Feast One Hundred & Eighty One

Here's today's Friday Feast.

Appetizer

Who was the last person you hugged?

Rob:)

Soup

Share a beauty or grooming trick or tip with us.

I wear lots of sunscreen and am obsessive about using facial lotions.

Salad

What does the color yellow make you think of?

My mom. It is one of her favorite colors. She used to always buy yellow dresses when I was a little girl.

Main Course

If you were to make your living as a photographer, what subject would your pictures revolve around?

People. I love portraiture. I even dabbled with wedding photography for a short time.

Dessert

What was the longest book you ever read?

I can't remember. I think it was "War & Peace".

The Knot Sisterhood

Name tag I designed for Saturday's event

Before my wedding, I had posted that I had some favorite wedding-related websites. One was Weddingbee.com and the other was the Knot.com. To say that the Knot was my favorite wedding website is a gross understatement. The Knot is an addiction. I have an alter-ego - bANNEd_in_LA. Even though my wedding was more than 6 months ago, I'm still heavily involved. I should be ashamed, but I am not. I don't know what it is, but you really get emotionally invested in the weddings of strangers.

Actually, after a few weeks on the Knot, the ladies on the boards stop being strangers. You form an unspoken sisterhood forged by the stress of wedding planning. I swear, wedding planning really does rot your brain. Things that never would have been of any significance suddenly are important. It really does help to have people to talk to that don't think you've lost your mind because you're stressed out because you can't find "the right" flower vases. It also helps to have people who understand when you want to kill your entire bridal party for not ordering their dresses in time or that your future mother-in-law is crazy.

This past Saturday, I went to a Knot Get-together (GTG). I've been to a few in the past. I've even organized a few events. This was the largest one I've been to thus far. Approximately 30 ladies attended. It was really fun to finally put faces to the names. It was held at the Granville Cafe in Burbank. Poor Granville, I don't think they know what hit them. The event started at 2pm. There were sangrias and mojitos aplenty. There were so many people that I wanted to chat with that I didn't know where to begin. I sat on one end of an L-shapded table and sadly did not get to talk to as many people as I wanted. The majority of people left around 4-4:30.
Seven of us, however, drove the staff crazy and stayed until 7pm! We really just couldn't tear ourselves away. I enjoyed it so much that I'm disappointed that I'll be missing the next GTG:(

Here are some pics from Saturday:

Kit12345, Chocolatelver, & event organizer Janice74

(L-R facing the camera) Joellaann, Wendy55, POG, & Jord.Taylor

OCBride08, Miss_Randi & ptflip
Mrs. Veroni, KZ, & POG
Springtime_bride, Stempsko, Coconuthoney, gingerbreadgirl, csunsweetie, & AliGoesBridal

Here's a better photo of the name tags I designed. Borrowed from jord.taylor's blog.

Legomaniacs Unite!

Rob and I were legomaniacs growing up. We even paid homage to this shared love of Legos at our wedding by having a Lego cake topper.
When the nephews expressed interest in going to Legoland in Carlsbad, we were secretly thrilled. Who wouldn't want to go to a theme park with Legos everywhere? This was our perfect opportunity to check the place out. We hadn't gone on our own because the place is definitely geared towards the 3-12 crowd.

Franky and I had gone to Legoland 4 years ago and had a blast. We both knew it was going to be fun. This was Rob's, Cathee's, & Ethan's 1st Time there. The place did not disappoint. Even though the place was a tad bit crowded, we were able to ride some rides. Getting the nephews on rides is a HUGE deal. They will snowboard all day, but are completely terrified of the simplest amusement park rides. These are the same boys that were freaked up by the tram ride on the Universal Studios backlot. I have a sneaking suspicion that the temporary newfound courage was brought on by the presence of "Uncle Rob".

