Rattlesnake & Rabbit

That is what Antz consumed for dinner last night. No, we didn’t go huntin’ Apple Valley style, we had sausages from Wurstkuche in Downtown LA with Morgan, Terry & Kieran. I have heard of how awesome this place is for months and it was pretty rad. I wasn’t as adventurous and stuck with a good ole’ spicy Louisiana link but the Belgium fries were delish. After dinner, we walked over to the MOCA and checked out the crazy exhibit *I felt like we stepped into a Kanye West video.  Then we rocked out to DJ Z Trip

This building reminds me of Aimee, it’s so her style!
KIERAN!!

The most popular brat is the rattlesnake and rabbit

The Belgium fries were awesome

I laying down here

DJ Z Trip

Kitchen Woes!

I will probably never go shopping again since we have to remodel our kitchen and fix our plumbing but all I can do is dream about instant hot water and water pressure. It sucks that we don’t have a dishwasher *I know, it’s like not having a cell phone* but on top of that having to hand wash our dishes using a trickle of water that is either scalding hot or tepid is extremely annoying. Antz is always asking why I don’t cook more often, “IT’S OUR LOUSY BROKEN KITCHEN!!” When I go to my Mom’s house, I enjoy cooking. Antz and her knocked down a wall themselves 5 years ago, opening up her tiny galley kitchen which now has a massive island. Our kitchen is a decent size but there isn’t enough counter space or a dishwasher.

I can’t even fit my mixer under the cabinets since they were built so low
The faucet we had installed 6 years ago now leaks and I would love a pull out feature so I can rinse the sink
That orange makes me cringe. It will be difficult, but we are going to try to salvage the cabinets and paint them a crisp white. The hinges are awful and most of the doors don’t close properly.
I love our hardwood floors but they are in pretty gnarly shape. We need some wood replaced and I’d like to have them stained just a shade darker.
I’ve considered cutting out the lower cabinet but it will be too expensive to add a water line plus a $600 dishwasher
We have a bar and stools now but the dining table and chairs will be a tight squeeze in this space


Things to do:

Paint walls / Cabinets

Refinish floors

Replace backsplash with penny or subway tile

Replace tile countertop with butcher block wood countertop

New Light fixture

New Faucet

New Dining table and chairs

Repair plumbing

Ideally our budget is $6,500. That is a serious stretch, we still need to find someone to refinish and repair the original hardwood floors and an electrician to repair one of our recessed lights. I would LOVE a dishwasher, but I don’t see where we can fit it, that would mean new cabinets which we can’t afford and plumbing to hook it up. Boo! I am working on a mood board but it’s lacking color at the moment.

 

I intend to liven the room up with new curtains and painting the walls an aqua turquoise shade and I like this art piece

Let's All Go And Have Breakfast Art Print

to take the place of the Blik Milk & Cookies decal I wanted *since I discovered it’s too large for the wall I was going to put it on*

cookie_milk_product

I need to find a new place for Lola’s litter once the new dining table and chairs come in. Any cat owners have an idea for hiding the gross litterbox? I have a friend who used to keep hers in a closet she wasn’t using but every 833 square inches of this house is packed. Antz wants to move it outside but I’m positive unwanted visitors will use it. I am wary about the butcher block countertop, I am super clumsy so I’m sure I’ll ruin it immediately. I also worry about marking it up with knives and scratches. We plan on staining it with Wood Conditioner/Minwax Special Walnut #224/Waterlox. I found this couple’s DIY advice on Pinterest, which gives me a little piece of mind. I wish we knew someone handy *other than my Mom* just to cut the sink for us cause we’re keeping our 89 year old cast iron sink and it’s going to be a bitch to make the cut precise. I have no room in our budget to hire a professional to install our countertop so it’s gonna look funky. I figure at worst we’ll make a mess, end up having to rip everything out and be kitchen-less for a few years until we can afford to hire someone. At best, we give it a try and it turns out as lovely as our bathroom makeover. It’s always a pain in the ass to do it yourself, it takes 3 times as long to finish and you end up sweaty and sore but I am ready to tackle it next March *after my birthday!* I should try to fit in an hour long massage in our budget cause all the demo work we have ahead of us is not going to be fun. I could do so much more if I didn’t have to spend so much on the stupid plumbing. MERDE!!

