practical and meaningful

cowgirls

her encore

 

for her encore, she sang BEAUTIFUL.

my daughter sings

We were celebrating at our friend David Grieco's 40th birthday party in Ojai and my daughter really wanted to sing with the band. She was nervous and excited and could not decide if she should or not. She sang privately to David and Mitch and then mustered the courage to go on stage. David said, come on Sully, it is moments like these that can change your entire life. Let's go.

 

fourteen years

happy anniversary to my husband!                                       downtown los angeles 1997

money matters

I am pretty practical about most money matters - but here are the things I am always willing to spend money on. Making memories. Having parties. Photography. Making photos for people. Getting art framed. Travel. Gifts for our parents. Making photo books. Boots. Massage. Good food. Friends.

What special things do you splurge on?

use your stuff

In the kitchen, we all have amazing gadgets and appliances that we have collected over the years.

USE THEM. Throw a party. Invite people over.

Pull out your fondue pot and host a cheese and chocolate fondue party. Your your fancy china and throw a tea party for kids, have a dinner party and make lots of little desserts in ramekins! Use your stuff.

 

the magic driveway portrait series

I have a very special place that I love to take photos. It is a magic driveway and the light is amazing, and the walls are perfectly distressed, and everyone photographs well there.  Especially people with light eyes.

Last year I decided to offer portraits to all my friends in the magic driveway as a personal project. We would meet at the driveway and shoot for approximately 5 minutes. Done. Natural light, no flash, quickly shot, while dodging traffic. Here are some of the portraits from the magic driveway.

 

California Roadtrip - a week of surf, sand, mountains, desert and a dash of home

 

 


   
 




The week after Christmas came fast this year. We did not really plan this adventure as a whole - but the various parts just worked together.  We made a plan to rent a boat the day after Christmas with our friends who just moved here from Minnesota and we had a wedding to attend in Palm Springs on New Years Eve. Everything in the middle, just found it's way.

In one week we went from our home in Los Angeles, to Oxnard, to the Santa Cruz islands on a boat, to our friend's house in Santa Ynez, a quick stop at home and now we are in Palm Springs.  It was nice to be away from our normal worlds and even better to all be together. That was the only goal of the week - to spend it as a family and hang out with some friends along the way.

Unusual for us, we were very disorganized in our packing and planning - which meant for a couple extra tanks of gas, and a few lost hours.  We joked that to top it all off, we should head to the snow on our way home from Palm Springs , but I think we will actually head home and do laundry and make black eyed peas for New Years luck. It was a great California roadtrip - with lots of terrain, great friends, delicious food, and time together.

Happy two thousand and eleven. I am very excited for the new year.

How do you know....

I have noticed  that when I am at a gathering, and meet new people they all want to know "How do you know....so and so (usually the person throwing the party)?". It's a curious question, but very meaningful and practical. People want to understand the connection. They want to connect the dots.

I have decided to profile many of the people I know and show you the dots that connect us. We get a little taste of who knows who on Facebook - with mutual friends, but this will delve deeper.

I am excited to honor these people that I love, and show you how our lives intersect. Stay tuned.

the more you put into something, the more you have at stake

work, family, friends, food, business, art, love, home, and life.