All You Need is Love

James and I attended a wedding over the weekend in Topanga Canyon for our friends Kayla and Chris. There is nothing like an outdoor southern California wedding - the weather was beautiful, the setting was restful, and looking at what everyone else was wearing was fantastic! Kayla's sister, Carly, got married earlier this year, and although they used a few of the same touches, this wedding definitely had Kayla's stamp on it.

The lovely couple, waaaay up there

Kayla and Chris were married in an oak grove at the Ribbit Plant & Tree Nursery. Chris looked happy and relaxed, and Kayla looked stunning. There were all sorts of great personal touches - Kayla was hidden from view until she reached the aisle by her dad's 4 closest friends, who were each wearing a piece of her dad's suit. His presence was definitely felt and missed by all, as it was at Carly's wedding. Kayla wore the flower crown that her mom wore at her wedding during the reception. One of the bridesmaids read this fabulous poem called I Like You by Sandol Stoddard Warburg - it was just so them.

And then, it was party time.

Ryan was the DJ, I was just there

Joe and James

Ain't no party like a west coast par-taaay!

It was a great day, full of fun, friendship, laughter, and Mason jars practically filled with wine. Plus, our taxi actually showed up to take us back to the hotel after the festivities, which did not happen at the last wedding in Topanga Canyon we attended. (We caught a ride from some of the guys who worked at the venue, I was convinced we were going to be abducted.) So, all in all, good times were had!

And, speaking of weddings, today is our 5 year wedding anniversary! This marriage thing is pretty great, and I've gotta say, I'm a fan.

Congratulations, Kayla & Chris!!

October Reading

I've gotten "behind" on my reading. I blame The Shipping News. I spent most of October trying to get through it, and I couldn't, I just couldn't. I'm sure it's a great book for someone, but not for me.

No.

Here's what I finished this month - apparently I'm really into crime novels right now.

In the Woods by Tana French

Afterwards by Rosamund Lupton

Dream with Little Angels by Michael Hiebert

And right now, I'm struggling through another crime novel that I'm sort of wondering why I'm reading. But, I need to know whodunit. I enjoy trying to figure it out before the characters in the books do, and I'm usually pretty good at it. I want to know if I'm right this time.

Presenting: A Snapshot

Hooray! At long last, Domino is back in print! How did I find out about it? Good old Pinterest.

 Nothing too exciting going on around here lately. Unless you count the republication of Domino Magazine. (Why was it ever out of print in the first place??) Which I do. I got my copy the first day it was out. Thank goodness for Pinterest, otherwise I would have had no idea.

Train derailment by skeleton

James and I drove to Griffith Park to ride on a tiny train. Like, knees up to your chin tiny. And, being close to Halloween, the entire place was decorated to the theme of "spooky." Run entirely by volunteers, LA Live Steamers was definitely a guy's kind of place. Where else can you look at model trains and actually bring your own tiny train to ride around the tracks??

The larger train is what we rode on. The smaller ones were privately owned & operated. (Photo from Los Angeles Live Steamers Railroad Museum Archives)

 And then I had to go shoe shopping. Had to. For sparkly shoes, of course.

Shoes! Lovely shoes!

What have YOU been up to lately?

September Reading

Hello, October, where did you come from? 

The Lake of Dreams by Kim Edwards

Instructions for a Heatwave by Maggie O'Farrell - I started this while riding on a bus through Stoke Newington in the middle of what for England could be called a heatwave. Imagine my surprise when one of the characters in the book began his walk home through Stoke Newington and my husband's local park in the middle of a heatwave...totally surreal.

You would think right about now that I had chosen my books specifically for the key on the front cover. This would be an incorrect assumption.

The Brave by Nicholas Evans - see? No key.

The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket - call it research

And now begins my favorite time of year at work - the preparations for our annual children's book illustration show! We will be featuring 5 children's book illustrators and their original artwork, plus providing books to pre-order for signing and dedication by these illustrators. This all culminates in a day-long opening reception on December 7th, where about 100 original illustrations are displayed on the walls AND the illustrators (and even a few of the authors!) will be in attendance to sign books, give talks, demonstrations and lectures!

Can you guess how excited I am?

Plenty of Glitter...and then some...

Since returning from England a few weeks ago, life has sort of been go-go-go. We're getting ready for our biggest show of the year at work (children's book illustrations - yay!) and I've been working on a few jewelry projects in the mornings. James and I have been cleaning the house like mad (not fun). Plus the weekends have been taken up with a bridal shower, a bar mitzvah, and a bachelorette party. I've really barely seen James since our trip.

Last of the summer artist demonstrations at work - this is a watercolor in progress by Julie Hill

James and I have decided to try to cut down on the amount of TV we watch and do other things instead, which means we have "Wine & Cheese Hour" several times a week. YUM!

Work in progress on a family tree inspired piece of jewelry

Rumor has it...

I spent yesterday morning at Hamburger Mary's in Long Beach at a Sunday brunch drag show with the latest bride-to-be's bachelorette party. Bottomless mimosas, all-you-can-eat buffet, LOUD music, and outrageous drag acts. This one above was the most tame - the spitting image of Adele. But rest assured, there was plenty of glitter, sequins, huge hair, major makeup, and super high heels, and then some...

THEN I found a package of a double season of Gilmore Girls at Target for cheap, and guess what I spent the rest of Sunday doing? This will probably ruin the cutting down on the TV time for a little bit.

Jewelry Galore!

I haven't shown you what I've been working on lately, mainly because I've been too busy, well, working on them in the mornings to leave myself enough time to blog about them! I'm still getting up early to work before I go to work, and the ideas are flying...can't wait to get started on my next set of projects! In the meantime, here are a few finished jewelry pieces to share...

Isn't She Sweet photo collage ring

The Chief photo necklace

Elizabeth the English Girl photo earrings

The End of the Wedding Ceremony photo collage adjustable ring

Coney Island photo locket

Plus, on our trip to England, I picked up some photographs in one of the many markets held around the city to use in some new designs.

New / Old Images

Also, James' parents were kind enough to lend me whatever family photos I thought I could find use for. They have a treasure trove of images taken in Italy and they are printed and preserved beautifully. I even found an image of London before WWII, showing the area around St. Paul's Cathedral that was heavily bombed during the war. So amazing!

I've also been working on these little guys...

I don't know what they'll be yet, but I'm having fun experimenting!!

By the way, all of the finished pieces can be found in my Etsy store, so hop on over when you get the chance!

August Reading

If you're wondering why the blog has been so quiet lately, it's because James and I were in London! We got back two nights ago and we miss everyone already. Trips to England are always a little stressful because we never manage to see as many people or spend as much time with them as we'd like. Even if we'd been there for an entire month it still wouldn't have been enough. I started having dreams towards the end of our trip about not being able to see some people, which was really fun (not) because I'd begin my day with a healthy dose of guilt and then finish the day with a mild sense of panic. Yay. I'll tell you more about it next time...

So here's the reading from August.

Dear Lucy by Julie Sarkissian - I went to high school with Julie and remember her reading her compositions to our English class, so the strangest sensation when reading this book was hearing it in her voice. Congratulations on the book, Julie!!

Shine Shine Shine by Lydia Netzer - about a scientist on a rocket to colonize the moon with robots & his bald, pregnant wife back on Earth. Really not as strange as it sounds.

The Mourning Hours by Paula Treick DeBoard - really, really enjoyed this one

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin - this was a re-read