Career Day

Remember those? I loved bringing my Mom to my school to show off her percussion skills to my class. Yesterday she went to her friend’s school for career day and blew some high school kid’s minds. The school is a performing arts charter *like FAME* so having my Mom playing for them was a pretty big deal. I couldn’t help but feel proud of my kick ass Mommy, she rocks!! Liv and I drove to Apple Valley for a few hours and headed back home just missing rush hour traffic.

Playing with the Jazz ensemble

Talking to the class about how she started with Motown and kept ahead of her game as a woman drummer.
This kid flipped out and asked for her autograph while I played paparazzi

New drummer in training

Playing “I Want You Back” by the Jackson 5, these guitar students were incredible

GOOD NEWS!!! I found a short clip of the performance on the Flip *which has been wonky but I hope is fixed now*

Love you Mom, you are an inspiration!!

Hither & Thither

I love visiting my Mommy in the dessert *I know that’s a typo but we just had blueberry crumb cake for dessert, so I’m leaving it*. The weather is perfect, we are blissfully full from the amazing meal I cooked and Liv and her Grammy are having a late night jam session. We ended the evening with a sunset stroll and caught a meteor shower, which was amazing since we can’t see anything in the sky at our house. Oh yeah, my camera had a seizure.

Hanging in the jacuzzi
Food, glorious food!
For some reason my culinary skills intensify when I’m at my Mom’s
My Mom rocking her Mrs. Roper muu-muu. I think I need to get one!
Pretty stellar landscape, her land just goes for miles

Hi Blue!
Liv kept calling for my Mom’s doggies, “Come ‘ere Kody, and bwue!”
Epic sunset on the desert

Liv’s first didgeridoo lesson
My Mom can play for like 45 minutes straight, she uses a technique called circular breathing.
Olivia is in music heaven here, she has played didgeridoo, piano, congas, xylophone and guitar
The solar lights in my Mom’s backyard look pretty sci-fi, don’t they?
I stood perfectly still and held my breath when I took this shot. I was using the night setting and I turned the ISO way down, sigh. My camera has done a lot of hard drugs since the infamous fall. Our Nikon is the new Lindsay Lohan *please don’t sue me*
City Lights dancing

Running on empty

I feel like my old body is out of gas. Swimming laps last weekend felt awful great at the time but I am having old lady issues with my arms and legs. Everyday this week I’ve been out of the house from morning till night, although having fun, keeping my Liv busy. If I keep up this pace, I may go Hollywood and check into rehab for “exhaustion“. Olivia has been impressing me with how well-behaved she has been lately. She still has her meltdowns here and there but she is like a new, mature lady sitting quietly and sharing during dance class. She is talking more often, “yeah, okay!” is her signature phrase. I’m so proud of my little almost 2 year old going on 15. I feel like I’m doing a pretty decent job as a parent.

Perfect!

Yesterday when Antz got home from work we decided to stop by the newsstand to pick up my issue of the special edition Domino Quick Fixes. I was positive Larchmont Village would have it…wrong! He said he sold out the first day it came out. Then we drove towards Hollywood, another stand completely sold out. He said I was the 7th person that day asking about it and he was calling the publisher to get more issues. I tried one last newsstand in Santa Monica before I considered giving up and just ordering it online. Then since we were so close we walked over to Barnes & Noble totally expecting them to be sold out.

That guy behind me is throwin’ some haterade on my photo

Luckily they had about 5 issues left and can you believe this *$10.99* magazine actually went under? They better come back before there’s an occupy Domino or whatever the yuppies do when they get pissed. We paid a visit to Aimee, and while pigging out on Sprinkles cupcakes and wine, we discussed our road trip to Austin. Do you wanna know those two traitors are trying to talk me into going to Las Vegas instead? Mega lame! I have been to Vegas a billion times. It’s so not bebe-friendly, it reeks of cigarette and cigar smoke and the people are obnoxious *needless to say, the high occurrence of fanny packs not worn on the fanny or the guys who slap the escort flyers on the strip make me want to punch them*  I am not a buffet type of girl, the one time Antz dragged me to a buffet at the Luxor *this was years ago when the Luxor was brand new* I threw a tantrum, cried and didn’t eat a thing even though we spent $30 person. I just don’t enjoy the food in Vegas, I think because they make such large quantities, I have this stigma about the freshness. Aimee and Antz want to gamble but I am all about sightseeing, taking quirky photos and finding a cute craft store to amble in for hours. Austin is so laid back and mellow. I am not going to let them talk me out of Awe-stin.

