Liv had her easter egg hunt this morning in the backyard. She looks adorable in her dress from her Grammy but she insisted on wearing that hat.
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| Happy Easter!! |
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| Her post photo shoot outfit! |
Our egg coloring…not as easy as it looks. I was trying to make these ombre eggs but I ran into trouble *I knew I should have order the McCormick neon dye* but Martha to the rescue, I used some glitter and thread and voila!!
I’ll upload more photos when we return to Liv’s Godparents Easter egg hunt…taa-tah!
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| Bri, Liz & Jen holding my banner |
Yesterday was pretty rad, Kim and I went to a crafting event hosted by Bri Emery of *DesignLoveFest* & Jen Gotch of *Ban.do* at Anthropologie at The Americana. Kim and I made magnificent inspiration banners. I brought a ton of stuff to use for mine *photos, postcards, my Girl Scout camp badges* We had a FABulous time in spite of my camera sucking balls. I got some decent shots *I was nerding out in a major way* but missed out on some great ones. It was cute girl overload at the store. I even asked a few adorable girls for a photo for the blog. Their haircuts were super awesome and reminded me of the BFF. I am pretty sure I’m going to the Chic Entertaining Ideas event hosted by Joy of *ohjoy* in April.
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| Big yellow balloons make me happy happy |
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| I love Kim’s silly face |
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| They had really fun stuff to work with provided by knot & bow |
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| My banner in progress |
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| Kim is going to finish hers at home, I know she’ll make it all fresh and junk |
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| Bri was super nice and just as awesome as her blog is |
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| I look like such a dork |
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| This little girl came up with the cute idea to add glitter inside the balloons |
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| ann shen’s postcards |
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| Fabulous golden animals provided by angela+ithyle |
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| Yummy alcohol-free Mojitos |
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| Hors d’oeuvres |
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| This girl wins at being adorable, she was sweet too |
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| cute girls |
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| NERD ALERT! |
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| I am considering buying this Let them eat cake vase, it’s just mega cute |
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| One day, I hope to own these lovely dishes |
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| Hoot! |
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| Anthro kills me! Every square inch is filled with lovey things and smells |
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| Kim enjoying her Black Cherry Mojito |
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| I had a delish sangria |
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| Interesting Fact: Kim is a Pescatarian *she loves her some fish* |
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| My tacos con pollo, el blurry!! |
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| Hot air balloons are so awesome |
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| I’m dying over how adorable the rainbow staircase is at Madewell |
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| Super cute windows at Crewcuts |
Stellar evening!!
YAY! Next Thursday my friends, Mia, Kim & I are going to this Anthropologie workshop.
I met Jen at her fabulous garage sale *she’s totally the sweetest* I adore Ban.do!!
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| I am such a nerd!! |
As a long time follower of her blog, I’m stoked to meet Bri Emery. I have been mentioning to Antz that I would love to take one of her BlogShop classes *I’m hoping I can go to San Francisco* but with our long list of Things to Do it will most likely be happening a few years from now. I have pretty amateur skills in Photoshop so it would be great to create lovely layouts for this blog. For the inspiration strings I am thinking of using some photos *which need to be printed* and some vintage Paris postcards I’ve been holding onto. I may even throw some pom poms in there. I need to find a place that has shiny gold paper. Super excited!!
You know what that means? I have only 6 months to plan Liv’s 2nd birthday. Plenty of time for the average person but I have so many decisions to make and things to do. San Francisco *which is ‘spensive* or the Ace in Palm Springs?
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| Poolside at the Ace in June sounds dreamy |
maybe stay in town and throw a party? I may be leaning towards SanFran. We would stay at the W *of course* go to the SF Zoo and take pictures at the Golden Gate Bridge *I have been there like 6 times and never done this* and Liv could take her first plan ride. I am not into throwing her a party this year since most of the attendees would be adults and that’s no fun for her. I’d rather wait until her 3rd when she is old enough to join in birthday party activities and she can invite her pre-school friends. My biggest challenge is her birthday gift. I am really wanting to make her play kitchen ourselves. Antz isn’t so excited about the project *he does most of the labor, while I am the designer* This guy looks amazing and I could sew pretty curtains and customized it for Olivia.
