I have returned to the blogosphere! I really wanted to blog about our summer but I have been so dang busy. Cough, lame excuse! I just renewed my WordPress premium account because guess who ran out of photo storage space again? This girl!
Our summer trip was similar to last year’s…we headed back to Portland, but this time we flew up to Seattle for a few days and then hopped aboard the train. Our favorite niece and nephew (shh… don’t tell the others!) moved from Lake Placid, New York to Seattle for new teaching jobs. I found a sweet deal on Virgin America for $59 tickets so we decided to visit them. The return flights were more expensive so I thought it would be fun to take Amtrak train back to LA. We rode the train from Seattle to Portland where we spent a few days with our friends Story, Chris and their adorable kid. The train ride from Portland to Los Angeles was THIRTY hours long! It wasn’t so bad since we had a cool sleeper car with a private bathroom. I was so excited to head to the Pacific Northwest for the weather, it was scorching hot in LA so I packed sweaters and scarves. Guess what? Seattle and Portland had record heat! I’m talking in the hundreds. Oh well, I couldn’t be upset because we did enjoy all the lovely trees and greenery that Los Angeles lacks. The highlight of our trip was spending our 14th wedding anniversary on a day trip to beautiful Victoria, British Columbia where we went whale watching. If you would like to see photos I took on Instagram look for #antzlizandlivinSeattle
We took our first Uber in LA! Our driver was awesome, he took this photo of us on our way to LAX. I made the dumb mistake of not wearing socks so I ended up walking barefoot through security. Lame! I must remember to keep a pair of ankle socks in my bag.
We gave our flight attendants a gift and they returned with booze and candy. We even got to hang in the cockpit with the handsome pilots!
Our room was adorable and cozy with a view of Pugent Sound. The Seattle Ace hotel is the first one opened in 1999. Most of the room have shared bathrooms but we got one of the few rooms with a private bathroom.
After we arrived and checked into our hotel, The Ace, we met Evelyn and Dion who biked over from their apartment. My plan was to Uber to the Seattle Public Library. The architecture of Seattle was exquisite.
I saw the library building on Pinterest and was excited to photograph it at sunset.
Guess who arrived at 8:03 pm? Yep, they were closed. We took a long stroll through the city looking for a place for dinner that wasn’t 21 and older (tip for those with kiddies, most of Belltown is not child-friendly) I loved the extraordinary buildings, most under renovation in downtown.
Totem poles are my jam! I wish I could photograph the intricate details better. This guy was so rad.
Evelyn found an Italian restaurant that was fancier than we anticipated. We were laughing because we were dining at a five star place but dressed like we were going on a picnic. Oh well, the lobster ravioli was incredible!
Olivia’s school follows the French school calendar so her Spring break was last week. I love that it’s later in April after Los Angeles public schools because less crowds! We had a busy week and the highlight was Antz taking a day off so we could go to Universal Studios. Unsuspecting Liv received a Hogwarts school acceptance letter in the fireplace early that morning.
We bought some parchment paper and Liv wrote a letter *in English and French* to her class and we sent it from the Owl Post, postmarked in Hogsmeade!
Although it was a Tuesday and most of the rides had a wait time of less than 30 minutes, we had to wait over an hour to see the wand keeper at Ollivander’s wand shop. This is the kid who had a wand choose him. That didn’t stop Olivia from having Hermione’s wand choose her.
Little did she know this wand was capable of producing several spells throughout the park.
Liv had to practice charms and incantations, she is a natural witch!
Inside of Hogwarts castle for the Forbidden Journey. I was so impressed by the attention to detail. The portraits actually spoke!
The food was excellent at the Three Broomsticks restaurant. And yes, butterbeer lives up to the hype!
I must admit, I could have stayed in the Wizarding World all day just snapping photos of all the impeccable details featured from the films/books but I’m a dummy and I left my extra camera battery at home and of course the battery died in three hours. I was lucky to have my iPhone as a backup but I wasn’t happy with the photo quality. We spent the rest of the day going on the Studio Tour and all the other rides. I sat out for the Jurassic Park water ride but Liv was totally into roller coasters. We bought a season pass so we can return and I can take more photos and bring my butterbeer mug for a refill.
