Morning Sunshine

Every so often Hank goes a bit stir crazy in the morning. Especially if he wakes up at 5:30 am like he has been doing most mornings these days. Today was one of those days so I put a sweater over his pjs and we headed out. We stepped outside to one of the most beautiful sunrises I have ever seen. We really do have spectacular light in Los Angeles. I wish my iphone could do it justice but here is a sorry representation of the brilliant colors we saw. I think even Hank was awestruck.

I love our new neighborhood so much. There is an amazing bakery in the neighborhood that serves delicious coffee and dangerous treats but unfortunately they aren't open on Mondays and they don't open early enough for us early risers anyway so to Starbucks we trudged. We share morning treats and spend a few moments relaxing. Hank flirts with everyone in the store and then he grows tired of it and we head out. Lately he is so excited about walking he is desperate to get out his stroller by the time we get half way home. I took a little video this morning of his cute little walk. He is so much better now then he was just a few weeks ago but there are still a lot of spills and he has the cutest drunken-man gait ever.

Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend.

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is upon us. Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday. I have planned the next 48-hours of cooking down to the minute so hopefully everything will turn out great. Until next week here are some recent instagram shots of my family.

Fifties Coed

It has been downright chilly in Los Angeles, but I have been loving it mostly because I just got myself this guy

I am not sure the photo does it justice. It is really cute and I feel like a fifties coed straight out of "Dead Poets Society" or "Flirting" but since I couldn't find an image of those movies that captured the feel of what I am talking about. This is what I found:

I am not even sure if I ever saw "Mona Lisa Smile" but I am pretty sure it captures the vibe of my new fall coat perfectly. I am Julia Roberts in case that wasn't painfully obvious. I guess my next buy might have to be a beret. Just kidding I would look like a member of the Griswold family visiting the Eiffel Tower in a beret.

Photobooth

My affection for photo booths began at an early age. I used to beg my Mom to take me and various friends to Ed Debevics (a fifties style restaurant in Chicago) where they had a vintage black and white photo booth near the entrance. There was something so satisfying about holding the still wet photos and being able to smell the lingering chemicals. Soon after I discovered a funky vintage store that had a photo booth and  props to bring into your impromptu photo session - think vintage hats and oversize glasses. Somewhere in a box in my house are tons of cut up old photos of my fourth grade self posing away. Since I couldn't find those I found these lovely vintage examples including one of Audrey Hepburn, her husband Mel Ferrer and Truman Capote.

When I frequented bars in Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles the criteria for me was often does it have a photo booth? Even if the night was terrible you could walk away with some artifact proving the night wasn't a total bust. I could always pile in with a friend and try my best to look cute. There is something so flattering about a black and white photo booth photo. I am not sure exactly what it is but there is definitely something forgiving about the light. 

These days I think I go to a bar maybe once every four months or so if that. This weekend we stopped by a friend of my husband's party at a bar in Highland Park on Saturday quickly as part of our date night and I had to really think hard about the last time I had ventured into a bar. It just isn't a part of my life these days but I still long for a strip of photo booth photos to put on my fridge. Luckily I discovered this amazing Ipad app called incredibooth. And while it doesn't 100% satisfy (you don't get to shake a strip dry and slip it into your purse) it comes close for someone who is never around a photo booth. Here are a couple recent favorites with my number one co-subject these days. 

Vintage photo booth photos found here. 

Adventures in Babysitting

I just read that Elisabeth Shue will be joining the cast of CSI as the new female lead. Now I have never seen CSI in my life but I am curious if this roll will surpass the best and most challenging roll of her career (no I am not talking about her Oscar nominated performance in "Leaving Las Vegas"). I am talking about the film with one of the best opening sequence of an eighties movie ever. Am I alone in my love for "Adventures in Babysitting?" Recently I watched parts one, two and three on youtube one Saturday afternoon. Yep the whole movie is online on youtube so I guess someone out there agrees with me. And did you know that it's Bradley Whitford of "West Wing" and "Billy Madison" fame who plays the caddish boyfriend? They just don't make em like they did in the eighties.

Our Old Stomping Grounds

Warning if you live in LA this post may be old news to you. During my maternity leave it was difficult to imagine walking more then a few short blocks from our apartment. I was nervous that Hank might start crying and then what (I eventually got over this thank goodness). Luckily our apartment was just above the cutest walking street in Silver Lake. While I love our new home and neighborhood Atwater Village I miss that stretch of Silver Lake BLVD between the reservoir and our old street that houses some of the best shops and food options on the East Side. Being able to roll out the door and throw Hank in the Ergo or the stroller and explore this area was the best.

Lake Boutique

Each journey would always include a stop into Lake where I was proud to be on a first name basis with a few of the people who work here (my husband might say this is NOT a good thing). This is truly the best store ever! They have amazing home goods, beautiful jewelry and the coolest clothes around - think Isabel Marant and Rag and Bone and everything else that I love and mostly aspire to own these days. I dare you to not love it. There is also always a cool espadrille direct from Spain in the summer or some cool rachel comey boot to dream about. If you are on Silver Lake BLVD you must stop here if only for the eye candy.

Lawson Fenning

If Lake is the place I dreamed I would purchase all my clothes from thank god there is a store right next to it where I can purchase all of my new home's furniture and accessories. Lawson Fenning is a really great mix of interesting furniture, beautiful strange accessories like wire industrial lamps and agate book ends. They have some beautiful art books in the back and giant canvas bags that seem like you should fill with an easel, canvas and a baguette and head to Giverny to paint some landscapes with a beret on.This store also has a good dose of masculine goods to you can grab something for your man while you are in the midst of all this shopping. This store is just great eye candy. I have yet to purchase anything from here but they don't seem to mind my endless wanderings. Apparently there is one in West Hollywood as well but I have never been to this location. 

Yolk

Since I have already purchased my fall wardrobe and furnished my home (in my head) I now must purchase a few things for Hank. Now yolk has cute gifts and furniture and clothes for adults too but I feel like where they really excel is with cute, amazing children's things. They have just about everything if you need a gift for a little one or a mama to be. They have so many amazing books and adorable clothing and toys and furniture, etc. And they have great ideas if you walk in a bit clueless late for a friend's child's birthday party. If you ask them what should I get a three-year-old little girl they have brilliant suggestions and they wrap everything up so pretty. Now a word of caution like everything else on Silver Lake Boulevard things can add up here quickly.

LAMILL

If all of that shopping or ogling in my case has made you fatigued luckily there is a high end coffee shop with six different choices in just how to brew your coffee alone right down the street. Seriously LAMILL has the most delicious iced coffee I've ever had. Somehow they manage to make a simple iced black coffee taste like it was dipped in chocolate. There food is really good as well. For you foodies out there the menu was designed by the chef at Providence  one of the most delicious and perhaps most aspirational restaurant of all in Los Angeles (there is a theme emerging). You can get a cold pea soup and a panini in the summer and delicious butternut squash soup in the winter and so much more but I usually go for soup for some reason here. After all that shopping and eating luckily there is the gorgeous reservoir just done the street to walk or jog around with your baby in hand. You can dream about all of the beautiful homes that line this little lake and park yourself in the meadow and just soak up the serene setting and wonder to yourself when did Silver Lake become so full of young, hip families? 

This pic is from my husband's bday party we had here last year. It doesn't do it justice. 

Lauren Lauren

Who knew Lauren Bush would have such a stunning wedding gown? I never really considered myself a Ralph Lauren gown kind of gal but this is stunning. I love the Western feel throughout all the pics in Vogue. Wow.