Local Things To Do!

Each year I tell myself I'm going to try and do more of the wonderful extra curricular activities offered right in my own backyard.  Each year I do like one- FAIL.  This year/summer I hope to do more than just the usual Sunday trip to Farmers.
Tonight we're checking out a movies on the dining deck at Santa Monica Place. First we are meeting friends for HH at The Yard (looks mighty fab, food critique later). And then we'll head over with our blankets and chairs to watch an oldie but goodie Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
Cause seriously, "The question isn't "what are we going to do," the question is "what aren't we going to do?"

Channeling my inner Bueller. 

Other local events I hope to check out during our upcoming warm months:

Concerts at the Pier (I've been, but not nearly enough)

Yoga near the beach

First Fridays on Abbot Kinney

More wine tasting in Malibu here and here and here...

The Getty

Explore the NEW and improved Downtown, Los Angeles (headed their Mother's Day weekend)

Cooking classes

And so much more.

Happy Hump Day!

XO, 

S

My favorite kind of shopping...

...is for the home.

Check out our new dining room rug

from the one and only West Elm.

With new carpet, we thought we better protect the places most likely to get dirty.
Loving the pattern that adds to our very solid and neutral colored home.

Looking forward to having the fam over for dinner tonight! 

  

Happy Decorating!

XO, 

S & S

Planning Vegas NOW (at 31) vs. In My 20s

What a difference a few years make!  It seems like just yesterday my Vegas trips were mostly last minute, filled with spontaneity and involved little to no plans other than where we are staying (and sometimes not even that).  With no plans, we ended up at the hottest clubs at someones table, playing kissy face, drinking out of the Stanley Cup, watching Jamiroquai because we met a bookie with extra tickets to the sold out show on NYE Y2Kand the list goes on.  Oh don't forget the time 8 or 9 of us planned a girls trip and Daddy D called Wednesday the week of and said tell your girls they're all coming to my wedding Saturday night at the Monte Carlo! Oh, the stories and memories to last a lifetime.

A shot from one of my favorite trips!

Rehab 2006

Now trips are planned months in advance and include digging out old contact's phone numbers in hopes they can still hook us up at the clubs.  We go for bachelorettes and work, instead of wild pool parties and hook ups.  We can't depend on our teeny tiny bikini to meet boys or insure our entrance into a club or a seat at the best table in the house because chances are, majority of the group going is now married or even have children.  So those once cheap trips, now cost a bundle because you have to spring for a table and the days of not eating have gone and dining in fine restaurants is what we fancy. 

It's not that today's trips aren't fun and don't create just as many memories, I just found planning a recent trip so entertaining and caught myself realizing, wow times have changed. 

Vegas in my 20's
Drive or Fly
Stay up all night
Head straight to a pool party
Drink ALL day, meet boys, hang at their cabanas
Find something to do that night
Stay at pool till it's dark
Head up to the room with just enough time to change for the evening
Dinner, what dinner?
Meet at a mellow lounge for more drinks and then head to a club
Club closes, who cares, head to an after hours club
Sleep or make out all night
Next day, repeat
2 day maximum

Vegas in my 30s
Definitely Fly
Arrive in the afternoon, check in and unpack
Relax in a much nicer room, maybe have a cocktail
Get ready for a nice dinner, maybe even a show
Head to a club with a table that we pay for
Next day, leisurely wake up, head to a more mellow pool
Relax by the pool, maybe have breakfast
Afternoon hits, exhaustion and heat stroke sets in and it's time to go back to the room for a nap
Repeat night 1
Hungover for an entire week.

Not too sure about this whole getting older thing!  What goes on in Vegas stays in Vegas definitely doesn't apply anymore. 

Blog post inspired by my dear friend Olga's Bachelorette in Vegas in May.  Looking forward to a very adult and different kind of crazy girls weekend to celebrate our bride to be!

Happy Saturday!

XO, 

S

To Gel or Not to Gel...

Being a girl and all, I'm a huge fan of the occasional mani/pedi.  In Brentwood we have these super inexpensive (my mom taught me to use this word instead of cheap) nail salons.  They are like the McDonald's drive through of nails salons.  I mean walk in, "you pick cola", you're in a chair, and you have two super fast woman at your service.  If you're from a different planet and have never experienced this, please watch this video! She does an excellent job imitating the experience at most inexpensive nail salons.


With all that said, today I went to my not usual place because I had a Groupon (oh yes, I love deals) and got a mani/pedi.  The Nail Garden normally charges $30 for regular m/p and I got one for $20 and it even included some salt scrub, fancy!  Since I saved a bundle, I decided to give these OPI Axxium Gel Nails a try.  I'm always watching my money, so I can never bring myself to spend the extra cash.  But let's face it, we basically get manicures because the clean up our cuticles, not because the polish lasts.  Mine lasts maybe a day or two without chipping and then it's chip city and once it chips, well they're history. 

These new Gel Nails are supposedly better for weak nails (check) and are said to last two weeks plus.   We shall see about that.  If anyone puts their hands to the test it's me - constant washing, cleaning and dish washing can really put a ladies hands to the ringer.

I will let you know how I end up liking them, but for now, here's a pic of mine. After trying to take about a zillion pics, I realize that I wont be a hand model any time soon.  Please excuse my ugly hands.  I tried to at least take a pic of my pretty ring to offset the hand uglies. 

