day seven: sing out

day six: wonderland

day five: rita and hammoud are beautiful together.

like a movie star!

hammoud gets ready.

cake designed by cake love and oh so good.


it was a cloudy day with bits and pieces of light.





paola, from italy, is such an alive person.


this was the lovely union of rita from hungary and hammoud from syria in oakton, va. i already knew rita from our yoga teacher training and just thought she was the coolest lady. then i got the privilege of photographing their small and precious ceremony the day before thanksgiving. i felt like family right away and enjoyed myself so much. on days like these, i really feel like i have the best job ever.

day five: the icaro of the boa.

Icaro of the Boa from Ryan Wylie on Vimeo.

here is a photo montage set to one of the icaros (sacred healing songs) that my friend ryan made. it's sung by a very cool shaman named vladimiro who lives outside of iquitos and used to be a high school teacher. he is the only shaman we met on our recording journey who sings in quechua. his wife also accompanies him for a lot of the songs adding a lot of feminine goodness. he told us that to him the boa was a good symbol, one of purification and not to be afraid.

day four part II: avalanche

day four: nice work erik dean

day three: happy day.

strong warriors getting ready for the party.

oh i just have a few minutes to spare here. it's been such a spectacular birthday filled with so much life. there have been a lot of smiles and tears and good food and great connections and human moments. i feel so in my life and so grateful and excited to keep going with it and seeing what else happens. this next year will be one of love, fun and ahimsa (non-violence) and of course, more travels. thank you to everyone for your greetings and presence and presents today--you've been amazing and i feel so loved and inspired and well-outfitted for this life with your friendship.