And I was. I swam and got my groove back. 

This is little ol' me and my table. 

{Photo by Joshua :)}


D'Gala Banquet & Event Center
2100 W Nolana Ave. 
McAllen, Texas 


I met great wedding vendors and amazing couples getting ready to wed. The facility and event coordinator prepared an amazing event. I felt so fancy ;) If you attended the event fair but somehow missed my table, please feel free to give me a call. We can chat about my wedding photography and your wedding photography needs!

D'Gala Banquet & Event Center is newly remodeled and is a lovely place to host your upcoming wedding. I am delighted to have seen it and cozied up inside meeting amazing people. If you met me, come by the office and say hello!

Have a great day! 

Monday, April 16, 2012

D'Gala Grand Opening & Bridal Expo

Beautiful brides, I will be at the grand opening of the newly announced wedding venue called D'Gala located in McAllen, Texas on Thursday to celebrate it's grand opening and participate in a bridal expo. I'd love to invite you on behalf of the event... there will be many fabulous and amazingly talented wedding vendors to help you prepare your gorgeous wedding. I am also delighted to inform you that Yva and I will be there to answer any questions you may have regarding the wedding collections. 

Here are the details...

D'Gala Banquet & Event Center
2100 W Nolana Ave. 
McAllen, Texas 
5-9 PM
There will be music, food and the admission is free!

If you are getting married, please come out and chat with me! I look forward to meeting you! In honor of the bridal expo, I will be having a booking special... so come visit me!!! 

Xoxoxo :)

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Dasein.

"Dasein is an entity which does not just occur among other entities. Rather it is ontically distinguished by the fact that, in its very Being, that Being is an issue for it." 
....

"The kind of Being which belongs to Dasein is rather such that, in understanding its own Being, it has a tendency to do so in terms of that entity towards which it comports itself proximally and in a way which is essentially constant - in terms of the 'world.' "
....

"Dasein's falling into the 'they' and the 'world' of its concern, is what we have called a 'fleeing' in the face of itself. But one is not necessarily fleeing whenever one shrinks back in the face of something or turns away from it."
...

"What oppresses us is not this or that, nor is it the summation of everything present-at-hand; it is rather the possibility of the ready-to-hand in general; that is to say, it is the world itself."
...

"The 'nothing' of readiness-to-hand is grounded in the most primordial 'something' - in the world. Ontologically, however, the world belongs essentially to Dasein's Being as Being-in-the-world. So if the 'nothing' - that is, the world as such- exhibits itself as that in the face of which one has anxiety, this means that Being-in-the-world itself is that in the face of which anxiety is anxious. 

Being-anxious discloses, primordially and directly, the world as world."
...

"Anxiety makes manifest in Dasein its Being towards its own-most potentiality-for-Being - that is , its Being-free for the freedom of choosing itself and taking hold of itself. "
...

"Anxiety can arise in the most innocuous Situations." 

--- From Being and Time. Martin Heidegger, trans. J. Macquarrie and E. Robinson, Oxford: Blackwell, 1967. 

You may not be well-versed in Heidegger's philosophically ontological views, and that's okay because this post is about me: my being, my existence, Dasein in the being of me

When this world fades and washes away, I have faith in one thing... the worries of this world, the sorrow, and the pain will be surpassed by an infinite amount of goodness - a goodness I dare not even attempt to describe. I don't wish for it nor do I pray for it; I merely have faith for it. 

All of my life, the 26 years I've lived, has matured me into the young woman I am today. I cringe at the thought of writing the word woman. As a favorite of mine, Simone de Beauvoir once went on to write that a man never dares to start out a sentence with the description "I am man." Thus, to actively refer to my sociologically given identifier, woman, makes me cringe to an extent. But, as any human being, my feelings and emotions come into play. As much of a favorite as Ms. Beauvoir is for me, philosophically speaking, I also cannot help but cringe knowing that such a great thought we both shared could only make me further cringe in realization that in our feministic ways we still, nonetheless, differ vastly. 

Which brings me to the following point... Why am I so different? 

This is a question I struggle with daily. Webster identifies the ontological term different as, "partly or totally unlike in nature, form or quality." Ladies and gentleman, no matter how nicely my mother describes me as unique, the truth of the ontological fact is, I am different. My views, thoughts, and ideas vary greatly from everyone around me. Sure, there are many similarities and plenty of times when I agree but it is at that exact moment when I agree, such as in agreeance with Ms. Beauvoir's statements, that I automatically switch into some sort of autonomous mind set where my idealistic view literally prevents me from making any sense to this world

Emphasis on the statement of me not making sense to this world because I have never really felt like I belong in it. I cannot be any further explicit in attempting to make you, or any reader for that matter, fully comprehend what it is I mean because the point is you will probably not understand me.

Perhaps I am not meant to be understood.

For every person that has hurt me, I have long forgiven you. For any person who will hurt me in the future, know that you have my forgiveness. I am a kind spirit; I cannot help it. If I am meant to have a burden, then this would be it. My personality, my idealistic mentality, my hope and kindness. Interesting that I should quote Mr. Heidegger... But, as a believer of Christ, I need not have a burden. Any worry that I feel, as a good Christian, I should let it go. It is not easy. It will not be easy. The journey, however, is what further continues to shape me in whatever way God meant for me to be shaped, idealistic or realistic. My view of reality may be skewed to this world, but to me it is completely perfect in an imperfect sense of a term.  


