All the flowers! Every year I seem to miss the spring flower explosion that occurs in Antelope Valley. I was monitoring the California poppy’s bloom schedule this year and was bummed to find out the storm we had last month killed the flowers in the valley. The other location to find wildflower fields was in Death Valley which is three hours in the middle of nowhere. It didn’t sound like the fun road trip I had in mind so I was stoked to hear that wildflowers were in full bloom in nearby Ojai. The Ojai Meadows Preserve is only an hour and a half drive from LA and no hiking in hundred degree weather to see them.
Liv and I were in flower heaven but I was also thinking “Please don’t let there be snakes in here!”
Ojai has a great park that Liv was dying to play at, so we stopped by on our way back home.
I couldn’t see adding this crazy merry-go-round in our small park. We saw a bunch of kids fall down while pushing it and other kids came close to trampling the fallen kid. Even I thought the spinning metal cages were dangerous. Yet, I can’t help but feel proud of how badass my kid is!
I really would love this modern swing (which can fit a few kids at once) in our York Park. It’s much safer and comfortable than our generation’s old tire swing.
Ojai Meadows Preserve is located just north of or adjacent to the Nordhoff High School football stadium. To get there, take Highway 33 west (towards Maricopa) from the Highway 150/33 intersection at the Rotary Community Park. Go past the high school and the stadium, turn left at the next break in the highway’s dividing island, park in the little parking lot or along the curb.
I recommend taking the Highway 150/Santa Paula route which is less crowded and much more scenic than the 101 freeway.
Due to California’s drought, I’d recommend getting there soon before the flowers wither and die!
Hello there! I celebrated my thirty-ninth birthday last Sunday, YAY! And also boo, I am not ready to hit my forties. Do I start wearing Mom jeans and drive a minivan? I’m old and lame, haha.
My BFF ordered this yummy ice cream cake for me before she left for Paris. Merci Aimee!
I spent the weekend with my Mom in Apple Valley. We found the sweetest little bunny (actually it was a baby Jackrabbit) outside in my Mom’s yard.
It was hard to not keep him as a pet for Olivia but we knew the little guy wasn’t suitable to bring home. We did put him in a box so it wouldn’t be cold during the night. He was gone in the morning so we hope he was reunited with his Mom. We didn’t touch him so his Mom wouldn’t smell us.
We took Monday off from school and work so we could check out Calico Ghost Town which is halfway on the drive to Las Vegas. Olivia loves all things Wild West. She was excited to find ghosts and gold in Calico. The town has a impressive history dating back to the late 1800s. Silver was mined from the mountains for years until the process of extracting the silver became more expensive than the value of the silver. The population of Calico went from 50 to a peak of 1,200 and currently has nine residents. We found it picturesque and lovely because the weather was nice and there weren’t too many folks there.
Doesn’t every little girl wants a creepy, demon-eyed doll?
I was lucky to find an awesome fox tail Davey Crockett hat for Liv (that fits over her big hair!)
I love train rides, so relaxing and we learned about the history and folklore about the town.
Liv and Antz were adventurous enough to go mine hunting in the mountains.
Doesn’t this schoolhouse remind you of the one from The Birds?!
I discovered that I would not last five minutes one hundred years ago. I think I would be better suited for the 18th century in France. I am sure I was royalty in my past life!
This pesky lil varmint was jailed for not eating all her vegetables!
I was excited at the idea that this was a Pet Cemetery !
Calico Ghost Town
36600 Ghost Town Road
Yermo, CA 92398
It’s been a long year for me. 2015 had it’s highs and lows but when I look back at all the photos I took this year, I must say it wasn’t as bad as I remembered. I wish we travelled outside the country more but I can’t complain since I was able to visit my bestie in Paris for my thirty-eighth birthday. I am also happy we drove up to visit our friends Story, Chris and their bebe in Portland. Liv was so excited to take a road trip.
Back in January, my sweet filmmaker friend Paul asked me to play a small role in his movie, Black Eyed Angels. I was nervous but I loved acting with the awesome and talented crew!
It feels like ages ago when Liv booked her first paid acting job. You can watch her five seconds of fame in a vaccination skit on the Jimmel Kimmel Show.
I chaperoned Liv’s class on a field trip to the Los Angeles Zoo.
Giovanni Ribisi happened to be at the event and he sweetly obliged a selfie with me!
After nearly two years of waiting, Highland Park turned a deserted gas station into awesome York Park. We attended the opening event.
March was MAJOR. My best friend Aimee fulfilled a lifelong dream of going to makeup school in Paris. She begged me to come visit her but Antz and I both knew we couldn’t afford it. Then Antz did a quick freelance job and told me to go ahead and buy my plane ticket for my birthday present. I was so excited but I decided to surprise Aimee and just show up. We Face-timed each other almost everyday and she would tell me how much she wished I was there with her. It was the hardest secret I ever kept.
Merci beaucoup sweet hubby, best birthday present ever!
It was my first time flying alone and I drank more wine than I should have so I ended up fainting on the flight! The crew was so kind but I was embarrassed.
Aimee’s apartment was so tiny but Parisian pretty in the coolest part of town!
