The Royal Tenenbaums

One of Andrew's absolute favorite movies is The Royal Tenenbaums. In November Cinespia was playing a special screening of it at an old movie theater downtown.  I got VIP tickets and decided to make a date night out of it. We headed to Cliftons first for dinner and drinks. Sadly, the cafeteria was closed for renovations so we had a few appetizers at the bar on the 4th floor. Thankfully they had hotdgs at the theater because I was still STARVING! There was even a photobooth where they had an area set up like a room from the movie. 

Yearbook 2019

So.......I'm in charge of the entire yearbook at the kids school this year. Basically that means I am knee deep in layouts and pictures and trying to contact parents to upload more photos from each class. In a nutshell - it might be awhile until the next blog entry. Not weeks...just maybe a few days. Then again I may need a break from yearbook duties and need to upload something for myself. Wishful thinking anyway.

Day With the Kiddies

The kids had a day off in December so we decided to have a bit of an adventure. First we stopped at Griffith Park where they had a little cafe outside that I had been wanting to try. I got the egg salad sandwich which was soooooo dang good! Next up - roller skating at my favorite place! The kids were both very excited to skate this time - but Buster was done after one go around. Olive was loving it so it was definitely worth it. We ended the evening getting In-N-out and going home!

Date Night

One night in December, Andrew and I had a date night. More specifically dinner at Dama downtown and a concert at the Henry Fonda theater. We saw Passenger - an English singer/songwriter. It was a fun night and what made it even better was that Buster was awake when we got home. I secretly love it when the kids crawl into bed with us.

Electric Human Pop Up

In November my good friend Amanda had a pop up shop for her company Electric Human. Andrew and I made a date night out of the evening. We ended up having dinner at one of my all time favorite Thai restaurants Toi, which was right down the street. 

Walkathon - 2018

For the last 3 years Olive has won the entire walkathon event at her school. We raise over $1000 each year and this year was no different. The only problem - what to do about Buster? To be fair - they both raised the same amount $1125. Granted - Buster did more "laps" than Olive. I say that because I'm pretty sure his reading buddies gave them all their popsicle sticks.

Thank you to everyone who donated! We really couldn't do it without you.

Olive Gets Her Ears Pierced

BEFORE

AFTER

In early November Olive and I had a girls day. We had lunch, got her ears pierced, and saw a movie at iPic. I took her to an actual piercing place which she was very nervous about. Let me just say this - she was soooo good. Didn't cry. Just sat there and looked at me while they put the needle through her ear. We went back after a month to make sure they were healing properly and they were perfect. We haven't had one issue with them, thank goodness. 

*UPDATE - of course the second after I posted this Olive told me she had bumps on the back of her ear near her piercings. We are going today to see what they are and what we can do.  Will update.

**UPDATE - took Olive back to piercing place and had them look at her ears. They are not infected. They think it has something to do with her going to bed with her hair wet. They look a lot better this morning. 

Halloween 2018

For Halloween this year I made these really cool element costumes using L-wire. I was a rainbow. Andrew was a lightening bolt. Olive was a rain cloud. And Buster was the sun. WE LITERALLY LIT UP. They were the COOLEST costumes. Of course on actual Halloween day - the kids wanted to wear their "other" costumes instead of the ones I made. 

Girls Day/Date Night

Before kids - Lotus and I would spend almost every Saturday together. We would call it our "girls Saturday" and they were the BEST THING EVER. One weekend in October (I know it was AGES ago) we decided to do Korean BBQ and scrubs. Believe me - it was heaven. After our girls day I got my hair done and got ready for my date night with Andrew. We were going to Ethopian food at Meals by Genet (my absolute favorite) and seeing Halloween. It really was a great day. Except, of course, at the end of the night when I had to unbutton my jeans. And not just unbutton....I had to unzip too.

Almost There

I'm finally making progress on the blog! Last year I definitely was slacking, but I'm trying to make up for it. I'm currently trying to post about all the things we did in October (Date nights, Halloween), November (Olive getting her ears pierced, parties, date nights, Thanksgiving) and December(Holiday parties, date nights, Christmas)! 

Mexico - Last Day

Our last day in Mexico we woke up late and had a photoshoot with the photographer at the hotel. Then we had breakfast and layed by the pool for the rest of the afternoon. The kids and I had the BEST time. I can't wait to go on another trip with them. I plan on taking Buster somewhere after he graduates from Kindergarten. And for Andrew's birthday we are all planning on going to Mexico again. Stay tuned......

Mexico Day 4

On our last full day in Mexico we decided to go on a tour of La Paz and it's beaches. We had to get up at the crack of dawn which wasn't easy. But we boarded the van with a group of people and started our day.  We stopped in a tiny village where we had breakfast and coffee. I had one of the best tamales I've ever had in my life. It was seriously THAT good. It was a few hours into our tour when Buster informed me that his tummy was hurting. I was pretty sure he had to go to the bathroom but there were none for miles. Thankfully the guide made a special stop for us. Of course Buster felt 100% better after going and even asked for a chocolate chip cookie. After getting back on the road the driver stalled the van and was unable to restart it. WE WERE STRANDED IN THE TINIEST TOWN EVER. No hotels. No cabs. No ubers. With a 2-3 hour wait for another van I took matters into my own hands. I flagged down another tour bus and asked if they had any room. Guess what - they had 3 spare seats! I had them drop us off in La Paz which is where things start to get a lot better! We found an amazing uber driver, Ivan, who stayed with us for the remainder of the day. We went to Balandra Beach which was gorgeous!  After that Ivan took us to a restaurant on the beach that his dad used to take him to when he was a kid. Then we drove to Todos Santos and had ice cream. Then is was back to the hotel. All in all it was a LOOOOOOOOOONG day but the kids were such troopers. It ended up being a fun adventure.

Mexico - Day 3

On our third day in Mexico - we decided to go on a catamaran tour. It was a gorgeous day - but Buster was mad about something and was crying for the first part of the trip. Thankfully it turned around - and he was back to his normal, happy self. The first stop was a glass blowing factory where the kids got to see how hand blown glass is created. It was very cool and the kids loved it! We ended up getting the most beautiful glass heart ornaments for my mom.  Next we went into town and stopped at a huge store for souvenirs. The kids bought stuff for all their friends (and for them, of course).

Next up was our catamaran tour. Turns out - it was more of a booze cruise with a bunch of people wanting to get drunk!  The kids and I had fun though - we saw the arches and whales!

There was also a moment in the cruise that the boat anchored and all the drunkies got out to snorkel. Of course Olive wanted to go too. Let me just say this - she was over it in LESS than 3 minutes. The water was pretty cold and she was scared of all the fish.  She got back on the boat and I snorkeled for a bit. But my hair was still a DISASTER and all for 5 minutes of snorkeling!

When we returned we made sure to get a picture with the lizards! The kids were TOTALLY into it. Why in the world Olive was afraid of fish and not these things is BEYOND me.