As a relatively new Seattle resident, I’ve joined a Facebook group that shares facts about Seattle history. I like to know as much as possible about places that I live and have found the old photos the group shares really interesting. A recurring theme in the comments of those photos made me think. So many people were disheartened by the lack of documentation. They wished they’d photographed so many things from years past. As the city has changed so much in recent years, they felt they missed an opportunity to capture something that meant so much to them. I immediately knew that I didn’t want to suffer from that same regret.

So I decided to make this a personal project of mine. My goal is to capture important locations and items from my childhood before they are gone. I’ve been flying back and forth to CA monthly for the last few months and decided to try and document some things from my childhood. The trip last weekend was the last until next February/March so there will be a relatively large break in the project but I think I’ve made some pretty good headway this year. You can’t rush a labor of love, right?

The first round of this was photos of Balboa. This is the beach where I learned to surf, where I spent summers as a kid, where I went at the end of a date. This beach is where I experienced a lot of things as a young Bunni and was an easy choice to make the list.

More photos from that shoot can be viewed here.

This shoot was all about the orange. I grew up in Orange County and have so many fond memories about orange and orange groves. The smell of orange blossoms makes my heart warm. I walked through them on my way home from school for most of my life. I had orange fights with my friends (note: pelted oranges hurt). Everything about them pulls happy thoughts out of me. Unfortunately, the groves I walked through as a child are now gone but thankfully, I was able to shoot the groves at Citrus Historic Park.

So I present the “I’m Just An Orange County Girl” series.

As a bonus, there were lemon and lime trees!