While Aimee was walking home from school, I hid out in this patisserie with these lovely ladies. They didn’t speak any English but I explained in my broken French my big surprise.
We ate at Café Charlot almost every night. I played tourist during the day while Aimee was in class.
I am always the brightest (and tallest) person in Paris!
This was one of the most fun nights during our week together! Salut Fred.
Antz made these rad masks for me. We are self-professed dorks!
We loved shopping at Le BHV, they even have Anthropologie!
We had the world’s best crepes made by our friend Monsieur Alain at my favorite farmers market! You must visit him for lunch if you are in the 3rd.
Aimee’s crepe was as big as her head!
I spent hours walking around the city alone. I felt so independent and comfortable. Paris was beginning to feel like home to me. Je voulais y vivre!
We had a bestie lunch together just like we do in LA.
I fucking love this girl!
I faced a huge fear of heights by walking on the glass floor of the Eiffel Tower. Despite peeing my pants, I was in sheer heaven.
I woke up to find this waiting for me on my anniversaire. Aimee ordered my favorite ice cream cake for me before she left for her trip. Antz kept it in the freezer for me.
The week in Paris with Aimee was magnificent. I was able to spend time in Paris alone and I fell in love with the city all over again. I am counting the hours until I return. As much fun as we had, I missed Liv and Antz terribly!
When I returned, we attended our 4th Nickelodeon Kid’s Choice Awards show.
I pranked Liv good for April Fool’s day!
We spent our Easter at Liv’s Godparents house for their annual Easter family brunch. Confetti eggs will never get old for me!
Liv started swimming lessons. I love that tummy!
On weekends we like to drive in random directions until we figure out what we want to do. Balboa Island is always a fun day trip.We took a boat cruise along Newport Beach harbor and of course ate corn dogs and cotton candy.
Liv’s class took a field trip to the local Fire station. The firemen were so sweet and funny!
I was feeling down in the dumps about missing Paris so Antz had a fun idea to make a scavenger hunt for us to complete in one day. We started the hunt in Chinatown.
Finding a meter with three hours still on it counts as finding free money!
We zigzagged all over the city for our hunt, searching for a fountain we ended up in north Glendale.
This Japanese tea house and koi pond is beautiful. This park is a treasure!
The fifth item on our list was actually the last thing we ending up finishing and the hardest to figure out. I started the day welcoming the challenge of trying a new food. However when we looked at Russian, Ethiopian, and Moroccan I lost my nerve. Then I realized Wurstküche had food we have never tired and I wasn’t so afraid of rattlesnake in sausage form. Washing it down with Belgian fries and beer helped!
I actually felt guilty for popping this mattress store’s balloon! What a jerk.
My friend Christina always posts the coolest photos on her Instagram. When I saw her photos from a velvet art gallery, I had to check it out. Lucky for us, it was located in Chinatown and helped us check off #9.
This was an easy one thanks to Antz quick thinking of stopping by an optometry mall!Finding a live chicken in Los Angeles was a little more tricky. We called a friend of ours who used to have chickens at their house. She told us to try the college near our house. Lucky for us they had a chicken coup on campus!
Bets were against us we would find a live chicken by the end of the day. I can’t wait for our next Scavenger Adventure.
In May, Liv got her first pair of roller-skates so of course we had to teach her how to roller boogie for a family fun Friday at Moonlight Rollerway in 80’s fashion!
Liv’s last Pre K field trip was a two day camping trip in the woods.
Before the end of school Grandma Bobbye was invited to Liv’s school for a music performance for her class. Everyone loved seeing Liv and her Grammy play together, they were a hit!
May was a busy month, Liv performed in her first ballet recital.
Just as Pre-K was wrapping up, Liv’s fifth birthday was approaching. She spent all her previous birthdays traveling, so this year she wanted a party with all her friends. I had to negotiate with her to allow us to choose the party theme (so I wouldn’t lose my sanity with another Frozen party!) I found Alice’s Traveling Tea Party, Antz and I created some party favors and hired my talented friend Jennifer to work her magic behind the camera and a very merry unbirthday it was!
I picked up a cake from Porto’s bakery and added an Alice in Wonderland Pop vinyl toy.
On Tuesday, she turned FIVE! I smuggled a sparkler candle home from Paris just for her birthday.
We took weekly photos of Liv and Totoro for her first year, then we took monthly photos. Now we take them yearly.
We bought her a Linus bike for her birthday present. Since she’s such a giant for her age, we had to test out the height just to be sure she fit.
We were so lucky to bond with everyone in our rad Pre-K class this year. Liv had amazing teachers which I know will have a lasting impact on her life. I asked them to sign her Oh! The Places You’ll Go book.
The whole class got together for a last Pre-K class wine tasting picnic at Barnsdall Park. At Liv’s school the students are switched around every year so we didn’t know who would be in her Kindergarten class in the fall.
The school year ended with the Lilapalooza celebration. It’s already been two years since we attended our first Lilapalooza as prospective parents.
Summer began with an exciting visit by President Barack Obama! He visited Highland Park to be interviewed by local resident, Marc Maron for his WTF?! Podcast. Liv was interviewed on the news about the historic event.