The highlights of the day were not the rides, but all the goofy portraits we took amongst all the Lego statues and dioramas. I think I have created monsters. For years, I've been a photo hound. Now, Cathee is also a picture-taking fool and my nephews are hams. Add Rob to the mix and you get some really silly pictures.

For your entertainment, I present these:

Typical Tourist Photo of Rob & the nephews at the Park Entrance
"F" is for Franky
"E" is for Ethan
Lego Tourists
Ethan with a Lego Spongebob
Ethan going for a drive
Franky going for a quick trip

How about some Lego Mariachis?
Rob trying to blend in with a bear while "borrowing" Ethan's hat
Sir Ethan of Virginia
Sir Ethan in action

Franky and his favorite Bionicle
More Bionicle love

Kids wear me out - Part 2

Day 2 -Sightseeing around L.A.
Rob and I traded tour guide duties. Cathee, the boys, and I had a big breakfast at Foxy's in Glendale and headed out. The boys are both fans of Gundam models. We made a stop in Chinatown at a few stores that I knew had deals of these models. The stunned looks on their faces were priceless. They had never seen stores with variety quite like that. They shopped until they dropped or something close to it. We refueled with some boba drinks or bubble tea. Then, we headed off to Olvera Street. We wanted them to see a bit of L.A.'s history. We took a short tour of Avila Adobe. We continued the buying frenzy with purchases of Luchador masks. The kids were ecstatic. We had dinner at Brownstone Pizza and cupcakes for dessert from Dots Cupcakes. We finished the day by passing out in my living room while watching "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles".

Franky & I at breakfast

Ethan & Cathee
Clowning around with the super candy machineChinatown
Toasting with their Boba drinks
At the Avila Adobe
Luchadors!
Dots Cupcakes in Pasadena
Franky enjoying the aroma
Doesn't this pizza look ginormous?!
Franky trying to make a dent in the Pizza

Kids wear me out - Part 1

These are my nephews Franky & Ethan. Franky is 10 and Ethan is 4. They and their mother Cathee (my younger sister) came out here for a visit. Rob & I loved having them here. The boys are hilarious and are quite the little characters. It was such an action-packed mini-vacation that it's taken me a whole week to recover. I kid you not. (Pun intended). They had what my sister and I call a "Mamma Lynda Vacation". When we were kids, my mother would plan our family vacations with as much activity as possible. When we were done with the vacation, we'd need a vacation from our vacation. In the four days they were here, we took them snowboarding at Mountain High, sightseeing in Chinatown L.A., hanging out at Legoland, and dinner in Koreatown.

Here is a recap:
Day 1 Snowboarding at Mountain High - Wrightwood, CA
As always, work kept me from enjoying the snow. So, Rob took my sister and the kids up to the resort. This was Ethan's 1st time snowboarding. According to Cathee, Ethan was crying hysterically because he was afraid to snowboard. She said he cried all the way until the beginning of his lesson. Once he started, he LOVED it and there was no stopping him. This was Franky's 2nd time snowboarding. This put him in a more advanced class than his little brother. It was great for Franky, but sucked for taking pictures of him in action. I got a reprieve from all the excitement and met them for dinner afterwards at Roscoe's House of Chicken and Waffles. Yummy!

All day 1 pics and video were taken by Cathee

View of the Mountain
Franky strapped into his board and waiting for his lesson to start.
Ethan on the "magic carpet" lift for kids
Franky, Cathee, and Ethan

Video of Ethan Snowboarding.

Art inspires me

This is a post I didn't get to finish because of my hectic work week. I originally started it on Monday 02/11. Fair warning, this post has a lot of photos.
I am constantly in search of inspiration. Because of my hectic schedule, I fuel my ideas via blogs and websites. This past Saturday I decided to step away from the computer screen and immerse myself in some art. It was the closing weekend of Takashi Murakami Exhibit at the MOCA - Geffen. I was surprised to find a long line of people waiting to buy tickets to get into the museum. I thought "Wow! People are really into art here in L.A." Then, I remembered that Murakami is well-known for these:

... and my bubble was burst. There was an inordinate amount of people who were there to be seen or say they had been there. Despite that, the show was phenomenal. Murakami's work exuded a well-executed balance of whimsy with a thought-provoking undertone. The colors were both eye-catching and unbelievably vibrant. The installations pieces were the most captivating. Two of the major pieces encompassed entire rooms. As a fan of anime, I also enjoyed the fusion of anime with high art.

