Le Dîner en Blanc Paris, France 2014

Jun 19, 2014

One of the coolest things we did last year was attend the first ever Dîner en Blanc in Beverly Hills. Going to the White Dinner in Paris has been on my Life List for some time now so earlier this year I reached out to the organizers of the DEB, casually asking if I happened to be in Paris when the dinner took place, would I be able to attend now that I was a member. Well, I didn’t expect a such quick response since the dinner is super exclusive and has over 13,000 people attend, I assumed it was a long shot. The same weekend I sent the email, I got responses from the organizers in Los Angeles, who then forwarded my email to the organizers in Paris. One day later I got an email directly from the son of the man who founded le Dîner en Blanc. He remembered me *and my heart headpiece* from last year. He responded that we could attend as his guests!

We found the most amazing sitter through a friend of mine. Caroline is American but has been living in Paris for a few years and speaks fluent French. She and Olivia hit it off fabulously! I knew we were leaving Olivia in safe hands. We borrowed a fold up table from our friends *thanks Warren & Kim* and luckily found some white chairs in the courtyard of the apartment we were staying. I brought most of our white dinner items from last year in my suitcase and borrowed tableware from our apartment. I couldn’t believe she didn’t have wine glasses or white dinner napkins so I had to buy some. We bought antique roses *since white peonies were no longer in season* and used a teapot for a vase. I found a pretty good sushi place, a fresh baguette, a bottle of Freixenet and pretty white tiramisu desserts.

I love this bag I bought from the arts district from Apolis

I carried my Heart headpiece on the plane with me but it still ended up damaged so Antz helped me put together this lovely floral crown

My handsome date

Just follow the folks in white

Of course I had to sneak some Ban.do in there

I love his birdy boutonnière

Hey Aymeric!

SO FREAKING EXCITED!!

Where are we headed to?

Not here

The dinner was held on six of the thirty seven bridges that span the Seine river

Passerelle Debilly footbridge was our location

Not a bad view, right?

Darn it, our tiramisu was smashed to bits

If I had to guess, I would say there was about 500 people on our bridge

Poppin’ bottles under the Eiffel Tower #officiallyPIMP

Salut, my love. To many more Diners en Blanc!

The most perfect sunset ever. I am so happy!

Tourists walked through the dinner all night, someone asked me if it was a wedding

Sparklers are illegal in Los Angeles so this was super fun!!

She Sparkles!

This was my first time seeing the Eiffel Tower sparkle in person

Small world! I bumped in HGTV’s Adrain Leeds from House Hunters International

Of course I asked her to find us the perfect pied-à-terre in Paris!

It’s so fun making new friends

We met the loveliest Canadians at the tables next to us!

Hey Ladies!

There were people in white everywhere you looked

Time to boogie!

Look at that full moon

Our bridge looks so festive

J’adore Paris, I’ll never forget this night.

This evening was enchanted. It was nothing compared to the Beverly Hills dinner with only 1,500 guests. I am so full of gratitude and overwhelmed with joy that I was able to participate in such an epic event. I am blown away by the coordination and cooperation it takes to bring over 13,000 people together for a lovely dinner in Paris. I am accomplishing so many things on my Life List during this trip, it just may be a good time to add more goals! For those of you who may not know what the dinner is, here is a video showing the inception and past years. I hope to attend le Dîner en Blanc in New York next!

Pere Lachaise – Let’s try this again

Jun 18, 2014

Rain shall not deter me from seeing the awesome graves at Pere Lachaise. We set out early and even figured out which Metro to take so we ended up at the closest entrance to Oscar Wilde’s tomb so we can hit it first. I brought my crimson lipstick along so I can plant one on there and hopefully not have my lips fall off from disease. When we last went, there was hardly anyone there and the dark, gray sky made for some creepy but perfect looking photos. We ended returning on the brightest sunniest day full of tourists and I was concerned the photos would end up too cheerful for the dark mood I was trying to set. Oh well, can’t fault a gorgeous day in Paris.

This is the final resting place of writer, playwright and famous poet Oscar Wilde

Oscar penned one of my favorite quotes “Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination.” He also wrote The Picture of Dorian Gray

People have been kissing his tomb for years and in 2011 the cemetery staff decides to place plexiglass to deter the kissing. So lame! He gets an air kiss from Liz

J’adore Edith Piaf

Victor Noir’s crotch has an urban legend behind it

The famous lovers Abelard & Heloise

We also saw Moliere, Chopin and Jim Morrison but those photos were a part of my deleted batch that I am still mourning! Definitely one of my favorite places in Paris. I still need to return to see it all.

