2010 Year-In-Review

2010 was a fantastic year.

I really settled into life here in NYC. Friendships blossomed. Relationships blossomed. And it just ended on a really high note with love and marriage and engagement parties everywhere I turned.

So as now has become an annual task, I will attempt to recap this whirlwind of a year.

It's going to be harder this time around, because I was so busy in my business and my personal life that I kind of lost control somewhere in the middle of the summer, and was never really able to catch my blog life up my actual life. But I'll take you through it. And I think you'll get the gist of it. Yet another year of non-stop fun-filled tri-coastal glory.

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New Years 2010 kicked off with a fancy celebration in Hong Kong.



Through Euge, I met a bunch of awesome new NYC buddies that I would encounter a number of times throughout this year.




From HK I headed to LA, where I promptly sprained my good ankle.



I recovered quickly though and had an epic foot-healing 12-course dinner at Craft.



2010 was the year of the wolf shirt...



Near the end of January we began what is now going to be a tradition called Smileyjohn and Jesse take NYC.



We went to Regis Jerry O'Connell and Kelly...



And closed out January celebrating Noopur's bday.



In February, I went to New Orleans and watched the Saints win the Superbowl.



I attened Pre-Mardi Gras Parades...



Including a DOG parade...



Then returned to NYC just in time for the grand opening of the Meatball Shop...



Toward the end of the winter, we had a mini-reunion of our college housemates.



I celebrated Eric's birthday with a bunch of his other Asian admirees...



And celebrated Connie's birthday at NINJA...



In the spring, Megoon had a bride party...



And a bachelorette party...



And I went New Orleans again and officially became tri-coastal after consistently booking work down there...



Then I went to LA and aided in the creation of a hilarious "Rude Boy" dance...



And then I went to Norway where I photographed the Oslo Freedom Forum and met amazing people (scandals aside) like The Duchess of York...



Traveling in 2010 was such a blur. I'm not positive...but I think I traveled more this past year than in any other year. Maybe.

From Norway I went back to NY.

From NY I went to LA.

From LA I went to Dallas.

Although I almost didn't.

(There was a whole ordeal where I didn't have a flight and was put on standby and was saved by Smileyjohn and Jesse and a night of silliness.)



In the end I made it to Dallas though and ended up witnessing and capturing the most beautiful celebrity wedding EVER.



I went back to LA again in May and Kristy again brought us to another epic dinner at Craft.



There were a bunch of other EatAdventures in 2010...like Momofuku's Fried Chicken Dinner...



(twice)...



The Phaal Curry Challenge at Brick Lane Curry House...



Hop Devil's Superhot Wings...



Budae Jjigae Korean Crazymeat Stew...



And our friends Jenny and Alex opened Goods - The Shake Shack of Brooklyn...



Spring turned to Summer and Danny came to visit.



We celebrated AC's birthday...



And Tim's...



I went back to Brown for Campus Dance...



I met DAVID ARCHULETA...



Megoon became a bride.



I photographed Kristen's friend Sam's wedding...



And Anne's friends Heather and Scott's wedding...




And Nina's beautiful wedding!





I spent 4th of July Weekend in LA...



I stood front row at LADY GAGA...



I went to Ke$ha, Rihanna, and Eminem...



I saw my makeup artist Kelli perform in Hairspray!



I went to Vegas with Danny and Tom...



We celebrated DannyHong's Bday in Montauk...



Tee spent the summer and we ate all the time.



We spent a lot of time at the new Standard Beer Garden...



The Gastlers held another retreat.



Demily had a child...



Katie had a brideparty...



I went back again to New Orleans for Southern Decadence (post still to come)...



I returned to Jersey for Katie and Semmesey's wedding (official post also still to come...someday...)...



The week after Katie and Semmes, everyone flew to LA for Fartasha's wedding (another big blog post I have yet to work on)...





And the week following that I flew to New Orleans yet again to surprise K+S at their New Orleans reception with their epic wedding video.





Literally the day after Katie and Semmes's NOLA reception I landed back in NYC and drove straight to Philly for Steph and Hua's wedding (post to come)...




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Whew!!! Wedding Whirlwind!!!

2010 was a great year professionally. I think I went to 12 different weddings, allowing me to amass a formidable wedding portfolio and launch my brand new wedding website. (www.denniskwanweddings.com)



I also raised my headshot rate at the end of the summer to $725...always a slightly stressful move when you worry about scaring off potential business...luckily I think that worked out too.

2010 is the year I photographed a Mad Man...



A Gossip Boy...



And Mulan!



I started doing Celebrity Auctions...



And I watched all five seasons of Friday Night Lights, the greatest TV show ever made...



In the fall I flew to LA with Kristen for a weekend...



We celebrated Jesse and Smileyjohn's birthdays...



Then I went back to Connecticut for Cousin Jon and Jen's wedding...



I moved into an awesome new apartment, where we hosted a Halloween Party.