For those who could not attend, here are some photos from The Hundreds blog.

All about me

Copy this entire list of questions and change all the answers so that they apply to you. Then tag and pass it along to other blogging friends. Let’s see how well we can get to know one another!

1. What is your occupation?
Project Manager for a Creative Photo Retouching Firm by day. Stationery designer every other available minute of the day.

2. What color are your socks right now?
No socks. I am wearing flip flops courtesy of Southern California weather

3. What are you listening to right now?
A random radio station

4. What was the last thing that you ate?
Cupcake from Dot’s Cupcakes

5. Can you drive a stick shift?
Of course. I only drive stick shift

6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
Red or Chartreuse

7. Last person you spoke to on the phone?
Rob

8. Do you like the person who sent this to you?
I appropriated this from someone else’s blog.

9. Favorite drink?
Vitamin Waters or Sparkling Water

10. What is your favorite sport to watch?
I actually watch enjoy Motor sports like F-1 or Rally Car Racing, NOT Nascar. I watch college football. I told you... I’m a guy’s girl. I'm also obsessed with the Olympics.

11. Have you ever dyed your hair?
I’ve dyed my hair all sort of colors. My favorite is red.

12. Pets?
Dottie & my husband Rob.

13. Favorite food?
This list is entirely too long and I’ll just save it for another post.

14. Last movie you watched?
“Lady & Tramp” with my nephews

15. Favorite Day of the year?
Christmas

16. What do you do to vent anger?
I blog. I call my best friend Cicely to vent.

17. What was your favorite toy as a child?
Legos and crayons.

18. What is your favorite, fall or spring?
Spring because I love the promise of summer that comes with it.

19. Hugs or kisses?
Hugs:)

20. What kind of pie?
Old Fashioned Apple Pie

21. Living arrangements?
Rob & I rent a shoebox... I mean granny cottage.

22. When was the last time you cried?
When I was angry at a co-worker, he made me so made that I cried.

23. What is on the floor of your closet?
Shoes, a laundry basket, and our hiking backpacks.

24. Favorite smell?
Anything citrus

25. What inspires you?
Everything... People whose blogs I subscribe to, my grandma who is 100, my mom who was the 1st career mom on my block, my best friend who thinks I can do anything. I could go on and on.

26. What are you afraid of?
Being totally destitute and living on the streets.

27. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers?
Cheesy

28. Favorite car?
Land Rover or original Toyota Land Cruiser

29. Favorite cat breed?
Ixnay on the cats

30. Number of keys on your key ring?
6

31. How many years at your current job?
2.5 years.

32. Favorite day of the week?
Thursday

33. How many states have you lived in?
3 – Virginia, Georgia, & California

34. How many countries have you been to?
11 and I hope to add more stamps to my passport.

I tag Summer, Jordana, Rebekah, Elizabeth, & Missy.

Happy Valentine's Day

I took this photo on my way home from work one night.
It just so happened the lights in this building were on in the shape of a heart.

I know, I know for many Valentine's is a disgustingly commercial holiday. However, I am sap. I love Valentine's Day, but not for the typical reasons. I don't expect my husband to take me to a romantic dinner or show up with an extravagant bouquet of flowers. I enjoy the holiday because I use it as a moment to celebrate my friendships and relationships. This year, I made my own cards. Here's a photo of my creation.

Enjoy your day and take time to celebrate your friendships. Sorry this post is so short, but I gotta get back to work.