Paris for Kids

Jun 15, 2014

Our first trip to Paris we were in our early twenties so we explored the city’s bars, nightclubs and less child-friendly restaurants. Now that we are parents, we are discovering what Paris has much to offer for family fun. So far Liv has really enjoyed Jardin des Tuileries.

The garden is enormous. There are gorgeous trees for shade and musicians playing everywhere. I was in heaven!

The playground was hardcore. I was worried she would fall off of everything.

I cheered Liv on across the rope bridge

It was crazy high but she was brave, way to go kiddo!

Metal slides are hot on the bum!

Created in 1564, Jardin des Tuileries became a public park in 1667. It borders the Louvre Museum and is massive. It’s pretty much the Central Park of Paris. There is so many activities to do but we wanted to try something that I wish we had in California public parks…TRAMPOLINE!

Best jump!

I adore this face! She was so happy

It cost €2,50 for five minutes and Olivia had the time of her life! This kid never gets tired. I remember having unlimited energy when I was a kid too. I suggested that we install trampolines in the new park they are going to build in Highland Park but I suppose American kids aren’t ready for something this awesome. I do know that an in-ground trampoline is high on my wishlist.

As much as Liv could have jumped all day, it was too hot so we ventured out to do some indoor shopping and sightseeing. Angelina is one of the nicest dessert shop/tearoom we saw in Paris.

Shopping for kids in Paris is a dream…if you are a wealthy person. We chose to spend our cash on food, experiences and some gifts to bring back for our family so I didn’t splurge on $50 Petit Bateau shirts *Antz is giving me a high five* However, if you are in Paris and feeling extravagant, I recommend these stores.

Le BHV (department store)

One night after a long nap, we went to the Pathe Cinemas in le Opera and saw Malefique! I was secretly hoping it would be dubbed into French but it was in English with French subtitles. I found it to be very interesting. Angelina seemed to be in her element and the story wrapped up nicely. Olivia loved it!

I thought it was cool how the French movie theaters operate. You can choose to purchase tickets with a person or use a self kiosk like in LA but they charge one euro for 3-D glasses so if you don’t want to buy them you can still watch the movie normally. We found ourselves in a Portlandia sketch due to the theater being six stories underground.

After the movie we walked around the neighborhood late at night and found a place perfect for a four year old on a Saturday night. A retro video game arcade! I used to love these places when I was little. Now that I’m older I get a headache from all the noise and flashing lights but it makes my kid happy so I smile and play along. We didn’t have much change but she enjoyed herself.

Look what else we found in Paris! Good ole fashioned American-Mexican cuisine.

This means that Anthony could possibly live here!!

I am extremely bummed because I made a dumb mistake and somehow lost 400 pictures I took with our Nikon J1 camera. I will try not to dwell on it because I have the memories of the experience but I lost many special moments *La Doguerie was so much fun* Lesson learned; Never, ever accidentally hit delete!

Cimetière du Père-Lachaise

Jun 10, 2014

I have always been fascinated with cemeteries. Most of the people in our family have been cremated so I’ve never had a relative to visit until I met my husband. I grew up across the street from a huge cemetery and I first learned how to drive there *no one to hit* Anthony and I have been to almost every cemetery in Los Angeles so of course we had to see the famous Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris. So many French dignitaries are buried in this centuries old cemetery but it was not so popular in the beginning. I wanted to see Sarah Bernhardt, Balzac, Chopin, Molière, Jim Morrison, Edith Piaf, Héloïse & Abélard and of course kiss the tomb of Oscar Wilde. Before the graves, we went to lunch. We were craving pizza and the place I wanted to try *Pink Flamingo* was closed so we found a place nearby.

My head is unusually large

It was tasty

No photos please!

I never get tired of the colorful palette of Paris

It was on the verge of raining when we arrived at the cemetery

I bought a map and quickly headed for Wilde’s grave since it was the furthest away

The thunder and dark gray skies were the perfect backdrop for such a setting

In LA, the oldest cemeteries are early 1900s so it was rad to see graves dated back to the 1800s

Perfectly creepy, there were tombs with broken stained glass

Reminds me of the cemeteries in New Orleans

My photos may look bright and cheery but in person the place was dark and scary

Here comes the rain!

