For those that entered, every contestants receives a credit of $25 toward future sessions.

Annnd, without further adieu…

Third place winner goes to Beagle Love.  The 3rd place winner will receive a $50 credit towards a future session with Melissa Diep Photography!

Second place winner goes to Little Bunny Freddy.  The 2nd place winner will receive a $75 credit towards a future session with Melissa Diep Photography!

First place winner goes to Sweetness.  And of course, first place winner receives a session of your choice.  Winning photo session must be redeemed no later than June 1, 2012.

To schedule future session, please contact me at contest@melissadiep.com

Thank you everyone that voted.  It meant a lot to me and everyone else that entered.  Once again, congrats to all!!  See you all next spring for the next contest!!

Roman Rhys Peterman from Michael Peterman on Vimeo.

Photo credit goes to Suzy from Simply By Suzy

Photo credit goes to Suzy from Simply By Suzy

Photo credit goes to Suzy from Simply By Suzy

Photo credit goes to Suzy from Simply By Suzy

Photo credit goes to Suzy from Simply By Suzy

Photo credit goes to Suzy from Simply By Suzy

Photo credit goes to Suzy from Simply By Suzy

Photo credit goes to Suzy from Simply By Suzy

Photo credit goes to Suzy from Simply By Suzy

Photo credit goes to Suzy from Simply By Suzy

Photo credit goes to Suzy from Simply By Suzy

Photo credit goes to Suzy from Simply By Suzy

Thank you everyone for all your well wishes since the birth of Little G. We all appreciate it and we’ve read every single one of your messages. We’re deeply touched and hope you continue to follow Little G’s journey in life.

With love,

Melissa, Michael, and Roman

Italians are big on food but not really big on breakfast. After being there for two days, we couldn’t find a breakfast place anywhere. So with the help of Google, we learned that Italians only eat sweet pastries for breakfast. Oh and they eat it standing up on the go. Lol. Neither one of us are too fond of pastries. We can maybe eat it for a day or two but not everyday. Thankfully there’s a grocery store across the street from our condo and they have fresh sandwiches. Their meat selection was mainly prosciutto or salami. We later learned that these two meat selections was the main choices for restaurants throughout Tuscany. So below is what we ate almost everyday the 14 days we were there. So imagine eating either prosciutto and salami for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the majority of our time in Tuscany!!

Sienna! My second favorite town in Tuscany!

Monteriggioni-they were celebrating their annual medieval fest the week we were there. It was so interesting seeing hundreds of these actors getting into their role. You even have to purchase food with their own currency from back in the days.

The Giant and I were huffing and puffing walking up and down these super steep steps (which is everywhere in Tuscany) so it’s so fascinating to me when I see an elderly person walking/hiking up these stairs.

Of course we can’t step foot into any country without the Giant wanting to visit any sites that’s car related. We left Tuscany for a day and drove all the way up north to Bologna to visit the Pagani factory. Although I’m not a car enthusiast like the Giant but I have to say it was a pretty neat tour. We also toured the Lamborghini factory afterwards but we weren’t allowed to take any photos. Both factories were very near each other and I have to say, it was not as boring as I thought it be.

So that’s all. We had a blast! Got sick of eating Italian food after day 4 but other than that, we loved Tuscany!

P.S. I fried my hair while in Rome. Our entire hotel room smelled like burnt hair.

We found many fascinating doors and door knobs during our time in Italy.  This is the door to the condo where we were staying.  It was really tall and super heavy.

Sarteano.  This is the quaint little where me and Giant stayed at for our two week stay in Tuscany.

Our view from our condo bedroom.  It was so peaceful waking up to this every morning.

Montepulciano.  Our favorite town in Tuscany.  It’s also the same town where they filmed the Twilight series New Moon and Under the Tuscan Sun.

For you Twilight fans, does this door below look familiar??

July is sunflower season in Tuscany so we saw these beautiful fields everywhere.

Rome…

The famous Fontana di Trevi.  It was super packed there.

They say make a wish and toss three coins over your right shoulder with your right hand.  I think we each tossed only one coin.  No, no we’re not superstitious.  

After leaving the Trevi fountain, we ate at this beautiful pizzeria and as we were sitting outside enjoying our dinner, a guy came by and started playing an accordion.  There’s just something about it that’s so romantic.  It was one of my most favorite moments in Rome.

St. Peters in Vatican City.

Piazza Navona

I love their alleys!

The Pantheon.  We accidentally stumbled across this place and left not even knowing what it was until some time later.  Lol.

Annnnnd… this is me in our hotel lobby during happy hour resting my swollen feet.  Giant was so embarrassed but frankly, I didn’t give a damn!

More to come in a few days!

On the day of the ceremony, Giant and I had been touring the northern part of Italy and drove back to Tuscany right before sunset to a town called Certaldo to meet up with both Bonnie and David. We all immediately clicked. Lots and lots of smiles from these two. I was also glad to see both Bonnie and David bonded pretty quickly being that they just met themselves. I had a feeling that Bonnie was an American from our emails to each other. Bonnie moved to Tuscany with her husband from California 20 years ago!! We drove to the countryside and found a sunflower field just minutes away from the main part of town. Giant and I had been so busy all day that I didn’t even had much time to reflect on the ceremony. Right when the ceremony was about to begin, I took a few seconds to look around our surroundings. The sun was setting so it was casting a nice warm glow everywhere. We had a nice breeze blowing gently across our faces that was just a blessing to have given it’s been so hot in Tuscany. And then it hit me. Like a ton of bricks it hit me. I then started to cry because the moment was beyond perfect and romantic. When Bonnie started speaking, my tears started flowing faster and faster. I was a bit surprised at myself because I was not expecting to cry. Giant then reached over, grabbed my hand and whipped my tears away. At the very same time, I felt Little G kicking in my belly. It’s like he was dancing. I have said this before, I’m so, so blessed. Blessed that I get to remarry such a good man and also blessed that this time around, we have a little gift, Little G, present.