Journey.
This lonely winter night
I took a quiet stroll
down the path of life
in hopes of knowing more.

Upon a hill I turned
and came to me a halt;
The answers to my questions,
the ideas of my thoughts.

No longer need I fear.
The truth behold me stopped.
The path before me laid,
the journey I survived. 

-Marisol Izaguirre

Above is a poem I wrote a long time ago. I found it appropriate to share with you, if any, within today's blog post. My business is me. I am my business. My photography, the art I create, is merely an extension of who I am as a human being. I share with you because it is who I am. Remember, I'll blog about the mundane to the most intricate of subjects. Furthermore, I share with you my life, in photographs, in poetry, in lyrics, in words. I share and I will continue to share so that one day, as I have always believed when I set out to create this photography journal, I may look back and read my struggles to deeper appreciate where I am at that exact moment in my life. 

A toast, to my idealistic mentality... a mentality which further tears me apart from this world. By all means, cheers!

{Running... to the sea.}

:) Happy day friends!

Friday, April 6, 2012

Mini Sessions - 2012 Mother's Day

Mother's Day is coming up and because I have such an amazing mother who loves me, cares for me, and protects me I thought it would be fitting to offer mini sessions for all of you who'd like to gift a portrait session for your mother. 

The Mother's Day Mini Sessions can be used for some quick family portraits or as a gift to your mother for portraits of herself. Regardless, the mini session will be a great way to gift your beloved mother a truly memorable and special gift... the gift of an instant family heirloom. 



The Details
Sessions will be scheduled between April 6th and May 2nd. I am available Monday thru Friday as well as Saturdays with a scheduled appointment. The ideal shooting times will be from 9 AM to 11 AM and from 4 PM to 7 PM. You can choose a time slot and I will let you know if it is available. Sundays are available but only from 4 PM to 7 PM.

The session fee is $95 (plus tax) and includes a 30 minute session, on location, five (5) 5x7 photographs and a CD with the watermarked images from your session for you to use on the web.** The location(s) will be restricted to the McAllen, Pharr, Edinburg and Weslaco areas. If you'd like the session at another location, a travel fee will have to apply.  To reserve your mini-session spot, the $95 fee must be paid in full prior to the session. 

To reserve your spot and time, please email me at mary@marisolizaguirre.com or call (956) 569-2257. If I am unable to answer your phone call, please leave me a voicemail or feel free to send me a text message. I will get back to you immediately. If you have any questions, let me know :)

I look forward to photographing you!! 
Xoxo

**The CD will contain the images from your session at a low-resolution and will be watermarked with my logo for your personal use on the web. Images may be used on your Facebook profile page, blog, and shared via email. The CD is NOT for printing images. The CD is NOT for editing the images. The CD does NOT grant you, the holder, copyright permission. The CD is solely for you to share your images on the web. If you'd like to purchase high resolution images on a CD with a License to Print, you can order that at an additional price.

I'm sorry for sounding imperative, but I have had prior incidents where my images have been used for other purposes without my permission. It is to your advantage that you understand the difference between personal use and using my images for personal business/financial gain.  

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Poesia.

Mienten los que dijeron que yo perdí la luna,
los que profetizaron mi porvenir de arena,
aseveraron tantas cosas con lenguas frías:
quisieron prohibir la flor del universo. 

"Ya no cantara mas el ámbar insurgente
de la sirena, no tiene sino pueblo."
Y masticaban sus incesantes papeles
patrocinando para mi guitarra el olvido.

Yo les lance a los ojos las lanzas deslumbrantes
de nuestro amor clavando tu corazón y el mío,
yo reclame el jazmín que dejaban tus huellas,

yo me perdi de noche sin luz bajo tus párpados
y cuando me envolvió la claridad
nací de nuevo, dueño de mi propia tiniebla. 

- Pablo Neruda


In between laundry this afternoon, I opened one of my favorite books and came across this poem on the first page turn... Thought I'd appropriately share so here's the English translation...

They're liars, those who say I lost the moon,
who foretold a future like a public desert for me,
who gossiped so much with their cold tongues:
they tried to ban the flower of the universe.

"The quick spontaneous mermaids' amber
is finished. Now he has only the people."
And they gnawed on their incessant papers,
they plotted an oblivion on my guitar.

But I tossed -- ha! into their eyes! -- the dazzling lances
of our love, piercing your heart and mine.
I gathered the jasmine your footsteps left behind.

I got lost in the night, without the light
of your eyelids, and when the night surrounded me
I was born again: I was the owner of my own darkness.

- Pablo Neruda
English translation by Stephen Tapscott


Have a great day my friends!
Be blessed :)

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Jumping.

I did it, I finally jumped. 

I've jumped before but this time it's different. 

After working as a legal assistant with GRGP I made the decision to let my job go. The stability, I took it out from under my own two feet. The safety net, I cut it free. Am I afraid? Perhaps. But I am letting go of the fear. 

My biggest weakness is believing I can do it all.

I can't. 

I can try, and I have. But at some point, always, you have to choose and I have chosen. I am back to being a FULL TIME PHOTOGRAPHER.

Freedom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


My 2011 clients, I am so very sorry for letting you down. For not answering right away. For allowing myself to fall and not knowing how to get myself back up. But I thank you for your trust. Thank you. I am blessed to have amazing people to work for. I am here. I am back. I am in the now

I'm ready to build. I will build. Watch me grow.

The Lord is with me, God I am yours.