More from our LA Trip

Here are some more pictures from our trip to LA a few weekends ago.

View of the Hollywood sign from our hotel room:

Kodak Theater getting ready for the Oscars:

Tom Cruise's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame:

Mann's Chinese Theater:

A reluctant Marc posing for a photo:

Weekend Getaway!

Last weekend we decided to drive north to Hollywood, totally random and on a whim. Marc had some Marriott Rewards points that we burning a hole in his pocket so we cashed them in and booked a hotel room at the Renaissance Hotel Hollywood & Spa. The hotel was located right in the middle of West Hollywood, just around the corner from the Kodak Theater. Imagine how crazy this place would be during the Oscars! Wow!

The hotel decor is heavily inspired by the Mid-Century modern movement, with all kinds of cool artwork on the walls and furniture from Eames and Mies van der Rohe through out the lobby. I am a huge fan of architecture and furniture from the era, so it was definitely a delight to see. I wish I would have taken more pictures but Marc hates when I act like a tourist.

Mural in hotel lobby:

More art in the lobby:

This piece was so cool. It looked like there was someone or something trapped inside trying to get out.

Eames Lounge Chairs and Platner Side Table:

I wonder if these were authorized reproductions or fakes? The Eames chairs retail $3000 each and the Platner Side Table retails for $665. Pricey stuff for a high traffic hotel lobby. A real Eames Lounge from DWR is very high on my list of things that I must have in my next house. Same for the Platner Side Table. I just love it. 

Space Ship Trash Can:

I have no idea if these trash cans have any special architectural or design significance. I just thought it was the cutest thing! They were through out the hotel lobby and public spaces. 

More pictures from the mini getaway coming soon.

Shell Beach, La Jolla

After our lunch at La Vache, we decided to head north towards home. But it was such a beautiful day outside that we stopped in La Jolla first. One of my favorite things to do in La Jolla (besides stopping @ George's for booze drinks) is to walk by the shoreline park. There are stairs that go down to Shell Beach, aptly named because the sand is made out of crushed sea shells. 

See what I am talking about:

The tide was really low, so there were lots of tide pools to explore:

Unfortunately I was not wearing proper foot wear for this. I almost took a good spill but caught myself before I fell! Looking in the tide pools is really fun though. There are all sorts of tiny sea creatures to be seen. Next time I'll try to wear better footwear so I can get pictures. 

Here are some other candid shots from the beach:

One of the things that I love about living where I do is that I can go to the beach in January. Of course the water is too cold to swim, but just the ability to be out and about and not freeze my butt off is something that I really value. I cannot imagine living anywhere else!

Inauguration Day Fun

Yesterday I had the great pleasure of meeting up with some great gals at the home of blogger Jessica Gottlieb to watch history unfold as Barack Obama became our 44th President of the United States. 

The party was sponsored by Quaker Oats, in part to help them promote their Start With Substance Program, where they will be giving away ONE MILLION bowls of oatmeal. They had a beautiful spread of fruit and of course, oatmeal. 

It was a fun time! If only I would have gotten there on time, traffic near LAX was horrible. The party started at 9:00 a.m. and I did not get there until 9:45 a.m. I missed watching the swearing in of our new president, but I did get to hear it live on the radio. Of course I've seen it repeated it on the news several times today. I think that our new first lady looked very chic wearing Isabel Toledo. Sasha and Malia also looked absolutely adorable wearing their J. Crew coats. I fully admit to being one of those that is very excited about following the fashion choices of the first family.

Our gracious host, Jessica, is nearly a celebrity (in case you did not know). Check out this video of the CBS Evening News covering the party BEFORE it even happened! 

Here is a photo with me (looking puffy on the left, I need to start my new diet, um I mean lifestyle soon) with our host Jessica (middle) and my new friend Mary (right):

Other bloggers in attendance: Elizabeth (although I did not get a chance to meet her), Lolita, the Slackmistress, and Kim. I am sure there were more bloggers there but these are the ones that I am immediately aware of.

Also, John McCoy, a photographer from the LA Daily News showed up to snap a few shots. Here is a photo of me and Mary. I was supposed to be "live blogging" but Mary did a much better job at this than I did. I was too busy drinking mimosas. I am digging my hair cut in this photo.

You can click this link to check out more photos from the party on the LA Daily News site. You will see that there were A LOT of kids at this party (the LA Mom's Republican play group was on the invitee list). I am not accustomed to being around this many children at once, considering that we do not have any. But surprisingly, the kids at the party were relatively well behaved. Only one kid pooped on the floor that I am aware of. At least that happened before I arrived. Thank goodness for that bad traffic near LAX. 

All in all, besides the tale of poop, it was really a lovely time! Thanks again to Jessica for hosting such a lovely party.