Universal Studios Hollywood
100 Universal City Plaza
Universal City, CA 91608
Growing up in the golden age of awesome television commercials during the 1980’s has left me with a catalog of catchy jingles. If you lived in Southern California you were graced with this Colton’s piano song
Well, who would have thought that someone in my Facebook Mom’s group was giving away a beautiful upright piano and I was lucky number one to claim it?! I hired piano movers and it came into our home within a week.
The best part is my next door neighbor is a keyboardist for the band Sea Wolf. She is so talented and cool so I called her and asked if she would give Liv weekly lessons. How amazing that everything came aligned in just one week?! I have wanted a vintage piano since we bought our house but I was sure it would cost a fortune. Another concern was where the heck was it going to fit in our small space? The night before it was scheduled to arrive I shoved our bookcase into another spot, dispersed a few things throughout the house and moved some boxes of photos into our garage and… Voila, it fit like a glove!
I am so fortunate to have this lovely piano present itself into our lives!
I played piano for two years as a child so I’m proficient but definitely rusty.
Liv has a keyboard that she learned her scales on but I am hoping she will learn how to play songs from the Amelie soundtrack.
I did some research on our new piano and the brand is Hobart M. Cable which was founded in 1900 in Indiana. The company made upright pianos until the 1960s. The company was purchased by a Korean company in the 1990s so my piano has history.
I am guessing ours was made in 1951 based on photos I’ve seen of other Cable pianos with the same spindle legs as ours. I hope to find out our piano’s birthday and possibly more information when we have a professional come over to tune it. I resisted the urge to paint it yellow because of it’s age and the wood has grown on me in the last few days.
I’m thinking of christening her as Penelope the piano for no other reason other than I want to tell Olivia “Hey, go play Penny!”
Bonjour new year! I am so stoked for 2016 mostly because my life has a weird pattern of incredible years being even-numbered (Antz and I met in 1996, got engaged in 2000, got married in 2002, bought our house in 2006, had Liv in 2010) As crazy as it sounds, it’s been a trend that my best years have been even ones. So…what’s my plan for twenty sixteen?
I am adopting a new system this year of making more reasonable monthly goals. I am much more inspired to commit on a smaller scale.
January’s Goals
Exercise three times a week (swim/jog/cardio)
Only drink water Monday – Friday (no more soda!)
Go on a family hike once a month
No credit cards (I am no longer on plastic!)
Save weekly (feels more do-able than monthly)
And what are we saving for…? A trip to Europe, of course!
Bruges, Belgium looks dreamy.
My wanderlust is at it’s worst. I was speaking to Antz today and mentioned that our trip to Europe was already two years ago. It feels like a million years ago. There are so many rad cities I’d love to visit so it’s been impossible putting together an itinerary. I signed up for a membership on a house swap website so we can swap with someone and save money on accommodations. I’ve been thinking about our options for what time of year we’ll travel. Low gas prices means there is ridiculously inexpensive airfare now (shout out to my new fave Norwegian Air!) so this spring is my top choice. We would have more time to travel during the summer (however it’s the most expensive time to travel) and I don’t want to go during the Europe Cup and be miserable and hot. Spring has nicer weather, less crowds and everything looks so gorgeous. Liv has been saying we need to return to Amsterdam since we missed the tulip fields.
I am excited that I can change my monthly goals as I achieve them and also maintain my goals all year long rather than forget about them in a few months. We took a lovely family walk around the neighborhood this afternoon. I downloaded this app to incorporate into our daily routine once Liv goes back to school. It feels like a gentle reminder to incorporate our goals into our life rather than feel stressed to complete something I’m not in the mood to do.
Olivia’s Godparents gave our family a membership to the Aquarium of the Pacific for Christmas so we are looking forward to spending more time with the penguins. Liv is all about the jellyfish and I could sit and watch the otters play all day. We took a trip during her Christmas break and I was so happy to enjoy our time without feeling we need to rush to see everything in one day. Knowing we can always come back allows us to spend more time focusing on a our favorite exhibits.
We called this guy Bruce of course, he kept smiling for the camera.
There was a glass enclosed space that only a few people could fit in and see the penguins up close. I wish we could have stayed in there all day but other kids were impatiently waiting for us to move.
Otters are the best! We plan to go at least twice a month. Merci Padrinos!
Here’s to a fabulous New Year full of travel, creating memories, experiencing new, exciting places and filling our house with photos not clutter.