Liv got a sneak peek of the summer hit movie Inside Out.
Liv had her annual pediatrician and dentist visits. She loves seeing Dr. Wang and Dr. Chess but fortunately they don’t see her often as she would like.
I helped my friend, Jihan, run the pom pom booth at her stellar DIY Camp.
Of course I had my adorable mini-helper. I bumped into Liv’s nursery school teacher and my beautiful friend Maricris!
My Antzy turned FORTY!!! I love you old man.
I discovered my new favorite brunch spot, Dinette in Echo Park. Their avocado toast is superb! This is now my go-to Sunday morning routine.
To celebrate the 4th of July, we made red, white and blue shortcakes.
Aimee and I celebrated Bastille day with our French club and I finally tried delicious beef bourguignon. Vive la France!!
Olivia is now a ComicCon veteran. This year we booked a hotel so we didn’t have to drive back in the same day and we could space out the convention over two days. It was so much easier being able to walk from the hotel and take turns hanging out in the room.
Antz was on a mission to collect all the Adventure Time minis. However, they are sold in blind boxes (which is a concept made by Satan!) so it was hard to find Finn, Princess Bubblegum and Marceline. Aren’t they cute?
Liv loved swimming at the hotel while Dad geeked out at the convention center. We were so happy to drive back after brunch on Sunday with hardly any traffic.
Liv went on a ton of auditions this year and since she turned five, it was time to update her headshots. I was so excited to have her photographed by Olesja Mueller. She captured Liv’s spirit brilliantly.
Our favorite niece and nephew visited from New York. We laugh so hard we cry when they are around!
We took our annual trip to the beach. Liv made some new friends, Antz built the entire city of King’s Landing in the sand and I ended up getting the worst sunburn of my life! **I tried Honest sunscreen instead of my usual Neutragena 🙁
Antz entered a few pieces in a charity art show to raise money for North Central animal shelter. So many of our friends were a part of the show and his adorable lions sold right away.
We checked out the new Churro place in Los Feliz. They make churro ice cream sandwiches!
My lovely bestie turned forty (like pratically everyone I know did this year!) so we stuffed her with oysters. I discovered the most incredible clam chowder in LA!
My nickname for Antz is Macgyver because he can take common items and create magic. When I told Liv it was Harry Potter’s birthday, of course she wanted to dress up as a Hogwarts student. Antz safety pinned a patch to her blazer, I loaned her my faux spectacles and we gave her a chopstick for a wand. Now that she’s started reading on her own, I bought her this updated version of the novel.
I bought this adorable Hugo Loves Tiki romper for Liv so I had to buy some balloons and have an impromptu photo shoot at the dots mural in the arts district.
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I was fortunate enough to take Olivia to a Bernie Sanders rally with a friend of mine and her daughter. An extra special treat was Sarah Silverman opened for him. Crazy, old Bernie is my favorite! I agree with a majority of his stances. With so many ridiculous candidates, I sure do hope he wins.
So the summer that never seemed to end was coming to a close. I was so bummed about not taking a trip to Europe that I decided we have to get out of town. I have been wanting to visit our friends who moved to Portland last year so we planned a week long road trip during our anniversary. Since we were driving, I thought Liv would love to spend a day in Santa Cruz. I haven’t been to the boardwalk since I was a kid. It was amazing that much little has changed. We felt like extras in the movie The Lost Boys (which I watched thousands of times when I was 11!).
I heard about the Roaring Camp railroad that has an old steam engine train ride through the redwood forest. I knew Liv would love it so we booked it for our first stop in Santa Cruz.
On our second day, we had the raddest breakfast at Slappy Cakes, a cook your own pancakes restaurant. After we fueled up, we drove to Multnomah Falls. I wish we could have stayed there all day but I wanted to head downtown to check out VooDoo Doughnuts.
As big fans of the movie The Goonies we had to take a trip to Astoria, a charming, small town where most of the movie was filmed. With my rotten luck the owners of the Goondocks house decided they had enough of the rude tourists so they blocked off the house. Again we had bad timing, the beautiful Astoria column was also closed for repairs. At least the view was lovely.
Portland definitely won us over with it’s friendly folks, no-sales tax and lush greenery. Bye guys,!
We said our goodbyes and drove the endless fifteen hour trek back to LA and dove headfirst into the busiest week of our year. Liv began Kindergarten.
Hooray! She’s still the tallest kid in her class and homegirl is speaking fluent French now.
After finding out at the last minute, we attended the second Le Dîner en Blanc! My Mother in law helped me sew my tulle skirt. This year was held in Pershing Square in Downtown LA.
Through all the chaos, my best friend got married!! Liv was an adorable ring bearer in her H & M boy’s suit and bow tie.
The very next day Olivia had a modeling job for our friends at Quinn & Fox.
Liv took these amazing photos back in March for their AW15 Colorless Campaign.
Liv added Taekwondo lessons to her repertoire. She earned a gold star on her third day of class!
