Art of Living

time to buy a "real" set of dishes. my dream set? royal copenhagen's black or blue fluted mega china. we wouldn't be purchasing an entire set. just a couple of plates and bowls here and there. ramen and lean pockets would taste better when served on these babies, fo-sho!

Remember the Time - Part I

we got married at a former smog shop?


there were lots of marigolds (because they go well with black puppies) and lots of candles (because i used to operate a candle factory)...


a not-so-tiny gentleman named "Tini" serenaded us down the aisle to jack johnson's "better together" (because we are) and "somewhere over the rainbow" (because it's magical)...



guests chow down on miniatures catered by "the food matters" (because it does!) during reception. these melt-in-your-mouth pastrami sliders were our favorite...



table-settings sparkled...





with the help of an assortment of kooky flowers...



not to mention an original doodle of "things that pair well together" for each and every guest...

more to come.

photos taken by friends, jay, karen, and jen. le cub and i were too busy to document!

Damage Control

The verdict is in. (Well, people's Facebook photos are in.)

I was clearly NOT a blushing bride on le cub and cougar wedding day. (Note that the idiocy peaked when being photographed without my cub.) Am kind of scared to see what was else was caught on film. Poor Max. Poor Joel.

Oh. Did I mention that an actual WAVE took place during dinner? Niiiice.

pictured: me and baby-boxer-ab-bearing classmate, jeff.

Show and Tell

full set of doodles from our italian vacay here. i finished off the entire moleskine...

Reunited...

and it feels so good...

Back on the ground with le pup. So many doodles to share and so stories to tell :) But first things first. The freeing of Mr. Onion (tentatively named Mr. Onion until he is granted a better name). We saw him on our first day in Rome and bought him on our last day in Rome. He's not crying. It's just raining by his face...

Rain, Rain, Go Away

le hubs and i are returning to rome tomorrow. YAY!!! sorrento, capri and positano were fun, but we think that dry weather would be nice for a change. (it's been raining everyday.) plus, we miss the food.

three days remaining. we've been away from home and beans for ten days now. our honeymoon... bit long? yes, but we never want ours to end. pasta-mama spotting is just way too much fun.

Meh.

today was spent traveling from Olbia (Sardinia) to Civitavecchia (Rome) to Naples (our one night stop-over before hitting up the Amalfi Coast). it took all day to get here via a cab, a ferry, a bus, a train, another train, and another cab. needless to say, this anti-transfers gal was not pleased with the process. luckily le hubby ended our transitional day on a sweet note. he brought gelato back to our room... pistachio AND nutella! *nommmmm*

Domo Arigato Mr. Roboto...

everyone in porto cervo think that le hubby and i are japanese. in actuality, we're more egyptian than japanese. see our heiroglyphic-esque sand messages? last night here. *single teardrop falls and is then sucked up at the corner of my mouth*

Go Team

after enjoying breakfast not in bed (because we'd ordered too much), le hubby and i went sunnin' in sardinia for one last time. le hubby and i are really going to miss this charming beach. inspired by the suckling pig entree he enjoyed last night, i made him this italian sand pig. le hubby built a wall and moat to protect my lil' oinkster. farewell, porto cervo! i don't think i've EVER felt so relaxed in my life...

Can't Get You Out of My Mind

in case you were wondering, i have been documenting the trip... *doodle-doodle-doodle* pictured? pages from the "pages" of my accordian moleskine...

Sunnin' in Sardinia

hi mom! hi dad! le cub and i are in sardinia's porto cervo. it is, apparently, where celebrities, billionaires, and residents of burbank go to chillax. enjoying our time as wastes of space. we wake, we eat, we poop, we sleep. all on the beach. having a Magnificent (yes, with a capital "M") time...

pepperoni-colored toes pair well with my target bikini, no?

Fat and Happy

tomorrow is our final day in rome... then we're off to fancy-shmancy porto cervo on the island of sardinia. we depart from the ancient city fat and happy. le cub and i both kinda forgot that we'd be sporting swim trunks and bikinis during the rest of our vacay. here's hoping our lovely pasta and gelato-filled bodies don't cause our ferry to sink...

pictured: delicious helping of cacio e pepe alla roma sparita (as recommended by anthony bourdain!)