Now off to get ready for Daddy D's Birthday dinner at Upper West! 

XO,
S

The Art of Manliness...

Husband (Man) of the Year

Drum roll please...

Goes to

SHANER!

 My most manli man!

 As you might already know, I'm a little OCD and like things just so.  Our landlord promised new carpet on our one year anni at our place, so of course I had to have it, despite the fact that we'd have to move ALL our furniture in order to have it put in.  Side note, I loathe carpet and Shane loves it, not a reason for divorce, but definitely something I would recommend discussing before the vows. Shane is currently winning this war, so if carpet is what we must have, new carpet beats old.

While I'm in Michigan working, Shane is at home taking care of everything.  

 See all the stuff piled up outside? 

 That's pretty much the contents of our house.

Bless his heart.

Shane, I love and appreciate you so much!

Can't wait to get home, kiss you and roll around on the new carpet! 

Yippee...

XO, 

S

BOLD or bust!

I dropped and broke, yet another phone and thus ended up at Verizon Store right before leaving on a business trip.  I checked out all the fancy iPhones and touch screens, tempted as I was, the BLACKBERRY still won!  They are durable and for this klutz, that's a MUST.  I went with the BlackBerry BOLD and I'm so happy with it.   It's fast, sleek and Shane is happy because the keys don't make little sounds that resemble rats nibbling in his ear when I'm texting while sitting next to him on the sofa (at least not yet).

Anyways, the BOLD has two thumbs up from this little lady!

Hello from The Henry in Detroit, MI.

XO, 

S

Tragedy that can't escape my mind

As many of you close to me know it's been more than a rough and trying couple of weeks.  Some friends in my life, that I consider family at this point (I've known them so long) have been hit with horrible tragedies that I can't begin to explain or imagine.  I've known Kristi Kaplon since I was a very young girl.  We met at my cousin's Bat Mitzvah and became even closer friends when our paths crossed again in junior high at the North Valley Jewish Community Center.  Through Jr. High and High School there was a group of us that spent all our time together.  College came, and took us our separate ways, but I ended up getting to see Kristi quite often once again because she met and fell in love with Brian Kaplon in Santa Barbara where Brian and I attended UCSB.
Brian was the kindest man I've ever known, he had an incredibly large heart and loved Kristi with every ounce of it.  They had known one another since preschool and their bond was unmatched.  They dated and went on to marry and have a beautiful daughter Chloe with twins (a boy and a girl) on the way in just one short month!
You could say their life was a fairytale, until Brian's life was taken in an unspeakable tragedy that I can't even begin to explain. 
I'm left with love for Kristi and her growing family in my heart and not a whole lot financially that I can do myself.  My mother and I are brainstorming another fundraiser, but for now, here are the sites on a fundraiser next week and how you can help immediately. 

http://levinsonfamily.blogspot.com/2011/04/kaplon-family-fundraiser-at-fresh.html

https://sites.google.com/site/kristikaplon/home?pli=1

 Please watch the video on the first link. 

Hug your loved ones a little tighter tonight. 

XO, 

S

Love & Photography

There is nothing better than being in LOVE. 

A couple weekends ago, I had the pleasure of assisting my friend Jillian Rose on an engagement shoot for a couple that is very much in love.

Meet soon to be Mr. & Mrs. Hogan! 

Check out a sneak peek of their engagement shoot here.

Looking so forward to assisting on their wedding in August! 

XO,
S

The way to a man's heart...

... is through his belly. 

 

The more I cook, the more he loves!  

I made these and they were YUMMY!

XO,
S

P.S. My heart can be reached through my belly as well...  Think sweets.

Garage sales and at home hair "colour"...

The accumulation of junk over the years of me moving from place to place, finally getting married, etc. and my mom's collection had grown out of control.  My parent's garage was only fitting one tiny Mercedes that is so small it hides amongst large SVUs in most parking lots.  JUNK was taking over our lives!  OKAY, I'm being dramatic, it wasn't even bad, but it was time to Spring clean, sell stuff and donate the rest.  So that we did. 
My mom, being her cute self, researched how to put on a successful garage sale and we gave it our best shot.  We advertised in local papers, put up signs, started out with high prices and worked our way down. Shane gave us a few chuckles with his Spanglish and salesman skills. We got rid of a lot, but still have quite a bit to donate and most of all we're all just glad IT'S OVER! Operation get the second car in the garage is almost complete!

On another note, the domestic diva in me decided to do a little at home hair color!  I did a consumer testing focus group last week for John Frieda's Precision Hair Colour (note: Colour, not color, fancy schmancy huh?).  It got me thinking that my hair could really use some brightening, it had become faded and brassy and just needed a good all over color.  If you know me, you know I don't like going to the salon and getting my hair done.  For me it feels like some form of torture, although I'm glad when it's done and my hair looks great! Plus I really love my hair dresser, but she's in Thousand Oaks and I really need one on the Westside (suggestions welcome). 
It's been years since I bought a box of at home hair color, but after my focus group, I was ready to brave it and try out this new and improved foam colour that was supposed to be easy to use.  I chose a medium brown and it was SO easy, no mess and I'm really happy with the color.  In about 30 minutes,  I was done and came out pretty fantastic (if I don't say myself).

Happy Do It Yourself Monday!

XO, 

S