Kindergarten is such a different experience than Pre-K. We no longer have our priority parking at drop off in the mornings. The bright side is we don’t have to sign her in so we can just drop her off curbside. Since we drop her off at the playground now we haven’t been in the classroom much this year. I usually stay in the morning and watch her play. She shares a playground with the 1st graders so she has made friends with some of the older kids.
Antzy’s Mommy turned seventy so his sister threw a big, wonderful party.
Liv had a playdate with her bestie, Stella. She is the sweetest girl!
The Broad museum opened this fall and I made reservations right away. It is now Olivia’s favorite museum, we’ve been twice already!
A friend of ours generously gave us passes to Universal Studios. Even though the weather was scorching, we had the best time!
Once a year, the Jet Propulsion Lab in La Cañada hosts an open house for the public to see demos of what they have been working on all year. I thought it would be fascinating for us to experience. However, so did 20,000 other folks so we sat in an hour of traffic just to get to the freeway exit. Luckily, we found parking but we still had to walk a mile! It didn’t help that it was over 100 degrees and because of the crowds everything was a long, miserable wait. We only stayed for two hours but we learned a lot and hope to return again (with less people!).
Olivia was a flowergirl in Antz nephew’s wedding. It was so lovely, Liv danced all night.
Liv is a fan of special effects makeup, so I found a Zombie makeup class in Highland Park for her and her Dad to take. She loves watching Face Off (she’s seen every season!)
It was impossible to narrow down Olivia’s requests for Halloween this year. She was adamant about being Alice because she loves wearing her birthday costume. Antz was all for it because there was no messy makeup and we already had everything we needed. I, on the other hand, felt like she wore it for her birthday and to ComicCon so I wanted her to be something else. After going back and forth for weeks we finally decided why not go as our favorite character of all time? Pippi Longstocking, the strongest girl in the world!
We used orange spray paint and a dry cleaner hanger to hold up her braids. Our friend Aura gave Liv the Pippi costume (she bought in Sweden!) three years ago. My friend Terry gave us a book of photos from the original Pippi on the Run film. Antz and I grew up as huge Pippi Longstocking fans and we have all the movies on DVD so this costume is so meaningful to me. My friends are rad!
I made it a goal to have Liv represented by Zuri Model and Talent and we finally did it! I gave Liv a blowout (which we both cried) and took some photos in our backyard to add to her portfolio.
We had our annual Crabsgiving with my Mom at The Boiling Crab. Liv was excited to try oysters but decided crawfish and shrimp were more her taste.
Liv had a French Thanksgiving at school. After school we took a trip to the mall to listen to carolers. Then we went to see the soap “snow” at the Americana.
One of the most memorable events of the year was our trip to LACMA’s Rain Room. I bought tickets two months in advance and was lucky to grab a spot just after school.
Liv spent a weekend with Backpack Bear from her school and she went on many adventures with him. They visited her Grammy in Apple Valley. They got dressed up for the symphony at a field trip with her class at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. She also took him on a tour of Highland Park, they played at York Park and of course had donuts at Donut Friend. Backpack Bear even pitched in to help Liv paint her new big girl’s room!
Once Liv’s new room was complete, she hosted her first sleepover with her cousin. We made gingerbread houses and drove to Candy Cane Lane to see the Christmas Lights (Hasting Ranch had an amazing display!) I took the girls to see The Nutcracker, performed by Liv’s ballet school. It was a magnificent performance and I hope Liv gets a part in next year’s production.
This was a fun and exhausting night for Antz and I. We had our first taste of life with more than one kid and I know I am not cut out for it!
My pink mermaid hair was becoming too high maintenance so I went gray!
Our friend and neighbor Rene (you may remember him from our kitchen remodel!) invited us over to meet his turkey, Mork. Yes, you heard me right, he has three pet turkeys! Along with several chickens and three dogs. Mork was so rad.
So that pretty much wraps up our year so far. This has been my longest post to date. I am in awe of how much we did this year. I definitely can’t wait for next year and all the adventures I plan to have with this lovely family of mine. I know it’s cheesy but I am a lucky girl to have such a terrific husband and daughter. Love you nerds!!
Our kid is really into my dvd collection from the eighties. The original Annie, Beetlejuice, Legend and The Goonies are her favorites. I must say, The Goonies is the perfect kid’s flick, a treasure hunt, pirates and Cyndi Lauper! Liv has inherited my good taste in cinema. I told her about the city where the Goonies was filmed and all about the awesome child actors. We knew we had to make a day trip to Astoria on the northern coast of Oregon to see the film locations.
We had to grab some donuts for the road since I missed out on Voodoo the day before. Blue Star Donuts is Portland’s best kept secret, well maybe not so secret. Lucky for us there was no stupid, long line or crazy expensive parking since it was in walking distance from Chris & Story’s house.
Olivia was always looking for her pal Blueberry the cat
Umm, are Toni & Candace working in there?
We will definitely try this place on our next visit
Antz attempted to eat my donut
I love phone booths!
We stopped by the kid’s shoe store Clogs N’ More. I could’ve stayed there for hours but we had to hit the road.
Can you believe that after what happened in Santa Cruz Olivia asked if we could ride this guy?!
We took a crazy beautiful scenic highway with only one lane to get there but the view was worth the two hours of curves and slow trucks.