We were prepared and brought Liv’s wellies and raincoat. It’s been raining for days but it’s still very warm

Whoever this guy was, he was badass

Almost at Oscar’s tomb!

Just as we were coming up on his grave, the security guards rode up and told us they were closing the cemetery due to the rain. It was hardly raining and I asked him for 5 minutes but he wasn’t having it. We got tossed out! Boo!

Hither & Thither in Paris

Jun 9, 2014

Life in Paris is vastly different than in the States. Here, walking is the main mode of transportation, next the Metro and only if you are in a hurry do you take a taxi. We have logged many miles walking all over town and it’s crazy how close to everything we are. It took some time getting used to zigzag walking through the crowds. There is an art to not tripping on the cobblestone, getting burned by someone’s cigarette and not being hit by a taxi as you cross the street. By the way, jaywalking is the law here. You never wait for the light to change and even if you have to stop traffic like you are wearing an Iron Man suit, you walk when you are ready to go. We did laundry for the first time in our apartment. The washing machine has a spin cycle that in theory dries your clothes but wrinkle free 100% dry clothes do not exist here. We are considering going to the laundrette to wash the towels so they can dry thoroughly.

Our rental is right in the middle of the cheap, tacky shoe district. So let me know your size if you need some €7 shoes!

Parisians do not use their umbrellas when it’s raining. You may carry it but unless it’s a hurricane downpour, you look silly using an umbrella

The greatest marketing idea, awesome taxidermy mice for a pest control business

Early morning walk, never smile in Paris

Look up, you will always spot Invader tile art

The most odd cake toppers I’ve ever seen

We found a cute child’s second-hand shop where the clothes were more expensive than brand new

I don’t know how often Liv would wear a trench coat in LA

This coat was cute but too pricey.

Apparently taxidermy is very popular.

I heard this is a pretty good farmers market. It reminds me of Larchmont Village farmers market

Peonies heaven

Fantastic cherise

Boo!

This store was incredible. The darling bebe clothes made me want to have 20 more kids!

Doesn’t this look like an editorial from a magazine?

Owning a vintage photo booth is my fantasy

I wish I could have taken more photos, but there were a bunch of folks waiting

It very hard to resist these adorable clogs but I can’t spend €150 on shoes she’ll outgrow in six months

the color palettes for kids were amazing

Liv can fit this, right?

Liv was totally digging the vibe

Antz had to drag me out of there. Fabulous store!

By far the raddest store in Paris

I am Andre the giant compared to this Fiat

So here’s what happened, I got this weird stage fright and walked around the store without buying anything. I was so overwhelmed, I couldn’t decide what would be perfect for our house that would also fit in our luggage *I was seriously wanting that yellow Smeg* So I’ll have to try again next week.

I ran into a fashion faux pas at the marche. Call Guinness World records because I officially have the largest ass in Paris now that Kim has left the country.

I know this is all a dream and I’ll wake up in LA tomorrow but for now, I’ll continue riding this wave of euphoria that I am experiencing. Paris is magical!

Amélie/Montmartre walking tour

Jun 8, 2014

We can all agree Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain is the most adorable movie ever made. Today we took a walking tour through Montmartre to see the filming locations from the movie. It must have been 80° but I can’t complain. I’ll take the sun over rain any day. We started out at the St Martin canals which is close to our apartment and then walked to the Metro and got off at Lamarck-Caulaincourt station since I was sure that was the highest point so then we could work our way down in Montmartre. Wrong! We ended up hiking up grueling hills and stairs. It’s great for my dress size but my legs are like, I quit! After we made it to the top of the hill, we found a cute train so we hopped aboard for a relaxing tour of Montmartre. We saw everything on my list except visit Monsieur Collignon’s grocery store *so I didn’t dip my hand in a bag of lentils*.

Time to break in my new Saltwater sandals. Could I be any more brighter?!

I dropped off my dress at the cleaners to be pressed.

The owner insisted on taking Liv’s photo with her camera

We popped into American Apparel to find cool sunhat but neither of these worked.

I really wanted to rent bikes for the day but there is no safety seat for Liv. We walked around our neighborhood and found this cute little bagel shop. They were playing old Michael Jackson and there was cute boys so we gave it a try.

Liv ordered a blue donut in honor of National Donut day.

The first stop on our Amelie Walking tour was the Canal Saint Martin where Amelie would enjoy skipping rocks. I failed to collect some so I had to pretend.

