Who will be our next American Idol?

After 9 seasons of trying for tickets, I finally won the lotto. Last night, Shane, Naira, Diana and I attended a live tapping of the top 6 American Idol contestants! We lucked out with our place in line and ended up in the standing section left stage (Simon's side), only 2 feet from the action. It was Shania Twain (gorgeous in real life) / Country Week and all of the contestants rocked it! It was hard to pick a favorite last night, even for the judges!

After seeing them live, I have NO idea who will go home tonight.

I have to say my bet is on BIG MIKE. :(

My next mission is to get tickets for SYTYCD!
(So You Think You Can Dance)
Let's see if we get lucky twice in one year!

Samantha and Josh's Beautiful Santa Barbara Wedding and Daddy D's Surprise 55th

Another busy, fun filled weekend... Shane and I were honored to share Samantha and Josh's very special day with them. After years of dating, they tied the knot on their 7 year anniversary. I had the pleasure of visiting her while she got ready for her walk down the aisle. She was a stunning bride and the day couldn't not have been more beautiful. Here are some of the moments I captured.

What a perfect day to get married!

The Dress!

Blushing Bride and her proud father!

Love the peacock feather... Josh didn't skip a beat on the details. He even hand strung the crystals (you can see them in the background in the introducing Mr. & Mrs. Jones shot below) and made the chandeliers that gave the green house just the right ambiance!

Introducing Mr. & Mrs. Jones!

While in SB, we had the chance to stroll on State Street and have lunch at one of our all time favorite restaurants Pascuccis!

YUM! I can taste the prosciutto wrapped shrimp in garlic!

I MISS STATE STREET!

We stayed with Jason and Shannon at their great little place in SB.
Here's a shot from behind their house.
What a view!

The day after the wedding, they had a BBQ celebration at Shoreline, hosted by the Jones family. The decor was too cute not to take pictures of! I'm so copying some of these ideas for events I throw in the future. I heart sweet tables and haystacks!

Congrats to Samantha & Josh, we could not be more happy for the beautiful couple.
We wish them many more years of health and happiness!
XO, S&S


Straight from the BBQ, we headed to the Doss Family house for Daddy D's Surprise 55th Birthday. Naira and Wesley did an excellent job of surprising him with all his closest family and friends, a little bit of Tonk and Poker and a lot of food!

SURPRISE!!


Make a wish!

Naira and Shane were color coordinated!

We finally made it home late last night and today I enjoyed a lovely day in Brentwood, while Shane stayed in bed with some sort of flu/cold. Poor guy!

5 days till Broadmoor!

Progress with my closet...

Everything about the new place can't be perfect!! One thing that much to be desired is my closet. I automatically called dibs when I saw it because I thought, oh yeah a mini walk in. I'm all over it. Well it's pretty poorly designed so I was kicking myself once I started unpacking. A few trips to Target and building some organizational furniture and I'm in business.
Here's a glimpse.

A girl can never have enough shoes!

A few more of the rest of the pad!

Living room and dining room in the distance.

Dry bar, finally some space for wedding gifts!

In order to see the rest, you'll just have to come visit!

American Honey...

My Lady A

It's catch up time... Last week, Ady and I went to hands down one of the best concerts I've been to in some time. Lady Antebellum was a real treat especially in such a small great sounding venue! Every song was just as good live if not better, which isn't always the case. We sang our hearts out as if we were in our cars and nobody else could hear us.

Kris Allen (my favorite American Idol from last season) was the surprise opening act.

Bought Ady and I these little souvenirs (now Daddy D can stop telling me to dry my hands at bowling)!

We ended the night trying to find some dim sum in the area around the Wiltern. I see Chinese wording on signs in the area and thus my cravings and the search begin. We ended up meeting up with some old friends and enjoying some Thai food at Toi late night. Looking forward to our next country music adventure!

Yee-Ha,
S

Patience is a Virtue....

I've heard this saying all my life, but think I've grown to appreciate it more and more with age and now marriage. We are finally completely moved into our new place in Brentwood. Still have some organizing and an office to put together, but things are coming along rather quickly. Here's a pic of my favorite little project, since moving in.

Cute door knobs in our guest bathroom!
(courtesy of my favorite store, Home Goods)

Shane has been so patient with me. I'm not the easiest person when it comes to living in chaos! I'm so grateful to have such a loving hubby that bares with me being a cranky bratty pants sometimes.

So while our new place starts to feel more and more like a home it's life as usual. We've already taken our first walk around the country club and grilled some fillets!

Tomorrow we head to SB for Samantha & Josh's wedding at the beautiful Stella Mare's. We are so excited to see them tie the knot and sneak in a visit with Jason and Shannon.

Stella Mare's

A charming painting I found of the sweet location!

Can't wait to share pics from the actual event!

Next week we leave for the Broadmoor. Looking forward to sharing this amazing place with Shane. Catherine, my mom and I have been planning this HBW Incentive trip since last January, so it will be exciting to see it come to life.

P.S. I am banned from buying anymore of these from Trader Joes. Can't just have a handful!

XO, S

Now back to the move...

The BIG day- Saturday, April 17th

Bye Bye Carlton, hello Montana Ave.

Movers = Done

(I'm so grateful that Shane caved and let me get some! Phew!!)

Electricity = Done

Cable = Will be done tonight
(this is a bigger deal than you think, at least for Shane.
No Fios in the area is really crampin his style!)

Almost in our happy home! I CANNOT wait!

The Party Continues...

Our Bachelorette, the soon to be Samantha Jones

If it's not a birthday, wedding, baby shower, bridal shower, family affair, it's a bachelorette or bachelor party!
Last weekend I hosted Lil Sam's Bachelorette weekend "Sex in the City, LA Style" at our home. Girls from SB, LA, and SF all gathered for fun food, festive drinks and lots of girly time.

Here's a few fun shots from the weekend!

But first, I must give a special thanks to my hubby that let us take over our home!
I love you babe! XO

How fun are the little boas around the bottoms of the glasses?

My favorite food = apps, apps and more apps!

Sam and Josh's colors are yellow with some bright magenta, so I went with that and added little vintage frames with adorable photo booth pics of them from our wedding!

Can't wait for the wedding in a few short weeks!