We have arrived!!
This building is from the opening scene of the Goonies. We followed this film location tour
Yep, I have no shame in my cheesy tourist antics
Goonies never say die!
This goregous Queen Anne Victorian was owned by sea Captain George Flavel. It’s right across the street from the Jailhouse.
We walked around town, everything looked like a movie set
This creepy house belonged to George Conrad Flavel (those Flavel’s owned most of Astoria!)
I am all about abandoned houses with a spooky story behind them. I didn’t tell Liv the gruesome details about this house but she said it looked haunted! Someone has now bought it and plans to restore it to it’s original beauty.
Veda was like, it doesn’t scare me!
The town of Astoria is extremely charming but also has a creepy element I love.
We had lunch at this restaurant on the pier over looking the harbor.
We could see Washington state from our table.
So the big attraction of Astoria is of course, the Goondocks, the house filmed in the movie. For thirty years this house has been a welcome attraction for tourists to come and take photos. Well, my bad luck curse struck and just a few days before our arrival, the homeowners decided they had enough of disrespectful folks intruding on their neighborhood. So when we drove past the house we found this…
It’s hard to feel sympathy for these guys since they knowingly bought a famous house. However, I do understand that people suck and are incredibly rude and ruin the experience for others!
I guess they got sick of people doing the truffle shuffle
Even with the tarp and signs, there were still a lot of people visiting the house.
We were bummed but we still had one more stop before we headed back to Portland, the Astoria Column. A beautiful 125 foot tower with the history of Astoria drawn into a spiral column with an observation deck. However as we approached, the tower looked different. As soon as we made it to the top of the mountain I knew it, the tower was closed for renovations! D’oh!!
We were grateful for the stunning views
Oregon is the land of millions of trees and bridges
We drove around downtown Portland looking for the famous Portland neon sign
Antz and Chris had a bro-date at a soccer game downtown. Story and I drank wine while the girls watched the Spongebob movie. It was a long but epic day.
Our second day in Oregon was incredible. We enjoyed lovely, mildly warm weather. We loved the food, the friendly vibes and the gorgeous nature everywhere you look! I swear we walked into a living Subaru commercial.
Friendliest cat we’ve ever met
Olivia snapped this awesome photo
I did some research for our trip and I found out that Portland is all about that brunch.
I had so many great options to choose from but when I saw Slappy Cakes on the Food Network I knew we had to try it! Story & Chris have been wanting to go there too but there is always a crazy long wait. We checked out a cool vintage video store while we waited to be called. It’s ridiculous how many great movies we’ve missed in theaters because we don’t go as often, but when faced with thousands of DVDs to choose from, all we could decide on is The SpongeBob Movie for Liv and Veda.
We parked near a food truck lot. There are incredible food trucks (and trailers) everywhere!
Brunch Time!
Here was my order, buttermilk pancakes and fresh blueberries
You guessed it, it’s a cook your own pancakes restaurant
Obviously, this is my pancake, it broke during the flip
Pancakes de la Totoro for Antz
Our next stop was Multnomah Falls to take in the beautiful local nature.
Aren’t these photos insane? I didn’t have to edit anything.
I’m still in denial she’s five years old!
So pretty! I love this place.
We also checked out a fish hatchery where we saw a 100 year old sturgeon named Harold. We headed to downtown Portland for donuts at the popular tourist attraction, Voodoo Doughnuts.
We only had a few minutes on our parking meter and the line was ridiculous so we passed on buying anything. Story assured me she knew a better donut place closer to their house.
Every single thing that Carrie & Fred make reference to on Portlandia is 1,000% true!
We finished the day with dinner at McMenamins Kennedy School which is an old school renovated into a hotel, venue and restaurant. I heard they have an insanely beautiful soaking pool but it was closed to the public due to a private event. I took these photos of almost two year old Veda being adorable outside on the patio.
I can’t tell you how much I’ve missed our dear friends. So far we are convinced we are moving to Portland!
Despite our hotel forgetting to give us an early morning wake up call, we hit the road by 7 am for the eleven hour trek to Portland, Oregon. I went to Portland in my teens for basketball camp and all I remember is TREES EVERYWHERE!! If there is such a thing as a tree phobia, beware! Antz did most of the driving so I could read my new book, Go Set aWatchman by Harper Lee. I love how she dropped her sequel fifty five years later, so gangsta! I love long scenic road trips but by our eighth hour in the car, we were getting restless.
It’s sad to see how bad California’s drought is
I read most of Go Set a Watchman. I don’t know yet how I feel about it, it’s starts off strong but I fell asleep a few times.
Our first stop was in Eugene which is home to the University of Oregon. We needed gas and was shocked to discover that it’s illegal to pump your own gas in the state of Oregon. We found out the hard way that it’s unnecessary to give them a tip so we ended up having to go in the store and get change for the guy.