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I saw the kitchen for Clara made by John & Sherry at Young House Love and started getting second thoughts. The price was right *they always do incredible things for no money at all* but Antz doesn’t have as many tools as they do and we would most likely end of spending as much as a pre-made one if I am involved. This dream kitchen set is from Pottery Barn kids
but even I won’t spend $700 for a toy! Plus we have no space to store this massive set. We still have to buy the play food, cooking accessories and the Melissa & Doug playsets. This makes me want a separate playroom for Liv *which makes me want our Dream House even more!* Well, Antz is so great at turning trash to treasure, I have faith he can find an entertainment shelf on craigslist for cheap and I can design a rad Parisian country kitchen for Liv. I’m sure I’ll change my mind about 20 times but it sounds like a fun project. I also want to make Liv’s playhouse
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| Miss Pretty Pretty via Etsy |
I’m going to be a busy bee this year!
Ah, it’s that time again. I feel like I just wrote my list of last year’s resolutions. Before I delve into my new list, I would like to look back on how well I did in the ’11.
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| NYE in Vegas 2005 |
Diet & Exercise *the one everyone says they’ll do yet give up by February*
I can’t say I’m where I want to be weight-wise or nutrition but I am improving. I am surprised by how many new foods I gave a chance this year. I am still a food brat but at least I’ve changed my status from food snob. Antz and I will be spending more time outdoors and eating less junk but don’t expect to see me in a gym anytime soon.
Save like my life is depending on it
This one is tricky, we are saving in a solid way…buuuut, most of it is for Liv’s pre-school tuition so it will be dwindling once we pay in March. I did manage to save by paying off some plastic *see below* but Antz car repairs took a bite out of it. Good news is, we have a whole $80 from Etsy profits in savings for our trip to Paris! Let me quote my wise Mum “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time”
Get off the Plastic *Credit Card Debt*
We started off in a major way, paid off $10k in cold, hard cash from our tax refund but then we hit a bump in the late summer when we had an unexpected plumbing emergency. Then my Dell had a fatal heart attack and I had to get my Mac Air so I can’t say we have a $0 balance like I wanted *Boo* Although, I did pay off our Lowes card and closed the account. I also paid off another card but I’m keeping that guy open since it’s our oldest card and I don’t want our Fico score to drop *learned that from Suze Orman* so we’re definitely looking better than last year. I know I can do it with some discipline.
Stop Procrastinating *yeah, right*
I think this is the biggest improvement I made in the past year. I stepped up my get-shit-done-ness in a major way. I crossed off a few things on my Life List and believe it or not, on Christmas day Antz, Aimee and I were at Starbucks drive-thru and I paid for the car behind mine *YAY* I learned how to sew like a BOSS
I became a Martha Stewart protégé, craftin’ and bakin’! I wasn’t late to appointments that often and I gave thoughtful gifts from the heart with wrapping paper I could feel proud of.
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| Made from the lovely paper and Lucky cat stamp from the FABulous Yard Sale |
Home Improvement Projects
Another gold star for Lizzie! We have done more to the house in the last 2 years than in the entire 5 years we’ve owned this place. Replaced our *100 year old* water heater, remodeled the bathroom and soon we’ll reveal our bedroom makeover. We are planning on installing a brand new Ikea kitchen in 2013 but we have to get our plumbing updated first. If we keep this up, we might actually acquire some equity in this joint.
Learn French
Merde, I cannot seem to learn this language. I took a Conversational French class with 2 of my friends over the summer and although I did enjoy learning how to say my name and which day it was but I didn’t pick up enough to carry a decent conversation. I mentioned in my previous post that I bought some new software and here is it.
It’s not the Rosetta Stone I wanted but this is an affordable version and I can use it on my ipad. I must practice more often and attempt to speak French on a daily basis. Wish me Bonne Chance!
So on to my New Year’s Resolutions 2012 *just in case the Mayans are wrong*
I’m pretty much keeping last year’s list for obvious reasons but I would like to add one important item that has been grossly overlooked for the past 9 years.
