Taco Bell is considered a guilty pleasure for many, but for expectant mom, Courtney Vallala, Taco Bell is something she’d rather celebrate than feel guilty about.
So instead of going the conventional route when it came time for her maternity shoot, Vallala, who was raised in California, tossed out the flowered crowns and dream-like grass fields for a container of nacho cheese and a crunch-wrap supreme. Take a look:
According to the photographer, Brooke Drumm, who also happens to be Vallala’s sister-in-law, there is a bit of a divide when it comes to Taco Bell in their family. She explained to CafeMom, that being from Washington, part of their family prefers Taco Time to Taco Bell.
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Expectant Mom Does Her Maternity Shoot at Taco Bell
“There’s quite the Taco Time/Taco Bell rivalry around here, and we were strictly a Taco Time family. […] [It] has been an ongoing joke in the family, so we decided to celebrate it with this pregnancy.”
Drumm joked on Facebook that “if you were to ask Courtney her Top 5 favorite things, she’d say Taco Bell…twice.”
Nonetheless, despite the divide, Drumm said they had a “blast” using Taco Bell as the backdrop for her maternity shoot and indulging in seconds during their time there. “My 11-year-old was actually my lighting assistant,” Drumm told CafeMom.
Vallala, who is due on Valentine’s Day, admitted that while she eventually found herself in her element, she got nervous at first. “I got very nervous before the shoot. But knew it would be fine after I started posing.”
“It was so awkward eating, smiling and hoping that I looked decent as I shoveled food in my mouth. We laughed a lot and had a great time.”
It was only after they fueled up at Taco Bell that Vallala said her husband and their two oldest kids joined them at a different location for a more traditional maternity shoot. But after Drumm posted the photos taken at Taco Bell to Facebook, they quickly went viral.
Vallala told CafeMom, “It was very weird to see it go viral. I would’ve never thought that it would happen to me and for something like this.”
“The first week I was addicted to my phone, watching the numbers rise. The hardest part is not wanting to chime in to the negative comments, but luckily there are more positive than negative.”
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So far the photos have been shared over 13,000 times and garnered over 10,000 comments. Many of which applauded Vallala and Drumm for their realness and creativity.
“I don’t know you Courtney, but I think we might be soulmates.” Amazing.