Flourish + Fun

There are so many hopes, goals and past reflections that come with the New Year. Here are a few of mine: Past Reflections: Time flies, what the heck happened to 2010? Lucky me! I am so blessed to have a handsome husband, a sweet baby girl and a fantastic family. Fresh Air. How does the cold weather and rain always have this magical power to stop me from getting out for more walks. Baby. WOW, how do we have a 5 month old? Who by the way finally {just} rolled over. Coffee. I started out last year very rarely drinking it. Now I thrive on it daily. Work. I used to kind of be a work-a-holic who in hind sight was pretty stressed out, kind of a bummer. I can't believe now that I am a stay at home mom it's literally three times more work than my previous "work". Decor. Our place didn't seem to be the home I envision it to be. Hopes and Goals: I want to enjoy this year and the moments in it, instead of rushing through it. I want to take time out of each day f...

Emma had her first Christmas this past weekend. It was so special, a bit crazy, pretty tiring, and definitely fun. We had lots of laughter, lots of coughing, and lots of presents! We started out the week by relaxing with Nana and Papa at their place, while Kyle finished up working in LA. Once he was done and on his way to join us, the festivities began. Later that week we went to see the play Peter Pan in all of it's magical glory. It was Cassidy's first play! She absolutely loved it. She kept saying afterwards "I want to see that movie again and again and again..." ;) We viewed a puppet show and decorated a HUGE gingerbread man We ran errands in order to get ready for the big Christmas day feast and meanwhile ran into an absolute downpour that ended with a beautiful double rainbow We celebrate the season with a Christmas hot chocolate and poem party at Michael and Farah's place. They always have the place decked out in gorgeous holiday decor and Far...

Kyle's little brother Chris {you might as well just call him my little brother too} just graduated this past week from Berkeley with honors and a degree in molecular environmental biology, minor in global poverty and practice. Despite the rain we headed up to Nor Cal to celebrate with him and watch him get his diploma. We are SO proud of him! We also managed to sneak in a day trip to visit Kyle's GRAN as well. She looked great and is such a joy to chat with. This visit was extra special as it was so fun to have her finally meet little Em.

Hope you have a wonderful week! We'll be taking a break for the holiday, but we'll be back soon with a full recap of the festivities. Here are the lyrics to one of our favorite carols written in 1847, Holy Night... Oh Holy Night The starts are brightly shining It is the night of our dear saviors birth Long lay the world in sin and error pining Till he appeared and our soul felt it's worth The thrill of hope The weary world rejoices For yonder breaks, a new and glorious morning Fall on your knees Oh hear the angels voices Oh night divine Oh night when Christ was born

I am huge fan of Christmas lights. Anything sparkly and glowing usually gets my attention pretty easily.  All growing up my family and I would jump in the car and cruise the neighborhood looking for the best house, adorned with the most amount of Christmas lights piled onto their house and yard. I still enjoy doing this, for example here . But although I love a "Griswold" type of home around the holidays, I also enjoy the simplicity and beauty of just a few plain lights. Case in point, I seriously need to figure out how to make/get this like the below photo. Does anyone know where to get these letters? I LOVE this .

Earlier this week a friend dropped off a chocolate peppermint cupcake from Sprinkles {because she doesn't like chocolate} ....lucky me huh! It was pure joy! :-)

A couple videos to whet your appetite for the holidays! We apologize to your necks in advance for the sideways recording of the first one ;-) Thanks to iPhone/YouTube for making this so frickin' easy to do… Enjoy!

As previously mentioned, we threw a baby shower for our best friend Jaye this past weekend. It was so much fun! Here are a few photos from the glorious day. It was amazing weather, about 75 and sunny with a light breeze {in December!} and we had a lovely day showering her with love. We can't wait for Baby Fendy to arrive, he's already so loved! Here's a quick photo recap! Jaye {mama to be, the honoree} and I... Suzy and I {hosts}... All the fabulous shower hosts {these ladies know how to throw a party!}... Food, presents, scenery, and decor... Jaye's sweet friends... and finally the cute {expectant} couple... p.s. did I mention Adam {Jaye's hubby} arrived to open presents with Jaye and brought each lady a rose and Jaye a huge bouquet, what a sweet guy huh! They are both going to be such wonderful parents!

We are throwing one of my best friends Jaye, a baby shower tomorrow and it's going to be a blast! The lovely hosts and I have been working furiously all week. Photos of the event soon to follow!

As mentioned, here are a few of our favorite photos from our family Holiday shoot with our good friend Amy... enjoy! At the Santa Monica Ice Rink... On our way home... Home... <3 US

Lately, well the past 4 months to be exact, getting out of the house has proved to be a bit difficult. But this weekend we got out... at least twice! Friday night we went out to West Hollywood {big thanks to Ellie & Doug for babysitting!} to see Uncle Daddy play at the Troubador to kick off their Christmas release album . It was an incredible show, they mixed Christmas tunes with their current eclectic mix of strings and rock, along with a Lady Gaga Poker face cover {awesome}. We had a really fun time catching up with friends and rocking out in the crowd. You can listen to a sample and buy the amazing album HERE ! We also went out for a Santa Monica photo shoot with my good friend Amy, in hopes pf making a family Christmas card {probably an E-card cause we are a bit behind in the mailing}. The clouds opened up and we got rained on in the process so if you see an umbrella in the photos you know it's not just a photo prop. Photos to come soon!  We ended the weekend wit...