polkadot partay

when i get over to west hollywood [which isn't that often], i always drive by this "pink dot" convience store. for the 4 years, i've driven past it, i've always wanted to pull off the road and do a photo shoot. well, as it turns out, my family and i found ourselves with some extra time, my camera and the opportunity to photo shoot it up at this amazing wall. i just love these photos, the colors and the lighting - the pink hue that was reflecting off the walls in the sunlight and in to my camera. i wish the entire family was there so we could have taken a samimi-moore family portrait. but this will suffice in a damn good way.

isn't this fun?? you may recall other photographs i've taken in front of polka dot walls in LA. i believe this was another one of the "pink dot" locations in the valley.

habitual

hey dudes. i just saw this neat little video of charles duhigg talking about his book called the power of habit . and i felt it was good enough to share, i am sure this message benefits all of us, in one way or another. and the subject is really interesting. are there any habits that you would like to break? 

speaking of habits, i've come across two very cool little articles recently, on forming habits/routines in your living space - ways to enhance your quality of life and tips to putting good habits in place.

> life in a tiny apartment [though, doesn't have to just apply to tiny apt. dwellers...]
> 10 things to make your home more happy [even if it's already happy, these are great little tips!]

HERE'S TO LONGING | 62

|| #62 ||

PHOTOGRAPHY BY LAYLI SAMIMI. QUOTES BY HER & HER LOVED ONES;

NEW PIECE UP EVERY FRIDAY, READ MY MANIFESTO FOR THIS PROJECT  here.  SEE THE ENTIRE BODY OF WORK here. 

family in LA

so my family couldn't be more spread out on the globe. like, actually. it's as if God threw us all in a potato sack, shook it up as hard as he could, and then opened the bag and whisked us as far away from one another as possible, scattered all around the globe. my sister lives in brooklyn, my older brother and his family live in st. paul, my brother and his wife in beijing, my parents in israel and my aunt and her family in saskatchewan. it's pretty insane. but there is something to be said about our love for one another that every break/vacation we have, we spend it together, even if it means that the reunions/meetups will be in segments. so part 1 came over this past two weeks and it was so amazing to have them all here in LA with baki and i. they had never been before, or rather, not spent any time in LA, so it was really a treat to be able to show them some of our favorite spots that are super beautiful.

lately i haven't felt super motivated to shoot photographs for myself, but once they arrived, i felt the spark come back. and i shot tons of photographs. it was hard to narrow it down to this blog post, but i am super happy with the way they turned out, but more importantly, the subjects therein.

 i hope you get to be around those that you love, and find a closeness within your family and be so ever grateful for the laughter and companionship that ensues. enjoi:

peench, peench!

i like dad's hat over his face. among everything else.

my beauty booboo

my cute parents.

my sexy husband

my beautiful auntie, halehjoon.

HERE'S TO LONGING | 61

|| #61 ||

PHOTOGRAPHY BY LAYLI SAMIMI. QUOTES BY HER & HER LOVED ONES;

NEW PIECE UP EVERY FRIDAY, READ MY MANIFESTO FOR THIS PROJECT  here.  SEE THE ENTIRE BODY OF WORK here. 

3

baktash and i have now been married 3 years and have been together 7 1/2. we took off outta dodge and hit the coast for some fresh ocean air, camping and fireworks on a boat in the morro bay harbor, almost got mauled by a starving coyote and GIANT, no lie, GIANT racoon on our anniversary night. it was freakin' awesome. why the hell don't we live north of here on the coast?!? it's just radacious [why does spell check not recognize this word as a legit word in the dictionary??]. we hit the beach big time this past week and laughed a lot.

honestly, if i can say that after almost 8 years that we still make one another laugh harder than any one else, i think we're doing it right. doing it proper. doing it the way a samimi and an aazami should. hip hip hooray to life in love with your best friend. just in case, you thought we were going all patriotic - as if getting married on the 4th of july isn't enough - the 3 balloons symbolize each year married together and the damn supermarket only had the freedom balloons. either way, we had fun and took some sweet shots at my second favorite tree. have a gander and be well!!

the best anniversary gift ever.

our dearest, most loved friend raymond wesley bishir gave us the best anniversary present you could give a person. he shot super 8 footage during our 4 day wedding and made this BEAUTIFULLY EXQUISITE, TOUCHING, BEST SHOT & DIRECTED wedding video ever. we are on our anniversary weekend up the cali coast and we had to pull in to a mac store before it closed so we could see this on our wedding day. and ray shared it with us almost at the exact moment that we were married. what a guy. what a damn good guy. enjoy it here for your self, and marvel in ray's mad skills. honestly, i felt all the love and joy all over again seeing this video.

For Layli and Baktash from RWB News Reel on Vimeo.

happy third anniversary, baybee.

SUNSETS IN SODAK, SOME OF THE BEST IN THE UNIVERSE | SODAK FILM SHOTS PART I

aren't these glorious sunset shots?? i mean, isn't south dakota skies the best thing in the world? yeah, i thought so.