High Time

...that i wear a watch.

i stopped wearing watches long ago, but i'd start again for this one. la medor by hermes is perfection. not only is this watch g-g-gorgeous and discrete (the center watch face is covered), it has a sense of humor. ("medor" is the nickname the french give a dog.)i'd long been hoping to land one in black... and what do you know? the hotel at which we're staying at in rome is conveniently situated a hop-skip away from hermes. and guess what's in the window? oh wait, guess what WAS in the window?

my one big euro purchase has been made. and le cub approves.

photo by garance dore

A-Ha

while le cub was napping, i went shopping. saw these lil' guys in a shop window and became inspired for my thesis film. can't wait to share my thoughts...

When in Rome

cacio e pepe alla roma sparita (as recommended by anthony bourdain)? mmm... yes! indulgent mini spree at miu miu and marni? gosh, why not? nutella gelato AND nocciola gelato? must you even ask?! le cub and i are having ourselves a grand ol' indulgent time here in italy. all while taking advantage of our hotel's free wi-fi...

just wanted to say "hi"...

Natural

it only took 6 hours to get 8 gals and 1 mama looking "natural" for the big day...

me and my "moh" (maid-of-honor, "hammy") in our plum pretty sugar robes, post hair and make-up. seeing ourselves looking and behaving like ladies is a rarity. that said, this is an image to be savored.

We Did

Le cub and I were married in Los Angeles this past Saturday on August 28th. It was a day filled with our favorite f-words. Friends, family, food, and fun. Everything we could have hoped for... sprinkled with LOVE.

A special thank you to my moms (yep, I've now got two), dads (two), Jonathan and Rebecca... for making all our dreams come true.

Hey Mr. Dj, Put a Record On...

just emailed wedding dj to please play "maneater" on our big day.
how embarrassing.

The Bird and the Bee

There will be a lot of handmade goodness (like this blingin' cake topper) at le cub and cougar wedding because we're just cool like that. It's no Small Object topper (click HERE to see what I'm referring to), but this ghetto six-dollar version is more us anyway :)

Had a couple of friends over last night for a wine tasting. Yes, how adult of us. Noooo, we haven't gone fancy-pants. The tasting was for the wedding. We wanted to hang out with some old buddies while double-checking the bottles le cub picked out from Bevmo. Don't want to serve crappy wine, that's all. Dinner consisted of a hearty mac n cheese and parmesan roasted garlic followed by banana cream pudding. Not a meal for the lactose-intolerant.

Finally, our friend Dave (we came over to help us do our wine homework) introduced us to a musical duo called "The Bird and the Bee". They cover lots of 80s songs (think Hall and Oates). LOVE IT! Thank you, DKim, for the recommendation. NOW, I have to coolest iPod mix.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

When Beans REALLY loves a person, he either "paws" him/her (pets the person with his paw), or he sits on the person's feet, legs. That said, if other dogs do the same, the lil' guy pictured in this photo (that I found on ffffound) probably loves rainbows. *smile*

P.S. My mom thinks the words to "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" are "SomeDAY over the rainbow..." She sings it with such gusto, le cub and I don't have the heart to correct her............. :)

Crowded

What with my stuff, le cub's stuff, and all the wonderful stuff that's been arriving from our wedding registry, our home has gotten a tad crowded. Gosh darnit, we might as well be a feature home on hoarders. UGH! Am absolutely hating the clutter and am unable to live in such squalor. Le cub, on the other hand, doesn't seem to mind... Unacceptable.

I'm annoyed and hormonal. Not a good combo.

Pictured: Work in progress crowd scene for a personal project of one of the buddies at Buddy System. These folks are at a hockey game...

License to Wed

We took the morning off and got our marriage license!!!

The ice-cream man outside the Van Nuys courthouse helped document the event. He's no Max Wanger, but he did have frozen-treats to offer. A Tweety ice-cream popsicle with blueberry-flavored eyeballs was consumed in celebration. Ice-cream man had run out of the Spiderman ones. D'oh!