austin, texas :)
If Austin is as rad as my pinterest finding are, I just may have to move there

 

 

Austin, Texas krissy_e
even the graffiti is awesome in Austin
Austin, Texas
YARNBOMB!!
Pinned Image
SXSW via tilt-shift photography
Austin, Texas.
It’s totally nerdy but I really want to see the bat colony

Aimee is pretty sure she’ll be able to get the time off in September so once again, I am crossing my fingers for a miracle to afford this trip. I mean, Liv starts school September 3rd and once we start paying tuition, we will be poor for the next 16 years.

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend. Any trips you looking forward to?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s official, Liv needs a slide for the backyard, we’re keeping an eye out on Craigslist but so far, nuthin!

So many trips, so little cash

I can’t believe it’s already Thursday! This week year is flying by for us and we have so many events coming up. Our niece & nephew are having a baby girl *girls rule!* in June and her baby shower is in May. Then before you know it June will be here, Liv & Antz birthday’s and Papa’s day too! We are taking a day trip to Palm Springs for Liv’s 2nd birthday and I would love to rent Vespas but I don’t think Liv can ride with us.

Pink Vespa
I am dreaming of renting a lovely pink vintage Vespa with matching helmet and zooming down Palm Canyon Drive

So I am constantly finding awesome delights over at DesignLoveFest and now I am obsessed with these Son of Sharkpig videos. Here’s one of lovely Bri’s amazing loft.

How amazing would it be to have a vignette made of Liv’s 2nd birthday all over Palm Springs? I’m sure he charges like $5k per hour but I emailed him to inquire about his rates, so we’ll see. I am pretty much dying to take a vacation. Anywhere sounds fun, I really, really want to take a road trip to Austin for a few days to celebrate Aimee & mine’s 14 year bff-anniversary. It’s a 20 hour drive and this hotel looks awesome.

Hotel San Jose
 
It’s a small boutique hotel on popular Congress Street. Since I miss Coachella and SXSW every year, I’ve been lusting after a visit to Austin. Antz has been before and he said he had a gnarly time *he went to a movie theater that served BBQ and beer!!*. I found out about this hotel from this fun post at Bleubird Vintage  
17
These are the hotel robes!!
Pretty rad, right? I don’t have any idea how to afford the trip or how to get Aimee to get time off prison work *she works 6 days a week* to go. It would be fantastic if we could go in September when the weather cools down. On top of all these upcoming events, my friend Jessica & Trevor’s wedding is in December and in order to attend, you must stay a minimum of 2 nights at a campsite in Santa Barbara. It’s a beautiful venue but I checked the prices and it’s going to be a pretty penny *$289 per night
I’ve always wanted to sleep in a yurt but with no heat in December, I think we’ll stick with a cabin with a fireplace.

http://173.254.70.176/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/elcapitancanyon_011.jpg
Cedar Cabin
I am trying to pay off our credit card debt, refinance our mortgage, save every penny for Liv’s school, new house, and home improvements *we desperately need our plumbing upgraded and a kitchen makeover* and yet I am torturing myself with my wild desire to travel.  Did I mention Antz needs a new computer and Wacom tablet? Okay, I’m going now, my brain hurts.

School House Rocks!

This afternoon I went back to school *which has been over 15 years, cause I’m a fossil* by taking Nicole Balch’s Growing a Readership alt Summit online class. I had to drop Liv off at Antz job so I could have the hour undisturbed and I made it home with literally a minute to spare. I had no idea how it would work but it turned out to be a chatroom *remember those from the 90s?* and we could see Nicole and she could see our comments. Let me nerd out for a moment please, I was kinda, oddly starstruck. Nicole is as down to Earth as they come but she is a blog God to me. Her style *Making it Lovely* is so polished, her content leaves me so inspired and her technique is user friendly and simple. I feel like my blog is like peeking in an insane asylum and you see me in a padded room wearing a straightjacket. I made a list of things I need to get on, ASAP. Firstly, why aren’t I using my Instagram more often? As you can see, I am much better off taking photos with that than my horrible Nikon.

using Instagram
using the Nikon

Second, it’s long overdue to redesign my blog and start creating better content and better photos. You lovelies deserve the BEST!! I’m so pumped up about designing the home page, I need brighter colors and a cheery overall impression. This gray is feeling gloomy and I don’t want to come off as emo *do the kids still say that?* Now I’ll be pinteresting all night. Lastly, I HAVE to attend alt Summit!! The ladies I met at the class were super sweet and funny and I would love to extend my online networking. Later Lovelies!