I love that the canals aren’t gated so you can sit along the edge and enjoy the green. murky water.

Here’s a typical Parisian water fountain. Still working, despite being built in 1872!

Finally peonies are in season!

Another fountain, Paris is soo pretty!

We spotted Peter Pan by Invader! He is one of our favorite French street artists.

The second stop was Gare de L’est which is featured heavily in the film. The photobooth where she first sees Nino and the beautiful shot of her sitting on the stairs looking at Nino’s scrapbook.

I love the green hue the film was shot in. Photo booths are my weakness, I can’t seem to walk past one without taking silly photos. They have updated the booths since 2001.

So we may have bribed her with some candy so she wouldn’t complain about walking all day. Her Dad still ended up picking her up. Parenting fail!

This is where Amelie meets the blind man who is playing music on his record player

Amelie leads the blind man on a walk while describing the sights to him *one of my favorite scenes* and ends at the Lamarck/Caulaincourt station. Montmartre feels like the hippie part of town. Many artists live in this neighborhood.

Olivia found this awesome cool book store, too bad it was closed. She wanted a French comic book.

We have spent so much time in the flat part of Paris, these hills and stairs were killing me.

We stopped a this tiny square on Rue St. Vincent for a rest.

I adore the city’s many fountains and public squares with benches. In LA, public benches are usually a bed for homeless people.

We spotted this cute train passing us so we asked the driver for directions to take a ride and of course he said at the top of the hill.

This wall may look familiar if you remember the opening scene after the credits.

On this street, rue de Saint Vincent, the first shot of the movie was taken:

“On September 3rd 6:28pm and 32 seconds a blue fruitfly,
capable of 14,670 wingbats per minute, landed on the Rue Saint Vincent in
Montmartre“

When we finally reached the top we were delighted to be greeted by artists. I learned from watching I Love Lucy to not fall for the counterfeit art scam but I wouldn’t mind one day returning to have my portrait painted.

We waited about ten minutes for le petits trains de Montmartre. I am the first to admit, taking the train is embarrassingly touristy of us, however, it was bloody hot and sitting down for 40 minutes and getting a full tour of the city felt like a good idea.

We saw Sacré Coeur Basilica, Montmartre cemetery, Pigalle (the red-light district) and so much more. I was able to jump off the train for five minutes to get a photo in front of the world famous Moulin Rouge which is disappointingly tiny in person. I’m sure it appears better at night when it’s all lit up. The tour guide told us about all the famous people who lived in Montmartre and we even saw Picasso’s old house.

Here’s the place Nicole Kidman used to work at.

I’m no prude but Pigalle wasn’t my cup of tea. Dirty, sleazy and tourisy I didn’t enjoy that part of town. I did pop into a sex shop to buy some nudie postcards to send Aimee and Leslie. The Sex shop Nino worked at was in the area but we didn’t see it.

And the piece de resistance, Cafe des 2 Moulins, Amelie’s place of work along with an eccentric group of characters.

The Saint Pierre de Montmartre Church is one of the oldest in Paris

I love visiting old churches, the more Gothic the better.

According to urban legend, rubbing this dude’s foot is good luck!

There’s that ugly, old radio tower.

At the very top of Montmartre you find the La Basilique du Sacré Cœur.

Stupid, American tourist! Haha, I’m so lame.

Not the scene I expected from the part of the movie when Amelie sends Nino on a hunt for his scrapbook.

Of course Olivia rode the lovely carousel and made a French friend at the playground.

How does this kid run around in the blazing hot sun?

We made our way back to the 10th, Friday night is a popular time for hanging out by the canals, very hipster vibe.

We were pretty hungry by the time we finished so we took the metro to our favorite Indian restaurant. Guess what? Most restaurants close between 3pm and 7pm. We had to wait for an hour but it was worth the wait. The guys told us the nan *flatbread* wasn’t ready yet so we were pretty disappointed but then he magically brought us 2 pieces. So delicious!

All this walking and tours is catching up with me. My thighs feel tighter and I am not so easily out of breath. This is the perfect workout!

Bon nuit!

