Cancun 2016.

What can I say? We love Mexico! 😁 Every year when we think of where we should go for our family vacation Cancun is always on the table. It's such a quick and easy flight from the DC area and there are a lot of resorts that are very family friendly. Even though we really wanted to go to another part of the world that we haven't visited before we ultimately decided on Cancun this year again because we found this relatively new family resort called Generations. The resort is completely all inclusive and because we went on our trip during off-peak season there weren't that many other families at the resort. The rooms and resort were amazing and it had everything we needed to make everyone happy. A spa for Sarah, food for me and the pool and beach for the girls 😊. It was such a wonderful and memorable time together with our family and given how cold it is in DC it is already, I'm totally missing Cancun. All these photos were taken either with my Leica Q, Canon 5D or my iPhone. 

Los Angeles.

I can't believe that I'm only now just getting the chance to blog about our first family trip to LA. I knew a while back that I was going to have to go to LA to be the best man at one of my good friend's wedding. I wasn't sure how well the girls would handle the 5-hour flight out of DC since this would be officially the longest flight they have taken but they both did amazingly well. We Airbnb'd a beautiful LA property right in West Hollywood where the girls could have a bedroom to themselves, my mother-in-law would have her own room and Sarah and I would have our own room too. We had planned out a week of events before having to attend the wedding on the weekend. I love Disney. I knew that we definitely had to take advantage of being so close to Disneyland to take the girls there. Then there was exploring LA and doing the Long Beach Aquarium. This one of the most difficult trips we have then to date since Sarah & I had our own events that we had to attend while we were in LA and we needed to lean on Sarah's mom to watch them in our absence. Also, sleeping in a new location is always hard for the girls but we knew going into this despite all the challenges it was something we knew we wanted to experience together as a family. It was a success and great learning experience and a trip that we will look back on for years to come! All these photos were taken with a combination of my Leica Q, Canon 5D MK3 and of course my trusty iPhone. 

Watch Series: Jaeger-LeCoultre Grande Reverso 976

Today I want to share with you guys one of my favorite watches. It's a watch that I always wanted to own from the time when I was just learning more about horology and gaining interest in watches as a whole. The JLC Reverso's history is probably one of the most interesting that I have ever read. The watch was designed in the 1931 originally as a sports watch for polo players at the time that needed a more robust watch that could take an impact without breaking. That's why JLC made a watch that could have a case that reversed to a solid stainless steel back during polo play and then be reversed back to the watch face once you were done playing. The reference that I own is a modern take on the original Reverso hence the increased grande size to the inclusion of a sapphire exhibition display back. Beyond the interesting history, there are many things that made me adore the Reverso and they are all rooted in it's unique design queues. As a photographer and engineer the Golden Ratio based on the Fibonacci Sequence has always interested me. The Golden Ratio exists not online in nature but also in some of the world's most famous art work like the Mona-Risa by Leonardo Da Vinci. It's said to have magical properties and that when something is design with the Golden Ratio in mind that it will be pleasing to look at. So it's interesting to know that the JLC Reverso's length and width of the rectangular case and even the small running seconds sub-dial is all based off the Golden Ratio. Maybe that's why I feel like this watch's design is so timeless. I also love the art deco queues that come from the 1930's period that still remain in the design of the watch even today. There's so many more smaller details about the watch I could talk about from the beautiful circular graining on the carriage of the case to the stain brushed dial or maybe even the blue hour and minutes hands but I have to say it's the beauty of the in-house 976 movement that has me mesmerized and checking the exhibition back every time I wear this watch. What else can I say other than this watch is truly one of the all time greats! You rarely will find a watch or anything with this level of timeless design. This is definitely a piece i'll keep in my collection until i'm ready to hopefully pass it on to one of my daughters one day.