Another fun fact about Oregon, there’s NO SALES TAX!! Believe me, I was very happy to discover this, only we had so much planned, I had very little time for shopping. I did squeeze in time to pick up a pair of shoes for Liv but next visit, I will be ready! We arrived at our friends Story & Chris’ house around 6pm. Story told us we just missed a major heat wave. Yay! we were happy to move into their adorable attic guest suite. Their house is insane! We both had similar little 2 bedroom houses in LA but their new house is three times the size of ours. They have three stories and live in an awesome neighborhood. They walk everywhere. We settled in and walked to their version of Highland Park’s York Blvd for dinner.
Olivia made friends with every cat in the neighborhood!
I’ve missed these faces terribly
The tacos and sangria were muy bueno. Seriously, DO NOT go to Portland because you will never want to leave!
We have been wanting to visit our friends Story & Chris in Portland since they moved up there last year. Since our wedding anniversary was coming up, we decided to take a road trip for a week and broke up the fifteen hour drive in two days by stopping in Santa Cruz overnight. I heard about a steam engine train ride that goes through the the redwood forest in Felton, CA so we were all over that. We waited until dusk to hit the Santa Cruz boardwalk since it was so hot and crowded. Liv had so much fun, and luckily no one was bitten by any Lost Boys!
It was only a five hour drive to Santa Cruz so we arrived fairly early.
Next time we’ll have to taste some artichokes
We couldn’t tell what these workers were picking (could it be artichokes?)
The sweetest cats lived in the general store
It was interesting to see how this old steam engine train is still operated after all these years
The redwood trees were majestic, Liv has never seen trees that tall
A storm destroyed the old train tracks.
At the top of the mountain, the train stopped so we could get out and explore
As soon as we got back to our hotel, we changed clothes and headed to the boardwalk. It was Retro Night so all the rides were $1.00! This made Liv very happy so we rode everything we could. Here’s the problem, I was really excited to ride the Sky Glider. Any ride that is mellow and I can take in a view is perfect for me. However, we left Liv’s jacket in the car so Antz went to grab it and I wanted to ride the Sky Glider before the sunset so Liv and I went on together. Everything was cool until we noticed the height kept going higher and higher until we were both very scared. I tried hard to play it cool but my poor baby was in tears. I kept trying to make her laugh but my heart was pounding. Every time the bucket we were in passed a tower it would bump us so hard I internally freaked out. So I tried my best to distract Liv and take a few photos until it was over while Olivia covered her eyes. I was sure I would drop my camera but fortunately, I managed a shot of Antz happily waiting for us below. Never again will I subject us to something like that. In the end, it was worth the view but I found out I wasn’t supposed to take photos during the ride!
See, it doesn’t look so high from here
We love the pirate ride
Too bad Olivia wasn’t tall enough for the swing ride!
My face of fear, sort of
Poor baby, she is not enjoying it at all. I did manage to get her to smile
Liv drove her own bumper car. She did incredibly well!
I was hoping this Wurlitzer organ would play the same music from The Lost Boys. For the record, I watched The Lost Boys approximately 86,000 times in the eighties.
Olivia insists we take these cheesy photos, so do not blame me!
Antz and I have flown to SF so many times I’ve lost count. Yet, we wanted Liv to experience the city. I had some Expedia points leftover from our trip to Europe to spend so I figured why not book a free hotel room and make a road trip out of it. There also happened to be the opening for the Stanley Kubrick art show at one of my favorite galleries Spoke Art.
I drove for hundreds of miles on this boring two lane highway with nothing but cows and farmland. I suppose I’m just a city girl at heart.
This is our first time making the drive so we hit the road at 5 am. My gas made it three hours till we reached the city of who-the-@#$%-knows-where with a population of fifteen scary dudes on motorcycles and a bunch of cows. We made the wise choice with going to the gas station with a fancy McDonald’s attached. Little did I know while waiting in line to purchase my Mom’s coffee that it was pants-optional day. This is why I haven’t eaten at Mickey D’s since 2005!!
This child, who was about as old as Liv, was throwing a tantrum because she couldn’t get a soda. This is why I think Ronald McDonald is inherently evil!
We filled the gas tank and I won the guess-what-time-we-would-arrive bet when we crossed the Oakland-Bay bridge at 11 am (6 hours!). I have always had a fascination with bridges as a child. The old Bay bridge is being dismantled so seeing portions missing feels so creepy.
Hello, you pretty town. No earthquakes during our stay please!
I adore San Francisco. It feels so European and the architecture is pretty much the same as it was one hundred years ago with the exception of Starbucks logos slapped on every building. I like finding plaques and etchings on buildings with historic dates. San Francisco is one of those cities that is timeless and classic. We checked into the W San Francisco and lounged in our room after taking showers *there may have been some bed jumping involved* Our hotel was located right across the street from Union Square. The W hotels are my favorite not only because of their impressive design but the customer service is top notch. I mentioned during check-in that it was my fifth W stay and I was upgraded to a suite and given complimentary cocktails at the bar *thanks Priya* It’s always a good idea to stay loyal to certain brands.
Ms. Pacman tournament
The W never disappoints in the decor department
Over packed for two days??
W mattresses are like sleeping on a cloud
Enticing
Pink Buddha says “You open it, you buy it!“
This was more our speed
Relaxing with a drink before we explore the city
The view of a dude laying down from our window. MOMA was next door but it’s closed for construction.