Royal Château Versailles

Jun 7, 2014

I don’t know if you may have heard of this tiny, old castle called Versailles. A little girl lived there a long time ago and she has been misquoted to have said the greatest phrase ever “Let Them Eat Cake!” We took a tour there and I am overwhelmed by the opulence, the beauty and the history of this place. Words cannot describe the feeling when you see the sun shining on the gold leaf fence, the massive size of what was once just a hunting lodge for the king of France. There is so much more I could have photographed but I was mesmerized by everything. I only took one thousand photos. We were allowed to take photos but no flash permitted so of course every photo I took came out fine with exception to my homegirl Marie-Antoinette‘s bedroom. It was extremely crowded and dark in there and I couldn’t capture the light as I would have liked. I have always found her to be fascinating and the awesome film by Sofia Coppola has only increased my curiosity about her life. Our tour guide, Sandrine, was quite knowledgeable so I enjoyed walking around while listening to her give us facts about life at Versailles and gossip about the royals on my headphones. What I find incredible is this palace is so extravagant and such a symbol of French aristocracy yet now it is full of mostly American tourists stomping through it en mass with giant ipads attached to our faces. I would love to return on a less crowded day so I can experience it at my own pace and walk in the gardens.

I’m still learning how to navigate the city, it took quite some time to find a taxi.

Lately Olivia likes to be in charge of reading our map.

She has become an expert at finding the Eiffel Tower.

Waiting for our bus.

Hooray for clean, air-conditioned tour busses!

We drove past some really boring landmarks, kidding!

So epic! I can’t believe we walked up the stairs to the top of this guy on our last trip eleven years ago.

I am so happy we chose today to visit Versailles. The sky doesn’t look real after yesterday’s rainstorm and the weather was absolutely perfect.

Bonjour Sandrine!

There were only two thousand royals who inhabited Versailles but up to thirty thousand workers!

Aimee! Look who’s back! Souvenir vendors are annoying.

The front door wasn’t too shabby.

Every month there is a new art installation featured in this hall.

Darn you glare from the sun! I wish I knew how to photograph interiors better.

You know, just this mural painted from some dude, no big deal.

Are you kidding me with this crown molding detail??!!

Could you even fathom getting wood for these fireplaces?

It was impossible to capture every detail, the crown molding and artwork brought tears to my eyes.

Of course we had to get a gold crown for our Princess

This is a painting of Marie Leszczyńska *our tour guide called her ugly* she totally had a mustache situation.

Almost everything Sandrine told us about the Kings of France was they were insecure, jealous and always wanting what they couldn’t have. Yeah, that sounds about right.

I thought the beds were small because the people were so short back then but Sandrine told us it’s because royals slept sitting up so they do not resemble dead people. You know they just want to keep their wigs on!

After an hour of pushing past people we finally made it to MA’s bedroom!

That canopy and chandelier!!

Of course her rooms were the most crowded so it was difficult to get a clear shot.

Marie’s portrait was painted by Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun *funny, my name is Elizabeth Louise* possible ancestor?!

La Salle des Miroirs/ The Hall of Mirrors

Are you kidding me??!!

This is without a doubt the most beautiful room I’ve ever stood in.

My best selfie to date!

I am so grateful to experience this with these two!

I was pretty sure some Secret Service agents were going to tackle me for wearing my mask in the palace. I guess they dig my creepy bunny.

Several of the rooms were closed for restoration, This is an example of a room being worked on. The mommy part of me was already thinking what a cool job that could be for Liv.

Painting of Napoleon & Josephine. I couldn’t fit the enormity of it all in one photo.

Perusing the royal gift shop

I resisted the gift shop. Well, I only bought post cards

The palace is in excellent condition given that it is almost four hundred years old.

There is something artificial about the sky in Paris. It looks as if it had been painted.

It’s good to be the King!

Au revoir Sandrine, you were very entertaining! I must visit The Petit Trianon on my next visit.

Olivia has officially declared Versailles as her kingdom!

We stopped at a shop on rue de Rivoli in the 2nd to pick up some foie gras for Aimee.

Taking the Metro is so much easier *and cleaner* than I remember.

So, best vacation ever? Agreed!

We booked our tour on Expedia via Paris City Vision. I recommend going through a tour to bypass the line (or as the French say, queue). Bring your own headphones because the ones they gave us were pretty wonky. I lingered as often as I could so I would be the last person in the rooms to get a clear shot with as few people as possible.