A few shots of Nicole during the class

 

 

 

Hither & Thither

We had a fun, busy weekend!

Scruffin Rock class!
Running fast as lightening

Julie played a song by Yann Tiersan *whom I adore* from the Amelie soundtrack and this cute song from Mad Men, which has been in my head for days now.

It was a rainy day
I am obsessed with Instagram lately

Lovely garden
Swimming lessons at the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center

I swam laps while Antz and Liv enjoyed her lesson, the water was as warm as a bath
This guy was hilarious, he spoke with a thick German accent and he kept talking to me about his 9 grandchildren and how he swims everyday to stay in shape. He was 65 and FABulous!

Our beach, where were got married, Topanga State Beach
The one great thing about not going to Coachella *possibly the only thing* is the city is empty, we had the beach all to ourselves

It was crazy windy but amazing!

Uhh, dinner?

What a beautiful day!

We happened to drive past Caine’s Arcade. Apparently business is doing well!
We have been to this park before but it was closed for renovations. We slipped past the already broken fencing to check out the playground *seen in the Weather episode of Yo Gabba Gabba!* it was awesome to have the place all to ourselves but creepy

The new landscape and pathways are lovely
This park always reminds me of Hanna-Barberra cartoons.

So, I guess we were in The Spits territory?

It may look like she slid down at a neck-breaking speed but she actually had to scoot down in super slow motion. The concrete has deteriorated over the years leaving the slides with no slide power. Good thing they are renovating.
In remembrance of the Titanic
This park is awesome but it needs a lot of TLC
Liv was too afraid to go inside the lighthouse, I don’t blame her
That’s SAN Gabriel, not SAD!

We headed home and had dinner before heading back out for the Nela Art Walk. We checked out a few spots and saw our friend at Matters of Space but the art has been disappointing for the last 2 months. Fewer people showed up and less galleries were open and the biggest attraction for the walk, an enormous art gallery/warehouse, has been closed. I hope they didn’t go out of business.

This former art gallery is a soon to be a Curio shop called Pop-Hop

Aimee has been wanting to check out this cute Vintage store Urchin
The Highland Cafe is now open and it was pretty packed inside. They are serving breakfast and lunch. I still love Cafe de Leche.

Lovely abandoned real estate office
I almost bought this dress from Mi Vida for Liv, maybe for school shopping.

Boo for being closed!

I love the interior of this place

Metal band at the Circa Studios

As we were leaving we heard about 5 bands performing. I hate to say it, but the walk has lost it’s charm since the first time we went. I guess we have officially worn it out. It could also be most folks were out of town at Coachella and hopefully it will pick up again in the summer months.

This morning Liv did something I used to do all the time as a kid.

It was just nice and warm enough for playing in the sprinklers. That’s how you roll when you don’t have a pool. Now it’s naptime. Taa-tah lovelies!

What a week!