It's the Final Countdown

9 . The number of hours until le cub and I head on over the courthouse to pick up our license to wed! Tomorrow's a lucky, Chinese Lunar calendar approved day, no less...

2. The number of days I've got left at Buddy System Studios. I owe the guys there some Chinese pickles.

1. The number of full weeks left until le cub and I get hitched. I'm waiting for the non-toxic paint on our wedding cake topper to dry as I type this entry. Yup... unfinished handmade goodness!... Josh has no mouth because the joy surrounding this occasion has left him speechless..........

Pa-pa-pa-pa-poke-her-face!!!

The concert was epic. Possibly the best concert I've ever been to - and I've been to a lot.
LOVE HER.
LOVE this Man Gaga.
LOVE Pammy.

It's Always Sunny...

When le cub is around. He brought me flowers! Just because. And they aren't just any flowers. They're SUNflowers! I took this photo because I thought the combination of three of the six flowers resemble the face of my favorite yorkie (Hammy's pup, Shady). Didn't realize I'd fail to crop out my nasty legs... Wahaha... Mutant sunflowers!

LOVE.

A Little Pick Me Up

Even cougars get sad sometimes. Don't know what it is, but every so often, my female hormones get the best of me, and I get uncontrollably cranky. The world "owes me" for absolutely no reason, and I become a wretched human being. I'm not proud of this...

This morning, I woke moodier than a 70s mood ring (remember those?!). Luckily, le cub came to the rescue and made everything better when he surprised me at the place of my internship during lunch hour with an ice-cream sundae picnic. He brought a cooler with Breyer's cookies and cream ice-cream, a blanket, a bowl, two spoons, and a banana, and right then and there, parked in a Ralph's parking lot, the mood tides changed...

This cougar is very, VERY lucky to have found herself this incredibly patient cub. *hearts for eyes*

So Much in Store

Working on a mini project that involved me buying out Aaron Brother's miniature frame display and *gasp* DRAWING again. Want a sneak-peek? What? You DO?! How superb. Here you are.

Buddy System Studios. I think the Buddies should start their own male, Old-Spice-infused and facial-hair-equipped Martha Stewart and show. They can build everything out anything!

Finally, the work of another doodler, ginettesqulette. I found it via drawn and I love it. (Reminds me of my in-class doodles. Psychedlelic and totally random!) Flickr account here.

What a Wonderful World

I'm getting married really soon. Yes, le cub is going to be just as cool as Mick, and I will be just as hip as Jade.

My cousin, Cindy brought home a new member into our family this weekend. Her name is Dumpling, and she's an adorable pug. I have secretly renamed her La Bamba. Shh. Don't tell. But omigooooodness, that face!

Our wedding caterers, Jerry and Chris of The Food Matters just opened a to-die-for taco joint on La Brea. The name's Tinga, and you can bet your money on us being there this coming weekend.

Finally, I haz a pretty secondary-color-filled scenic photo zat I finds on zee interbutts via ffffound.com. Me post. Me win.

That's What Friends Are For

Was in the Bay Area this past weekend visiting le cub in his SF digs for one last time before his big move back to LA...

Was able to catch up with the bff, "Hammy" on Sunday. We had made plans to check out the Renegade Crafts Fair being held at Fort Mason, but lo and behold... the Barney's warehouse sale was taking place right next door! Unable to resist, we attended both events... muah-haha.

Pictured: Me and "le bff" joining other crazy women in the dressing "zone" that had been pitched in the middle of the warehouse. In order to try on clothes, one had to strip down in front of lots of strangers. What chicks wouldn't do for a good deal! And gosh, for some odd reason, all the pieces we'd grabbed to try on did not have zippers, so we found ourselves struggling to change out of several dresses. So lucky that we had each other!!! (And ooh, tall pervy men were able to see over the tarp barricade. Le bff and I were able to ignore the oglers. Frankly speaking, if you're a dude at a Barney's warehouse sale, you're probably not into chicks anyway... :)

Business Attire

Bought a new t-shirt at the Renegade Crafts Fair. Think I'll wear it to work tomorrow. The Buddy bosses sport beards...