Future Beard

 

(My nephew Gage on the right with a friend)

I bought my sister a cute 60's headboard a while back. I decided to finally drive it down to her. No big deal, except that it was a queen sized headboard and I drive a 2 door Toyota Yaris. Yes, I had to open the passenger window and allow a corner of the headboard to gently rest outside of the car in order to fit myself in with it. Yes, I ran a bicyclist off the road do to the increased blind spot. Yes, the bicyclist caught up to me at a stoplight and shook his head disapprovingly.

Was the trip worth it you ask? Indeed it was.

I caught up with my BFF, did some thrift store therapy (found a cute 60's country bumpkin chair for my sister's cabin) enjoyed some hilarious stories. 

I was left to my own devises for about 20 minutes. I used the time wisely, taking pictures around my sister's house.  She has a great eye for interior design. I love being in her home.

 

 

 

Josh paid us a visit which is always a good time guarantee... but wait, at this moment you are struggling to make sense of my brother's chin and jawline. Am I right?  You are not alone...

 

This my friends, is my brother's interpretation of a future beard. 

Think, Fifth Element. 

We went out to eat later that night and our waiter, who was a total meat-head, tells my brother, "Man, you're really workin' that beard. A buddy of mine put charger bolts in his, during the season." I doubled over in hysterical laughter. I will cherish that moment forever.

I need to learn how to post videos. I would love for you to hear my brother tell his funny stories. The latest one began with him putting up a 9 foot wide home made Ron Paul banner above the freeway. It was then removed by city workers. Josh followed their truck for miles until they stopped at a red light. My brother proceeded to park his car, get out, jump atop the city truck into the garbage and pull his sign out, jump out onto the street and drive away. The city workers had stepped out of their truck, eyes full of wonderment, mouths agape. A penny for their thoughts.

Christmas Traditions

Court and I have one Christmas tradition that we will one day be able to enjoy with children of our own...

After the last drop of Christmas is squeezed, I take down the ornaments and Court throws the tree from our window or balcony. The first year we moved to Los Angeles County was the commencement of said tradition.

We were living in the "Koreatown" sector on the 5th floor of a 1930's art deco apartment. In an effort to avoid having to clean pine needles from the hallways and elevator we thought it best to push it through the window instead. Mind you, the window was way too small. After some handy work with a hand saw, we braced ourselves against the windowsill, placed a foot against the tree and literally shoved it through.

The year after that we lived on the 3rd floor of a 1960's complex on Los Feliz Blvd.  Again, we did not want to clean pine needles from the hallway so we threw it off the balcony. 

Which brings us to Christmas 2011, on the second floor of a mid-century building in the heart of Hollywood.

What's your favorite tradition?

Art in Motion

Let me tell you about my brother-in-law Pete Finlan a.k.a "Hot Dog". He is a very modest person and an extremely talented artist. He recently displayed a few pieces in an art show at Victory Electric Tattoo here in Los Angeles. Court and I along with a few friends were able to show our support.

Hot dogs are to Pete as spinach is to Popeye so we powered up at Carneys before the show.

 Before the show started Pete painted a bar stool seat and tattoo gun.

 

Pete's tool box

  

 Layers of runoff paint have an appeal all their own.

 

Baby Ambra's 2nd art show 

 

Old/New/Baby/Blue

I was going through some old photos and found some shots of a D.I.Y. project that I thought would be cute to post. A few years ago in an effort to make a few bucks, I decided to make baby gift sets and sell them on ebay. Although the sales were bad I maintain that the idea was solid. You be the judge.

A friend of mine told me that Ebay's top sales come from baby clothing. With this in mind I went to Wal-Mart and bought some 50's western inspired (child safe fire retardant) flannel fabric and some strong denim and went to work making outdoor picnic/play blankets. Then I went to the thrift store for Levi's denim infant jackets and infant western shirts. I used a satin ribbon to bind it all together and there you have a perfect baby shower gift.

Dirty 30 Part 2

Court and I went south to celebrate with family and the closest of friends. My sister Kim hosted the party in her cute home which, I have taken the liberty of photographing.  Her husband Pete baked me a precious pink cake. My family sang Happy Birthday and spent the remainder of the evening in laughter as we shared embarrassing stories of my brother Josh. . .

"Remember when Josh crapped his pants on the school bus?"

"Remember the time one of Kim's clients saw the Polaroid of Josh (at age 14) with Captain Picard and assumed them to be her parents?" Kim's response, "I guess I can understand why you might mistake my brother for a woman, but what baffles me is that you didn't recognize Patrick Stewart!"

"Remember when dad caught Josh trying on Kim's bikini?" "Yeah, dad made him jump on the trampoline in it, to try and publicly embarrass him."  "Except the neighbors thought he was a weird pedophile watching this little boy jump on a trampoline in a bikini, crying."

I relish the time I get with my siblings.  Thank you for making it a special day!

          

The Dirty 30 Part 1

I had a wonderful time celebrating my 30th birthday in among my best friends and family. The first gathering took place at my dear friend Lisa's house. We repainted her living room and office in preparation for the party. (She needed to give herself a deadline for these projects and what better excuse than a party, right?) We were joined by all my besties from Woodbury University. I am so grateful to have gone to school where I did, when I did because I have met the best group of girlfriends.

(Tiara, Haley, Me, Magaly, Alice, Ruth)

Lisa and I stopped by Party City and picked up six 36" balloons. I had seen a lot of photographers use big balloons in there images ie; The Miss Dior Cherie ad. I just had to have them. Luckily Lisa brought her minivan. They barely fit. I had to lay on the floor as there was absolutely no room left for me to sit after we crammed all six balloons in. I also bought a few different kinds of glass bottled sodas in conjunction with red and white striped paper straws from the Los Angeles public library bookstore.

I put together a playlist for the party which included Purity Ring, Washed Out, Glass Candy, Crystal Stilts, Lykke Li, Warpaint, George Michael, Prince, Girls Names, Phantogram, Flying Lotus, Louis Armstrong, Lester Young and Sidney Bechet to name a few. I couldn't ask for a better way to celebrate 30 years in my skin.

(Magaly, Alice, Tiara, Haley, Me)