Last April I bought tickets for the Christmas Eve performance of Cirque du Soleil’s Kurios. Antz and I have been to three Cirque du Soleil shows (we saw O during our honeymoon in 2002, Kà with our friends in 2005 and our first show back in 1997, Quidam) So we are huge fans of the productions. I was so excited that the theme was steampunk. I love all things turn of the Century; the fancy attire, creepy freak shows and Victorian gadgets. I managed to get pretty awesome seats four rows back on the left side of the stage. However, I made the biggest goof ever and for some dumb reason I set the time of the show in my iPhone for 1:30 pm.
We left the house around 12:45 since it was at Dodger Stadium which is about 15 minutes from our house, plus I know a shortcut so we got to the gate in 10 minutes. The gate we arrived at was closed so we had to drive all the way to Echo Park for the Sunset entrance, I was a little concerned since it was only 1pm and hardly anyone was at the gate. I kept telling Antz, we are so early we beat the crowds. Then we got to the show and it was completely empty, ok, weird but we strolled around taking our time. All the people working at the doors were commenting on how cute Liv was dressed. Then we showed our tickets to the security guard and he told us the doors were locked, the show started at 1:00pm.
My heart dropped! I have never been late to a show before and I had tears in my eyes. I had been anticipating the show since April and it was already 1:09! The guard tried to reassure us all we missed were the characters walking down the aisles to the stage but they couldn’t allow us in until they got to the stage for safety reasons. LAME! I couldn’t even make eye contact with Antz. The 10 minutes we missed are a mystery but the ladies sitting behind us told me we only missed them walking in.
I learned a huge lesson (from now on I’m always giving myself an extra half an hour for arrival!) However, the show was, I can’t seem to think of the right word to describe it…mesmerizing? Magical? Breath-taking! The entire time I had knots in my stomach from them the death-defying stunts. I was like, these fools are going to fall and die and I will see it and be traumatized for life. Kurios was incredible and insane. Of all the Cirque du Soleil performances we’ve seen, this one was by far the best! The band was my favorite. They reminded me of a mix of Pink Martini and Squirrel Nut Zippers. The costumes! Brilliant doesn’t describe them enough. The show felt like I walked into Terry Gilliam and Guillermo del Toro‘s dreams. I apologize for the quality of these photos. Although I’m sure I missed the announcements about no photography during the show, I couldn’t resist taking some. I didn’t want to disturb anyone so I set my phone to the lowest brightness and discretely snapped photos without looking at the screen. I’m kind of an expert of getting shots while covering my screen.
This lovely little lady, Mini Lili stole my heart. I am obsessed with her! Here is ten fascinating facts about the show.
This guy was like, oh I’m going to balance on top of a round cylinder and plastic buckets but wait…next I’ll stack it taller than I am and swing twenty feet in the air!
These fish guys were ridiculous. This is why I was sick during the show, the trampoline was right in front of us so when they jumped it looked like they were going to land on top of us. Just looking at the performer landing in the trampoline just inches from the floor stressed me out (but in a good way). Our hands were sore from clapping. Bravo you magnificent nuts!
During the intermission I bought this beautiful hardcover Kurios souvenir book. Aside from the stunning photography, it’s both in English and French! I would pay extra if they allowed me to photograph the show with my Nikon but I understand it’s too disruptive also it’s better to just enjoy the show.
This is one of the best Christmas gifts I’ve received and is a great start to our year without plastic. I hope to take Liv to see the Cirque du Soleil Michael Jackson tribute One next year.
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!!
The time has come for my bebe to graduate from a nursery to a kid’s room. It was weird to see her giant body cram into her toddler bed every night so we figured it was time to makeover her room. Plus her Yo Gabba Gabba toys were taking up too much space on the tiny bed.
Let me keep it real, her room was overloaded with stuff! We cleared out a ton of old toys, clothes that no longer fit and clutter when we did our Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up weekend during the summer. Tip to any parents who may want to do the same, send your kids away so they can’t interfere with the clean up. Liv has been known to hoard birthday party favors (I call them junk toys) and dig them out of the recycle bin! I have bought baskets, bins and bookshelves to store Liv’s things and no matter how much I donate, her room still looks like a toy store exploded. The best piece of wisdom I read in the Tidying book was that the more storage solutions we purchase to control our stuff, the more clutter we create. If something is not useful or pretty, get rid of it. This is why I am planning to do less toy shopping next year (more on that soon!)
