Recession Costume Party

Why can’t we have Halloween twice a year? Is that too much to ask? Katie, my lady, says “whatever you want princess Nini!” So, last March the fabuloso interior designer lost her job Boo! But, Katie as always took her lemons and made us some lemon bars and a “Recession Costume Party” to be envyed. The theme of the dress up was, “My dream job.” And let me tell ya the LBC’s dream jobs differ a tad from the Newps dream jobs, but awesome all the same. Katie was so cute and served us “Recession food” as in Pigs in a blanket, Cheese Puffs, Gummi Worms, Cheezits, Gummi Bears, Jungle Juice and Peach Schnapps….  Check it…

Gold Digger, Singer, Boxer-ina, NYC Housewife

So I think the boys were a carpenter, a handy man, a hit man and a Porn Star?

Diggin' and Boxin!

Gangster, Receptionist, Hooters, Astronaut...

"Oh don't mind us...we're artist."

Peace Out-erspace!

Haloween 2009…Best Costumes Ever!

Jayden the Alien!

We’ll let my cousins, nephews and girlfriends babies go first…. 

Ashton "The Pirate" RRRrrrrr!

Sonny as Popeye the Sailor Man!

Birds of a feather get their Halloween party on together!

No Rockstar can resist a Senorita

The Parisian and The American that are giving birth to a Green Card

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trooper the Terrorist...this was awesomeness!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My "hot date" Miss. Teichman!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

xoxoxo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TTFN!

Paella and Traveling Princesses…

The Getty

 

:)

First me, then Jeannette and now Jess and April are off to Spain. I gotta admit I’m a tad jealous they are all there experiencing it all together. I would love to go back to Barcelona and see the Gaudi’s. Crazy beautiful! Yesterday, I got my postcards from all of them. Postcards are so trippy to look at. I’m always like, “Wow! How many hands has this tiny piece of cardstock been carried by just so it could get into my hands on the other side of the world” Trippy huh?

Anyway, so for April and Jess’ Bon Voyage party we had an intimate gathering of just a few of us on Jess’ patio along with a huge pot of Paella that I was quite proud of. I was really nervous to make it since Jess is always hosting us and is an AMAZING chefista herself. However with the awesome cheerleading of my mother over the phone I was able to make a great dish. I even took a picture…check it out…

Muy bueno!

If you want the recipe I highly reccomend it! You can get it here. I can’t wait till the girls get home to tell me their Euro stories. Hopefully they weren’t followed by strange men and almost kidnapped like me. Oh the perils and beauty of traveling alone. I’ll never do that again. I’m so glad they have eachother!

DerKaloustian Wedding

The best roommate in the whole wide world stopped services and picked out her own “permanent rommate” on Saturday in Los Angeles. My roommate from college Maral married Vicken DerKaloustian. It was an awesome Armenian wedding. I love everything about Armo weddings. The cross they hold over their heads in the church ceremony, the language that I have to keep nudging people to understand, the feast of food (I love the hummus and those grape leaves with tge  rice) the money tossing, the dancing or fly swatting! Maral planned a beautiful, elegant and contmporary wedding that totally fit her personality. It is such a treat to watch your friends get married. People you have seen through their entire relationships. I remember the days when we used to have to make Vicken watch Brokeback Mountain with us and swear we wouldn’t tell anyone he watched it. Or in the beginning when he’d spoil Maral with awesome gifts and we’d claim, “Hes a keeper.” To think their married now. Time definitely flies…from Creeker to Bride..Poof!

She is so AMAZING...He is so LUCKY!

The people I impressed with the volume of my voice over dinner

Married! Married = Money! Money!

Married! Married! = Getting thrown in the air

The Creekers!

Everythings cuter when it's toddler size

Later Armos...

Burkhart Art!

 

 

 

As the old saying goes, “Birds of a feather flock together” or you could go with the new saying, “Talented, smart and beautiful women hang out at XO Salon in Newport Beach and support their amazing artist of a friend Jessica Burkhart.” My girlfriend, old roommate, mentor and fellow hopeless romantic Jessica shows her work at XO Salon in Newport Beach. (Hair salons happen to be the new place to showcase your art work. Pretty genius considering you are chained to a chair for 3 hours of your time. You admire a piece of art work and by the time your hair is cut and colored you have found a place for that gorgeous painting in the hallway of your home. Brilliant!) N-e-wayz! Jess, is an incredibly talented artist that I just adore. Her artwork is not only exceptional, but when you talk to her and see the “why” she created what she created and “why” she selected the quotes she selected, you feel as if you are transported into a Jane Austens head. You feel as if looking at this piece of art all the sudden makes, life, love, romance, heart break, friendship and color all make sense. A beautiful combustion! Thats what I would call Jess’s work. A beautiful combustion! Because, thats truly what her work is, a sincere portrait of her experience. I love it and her so so so so so much! And how did I meet Jess? In art class of course! We were both high tailing it out of class actually to get coffee cause our Ebinezer Scrooge of a teacher was boring us to tears. Being true to your impulses pays off sometimes…sometimes

If I come back in another life…

…I wanna be Armenian! Cause they know how to party! My roommate from college, Maral just had her bridal shower in L.A. at The Mirage. It was definitely a party you would want to be at on a Saturday afternoon. Over 100 women dined on delicious Armenian cuisine of hummus, kabobs and the crazy raw meat sauce that I usually avoid. They danced to traditional Armenian tunes, doing their little “fly swatting” moves as I call them. They played traditional Armenian Bridal Shower games, such as blindfolding the Bride-to-be and having her touch people and try to guess who they were. Then somewhere along the assembly line they sneak the groom in. Maral was so adorable! She struggled to guess who everyone in the line was, but the second she put her hands on her fiances head she screamed “Vicken!”  These are some pictures I shot on a Nikon D40. Maral wanted the day documented and then made into a book on Blurb.com. These are some of my favs. I tend to like setting the camera to a high ISO and using no flash. More artsy that way. I can’t wait for the wedding!

Bon Voyage Jeannette!

Lisa's AMAZING Backyard

The last time I went to Spain I pretty much just packed up all my stuff, threw it in my sisters non-existent storage spaces at their houses, borrowed a back pack, put $300 bucks in my underwear and  hopped on the next Virgin Atlantic flight. After I was there I realized I didn’t need Europe, I really needed some therapy… oh well. Nice “vacay” though.

Jeannette on the other hand is a woman of introspection and planning. A true Capricorn to the core, she has planned her trip to Spain for a couple of years now and the universe has greatly helped her plan it. In her planning she met an amazing woman named Pilar from Barcelona who has set her up with a room in her families home to stay in while visiting Spain.  She has been connected to people living in Spain who have given her the necessary insider tips and info about living abroad and working abroad. And of course her boyfriend made her watch Taken. (Nice one Chris.)

Jamie, Jessica, Jeannette

All in all the most remarkable thing about Jeannette’s journey has been her faith in it. She has felt such a calling to visit this country and it seems that she has been patient enough to go when she if physically, emotionally and financially ready. As always Jeannette is an example to us all that good investments reap good rewards.

Me, Laura and April

These are a few pics from Jeannette’s Bon Voyage Party in Lisa’s AMAZING backyard! I want my wedding (if/when) to replicate an evening garden party like this. It is unbelievably charming and the food of an assortment of cheeses, mushroom and vegetarian sausage quesadillas, rice pudding and Jessicas lemon cupcakes kept us all happy campers! Bon Voyage Jeannette! We will miss you! xoxo