Somebody made themselves at home at the DJ booth
We headed out on foot to Market & Powell Street to take the cable car to the Fisherman’s Wharf. We waited in the long line because I wanted to get the best spot on the cable car, the back! It is so cool watching the cars change direction on the turnabout.
We didn’t have enough time to check out the Old Navy flagship store
My Mom couldn’t resist these African wooden earrings
The operators manually push the car on the wooden turnabout
I never noticed these cute windows on the cable car before *we usually stand on the outside holding on to the poles*
The Fisherman’s Wharf is totally touristy and being a Saturday it was packed with annoying crowds. We bought our clam chowder from the outside vendors and realized there was no seating nearby. We headed to the pier and found a bench with the least amount of bird poop on it and vicariously balanced our hot soup in our laps while fighting off the overly-aggressive sea gulls. But don’t let me forget to mention the entertainment provided by the one-man band who sang covers of songs from the early 2000’s LOUDLY and HORRIBLY! Then I discovered we didn’t get any napkins and I forgot my wet wipes at the hotel so we headed out of there. Next time I’d choose the Ferry Building instead.
Hello cutie pie! This guy was hanging around waiting for the scraps from the fishermen boats
Our next stop was Sutter Street for the Kubrick art show opening. We were going to take the cable car but found the bus was faster and closer. Little did we know that the sixteen blocks we had to walk were mostly steep hills. We made it just in time before the line grew longer. We were delighted to find out the first fifty people in line were gifted a Kubrick print. The space was teeny tiny so it was hard to take photos with so many folks inside. Stanley Kubrick is one of my favorite directors and The Shining is my favorite movie so I was in heaven. The artist’s talent blew me away!
“Oh bliss! Bliss and heaven! Oh, it was gorgeousness and gorgeousity made
flesh. It was like a bird of rarest-spun heaven metal or like silvery
wine flowing in a spaceship, gravity all nonsense now. As I slooshied, I
knew such lovely pictures!”
So incredible! Since we were close to our hotel and it was a downhill journey, we walked home. I loved being able to meander the neighborhood. There is so much stunning architecture.
This is my favorite shot of the day
Of course, Olivia asked us to buy her one of these Princess dresses
Antz and Liv went to bed early while my Mom and I chose to hit the bar downstairs. We redeemed our complimentary cocktails and appetizer. It was packed as expected on a Saturday night and my Mom *being the party animal she is* made friends with the hotel DJ
Spiced rum with Coke and brandied cherries was my Mom’s nectar
We haven’t made a big fuss about our wedding anniversary since our pop up dinner when we celebrated ten years. This year I wanted to do something fun but not overwhelming or too stressful. It’s hard to come up with new ideas within driving distance since we’ve done just about everything there is to do in LA. Then I remembered we had a ton of travel points we racked up on our credit card from our trip to Europe so I started looking for local hotels to spend a few nights. I came so close to choosing the Ace hotel *Downtown LA or Palm Springs* but I wanted to stay somewhere more posh so I chose the Parker Palm Springs. It’s exquisitely curated by one of my favorite designers ever Jonathan Adler. It’s perfectly styled in retro mid-century modern and I just may borrow one of his needlepoint pillows and a few ceramic vases might find their way into my suitcase! We stuffed ourselves at Norma’s for brunch and I finally tried eggs Benedict *I have no idea what took me so long* We’ve been swimming, lounging, taking photos, drinking champagne, playing croquet and hunting wild bunnies. Our room is superb! It has a private patio with a hammock, plenty of air conditioning to make Antz happy and a luxurious king size bed. Seriously, I am considering taking all the furniture out of our bedroom and just having wall-to-wall king size bed. We’d have to crawl into the room because it’s the size of a broom closet but our queen bed feels like a twin compared to this spacious king.
Since I think I’m a high roller yet my wallet would beg to differ, I finagled my way into getting a tour of the fancy-pants suites. Most were occupied but we did get to hang in one of the villas *that costs like thousands a night!* I was super stoked to find a Serena & Lily hanging chair in the living room. I love how perfect they look in rooms but I doubt I would ever buy one due to my giant posterior and my fear of falling from things. It’s perfect for Liv though. I almost died when I saw a Moroccan wedding blanket in the bedroom. I want one so bad I am willing to fly across the world and traverse sweltering heat to buy one in Marrakesh. I have no idea how expensive they are but Urban Outfitters has this one of a kind blanket/rug for only $799 *hurry only a few left in stock they say* I know I have made some crazy decor purchases before but I can’t drop $800 bucks on a blanket no matter how rad it is. If anyone knows the scoop on affordable Moroccan wedding blankets, hook me up!!
So, today is actually our anniversary *8/18* but we have been pre-partying all weekend and tonight after a lovely/gluttonous meal, we are going to the movies with the kid. I am such a lucky girl. Let’s not dwell over the fact that my Nikon JI camera battery died I left the camera batteries at home, I also forgot to bring Liv’s backpack so we had to go to Target and buy her a few tops and a new bathing suit *she was due for a new one anyway* but there’s always a few hiccups in life.
