Roses in LA?!

I might be completely naive, but being from the East Coast and all - I didn't realize that roses grow in LA! Yes, I've been here for almost 4 years now, but I have never seen a rose growing anywhere. Maybe it's because of my black thumb that I haven't noticed, but you can imagine my surprise when I saw them growing in my back yard a few weeks ago (It's our first spring in this place). They remind me of growing up in MD. Luckily we have a Gardner and Lee or everything in the yard would be dead ;)

Here is what I found in the yard yesterday...

I tried something different with this picture and I love the way it turned out!

Look at what else I found in the yard! Jones & his monkey.

1st Anniversary

So yesterday, April 28th was my first wedding anniversary. It's amazing that one whole year has gone by since the day that Lee & I got married - AMAZING! We went to the Fairmont in Santa Monica on Saturday where our wedding was held and it was very nostalgic for us to sit by the Koi pond and remember our wedding taking place there a year before. Sadly there wasn't a wedding going on that day as I hoped, but it was still fun to be there and walk around the property.

Our wedding day was so magical and something that we'll never forget for the rest of our lives. When we were deciding what kind of wedding to have early in our engagement, my friend Sherry gave me some advice. We were thinking of a small wedding somewhere remote and she told me that there's nothing like looking around the room during your reception and seeing everyone that you love surrounding you. That sold me on the idea of a big wedding with everyone that we know and care for. She was completely right - there is NOTHING like it. We felt so loved and honored that people traveled from near and far to spend the weekend with us. It was truly magical as was actually marrying Lee. I told him this last night that I would marry him over and over if I could and it's true. I feel so lucky to have met him and have him as a husband. He's one of a kind :)

To see an incredible slide show of our wedding from the best wedding photographers EVER - Sweet Monday, CLICK HERE and choose our wedding on the bottom of the page - Ellen & Lee. These women have totally inspired me to take pictures. If there are any brides out there reading this, please check out their site.

Here are a few other images of our wedding day, courtesy of some friends and family....

Did you know that....

The post office will take your recyclable small electronics? Check this out. I was at the post office this past weekend and saw these cute little bags for recycling small electronics. You can take as many as you want. I HIGHLY suggest doing this if you have old cell phones, cameras, etc. at home that you don't know what to do with.


USPS - Recycle
Every year we recycle about one million tons of wastepaper, cardboard, plastics, cans, and other stuff. We also generate about $7.5 million in revenue from those recycling activities.

We purchase more than $200 million worth of products containing recycled content each year. Many of the containers in our mail system are made from recycled materials, and so are the stamped envelopes, post cards, stamp booklet covers, and packaging materials we provide.

The adhesives used in our stamps are biodegradable, and our Priority Mail® and Express Mail® boxes and envelopes are Cradle to CradleSM certified. So they can go right in the recycling bin.

Through various continued successful partnerships, we’ve facilitated reuse or recovery of overstock and outdated electronic equipment, saving tons of potential landfill waste. This spring in select Post Offices, customers can get free prepaid mail-back envelopes for recycling inkjet cartridges, cell phones, PDAs, digital cameras and other small electronics.

Fun day in Manhattan Beach

A few weekends ago I spent a fun filled day in Manhattan Beach with some of my fun filled friends from college :) I met these lovely ladies 10 years ago (Holy Crap!) when I moved to NYC to go to film school. I ended up staying for 6 years which was hands down, the time of my life! I met Jen (in the sweatshirt) on my second day in the city because she was my roommate!!! I prayed for no bunk beds in our dorm, but low and behold - that's just what we had. I will always be grateful to Jen for taking the top bunk!!!

Briana and Andrea were part of my very first intro to Film Production class, called Sight and Sound film. Because of the intimacy of the program and the class, we all made fast friends and have remained close since. Now, ten years later, Me, Jen and Briana live in this beautiful city of LA, and Andrea lives in Seattle. West Coast baaaby!!!

And a west coast baby is exactly what will be added to our little group because Andrea is pregnant!

After finding out that Andrea was going to visit us a few weeks ago, I got so excited that I was going to get to see her in all her preggo glory - and it is just that. She's completely glowing and SOOO darn cute!!!

We spent a very relaxing day having brunch, sitting by the pool at her hotel drinking mojitos (Andrea's was virgin), and reminiscing. It was such a great day and one that I hope can happy more often. Love ya my NYU girls!

**As I was writing this post, I lost an great establishing shot of the Pier. I will have to add it tonight from home. Until then, here are some pictures that I took ON the Pier:

V-Ball!

Love the Ocean
Gotta love the surfers...
View from the other side

Briana taking a picture of me taking a picture of her!
Close Up!


The three musketeers

Isn't she the cutest?

Jen and Andrea sharing a laugh

Always remember....

After the beach...later in the day

Andrea and her husband Pete - cute couple!

Just the four of us

The End :)

Fruit

I had to order something today from Manhattan Fruitier, and even though the reason was somber, the ordering experience was a pleasure so I thought I'd blog about it. I've been ordering from MF since my days working for Martha in NYC. They make really great baskets of fruit and other goodies for every occasion. Their prices are fair and they even hand deliver in LA & NYC!! Check them out:

http://www.manhattanfruitier.com/

Farmer's Market Goods

I live two blocks away from a small, but fantastic Saturday farmer's market in Santa Monica. I try my hardest to go every week to buy fruits & veggies because I believe that it's important to support the local economy. Most of the vendors travel hours to sell their products at this market, and let me tell you - they're better than ANY grocery store. So many people think that it's more expensive to shop at the farmer's market, but it s not - TRUST! Here are some of the lovely veggies that I saw while I was there recently. If anyone wants to meet me there some Saturday, just let me know - Pico & 23rd!

I tried muting the colors on this last picture to see what it would look like. I like.

On a separate note...I am on the Jr. Board of Directors (we call it the Spring Board) for an organization called New Directions. New Directions helps homeless veterans get off the street and rehabilitate themselves to become successful, working and functionial members of society. It's an incredible organization and something that is so important, especially right now with the state of our country and the state of the war. We have formed a team to walk on Saturday, May 10th at the Revlon run/walk, in the name of New Directions. We will be walking with the women residents of the program and it should be amazing. If you are interesting in participating check out the ND website under Revlon Run/Walk and then contact me. http://www.ndvets.org/ . We will have more events coming up this year (like a poker tournament), so if you can't make it to the walk, there will be plenty of ways to get involved.