The ceremony was very emotional yet quick. After the ceremony, David stepped in for our portrait session. OMG, David was hysterically FUNNY!!! We all couldn’t stop laughing at his comments. He’s just the biggest goofball. After chatting for David a bit, we learned that famous photographer Jim Gardner was just a guest at his house a few days before. Jim was in town to teach a workshop and stayed with David for a few days. How crazy is that?

Both Giant and I agree that this day was definitely the top 5 most memorable moments of our five and a half years together. It was like a scene off of a movie. I keep replaying this day in my head over and over and it brings tears of happiness to my eyes. Thank you so very much Bonnie and David for being there to make this day so special. We’ll never forget you two!

Giant and I have three more months before we have another top 5 moment of our life together. Little G!!! Can’t wait to meet him!

Vows Renewal in Tuscany

Btw, I was on my tippy toes for most of these pictures. Lol!!

Wedding Vow Renewal Under the Tuscan Sunset

K-I-S-S-I-N-G

First comes love

Then comes marriage

Then comes a baby in a baby carriage!!!

Introducing Little G (G is short for Giant)!!! Due October 14, 2011. Yes, I’m THREE months pregnant!!!!

Photography by Mili and Sid Ghosh

So for the next 10 days, my dad and I hit four states.  Beijing (3 days), Nanjing (2 days), Shanghai (5 days), and Hangzhou (day trip).  All four states are very, very different in their own way.  Both my dad and I loved Beijing the most because it had the most history and it’s just beautiful there.  We had our ups and downs while on this trip but I must say I learned A LOT about my dad and I will always take what I learned about him on this trip and hold it very, very close to my heart.  Talking and thinking about my trip with him gets me very emotional and to be honest, I’m sobbing as I’m writing this.  This is the closest I’ve ever been to him and the most alone time I’ve ever spent with him.  You have no idea how many times during our trip I’ll just stop and take in moment that I’m having with him.  It’s so foreign because like I had mentioned earlier, we’ve never experience anything like this together.  When I see his eyes lights up, my heart just swells knowing that I was able to give him that.  Since he doesn’t travel often, other than going back to Vietnam a handful of times, everything is very new to him.  He’s like a fish out of water and he’s fascinated by everything he sees and touches. Another part of my dad I didn’t know but it only makes sense since he’s hardly traveled.  Who knows when’s the next time we get to experience this again.  I can’t say it enough, I will always cherish this father and daughter trip together.  I love you dad.  You’ve suffered a lot of hardship in this lifetime by  leaving our country of Vietnam after the war to give us this life in America and I promise I’ll make it up to you by loving you more each and every day and making more memories by seeing more of this world together.  Sorry it’s taken me this long to do so…

Beijing

This cute little girl was doing her homework while her mom was working.

My dad and I LOVED the Forbidden City.  It was STUNNING!!!

Everyone in China loves throwing the peace sign while having their pictures taken.  So….when in China, do what the Chinese do.

So after driving an hour and a half to the Great Wall, we only stepped foot on the Great Wall for less than five minutes.  It was a REALLY steep climb so my dad didn’t want to make that climb.  I had to force him by the ears to climb up just one flight for some pictures before leaving so after begging and pleading, he finally agreed.

Workers were pouring fake snow on the ground inside the Bird’s Nest for an event the following days.

Nanjing

Chaps…for kids.  I saw this pretty much all over Nanjing.  When I first saw it, I had to do a double take because I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me.  I didn’t DARE post what the front of this little boy’s pants looked like.  Let’s just say it’s got the same cut out as the back.

I saw these two conducting some type of business so I was curious.  I stopped in front of them pretending to view my camera until I realized this girl was getting her fortune told in the middle of an alley.

It took me and my dad about 30 minutes to climb up to the top of this mausoleum.  My dad almost quit 80x along the way.  When we made it to the top, you best BELIEVE I did the Rocky dance.  I tried getting my dad to do it but no cigar.

Hangzhou

It was cold and super windy in Hangzhou but it didn’t stop these folks from getting their dance on!

Shanghai

So I didn’t take any pictures in Shanghai. I know, I know. We spent five days there but I didn’t take a single photo. Why you may ask? Well, simply because I got so tired of carrying my heavy camera around with me everywhere. It was exhausting! Once we got to Shanghai, all I wanted to do was put my camera in a safe and not think about it until we left. Lol. I know, it’s lame but try carrying a 10 pound camera ALL DAY with you! Lol!!!

Thanks for taking the time to view this adventure of me and my dad. I didn’t take many pictures throughout this trip but these were my favs. Leave a comment while you’re here!

Here’s a screen shot of this beautiful new template!

Of course now you HAVE to check out my new website with this new template!