Chateau de Versailles

Every day except Mondays and 1 May
9:00 am – 6:30 pm
Last admission: 6:00 pm

Violently Happy in Europe: London Day Two

Jun 1, 2014

Oops, we totally overslept on day two. We must still be on LA time but no worries we only missed going to tea and a cruise on the Thames river, it was too chilly for it anyway. I returned the Audi to the rental place just in time and we spent the rest of the day on foot. Our plan was to see the Tower of London, visit Postman’s Park, grab lunch and ride on a double decker bus *Liv’s choice.

But first Olivia would like to show you our cool hotel room.

DSC_0953-2 I am kicking myself for not bringing home that Ace tote!

DSC_0963-2 Every hotel room should have a window seat

DSC_0977-2 What the heck is Hobnobs? Looks not yummy.

I’m sure The Ace hotel follows the Hipster Handbook

I want my own photo booth so bad it hurts!!

I took these polaroids with my Fuji instant camera

I love how 70’s and dark they turned out

You wouldn’t believe the difference in customer service in London compared to LA. Every person we’ve come across has been so friendly and kind. The staff at the hotel were so sweet and helpful!

Since we were in the Marble Arch area, we browsed a few souviner shops.

So tacky! We left with a tiny double decker bus to add to Liv’s menagerie of global landmarks.

I wasn’t familiar with the neighborhood so we had to figure out how to get to the Tower of London before they closed. We hopped on a double decker bus but I wasn’t sure which direction to go in.

Beware of the intoxicating scent of pee pee in those telephone boxes!

Olivia wasn’t impressed with the new Michael Jackson album.

I started talking to this guy on the bus since he was wearing a tour guide uniform. He told us how to get to the Tower but since we were headed the same way, he told us to follow him to Victoria Station. We pretty much had our own personal tour guide! He was a huge fan of America, such a lovely chap. I got his email so I could send him tickets to the Ellen Show.

Our new friend’s name was Marco and he was so awesome. He gave us a mini tour during our walk. *Hi Marco!*

Marco gave me detailed instructions on where to go.

And…he even helped us buy our tube tickets.

I tried to give him a tip but he refused, what a sweetie! Grazie Marco, I hope to see you when you come to Los Angeles.

I forgot how steep the escalators are in the Tube. We saw an older woman fall going up the stairs, it was awful.

I’m not a fan of these modern photo booths but they are everywhere.

This building is known as the Shard.

London, you are so fucking bad ass!

We walked over London Bridge but decided to jump in a taxi so we wouldn’t be late for the Tower of London.

Catapulting class, anyone?

So we get to the gate and the guard was like, Sorry we are closed for the day. I said Nooooo! We came from Los Angeles to bring our daughter here. At first the other guard wasn’t gonna let us in but this heavenly angel took our vouchers and said we could run in for a half an hour. YES!!

Every encounter with a Beefeater was incredible. They may look burly and mean but they are the gentlest guys ever!

Just chillin’ in the Bloody Tower

Olivia was fascinated by the history of the Tower. Particularly the story of the ravens.

I did absolutely everything in my power to make this guy laugh. They must remove your sense of humor when you become a Royal guard!

Oh well, at least I got some laughs from everyone standing around

Is your first name Beef and last name Eater?

What did I say?!

Look Daddy, a mooak *moat*!!

Whenever Olivia sees a body of water, she insists on making a wish and throwing a coin in.

Good thing for us the shops were already closed. Liv wanted a fancy Prince costume so when her friend Kieran comes over, he can dress up.

We also toured the Queen’s royal jewels but they had a strict no photos policy and I did not want to spend the rest of our trip in the dungeon. We spent well over an hour in the Tower, it was so fun!

As we were leaving, I saw the kind guard who let us in. I had to thank him again. I sincerely mean it when I say everyone in London are extremely nice.

Time for an ice lolly break!

We headed toward’s Postman’s Park but since we were so close we stopped by St. Paul’s Cathedral. We were lucky to see this lovely bride and groom taking photos and she had the most amazing veil.

Antz almost broke his back getting this epic shot

Antz was explaining how the Cathedral was bombed during World War 2.

Along our walk, Olivia discovered this lovely garden.

There were hundreds of adorable bumblebees in the garden.

So we finally arrived at Postman’s Park

And that shit was closed for remodeling! Can you believe my luck?!

Lame, I couldn’t zoom in to see the heroic memorial plaques. This was the closest shot I could get from the gate.

Where to now guys?

Want to know where we headed next? Tune in tomorrow for part two. Cheers!

