As a registered dietician, she helps people who have weight issues address their deeper problems to live more fulfilling lives. Heather has written several books and hundreds of articles on nutrition, and now she offers an ebook series What’s your diet type? with diet advice based on each reader’s personality.

Check out her revamped website… she even has a free quiz for matching your personality to lose weight! I love Heather’s approach on work and outlook on life, and I felt like I learned so much from her just from our 1-hour portrait session!

Aaron Gervais is a new classical/avant-garde composer based in San Francisco. To update his current headshots for his website and concert programs, he wanted to create photos that are more relaxed and candid than the typical composer portrait. I used the different textures and settings in the music concourse area at the Golden Gate Park to complement Aaron’s different outfits and expressions.

Here are some his final picks and my favorites from the session.

*Note for photographers: all images were shot with the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II.

I first found my cupcake recipe at Peace.Love&Yummines for their Bananas Foster Cupcakes but decided to make a ginger-based frosting to cut down the sweetness… (Well, also because I have plenty of ginger at home and no maple syrup…)

I halved the cupcake recipe to make 12 cupcakes. For a rustic look, cut parchment paper into 3- to 4- inch squares to use as lining paper. Push the center of the paper into the cupcake pan compartment, then fold a few times on the sides. The shape will stay once you place batter into the paper.

Here’s my ginger cinnamon frosting recipe:

• 1/2 cup sliced ginger
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup sugar

Simmer these 3 ingredients together for 30 minutes and remove the ginger pieces to make ginger syrup.

• 1 1/2 stick butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cup powered sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ginger syrup, to taste

Beat the butter until soft, then add the powered sugar and cinnamon while mixing. Add ginger syrup to the spiciness of your liking.

I piped the frosting using a small ziploc bag. Enjoy :)

Update: This was featured on the lovely “visual potluck of recipes”, TasteSpotting!

I love Nicole’s sense of style, and I wish I know how to accessorize the way she does! Thanks Nicole for a fabulous afternoon!

I love that by bringing in a denim jacket, the outfit goes from feminine to sporty and playful!

Last month I had a fun girly fashion session with Sweet Bambi and Ann Tint in San Francisco. The weather was beautiful and it almost felt like we were away from the hustle and bustle from the city.

Here’s a little peek, and there will be more to come!

I’ve never really liked going to sleep; it just seems like such a waste of time to me. Don’t get me wrong, I love being in bed and having a good rest, but the requirement of sleep for supposedly 8 hours a day seems too long. That’s about 1/3 of my day! And of course, often in the weekends I sleep much more than what’s really required…

I know that sleep is essential to our mental and physical well-being, but I recently read about biphasic sleep that cuts my total sleep time to about 6 hours, and can go down from there when this is done long-term. What are the benefits, other than having an extra couple hours during the day? Sleep studies have shown that people who sleep less arrive at REM sleep faster, and therefore sleep more efficiently, so to speak.

I’ve decided to experiment for a few weeks and see how things go. I’ve just completed my first cycle, which was: core sleep at 3-7:30am, then a nap at 4-5:30pm. All cycles are done in 90-minute increments. (I actually slept only till 7 this morning having done the math wrong… Oops!)

Anyway, the photos in this post were taken this morning at my apartment. I rarely have a chance to take my time in the mornings, and the weather happened to be beautiful, so I snapped some images to savor the delicate morning sunshine.

When thinking about writing this, I thought of the song “Softly, as in a Morning Sunshine” by Romberg and Hammerstein. I was introduced to the piece by the amazing jazz ensemble Hiromi’s Sonicbloom. Here they are playing the piece in full live glory!

Happy Year of the Rabbit, and I’ll keep posting updates on this experiment!