Our week started off pretty rad. We went to a fun party on Monday night, Milt was born, then Tuesday we went to Terry & Morgan’s house to release Milton & Piper *video coming soon* and we had dinner at Casa Bianca. Then Wednesday, Antz got sick and worked from home. Nothing spectacular happened but it was a weird day. Yesterday wasn’t so awesome. I have been excited to go to the Oh Joy Kate Spade event at the Americana all week. Antz tells me we are going out to dinner with Les & Stephen and another couple from his job. Okay, that’s disappointing but it will be fun. So we take Liv to her Grandma’s house since it’s a no kids dinner and go to the restaurant *which coincidentally is the same place we went to with Terry, Morgan & Kieran a few weeks ago* and guess what? We are the only ones there. Strange, Antz pulls out his phone to text Les and discovers a text from her saying dinner cancelled, from 3pm! Antz was kinda pissed that he missed that text and I cancelled my plans for the dinner but like I said, we had a rough day let’s have dinner and pick up Liv. I’ve been feeling cranky about not having any plans to go out of town *obviously, Hawaii* for our anniversary and Antz has been sick and pretty exhausted lately. On top of that, we have a lovely 22 month old who is pretty much pushing her boundaries with us every moment she can. We are both pretty concerned about her behavior. We question if she is involved in enough activities, or possibly too much? While it’s normal for 2 year old’s to act-out, we think she is taking it too far. This is the part of being a parent that I never thought would happen. How do you discipline a baby? Are we ignoring her bad behavior too often. Have I damaged her by laughing at her antics *sorry, I can’t help but giggle when she is being naughty* It feels like she is telling us “NO!” all the time *it breaks my heart when I ask her for a kiss and she says a defiant no* and throwing tantrums *particularly when we are out in public* throwing her toys, and hardly eating. We try to make meals that are interesting, healthy and tasty but lately Liv has put herself on a all strawberry diet. I can’t get her interested in eating an entire meal. Could it be her appetite has changed now that I’ve stopped breastfeeding? As a parent, I was feeling pretty confident, and we had a great routine. Now I am feeling like I’ve lost the balance between “fun mommy” and “strict mommy“. I find myself telling her stop, no and pleading with her in frustration. I don’t want to be a parent with a passive-aggressive attitude. It sucks the most that she acts out more with me than Antz but we read that toddlers actout with the parent they spend more time with. Nothing grosses me out more than when Olivia is acting out or being extremely shy, like to the point where she is clinging to Anthony and will not look at anyone. She just started that with people she doesn’t see that often but I know Liv isn’t shy. She has a huge personality. She loves to talk, sing and dance. I want her to feel comfortable with everyone we know. This morning we are starting dance class again. I hope she behaves. She has an issue with sharing *this is one of the hardest struggle I have with her* I think she may understand now that she has to share the instruments with the other kids but when she sees the one conga drum, she wants it. I’m learning how to handle these situations, I just want Liv to be a happy, sweet and kind kid.

Happy Friday the 13th!!

Milton has emerged!

Check out our baby!!

As you know, our rad friends Terry, Morgan & Kieran adopted a baby caterpillar on our behalf on March 17th. He was the tiniest fuzzy speck living in a ketchup container full of nutrient.

His move from the apartment to his mansion was nerve-racking. We were holding our breath the entire time. I almost fainted when the tape fell a little while transferring him.

His new crib, with a lovely tomato garden decor

He was in chrysalis for about 7 days

This morning Antz woke me up to tell me Milt is all grown up. Sniff, soon Liv will be too!

He is a lovely Painted Lady-man

Hopefully tonight we will release him along with Butterfly Piper at Kieran’s house.

Piper transformed yesterday!

I wish Milt could live in our garden but he has to leave the nest and see the world. I’ll miss him. It was super fun raising him. I love when Liv says “Mittin Buttfwhy!

Last night we went to a Going Away *but not too far* party for my friend from Atwater Village, Leonora. She had a get together at a soon-to-be opening bar called Links & Hops. It was a cute space *totally reminds me of Maximillianos and Cafe de Leche* and that’s exactly what they serve, delish links of all kinds *I accidentally ordered a vegan apple link but it was pretty yum* Belgian fries and every type of beer you could think of *they had Morgan’s fave from San Diego* As soon as we arrived not only did my camera battery die but also my iphone. Luckily, Antz had his phone so I got a few pictures. We sat with Kumbi, JB & Tigerlily and the girls had us cracking up. They kept hugging and holding each other, it was totally adorable. We really had a great time, I can’t wait until they actually open so we can go back again.

Leonora was voted Atwater Villager of the year and it is well deserved, she is a huge part of the community and she welcomed Antz, Liv and me even though we don’t live there *yet!* She will still be an integral part of the neighborhood. Her adorable daughter, Willa is in the same dance class as Liv.
Liv cheering up Willa with a hug
Links & Hops had a soft opening for the party

JB, Kumbi & Tigerlily, what a gorgeous family!
Party girls
Hug-fest
Antz forced me to bother ask Charlie Day *who is Leonora’s daughter Willa’s Godfather* and his lovely wife for a photo. I was dorking out but they were super sweet and friendly, despite my geekiness, of course!

Liv broke out her robot moves!