Category Archives: Holidays

Pâques aux jardins de Claude Monet

This was the first year since Liv was born that we didn’t spend Easter Sunday with our dear friends Stephen & Leslie at their annual Easter Party. We tried to FaceTime with them but the connection was terrible. We spent Easter Sunday driving through Normandie to Giverny, France to visit the Claude Monet gardens. To be honest, I am not the biggest Monet fan. I know of his work but it’s not for me. Here’s what Wikipedia says about him.

Oscar-Claude Monet
14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926 was a founder of French Impressionist painting, and the most consistent and prolific practitioner of the movement’s philosophy of expressing one’s perceptions before nature, especially as applied to plein air landscape painting. The term “Impressionism” is derived from the title of his painting Impression, soleil levant (Impression, Sunrise), which was exhibited in 1874. Monet’s ambition of documenting the French countryside led him to adopt a method of painting the same scene many times in order to capture the changing of light and the passing of the seasons. From 1883 Monet lived in Giverny, where he purchased a house and property and began a vast landscaping project which included lily ponds that would become the subjects of his best-known works. In 1899 he began painting the water lilies, first in vertical views with a Japanese bridge as a central feature, and later in the series of large-scale paintings that was to occupy him continuously for the next 20 years of his life.

Well, the town of Giverny was beautiful! To bad the weather was nice enough to bring out the bus-loads of tourists. We arrived later in the day and it was still crowded. Luckily, we have mastered the skill of cropping out the masses and finding empty spots.

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After a long day of trying to get the perfect shot, I was thrilled to capture this candid moment of Liv and Antz discussing something silly. I wish I could get more candids of the three of us together enjoying the day without the contrived posing. I need to keep that in mind for our future photos.

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The Claude Monet Gardens and House at Giverny

Rue Claude Monet
27620 Giverny France

Open everyday from 9:30 am – 6 pm until November 1st.

Christmas 2014

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas. We spent time with family and I think we all got what we wanted from Santa. Although next year I’m adding a family trip to Iceland on my list. My friend Jennifer went this year and her photos are amazing!

Joyeux Noël
Liv and I made gingerbread people for the Big guy

Awake bright and early as usual
Pleased as punch with her gifts from her Aunt Debra
Liv got some new rad books. I have heard great things about BJ Novak’s book.
My Mom shared Christmas morning with us via iChat
It was awesome for her to see Olivia open her presents

I went a little Pop! Vinyl crazy but they are soo cute!
Huge Thundercats fan
Big Hero 6 was such a good movie
Hopefully he has enough socks now. I got most of these from Target
We are big Hayao Miyazaki fans
This is what you must get an artist
Our old Wii stopped playing games so I got a new Nintendo Wii Mini
Of course this means new video games, Michael Jackson Experience and Mario Cart

So much fun!!

Olivia’s piece de resistance her Frozen vanity
We watched A Christmas Story which I think is the greatest Christmas movie ever made
I won this incredible Moroccan wedding blanket in an Instagram auction, I LOVE it!

So today Liv is covered in nail polish and Frozen lip gloss. We are going through all of our shelves and drawers, cleaning out junk and throwing away as much as possible. I have a special surprise happening later today.

A bientot!

Hoppy Easter

I hope everyone had a lovely Easter. Last week Olivia received some special mail from her grandmommy Bobbye. She loved getting her own mail in the post.

Then her Grandmother Maria gave her a basket and Godmommy Aimee brought her a rad basket. Sunday morning the Easter bunny brought Liv a basket too. Three baskets for this kid!!

Liv was very pleased with her basket loot, she even got a Venus Flytrap plant!

We spent the day at Olivia’s Nino’s house for their annual Easter brunch and egg hunt.

Leslie made these adorable bunny ears
Temptation, thy name is cake and donuts *I resisted, I’m on a strict salad and water diet until our trip*
A toast to the lovely host
Sweet little bunnies
Bubbles!
Liv can spell fox and her name
He really enjoyed the Honeybaked ham
I love my new dress
This confetti egg didn’t crack the first time
So she hit me twice as hard and broke my head!
It was a confetti egg war
she still has confetti in her hair a week later
Thanks for the photobomb Antz

Then we stopped by Antz Mom’s house for a second and headed off to church. For the last 3 years we’ve been going to the afternoon mass and we love it. It’s so much less crowded and you have the rest of the evening to relax.

Liv brought a confetti egg to get Grandma

I won a Caption this contest that Leslie’s bakery *Brown Box Bakery* had last week!!

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 Leslie delivered my lovely carrot cake. It’s sooo pretty!

Since I was on a diet, I didn’t feel guilty for eating carrot cake since it’s gluten-free and diabetic-friendly. They have really good treats if you are needing a cake or cookies for someone with food restrictions or allergies.

Happy New Year 2014!!