TRAVEL/Go to more Shows
I’m not talking about a road trip to San Diego or a few days in Vegas. I would LOVE to go to Hawaii for our 10 year anniversary *of course you know this cause I won’t stop talking about it* I want to use my passport and take a plane ride *our last trip on a plane was in 2008 for Antz nephew’s wedding in Sacramento* I also want to work on my list of bands I want need to see. I definitely missed out on some great shows last year *Robyn at the Hollywood Bowl, Jon Brion & Fiona Apple at the Largo* I need to step my shows game up next year. I have a strong case of Wanderlust yet I have so many other goals to achieve so it’s difficult to just book a trip willy, nilly. I am trying to find balance with paying off debt, saving, and wanting to improve this house all while wanting to travel. I suppose I can patiently wait until 2014 for Paris.
Bands to See in 2012
Björk *this is a given as soon as she announces her tour dates but I want to see her somewhere I haven’t been before*
Coachella Music Festival *this is killing 2 birds with 1 stone, so many incredible bands I would be able to see here*
Tom Waits *Oh it would be heaven to see him at Coachella!!!*
Belle & Sebastian
Blonde Redhead
Portishead
Daft Punk
April March *this is tricky, she hasn’t toured in awhile*
Brazilian Girls
Devendra Banhart
Cornelius
Beach House
Cat Power
Arcade Fire
Oh Land
Pomplamoose
Well, one more day until I share my surprise. I am so looking forward to it! Anyone else working on their resolutions?
Auld Lang Syne y’all!
So far, so awesome. I did my Anthropologie shopping online at 3am but I decided to venture out into Crazyland this morning. I really wanted the Dotty Little Frock for Liv so I went to the Americana at 7am. It wasn’t so bad. About half the store were open. I saw people lining up for some stores that were opening at 8am. Anthro was pretty packed, I was worried all the kids clothes were gone but there were a few pieces left.
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| Dotty Little Frock |
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| Flitter And Flutter Dress |
I was going to get them both but I noticed the Flitter dress had a snag in the thread that went all the way through the shoulder. I couldn’t lose my place in the 30 minute line that wrapped around the store so I only got the Dotty Frock. I considered getting these ballet flats but I wasn’t in love with the color and they felt a little tight.
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| Trinket Flat |
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| Sudsy Glass Strand |
Wow, I was rocking a Bitch Please face but I was super sleepy. I literally had to tell myself no shopping for me! However, I entered a raffle they are holding this afternoon so fingers crossed I win a gift certificate. I browsed a few other stores *Urban and Sephora* but didn’t see anything worth the long lines.
Since I was out so early I went to Best Buy *not as apocalyptic as I expected* to see if the in-store price was better than their online prices. Big fat NO!! Last week I checked the Mac Air I want and it was on sale for $1,099.99. I didn’t buy it then because I was pretty certain the Black Friday price would be lower. This morning when I checked online it was $1,234.99. Umm, lame! In store guess how much…? $1,234.99! No thanks. I’ll wait until Cyber Monday and see if they come to their senses. The good news is they are available in store so I can order online and pick everything up the same day. The only things on sale were the Apple TV *a huge $10 off* and I’m not sure I’ll even need it. They did have ipad stylus pens for $4.99 and due to Livzilla chewing off the tips of both of our stylus pens, I picked up a new one. I’ll replace Antz Bamboo stylus when I get my reward certificates for buying my Mac. The Apple store is also having a sale but Best Buy has their prices beat and I like their Geek Squad warranty better than Applecare *those dudes at the Genuis bar behave like Douchebags*. I’m still waiting to get the rug, owl lamp, pillows and Liv’s Amazon and Ikea stuff on Monday. We are lazing around the house today.
I did get inspired waiting in line at Anthro when I saw this garland *for $38 bucks*
Hopefully we’ll take our Christmas card photo this weekend. Antz is still on the hunt for our side table. We may go to the new Hollywood West Elm this weekend to see if the Owl lamp is on sale.
Happy Turkey Leftovers!!
Two years in a row, we missed this event. We almost missed it again this year since Antz was working, but we got there at 6pm. It was dark so of course our Nikon was blurry. Antz is right, ever since I dropped it, that guy has not worked right so I need to take it to Nikon and get it a doctors appointment. I picked up my Mum-in-law and our nephew Justin *who was too cool to dress up* and we trick or treated on the Boolevard.