Little Miss Palm Springs socialite
The lobby is so good *souk rugs are sooo fab* but how do they stay clean??
Surrounded by gorgeous Moroccan pillows
Let’s do lunch, dahling!
I don’t like the Drugs but the Drugs like me! – MM
When I die, just bury me here. Actually embalm me and prop me up in that chair!
We braved the 109 degree heat to dine outside for brunch at Norma’s
Insanely good blueberry pancakes
I love this dude!
Always at the bar *ordering Shirley Temples*
The Zoe Villa
The villas are named for the Parker’s grandchildren
OMG WANT!!!
Our fantastic deluxe room isn’t too shabby
This bed may appear smaller than it is in real life, so roomy!
I have no scruples to reading this book
Okay Parker, now you’re just showing off, nice faucet!
I wish I could photograph this fabulous wallpaper better *but my dumb camera died*
Our patio
For years we had a rope hammock in our backyard, this solid hammock is so much more comfy!
I thought I would burn to death outside on the patio but around 6pm, the weather is milder and that hammock is heaven
The view is not bad
Guess who’s ready to hit the pool in her new bathing suit?
Geesh kid, flexible much?
Liv is swimming completely unassisted, no floaties, no vest! She can hold her breathe underwater for a long time.
Since we are almost coming up on our Eight year house anniversary and the one year anniversary of our kitchen remodel, it seems time to plan our next project.
I don’t have any major renovations happening this year. We would love to do a ton of things in the living room/dining room but we have to have our foundation repaired before we begin work in there. I am hoping to get a few cosmetic fixes done in the next few months with my piggy bank savings.
Want
New curtains in the living room. The hazards of having a cat and a toddler is having your lovely curtains ruined from their shenanigans. I loved our orange poppy curtains but they are sold out so these would make a nice replacement.
Replace our old Ikea chair with this one. We bought the chair on a whim and have lived with it for the longest. It’s not particularly comfortable and the design isn’t my fave. I like the structure and color of this guy but I hope the low arms aren’t a problem. It might be too mid-century modern for our style but Antz vetoed my pink chair. We’ll see if I can squeeze this into our budget.
Every spring I long for new bedding. I am ready to shed our heavy winter blankets *which are very unattractive but keep us warm* I am liking this set from West Elm but the Target price looks perfect!
I am always surprised with how long we live with embarrassing things that are such easy fixes in our house. For example, *besides our terrible plumbing we lived with for seven years* our front door lace curtain. I was reluctant to get rid of it since it felt like an antique in our house. But who am I kidding, that guy was a mess! I really hoped to find lace with peacocks but that was impossible on our budget. We almost gave up since most of the lace at the fabric store looked too Grannyish for me.
The lace has seen better days
We found this lovely dot lace from the fabric store on sale for only $12
My Mom-in-law *with a broken arm* helped me hem the curtains
Voilà! I think the new curtain looks terrific
Do
Our house loves to surprise us with headache-inducing problems. For the longest our plumbing was a nightmare but now our electrical wiring is being a brat. So instead of buying a new dining table and chairs set I’ve been wanting forever, I’ll be forking over cash to have the wiring repaired. Once I get an estimate, we’ll see if I can afford my pretty new chair or not. Wheee!
I am actually glad to pay someone to glaze our bathroom tub and wall in white. It will complete the bathroom makeover and I’ll be happy to finally say “au revoir” to the dusty rose bathroom.
So Gross!
I hope to get started in March. I am so happy to say our Zillow zestimate for the value of our house has increased to $434,962! Last year it was only $350k. Only $54k more to get to what we paid in 2006. So what’s the prize for killing ourselves to pay our two mortgages, put all our pennies into improving our house and attempt to live the American dream? Our property taxes are going up!!
My BFF ordered this yummy ice cream cake for me before she left for Paris. Merci Aimee!
I was lucky to find an awesome fox tail Davey Crockett hat for Liv (that fits over her big hair!)
Doesn’t this schoolhouse remind you of the one from 
I was excited at the idea that this was a 
I chaperoned Liv’s class on a field trip to the Los Angeles Zoo.
Merci beaucoup sweet hubby, best birthday present ever!
It was my first time flying alone and I drank more wine than I should have so I ended up fainting on the flight! The crew was so kind but I was embarrassed.
Aimee’s apartment was so tiny but 
We ate at 
I am always the brightest (and tallest) person in Paris!
This was one of the most fun nights during our week together! Salut Fred.
Antz made these rad masks for me. We are self-professed dorks!
It was sobering to visit la Republique after the 
I fucking love this girl!
I faced a huge fear of heights by walking on the glass floor of the Eiffel Tower. Despite peeing my pants, I was in sheer heaven.
When I returned, we attended our 4th Nickelodeon Kid’s Choice Awards show.
Finding a meter with three hours still on it counts as finding free money!
Finding a live chicken in Los Angeles was a little more tricky. We called a friend of ours who used to have chickens at their house. She told us to try the college near our house. Lucky for us they had a chicken coup on campus!
Antz was on a mission to collect all the 
Hooray! She’s still the tallest kid in her class and homegirl is speaking fluent French now.