I asked my creative director hubby to lend his talents to help me visualize my design in a mood board. The theme was white and birch with a dash of pink. I was inspired by these Miffy-themed rooms I found on Pinterest. I was worried that the room was looking too beige and boring so I added more color in the accessories. I kept the glider because it’s my favorite place to sit and read her stories and it’s such a great chair. We also couldn’t part with the handmade mobile Antz made for her nursery, she’ll have it forever. It did break my heart to get rid of the kitchen (after only two years) but it was collecting dust and she didn’t play with it that often.
This was before we chose a wall color
Liv has been wanting bunk beds so she could have sleepovers. That was my main focus of the room. I wanted to find a bed that wasn’t made of metal and she could climb up without giving me a heart attack. I originally wanted to stick with the Oeuf brand and almost bought this Perch bunk bed but it was too large for her tiny room.
I will definitely reconsider getting it when she’s a few years older and I finally get rid of the brown chair. Hopefully, I’ll have a larger house by then!
Her walls could use a new color. Gone is the orange/cream and brown nursery palette. As most little girls are, Liv is an avid fan of pink, so we found a princess pink (that wasn’t too obnoxious) for the majority of the room.
I love the black paint trend but since it’s a kid’s room we chose one wall for chalkboard paint so she can have some creative fun.
I bought two Michael Sowa prints (from my fave movie) a few years ago. I intended to hang them in our bedroom but there isn’t enough wall space so they sat rolled up. I thought it would be cool to give Liv’s new room some new art so we searched for frames that were similar to the movie. We heard Aaron Bros was having a major Black Friday sale so we checked it out but they did not have a large selection of gold frames. We found one that was perfect for the Dog in Cone but I really wanted an old, ornate frame for the Fowl with Pearls.
Luckily, I had a trick up my sleeve and his name is Antz. He is the master of finding treasures on the cheap. He searched all Thanksgiving weekend with no luck. Then he sent me a photo of the steal of the century.
The frame looked like he stole it directly from Amelie’s apartment and he only paid $12!! I spent more on the prints than the frames. Yay!
So next was a trip to Ikea. I am always wary of their furniture because of their well-know reputation for not being the most sturdy. However, I was interested in the Kura bed because of it’s low height, versatility and popularity for Ikea hacks found on Pinterest. The price was so reasonable and I can style it so many different ways, I didn’t hesitate.
Olivia approved
Once again, I scored a great deal on Cyber Monday shopping on adorable bedding from Typo Shop. It was perfect timing since I now have to buy bedding in pairs for the bunk beds.
Liv has began reading by herself so I wanted to create a nook for her to be comfy. We found a darling reading lamp at Ikea and I ordered a strand of Brightlab lights in peony pinks for a pop of color. I bought a book ledge from Land of Nod and it turned out so cute, now I wish I bought two.
I had a terrible time finding the right rug. Antz was adamant about not getting anything too light and he wanted something soft that she could lay on. Yet my picks were either too expensive or made of scratchy material. I was excited to attend the Lulu & Georgia Pop Up shop in West Hollywood. I’ve been wanting their Elodie rug forever but even the sale price tag stings. $$$
I fell hard for the sweet pink Elodie rug and I was already headed to the cashier to buy it when I realized, it really was too expensive for a kid’s room and it was a high maintenance rug. I still want it for our bedroom but I had to be an adult and not throw a tantrum on the floor.
Even though they had all my favorite things and lovely Eliza Gran baskets on sale, I left empty-handed. We are prioritizing our travel budget now so I needed to find something within our budget. Back to Ikea we went and picked out a reasonably priced neutral rug that I won’t feel terrible if it needs replacing at some point. Plus a sheepskin rug is the best solution for coziness.
We bought a larger shelf unit for her books and hide her dress-up clothes and tea party dishes in baskets. The Kallax unit was a perfect fit on the chalkboard wall.
Antz installed a floating shelf to display her My Little Pony and P.O.P. toy collection (which is getting out of hand, although I admit, I am guilty of adding new ones when I can’t resist the cuteness!)
I tried to contain the kid’s avalanche of toys as best as I could. She does have some pretty awesome stuff though.
