Madonna Inn Mayhem (Patreon)

Talk about INCREDIBLE! The Madonna Inn has been a dream destination for me since I first found out about it a few years ago. It actually was part of the first set of goals I set here on Patreon. The inn was every bit as magical as I wanted it to be. I haven't felt so happy due to an environment in....ever maybe! Okay, aside from a nude beach because we all know that's my happy place. The Madonna Inn is more pink than any place I've ever seen. I felt like I fit there perfectly in every place. As bummed as I was that I didn't have more time to shoot, it gave me lots of time to scout and plan things for my next trip because I promise...I will be back! I could see myself making it a yearly thing. Maybe monthly... Not really. lol. We all know I'm waaaaayyyy too busy for that. 

So catch-up from last week. I left Vegas on Friday, worked for the next season of Brother Vs. Brother on Saturday (just so happened to be in the bay area the same weekend as the shoots we already had planned!), and worked Sunday with Kat Attack Photo ( www.patreon.com/katattackphoto ) in Alemeda. Sunday was a loooooong day. Like, 13 hours of makeup and hair for me. AFTER getting myself ready, which is like 1.5 hours. haha. Plus we had the sleepover after that which I was expecting to be a bit of a rager, but was pleasantly surprised to see that EVERYONE was ready for bed fairly early. :D Well, I say early, but it was around 2 by the time I actually got in bed. We had the pleasure of working with some beautiful souls, including one of our fellow patrons here, Kendra! I felt so lame once I realized it was her who had been sitting waiting for a couple hours (because we are always behind at these shoots). I only ever see tiny thumbnail IG or Twitter pics for the most part so I develop this idea that everyone looks like their profile pics 24/7 and when they don't, my mind is blown! Anywho, she was super rad just as I expected and I was stoked to finally meet in person. :)

Monday was our day off and I was going to try to squeeze in some shoots, but I've been making it a point to let myself have more time off to keep my anxiety lower and it's been helping, so I slept in and went into SF with Cat and her daughter. We explored Fisherman's Wharf even though they had been before. I've only ever driven through, so we went to Boudin's where I finally got a sourdough bread bowl (NOMS!) and Cat took me into a couple other cool areas. Once we left, we were less-than-thrilled to see that our $3/15 minutes parking had totaled $39! Oh, the disgust. I didn't think it would be over $25. Next time I think I'll Uber! After that we went shopping and got ripped of some crappy food then went back to the Airbnb and got into bed. Tuesday we headed to the Madonna Inn, and Wednesday we were back at the shooting. 

The group of women with whom we worked at The Madonna Inn were incredible. Each was fun and spunky, friendly, and unique. Everyone was there to play and have a good time connecting with each other. I love seeing people bond, especially when it's over a passion of mine. We had another patron there, Samantha, who I luff! I've had the pleasure of working with her 3 different times now and each time we've done something totally different. Her willingness to adapt and be creative makes Cat and I look forward to her shoots. I'm gonna be sharing some of her pics here fa sho. ;) Wednesday was only about a 12 hour day, followed by dinner at the above pictured steakhouse there where we all went IN OUR ONESIES! Cat called to ask about the dress code and they simply said they only require shirts and shoes. GAME ON! After dinner, we went back to the room for the sleepover. Only 2 girls ended up staying in the room since a couple others had rooms there too and another lived in San Luis Obispo, so she went home to sleep in her own bed. I stayed up latest I think, since I had to clean up my makeup and hair kits. I got to sleep around 2:30 AM and got up at 7:30 to get ready to shoot with Cat. 

Somehow, Cat and I managed to shoot 5 sets in about 1.5 hours, complete with Polaroids! I'm not gonna lie, I'm gonna keep a few for myself because they're AMAZING, but you all are of course gonna get some too. ;) We left a bit late due to shooting so I had to reschedule my flight to a later one, but it was worth it so Holly and I didn't have to rush so much. 

Oh, Holly. Hollyanneb on IG if you wanna scope her out. She was my ride or die this weekend. Holly is the fiance of my good friend Mike (MGW Photography). He shot my calendar last year if that helps ring a bell. I've met Holly a couple times before, but never had the chance to spend much time with her. She's kinda my foodie soulmate. Well, maybe just all around twinsie because she's also a makeup artist and lover of weird things. :D I needed an assistant for these shoots and had planned to bring Alli, but once I looked more into renting a car and flights, the cost of bringing her in was adding up fast. Holly and Mike live in the Bay area, so I asked if she might be willing assist and she was! Having her around was wonderful. Every time I was about to ask her to do something, she was already doing in. And she has a car we were able to drive down to SLO, which was huge. There was no way I could fit in with Cat and her crew with all of our luggage.

I'm at the Oakland airport now, waiting to board my flight home. I am EXHAUSTED to say the least. But within that exhaustion, I have excitement because tomorrow we head to Banff for Christmas! I have a wonderful 4 days ahead of very little plans outside of snowboarding, sleigh riding, caroling, and spending time with family. It is much needed down time indeed. <3

I hope all of you are doing well. I was hoping to be using Patreon lens more the last few days, but I realized it was mostly makeup stuff and not modeling stuffs, so I didn't focus on it. But I will be uploading into Dropbox for those of you who would like to see how our shoots went. :)

Lots of love to you all! I hope your holidays are going swell. 

Xoxoxox,

Annalee