Christmas Party

It's funny, i haven't had as many coincidences or serendipitous moments lately, i think because i've been so immersed in work. I feel so guilty i'm complaining about working too much but i must say i kinda miss being so lost that nothing makes sense! 

I've been enjoying working with the girls, we made a wreath for a charity event and got to go to the party at a beautiful Beverly Hills private home, overlooking the entire city. Was so amazing to see a house like that. I wouldn't want to live there, but it was fun to admire. We got all dressed up and had tons of fun together. It always amazes me how much fun we have and how comfortable we are together. It was like that from day one...

 (The entry)

Two in One House

Came across this house today in Santa Monica. I had driven by it before and always focused on just the modern part, then today i realized it was all one house! So i turned around and snapped a shot. Just love spotting cool houses like this! There are just so many things to look at here.

High Point

What an awesome time at the High Point furniture market! So before i show pictures from the show, i do just have to share this completely random happenstance of meeting a crow. If any of you don't know, when i was two (i don't remember this but have been told the story) i had a crow sit on top of my head while i was sitting in a playpen outside who wouldn't get off. Guess it scared my mom quite a bit, think it was even pecking at my head (which would explain A LOT!). Thank goodness i was too little to remember! But when i first got here, i went hiking in Griffith Park and the first thing i saw as i walked up to the path was a giant crow sitting there right in front of me. There have been other incidences but in High Point, one of the last showrooms we went into, sitting there in front of me was a bronze crow statue. Should have got him...so there, the crow and i meet again.

Anyway, got to meet some amazing design idols like Thom Filicia and Jefferey Alan Marks. Was so awesome! Not long ago i would have been too shy to hang around and introduce myself. But with Christine, i was like full speed ahead!

We had tons of fun together. The hotel we stayed in in Greensboro was insanely sketchy, thought we actually might not make it out. It was like the motel in Psycho! Creepy guys in random construction trucks parked in the parking lot, broken signs, holes in the ceilings, broken keys, no elevator, half naked guy in the room next door with the door open, yes, the tales go on! Will write more about them in my book someday!

 

 

Dinner...

I'm so afraid of getting in such a routine that i'll forget about all the thinking and learning i was doing while i didn't have a job! I don't know, all this is new to me :-) 

Anyway, had a really fun dinner party at Camerich LA, hosted by my boss Michael Lin. It had a 'Day of the Dead' theme and was beautiful. Got to meet a lot of fun LA people, including Leanne Rimes and Eddie Cibrian. He's a total cutie :-) My friend Shirley introduced me to Michael, as well as so many other LA things i never would have explored if it weren't for her. She's been an angel for me here :-)

LA Hood

Last week at work i found myself on a gorgeous sunny day driving from Beverly Hills, across rolling Sunset Blvd, over to Pacific Palisades, then back again along the PCH, high up into the Hollywood Hills. What an awesome day of driving it was! I was in awe at every turn, just staring at all the amazing houses and views. Driving around the hills is awesome because the roads are so tiny and windy and just filled with amazingly gorgeous homes, all so different in style.
The other night i had dinner with a friend of a friends and as i was leaving, they were saying goodbye telling me to check out Cameron Diaz and Johny Depp's house on the way down....so LA!

Pie Hole

Another fun day with Shirley. We ventured down to the arts district in LA and had pumpkin and chocolate pie at The Pie Hole. It's a little hole in the wall (!) place just for grandma style pies. We were craving pumpkin but there was only one piece left, so we got chocolate too. They were unbelievable. I want to go again already!!!!

 

Shells...

What beautiful shells and sand dollars here in CA! Who would have thunk?? My favorite colors have shifted since i've been here. I now love the rich, reds and purples and gray tones all over the beach here. I was always such a lime and aqua girl, when i was in Hawaii. Now i'm a burgandy and plum girl :-)

Birthday

I forgot to say, i had an entire week of fun for my birthday here. All these new friends just wined and dined me for days!!!
All of my friends and family either via phone or facebook wrote me wonderful, loving messages. I got the best packages from friends and family too...My friend Shirley treated me to yoga and a really fun dinner after at a cute place called Jame's Beach in Venice. My friend, colleague, now housemate Christine (below with her boyfriend) took me out for a night in Hollywood. My roommate and her boyfriend treated me to an amazing tofu dinner and cute cupcake dessert...so much love it was awesome!!!!! xo

Sunday

I've been trying to go to yoga but must admit i've fallen off the bandwagon a bit. I feel sad because for the past year or so i was going almost four times a week. In Hawaii i was having so much fun going to my studio, my teacher, often with my best friend. We'd always chat about our yoga experiences after. That studio felt like a home. The teacher always knew what to say during class and i always knew he was kind of teaching me as an individual through teaching the class as a whole. It was such an empowering experience. My diet changed, my body changed, my mind changed. Looking back i can almost feel it.

Even when i moved here i tried so many different yoga studios. Tried all the "best" teachers in town. I loved it! Now that i'm working six days a week, i'm only going about twice a week. I know once i get in a routine things will fall into place but i miss it. Every Sunday morning my friend Shirley and i go to Maha Yoga in Brentwood. We go to Steve Ross's class. It's happy, it's hard, it's fun and he loves us so it's a great class for Sunday!

San Fran...