Last night we took the train with our friends to Grand Park in downtown. All Metro trains and busses were free from 9pm – 12:30am so there were tons of people but everyone was in a festive mood.

We arrived at 9:45 and it was crowded! I heard Grand park was at capacity at 10,000 people. There were lines for everything, to get a drinking bracelet, to get into the drinking area, then to buy drinks. There was a two hour line just to get into Starbucks. We were lucky to only wait 20 minutes to buy a bag of kettlecorn popcorn. We hung out and took photos but by the looks of things, we decided it was best to head home before pandemonium broke out. We squeezed our way through the crowds and just made a train before 11:40. Our train ride home was magic, some people got on board and began to decorate the train, play music, handed out hats and noisemakers and even brought a mini disco ball. We had a NYE celebration on the Gold Line! We arrived at our train stop, said our goodbyes to the party train and drove home with 30 seconds to spare before midnight. It was so exciting to go out and enjoy the city but we were so happy to have made it home safe and sound without having to endure the tremendous lines for the train and deal with all the loud drunks. Highland Park did not disappoint with a fireworks show on our front deck.

Liv’s hat was a hit!

I have so many plans for you 2014!
This was just a small fraction of the crowd, the park spans 5 blocks
The crowds were insane, au revoir!
The train station would have been packed had we waited a half an hour later
The train at Union Station was almost empty
Our party train!!
How cute is the mini spinning disco ball!!
Liv and I were dancing
Everyone was feeling festive!
Peace out Party Train!

We had a fun time ringing in the New Year! Apparently there were more folks there than I estimated. I am super stoked to start my e-course. We are having lunch with Story & Chris today and I get to finally see their baby’s nursery!! 

Happy Happy 2014!!
2014 Happy New Year Wishes in French

Lizzie’s Christmas Wishlist 2013

I made a deal with Santa asking him to Fed Ex my gifts early. I looked for the best deals after Thanksgiving and took advantage of online sales to stretch my Christmas dollar. Hugs and kisses to my lovely husband and mommy for contributing to my wishlist which has made me a very happy girl!

1. Herschel Supply Co. Backpack from ModCloth *now 50% off*
2. Victorian Flowers Dr. Martens from Dr. Marten USA
3. New Balance Sneakers from Nordstrom
4. Margot & Ritchie Tenenbaum Tote by Nan Lawson from Renegade Craft Fair
5. Wes Anderson Collection from Amazon
6. Sweater Initial Gloves from Old Navy
7. Be Dazzling iphone case by Kate Spade New York from Fancy.com

I hope everyone had happy & a lovely Christmas.

Merry Christmas 2013

Santa left some presents for us last night! He also devoured our cookies and milk and didn’t even put the dishes in the dishwasher.

Last night two little elves stopped by with some homemade goodies, thanks Kim & Warren!!
I love that I caught Flick with his tongue stuck to the pole
This was The Little Mermaid’s Christmas. Liv has moved on from Cinderella, it’s all about Ariel!
Liv made this lovely memory box at school
Fancy lady!

Olivia’s Christmas Show

Jingle Bells, kids crying on stage, parents frantically taking photos of their kids, Santa hats and handmade costumes…yep all those delightful memories of school holiday performances.

Allow me to geek out over my new lovely dress first. It’s fitted/cut like a 1950’s cocktail dress so much so, I felt like I needed a martini, a Phillip Morris cigarette & gloves and a silly hat á la Lucy Ricardo. The best part of all are the pockets! All dresses, skirts, every single article of clothing needs pockets. I am so freaking excited about finally having pockets on a dress.

Dress from ModCloth, Bag from Target, Furry pouf and Ciao barrette from Ban.do and shoes from Seychelles.
I’m pretending I’m not freezing my ass off while waiting in line for good seats

Liv’s class sang Christmas Don’t be Late

Here’s my tall cutie singing along with her class.

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That’s Maximo on the mic, he was not messing around!

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“Hi Daddy!”

Mr George requested anything Steelers and Mrs. Chrissy is a makeup addict *makeup rules!* so Liv got her a gift card from Sephora

Liv made a Christmas present for us at school but we are waiting to open it. I really hope it’s plane tickets to Paris!!

She’s been practicing writing her name all week
Liam is Liv’s #1 BFF *although it changes just about everyday*

After the show we went to lunch with Liv’s Grandma at the York.

Another year of holidays at her preschool are over in a flash. I hope Liv has memories of her incredible school, all the teachers and her friends.

Winter Solstice 2013

This past weekend was Liv’s school’s annual Winter Solstice. It was raining like crazy and must have been one of the coldest days we’ve had here in Los Angeles.

My wardrobe doesn’t accommodate for anything lower than 60°. As I was leaving the house the sun peeked through the clouds so I put away my rain boots remembering how hot I was last year from working the craft stations. I was sure my outfit would be appropriate.