(I was also a bee on the second night of Halloween.)



I went to a Katy Perry concert...



And Broadway Bares...



AC and Shiri got engaged...



And then Conlix did too...



I celebrated my birthday with a partybus in NYC...



And a house party in LA.



Had Thanksgiving in CT and RI.



Went to holiday parties...



Did Xmas in Jersey...



And rang in the New Year in VT...



And yay that's all! It's 2011!

I'm so thankful for all the wonderful people in my life and all the amazing things I get to do and places I get to see and this super fun photo thing that I call a job and I can't wait to see what adventures this year will bring!

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Relive other years!

To revisit 2009 click here.

To revisit 2008 click here.

Something Scary

Today is my dad's 58th birthday.

Today, he is double my age.

29 years older than me.

I am 29.

He had me when he was 29.

Therefore, I might be having a baby today.

That's where babies come from, right? When your parent is exactly double your age you end up having a baby?

I think so.

I'm going to go cower in a corner somewhere.



Happy Birthday Dad!

Conlix's Engagement!!!

So it went like this. Felix came over and we went shopping for gifts in Chinatown.

He wanted the engagement to go like this: Connie wanted picture frames for Xmas, so Felix wanted to give her three framed photos.

Photo 1 was a joke gift and was this really cute and dorky framed "Certificate of Excellence". (Chinatown - $.99)

Photo 2 was this adorable photo I took of Felly with an "I Love You Balloon" (Chinatown - $1.50)



And finally, Photo 3 was a picture of him holding the ring.



So he planned to be down on his knee "tying his shoe" as she began opening Gift #3. And by the time she realized what the heck was going on he had the actual ring out and was saying sweet beautiful things and ending with "Connie G, marry me." (not sure if those were his exact words, but they should have been.)

About the ring: Connie had seen her dream ring several years ago on a shopping trip with her mom and sister at Bergdorf-Goodman. So Felix had to work with Kristen to go to Bergdorf's, have her explain what the ring looked like and approximately when they saw it so they could look at ring after ring and figure out what ring it was, track down the jeweler, and then have him custom make the ring again.

Somehow the ring was so unique that some jeweler at Bergdorf's actually remembered the exact ring they were talking about.

But either way, this ring. Is special.

Yada yada yada, she said yes. They called friends and family, and then they rushed off to Daniel (supposedly the best restyraunt in NYC) for their engagement dinner.

At this point Kristen and I rushed over to Conlix's to prepare for everyone to come over for a surprise engagement party!

I tried to inflate balloons I had bought, but Party City wanted to charge me a stupid 99 cents a balloon and I KNEW I could get a better deal back in Chinatown. So I booked it back to Chinatown where the nice lady let me fill up 40 balloons for $12.

I am slightly terrified of popping balloons, so I definitely did not want to try jamming them in my backseat. So I stuck in them in my sunroof and drove across town with them.



It was super cute, not a single one popped, and we put a smile on the face of almost every person we drove by that had a soul.



I love balloons. As long as they don't pop.

When they pop I hate balloons.



We got there. Decorated. Laid out cake and bubbly and snackies.



And then guests showed up. Vitri drove down from Boston. Kurt and Tracey from CT. Even those who very rarely ever make appearances, like MAO, came by. THAT is how special Connie and Felix are.







When Connie and Felix entered the room we had turned off all the lights and squatted real low (I originally wanted everyone to just stand there in silence, wide-eyed, and waving frantically like a weirdo but without making a peep, but my awesome idea was veto-ed by sister Kristen) and then jumped up and yelled "CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!"



It would have been magical either way.



I knew I was going to love the cute little crying faces Connie would make.



Very very special.





We had champagne toasts...



Chatted and mingled...







Oh, and can I just say that Connie's hair looked AWESOME.




And then Laura read a beautiful poem she had written.





And Con showed off her bling.



Everyone left around midnight, it was a Monday night after all. But the five of us stuck around and watched a big slideshow of our life together.

I've spent so many special occasions with all these guys that they really do feel like adopted family.

And if you've followed this blog long enough, you probably know I have way too many good friends, and way too many people I consider my best friends...but Felix is like one of the best of the best. One of the smartest, kindest, all-around-awesomest, most-successful people I know - he whose couch (and Steph's, of course) allowed me to fulfill my bicoastal dream.

Felix. I love you. With all my heart!



We've all just been filled with pure happiness this entire weekend. Because, well, a lot of other wonderful stuff also happened that I'll go into at a later date... but it made this Conlix event all the more joyous. And it means so much that we were able to share this love and joy together.






Plus, HELLO! It's CHRISTMAS!!!!



Best Christmas EVER. Congratulations Connie and Felix!!!!!



P.S. my new website has officially launched!

Check out www.denniskwanweddings.com !!!!!!

Felix and Connie engaged!

He popped the question last night.



She said yes.

They went and had a $10,000 dinner at Daniel.

Then we surprised them with a party when they got home.

Will post pics soon!