Drove to San Francisco for a day and night to take my roommate to an interview. It was the perfect chance to see Jane, Mike and the kids too, which was sooooooo awesome! They live in such an adorable place, their home and town are just perfect and they as a family are too! It felt so nice to see them, and to know we're only a five hour drive apart. We had a wonderful dinner and i slept in Josie's ever so cozy bed and left the next afternoon after a fun walk around the telescope. What beautiful views of rolling hills and Bay and Stanford.

The drive home was awesome - it was 100 degrees outside and inside (because my AC is broken), sunny, desert air was just blowing all over and i had music in my earphones blasting (once again because my radio is broken). I loved sweating and driving almost 100 miles an hour through the desert :-))

Venice Beach

Before i moved up the road, and before i had two jobs, i was walking the beach every morning, early. I loved walking the beach, listening to my "CA Fall" mix on my phone. It was usually cool and crisp early at the beach, but i loved finding sand dollars and i often saw the same people running or walking. There were always so many surfers in wetsuits, goodness who would want to do that?! Who would ever want to sit and wait for waves in that freezing cold water so early in the morning?!

Venice Beach...

Commuting

What on earth is there to complain about?!! I've been working two part time jobs now, both of which want me to go to full time! I get to work in Beverly Hills and Culver City from my new home. Throughout the day i get to visit showrooms on Melrose and Beverly Blvd, drive to houses along the PCH and into Pacific Palisades on the cliffs.  It's actually like a dream come true!!! It's taken a lot of writing, thinking, pondering, crying, motivating myself to get here but things are moving up, so grateful :-)

Andrea and Christine at Restoration Hardware, Beverly Hills

Gallivanting...

What a fabulous design show i got to go to with my friend Shirley! It was the first year they had it, called Westedge Design Fair. It was a beautifully curated show, with only about fifty vendors but each one was so unique and special. They had several panels open to everyone where various well known designers spoke and mingled with the audience. I got to see my secret crush again (:-)), Martyn L. Bullard and this time Kathryn Ireland was there which was so fun. 
Shirley and I have been gallivanting off to some fun events, can't wait for more to come!

 

This wallpaper by Tracy Hiner was my favorite, it was all over the show!

And this was fun, such a cute little mini dollhouse...!

And these gorgeous pendants by a Brooklyn design company...i want the pink one :-)

Cottage!

Wow, OK, so i can't believe so much time has passed! Yikes, what have i been up to? Oh my goodness so much! But to start off, cheers to my new little cottage!!

Ladies

My roommate's mom, Blossom has been here since i moved in. She's been staying with us but also her sister and other family around LA. She's from the Philippines and lives on the island of Boracay, where she has a kiteboarding school. Yes, she just turned 60 and is an avid kiteboarder!
For her birthday, Nisha invited me to dinner with them so the three of us went and then found ourselves at a store opening party on Abbott Kinney somehow. 

Loved the lights at the party (below)...and Blossom is in the middle :-)

The rope lighting i thought was such a fun idea, it was right above the dance floor :-)

A Few Fun Things

Well i'm not gonna lie, last week was horrible but i'll definitely spare you the details. Focusing on the positive, I had a lot of happy moments in between :-)

Found an adorable coffee shop THE DAY BEFORE i went on a coffee detox..perfect timing i guess, just like everything else going on :-)

My neighbor and i tried a new place called Pork Belly's on Abbot Kinney, it was so fun and delicious!! There are big guys with tattoos and caps on in the kitchen slopping pork belly onto buns and breads and all kinds of goodies. You get to see all this while you wait in line, adds to the ambiance. There is no place to eat inside, so you stand outside :-)

 I also went with my neighbor and a group of her friends to Shakespeare In the Park, a free event the Independent Shakespeare Company puts on in Griffith Park every summer weekend. It's in the area where the old zoo was, so the overall feeling is kind of dramatic (you're surrounded by old stone animal caves!) and intense (wild cyotes howling throughout the evening), like Shakespeare's plays,
Her friends are all in the film industry so it was fun chatting with them. They brought all kinds of amazing tapas type appetizers and good wine. One made fig chutney to go with all the cheeses she brought. Another made the BEST fried chicken anyone has ever had. I don't usually eat fried chicken but this stuff was amazing!
The play was fun too, just simple and to the point. Got so chilly by the end of the night we were all wrapped up in blankets.

 As Shirley and i were waiting in line for the restroom, i got to catch a shot of people's silhouettes along the wall. The shadows were so clear they almost looked like real people!!!

The Johnson Family

Had such a fun time seeing the Johnsons here in CA!! They're such an amazing family! I've seen so many Hawaii friends here (still more i have to see!) which makes me feel so happy. I feel so lucky to have all the friends i do, they are all such loving, generous, thoughtful, kind people...who make this world a better place. 

Tried The Applepan, a Rob Lowe favorite :-)

Adventures

I'm just going to admit it, it feels quite sad to have left Maine. It was such a short trip but so fun to see family and show my Hawaii friends Maine life. We enjoyed so much lobster, blueberry pie, fresh food, laughs, late night wine toasts, ocean adventures, animal adventures (finding beavers and getting hit by a kamakazi deer on route 1), yummy picnics, yummy dinners, good stories...even yoga all together. I wish i could just do all that forever! I am so grateful for all my friends and family and such special places to call home. Feel lucky to have experienced two amazing trips this year!

Back to 50 cent Ramen dinners...