I am in love with my new Créme de la Créme sweater, it’s super warm and soft.
Of course an hour before the solstice began it poured rain like Noah’s Ark. Guess who had frozen ankles? 
This frozen elf!
At least Liv got to wear her Hatley raincoat and boots I bought last year *on super sale* I wasn’t expecting her to fit them until she was like 6 years old but dude, this kid is a growing machine!
Renae, the owner of the school, had tents for everything *even the snow sledding* so we proceeded rain or shine, and the sun did eventually return. I was pretty sure not so many people would come out in such bad weather but I was surprised by the community support for our school. There were more people than ever and I was busy the whole time running the crafts. It was pretty cold but a few glasses of mimosa kept me warm.
How cute did these turn out? Sunflower/bird & Big Bird-opus

We sold out of all one hundred of these guys!
Olivia’s classmate Maximo’s decorated gingerbread man

We decorated ornaments, stockings, gingerbread men and our most popular build-a-buddy. It’s funny to me that we take stuffed animals and cut their heads off, then the kids can choose from a box of bodies and heads for us to sew back together. The combinations are so funny but some kids try to find the original head with the original body. 

We donated the pink cookies to the bake sale
The lovely ladies who make Liv’s school so rad
I adore lady DJs
Kissy Kissy
This lady is so rad!

So many goodies were in the holiday boutique. I left my wallet at home so I didn’t get to shop.

This chick is adorable, her sweater and turban are so sweet

 
So, I was eyeing this hat from one of our vendors at the holiday boutique. I look so awkwardly like Indiana Jones in hats like these. I wish I could rock a hat as cool as my BFF does but my hat is oddly shaped, no hipster hat for moi.

After a few hours I was finally able to sneak away and join Liv & Antz in some family fun.

Liv won tiny goldfish *they only lived one day 🙁
The snow survived the heavy rain
Train ride in the rain
She still has this mermaid tattoo
Liv and her incredible teachers.
Lovely Miss Chrissy
Mr George
I had the most amazing bacon and egg sandwich ever. I know you may be thinking what’s so amazing about bacon and eggs but the special ingredient is sweet sun-dried tomatoes and herbs cooked into the eggs. I wish I could have them for breakfast everyday.
Those who know me know I’d rather put a fork in my eye than eat a veggie but these tomatoes are amazeballs!
It’s a good thing I got one when I did because when I went back to order one for Antz they were all out of the sun-dried tomatoes and herbs that make the sandwich so amazingly good. Hopefully he’ll get to try one next year. He made up for it in tamales though.
Unlike last year, Liv was super happy to see Santa and she spent about fifteen minutes letting him know all the things on her wish list. To sum it up, she wants every Disney princess dress ever made *everything must be like her friend Kaia*

 Pretty rad shot

We had so much fun before I knew it, it was time to go. It was such a successful event, the school may be getting a new treehouse built soon.

Is anybody home?

I know it’s been quiet here. I’m in the midst of co-hosting a baby shower for my friends Story & Chris this weekend. Thanksgiving getaway this week, deciding what we are doing for this year’s holiday card and next weekend is Liv’s school Winter Solstice *which I’m head of the Crafts committee again this year*

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So if it seems like I’m not talking much, please know I’m always here in spirit. Check out my blogroll, I added some new bloggers that are ridiculously lovely and super inspiring *like, I’m so ready to pack up and move to Paris* thanks to Anne and Rubi!!

As for now, please…

Enjoy the Silence by DMK

Have a lovely Thanksgiving!!

Pappa’s Day 2013

What I love most about this year’s Fathers day was the pure spontaneity of our day. After spending months planning and prepping for Olivia’s 3rd birthday, and so many other birthday parties this month, I was too worn out to make a solid Father’s day agenda. Since Antz is mellow by nature and doesn’t like a big fuss, we decided to just hop in the car and see where the road takes us. We didn’t want to go to our usual spots since holidays bring crowds so we ventured out past our neighborhood for brunch. Lucky we ended up at one of our favorite places to eat and we made it in time before the rush.

Pappa & Liv
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It may be heart attack inducing but it’s so amazingly yummy!

After we stuffed our faces with delicious chicken and waffles we drove to Manhattan beach and hit the parking jackpot *free parking close to the beach is impossible* We hung out on the beach for a few hours, enjoying the sun and watching Liv play in the sand.

This lady is growing up so fast

Before we could get sunburned, we headed over to check out the newly renovated Echo Park Lake. It was packed with people but we found parking. Sadly the ducks haven’t returned to the lake yet but it was wonderful seeing the clean *although artificially blue* water and the beautiful landscape *let’s hope it stays clean*

Liv made this rad frame for Pappa at school.

So that sums up our Father’s day, easy peasy we couldn’t have asked for a lovelier day or a lovelier Pappa.