She enforces a strict no no shoes policy in her new room. I am smitten with the pink cheeky Yeti & Friends monster who resides over her bed.
The piece de resistance is this adorable petit biscuit pillow made by French designer Annabel Kern which plays music from Amelie!
I must say, for such a small space this is a dreamy kid’s room. My husband deserves all the credit for making my concept come to life. He worked tirelessly to have the room finished so Liv could have her first sleepover this weekend. I have a few more finishing touches to work on (I’m waiting for the photo to be printed for the oval frame and I am searching everywhere for this Miffy cushion) but I am so pleased with the outcome. At the rate she’s growing, we’ll have to give her our bedroom soon!
Last year we waited and waited to hear the announcement for Los Angeles Dîner en Blanc but never heard anything. Lucky for us, we were able to attend the DEB in Paris. This year I figured they would email us some time during the summer but we didn’t hear anything by August. So, I planned on not going this year *which would have been a nice break for us since we have been so busy* and we planned out trip to visit Story & Chris in Portland. Of course two weeks before our trip, the email came in. Dîner en Blanc was coming back to Los Angeles just a few days after our trip.
It turns out that last year they weren’t able to secure an alcohol permit and there’s no dinner with booze. So when I was asked to be a group leader again for the second dinner in LA, I couldn’t say no. Since this was our third year, we pretty much had everything we needed. For some weird reason, I can never do things the easy way. Honestly I find easy to be boring, I’m a risk-taker. So, even though I have several white dresses in my closet, I asked my Mom-in-law to help me sew a handmade tulle skirt to wear to the dinner. I had two days to pull it off and it was miserably hot. Liv had just started kindergarten so I only had time to work while she was in school and after I picked her up. Thank goodness for my amazing Mom, who helped me pull it off. I bought 80 yards of fabric *which I had to cut about 200 rectangles* and no matter how much we layered the skirt I could still see right through it. I ended buying a white petticoat to wear underneath.
The morning of the dinner I went to the Flowermart but nothing was in season that I planned to buy. I finally decided to try something different and bought a white piece of driftwood and LED lights. I also couldn’t resist a bunch of lovely orchids. They were pricey but they held up well in the heat. They looked great in my swan vase from Anthropologie.
Antz and I made our guesses to where the Dîner en Blanc would be held this year. I said Grand Park in Downtown since it’s large enough and a perfect nighttime venue. Antz thought it would be at Santa Monica Pier or the 3rd Street Promenade. As we were driving on our bus, I was pretty sure I was right since we headed towards downtown.
Turns out I was close! We arrived at Pershing Square right in the heart of downtown LA.
My BFF, Aimee has never wanted a big, traditional wedding. Luckily I talked her out of eloping in Las Vegas, she choose to get married at the Beverly Hills Courthouse.
After an unfortunate disaster at the dry cleaners with her first wedding dress, we found the perfect Bianca Jagger inspired romper suit from Nasty Gal. Aimee bought some pretty gold buttons from Mood fabric store and had them sewn on the romper and she found the cutest gold brogues online. Her veil was custom made from Etsy.
I made her bouquet which featured her favorite flowers, daisies and Billy balls for a punch of color
FYI: The Beverly Hills Courthouse only schedules weddings on Wednesday and Friday
Gorgeous Bride
Olivia wore a navy blue boy’s suit from H&M, a plaid bow tie from Crewcuts and saddle shoes (sans socks) from Footmates.
We put her curly hair in a top knot and added a few springs of baby’s breath.
How is she this tall at five years old?!
The bride & groom have the same taste in 80’s rock music, French history and passion for traveling
The groom and maid of honor were having a serious conversation
New family
Liv was stiff as a board during the ceremony, it was pretty funny!
Antz and I were the witness signers
Married folks!
I couldn’t resist confetti bombing the newlyweds with my Thimblepress Push-Pop confetti
Even though the temperature topped 100 degrees we all enjoyed this love-filled day. The créme de la créme was taking photos of the happy couple in front of this perfect street mural in Los Angeles.
Congrats BFF!
Antz decorated Aimee’s Fiat, so cute!
The photographer was a talented friend of ours, Brian Averill. Jet’aime BFF! Happy Wedding.
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.
The frame looked like he stole it directly from Amelie’s apartment and he only paid $12!! I spent more on the prints than the frames. Yay!
