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!!