Photo shoot with Lee Robbins

May 31, 2014

When I started planning our vacation, I knew I wanted to hire a professional photographer to shoot us. I think it’s a smart move so you don’t end up with photos missing a member of the family who ends up doing all the photographing *mostly me* and you have gorgeous photos as a vacation keepsake. I first fell in love with Lee’s photography after stumbling upon this sweet wedding on Pinterest. So a few months ago I contacted him on Facebook. We messaged back and forth and set up a date and time. Little did I underestimate the time it takes to get places in London. Even though we tried our best to hurry to the car rental place, we didn’t get out of there until after 2pm. I felt so bad making Lee wait for us but he was sooo cool about it.
We met at our hotel The Ace Shoreditch. He shot us like he was a dear family friend. He knew every single shot I wanted and made sure they were quirky and unique. We took shots all over Shoreditch *which is the raddest part of London*. I took some photos of the shoot with our camera but I can not wait to see the photos he took.

I bought this mask from Amazon. I LOVE Liv creepy bunny face!!!

Of course she had to jump on the bed

Let’s get weird!

We took a break in between locations for a drink at the bar downstairs

Fancy a drink?

Lee couldn’t stop shooting Olivia. He filled up a whole memory card with our photos

Wow, I am impressed with this lovely photo Antz snapped of Liv enjoying her lemonade

Cheers Mate!

I love how beautiful British currency is. America needs more women on our money!!

We made another friend in the lobby. Londoners are extremely friendly!

We found a Banksy right across the street from our hotel! In London, they protect his art with plexiglass from art thieves.

Liv really liked the poodle, she’s become a Junior Banksy enthusiast

Lee is part of the family now, it’s official!

He didn’t seem to mind me dorking out and was totally fine with my weird ideas

I adore Lee, he was such a sweet, fun and genuine guy!

Don’t we look like we just got married?

We had so much fun *I rather enjoyed walking around in a creepy ass rabbit mask* walking about, taking photos of all the awesome street art. Shoreditch is totally like the Arts District in Downtown LA. Like it used to be old, creepy and abandoned but now it has a new life full of young peeps, fancy hotels, restaurants and cool shops. I could live there.

I hope to get the photos from Lee in a few weeks. I only saw a peek of them during the shoot but the ones I saw gave me goosebumps. I can’t wait to be surprised with the amazing results. Thanks Lee, you are fucking brilliant!!

Alt Summit Design Camp

May 23, 2014

As I mentioned, yesterday was insane. I woke up at 7am and did not stop until 7pm! I scheduled too much but I’m so glad I did everything I needed to. I really did not want to spend our vacation complaining to Antz about how I don’t know how to use my Nikon DSLR camera. I started researching photography classes because none of the YouTube videos I’ve watched were helping. I was looking for a hand-on experience where someone can tell me what I’m doing wrong *because really it’s either the equipment I’m using or it’s me!* Turns out Alt Summit announced a photography class taking place in Los Angeles. I was torn about signing up, I knew it was on Olivia’s last day of school so I would have to find a babysitter and I still had a long to-do list for our trip to complete. I didn’t want to take on too much. I decided, Liv can just stay late at school and I had to take this class so I would get the best results from my camera and end my frustration. I did a lot of hustling and the drive to and from Venice was stressful but I made it to everything on time and didn’t get any speeding tickets. I really enjoyed the class. It was taught by 20 year photographer, Tracey Clark and everything she said made perfect sense. She looked at my camera and determined it was my lens that was the problem and showed me the settings that would give me the best photo results. I learned about finding the natural light, depth of field and composition. This really has improved my photo shooting. I was happy to see my friend I met at the last cake club, Ellen was there too. I met so many wonderful bloggers and fellow amateur photographers. The venue was really cool. It was held at the Microsoft Experience loft on Abbot Kinney. Please forgive me, I was so busy chatting and snapping photos of these gorgeous florals, I didn’t take any proper photos of the amazing loft. I hope you can get a sense for how great the space was. The natural light coming from the skylights made it the perfect place to shoot. I was even able to drop by my favorite stationery shop, Urbanic. I am so happy I took the chance with this class. I can’t wait to apply my new techniques and tricks during our trip. This only confirms that I must go to alt summit in Salt Lake City!!

Bing, you have won me over with your vibrant florals


My favorite wine, Blanc de Blancs by Sofia Coppola

Tracey was a great instructor. I liked her philosophy that the equipment doesn’t have to be expensive to get the best results. She showed us how to use our iphone camera to take better photos. It’s all about finding the light.