I finished my wings on Thursday night *hooray for procrastination* and I was pretty disappointed in myself. I used Liv’s fabric leftovers from her wings and I didn’t have enough yardage. I also did some weird aligning and they turned out pretty wonky. I’m going to buy more fabric and make a new pair that look better.
Crafty-FAIL!
As you can see it’s a tad too short *again, needed more fabric* and I could stand to spray some wrinkle releaser on it since the fabric had been in my storage bag for 4 months. I am not happy with the palette either, it needs some yellow and raspberry layers. Sucks
Sweets for the Soul is an AH-mazing brownie place that is often closed when we take a walk in AV. They are the creators of the famous Obama Brownie.
I was trying to prove to Antz that the camera does work at night with the proper settings and some lightening. He is still not convinced. I think it looks better than our iphone cameras.
Atwater Village Farms was open and they were showing the Nightmare Before Christmas. Here my camera had a seizure and all the indoor shots came out like this, boo!
Remember these guys? They died a week ago, they turned black from the mouth, pretty sure it was throat cancer, lame!
We replaced the knobs on the desk and the kitchen pantry door *since Antz borrowed mine for his cabinet storage unit* The knob we had on the desk had a sharp edge on it which was treacherous to Liv’s curious fingers so we had to get something safer.
Now I really think we should paint the door in chalkboard paint since the white needs retouching and it’s not close to the stove or water. I think it would look rad and I could do something like this
I suck at keeping a secret but last night we did a dress rehearsal after finishing her costume.
We added the eyes and mouth but Liv is not so keen on wearing the hoodie. I think we did pretty good compared to our inspiration.
Yesterday I went to Target to look for this adorable dress I saw over at Making It Lovely
but like a dork, I did not read that the dress was sold online only. Boo, it appears the dress is sold out online so now I’m super bummed!!
However on the bright side… I browsed the luggage department, I’m still hunting for a Missoni suitcase for Aimee and low and behold what do I find…?
I am totally exhausted at the moment. I now know exactly how the designers feel on Project Runway. I spend a great deal of today sewing *and pulling out seams* Olivia’s Halloween costume. I am feeling pretty proud of myself given the materials I was working with and the fact that my lovely model would not stand still for her fitting. She needs to have a final fitting but I am 80% done. I was worried about the tights I bought her would not fit *I found a size 7 in the closest to the color I wanted* so I’m taking Dear Timothy’s advice “Make it Work!”
Mr. Gunn was giving me the side-eye when I started but it somehow came together. Now let’s hope Liv rocks it on *the runway* at the several Halloween events we’re attending. She already is not too pleased with one of the pieces of the costume so keep your fingers crossed. Now as for Antz and mine costumes, I have no idea what we will be. I can put something together but it’s admittedly lazy route. Antz spend most of today working his trash to treasure magic on what I considered was a lost cause.
Darn you Antz!! He somehow manages to make the ugly, lovely for NO MONEY. I mean I totally want it for myself but he’s putting it for sale in our Etsy shop. It’s going to be marketed as an arts & crafts organizer. The holder on the bottom will store rolls of ribbon, CUTE! I discouraged him from using the chicken wire for the door but again, my advice is terrible. *fine, you were right* It looks super Fabby Chic!! He used our leftover paper from our medicine cabinet remodel and the Anthropologie knob was borrowed from our kitchen pantry door. He promised to get me a new one *and I’ve wanted a larger knob for that door anyway*. Speaking of the pantry door. I would LOVE to paint it with chalkboard paint and the interior badly needs re-organizing. So many projects.
So, there you have it, pretty awesome weekend. We have a busy week ahead of us *pediatrician appt, movie date and Universal Horror Nights if we get secure a sitter*
OH! Before I go…Mademoiselle Pauline Darley emailed me back *YAY* The good news is she is available to book a shoot *and super friendly, she writes with a French accent* The bad news is the quote she gave me. Yeah, about $150 over my budget. But, she is soo worth it!! Uhhh, I have 2 years and 5 months to save. I am changing my mind a million times. I would like to go in March for my 37th *eep* birthday but if we went in May we could be there during PEONY SEASON!! And that’s 2 additional months of saving!
They taught us to say “Coca por el culo” but I am certain I’m saying that totally wrong. Adios Amigos!!
PS I need to get back into regular posting, these once a week posts are getting to be very time consuming!