On Saturday, my parents hosted a huge fundraiser/party for Zion, the school that my siblings attend. The party had a Hollywood theme to it, complete with red carpets, a step-and-repeat area, a live 18-piece band, drinks, food, dancing, the whole shebang! They even had a film crew filming scenes for their movie...it definitely had an old Hollywood vibe to it. Over 300 people attended and I have to say, it was really magical how my mom and the rest of the party committee transformed our house into this magical garden with gorgeous star-like lights. I went on a shooting frenzy, taking pictures of everything from the ice sculpture to the little blackberries on the desserts. Here are just a few...

The entire party reminded me of the lavish parties that were in the movie "Sabrina" featuring Harrison Ford, Julia Ormond and Greg Kinnear. Since there was alcohol at the party, guests had to be 21+ so my poor brothers and sister had to stay upstairs all night. I went upstairs a couple of times to keep them company and I caught all three of them looking outside of the window, wishing they were in on the fun...isn't that cute????

bits of my May

May whirled by and June's just around the corner. Although the weather has been sporadic, there were some really, amazingly beautiful days. I'm talking about 75-degree weather, sun shining, clouds absent, ocean water blue, the whole shebang. June will be a big month of celebrations--birthdays, graduations, summer, etc. Can't wait!



What's your plan for the weekend? Tonight I'm going to catch up with old high-school friends and tomorrow I'll be at my mom's much anticipated fundraiser at our house. The Hollywood-themed party is going to have an open cast call for 3 openings in a movie scene that will be shot at our house...how fun huh?? I hope you guys have a great weekend :)

Babies.

Have you seen this documentary? It is so, so, so wonderful. I brought Mark with me to see it on Mother's Day (he fell asleep) but I loved it so much that my mom and I are going to see it this weekend. Can't wait! If you haven't watched the trailer for it, see it here...now.

Hands Down, Best Wedding Ever.

As you all know, Mark and I flew out to Raleigh, North Carolina for Mark's brother's wedding. The trip was quick--48 hours to be exact--but the exhaustion was well worth it. I've personally never been to a wedding other than my parents' so I was excited to celebrate such a beautiful thing with two equally beautiful people.

Now, I may not have other weddings to compare this to but everything was effortlessly wonderful to perfection. The laid-back atmosphere, lighthearted humor, beautiful people, the unconventional venue...it all added to how unique this wedding was. Plus I met great people and spent some quality time with Mark's family, who are always so, so, so much fun!

I didn't take a lot of photos because I was too busy having fun, running around and dancing my life away, but there are some great moments captured with the few that I have.

Thank you Sam and Starr and the rest of Mark's family for making this weekend so memorable and beautiful. It truly was spectacular :)

[The bridal shower. It took place at a gourmet chocolate factory
where Sam & Starr both work. How cool is that??]

[From left: Sam, Dave, Mark, Tom, Steve and Bill]

[Starr the bride!]

[Starr was wiping Sam's tears :) ]

[A fun picture at the end of the night!]

Every time I reflect on this past weekend, I realize more and more how awesome and special it was. Have a great Tuesday everyone!!

ciao <3

Raleigh (pronounced RAH-LEE), NC

Hi lovelies!

I'm flying to Raleigh, North Carolina this weekend for a whirlwind wedding extravaganza. Mark's brother, Sam, will be getting married to his fiance Starr Chastity Sink on Saturday. Mark and I are flying tomorrow night at 1 a.m. (yikes), arriving in NC at 11:30 a.m. and leaving Sunday morning at 6 a.m. It's going to be rapid, wildly fun and verging insanity.

And you bet I'll be taking tons of pictures to be posted on here next week! I hope all of you have a lovely weekend.

Ciao <3

Writer's Room

There's a wonderful series about writers' rooms at the Guardian that I think everyone should check out. The series explores the intimate rooms that writers like Charles Darwin and Charlotte Bronte spent most of their hours, producing most of their best works.

Virginia Woolf

Virginia Woolf had a small writing room in the garden constructed out of a wooden tool shed below a loft. She wrote there in the summers, and liked it very much, though it was not ideal for concentration.


Ten years later, the "writing lodge", as she called it, was moved down to the far end of the garden, under the chestnut tree next to the flint churchyard wall. In this writer's lodge, Woolf wrote parts of all her major novels from Mrs Dalloway to Between the Acts, many essays and reviews, and many letters. This was where Leonard came out in July 1931 to tell her that The Waves, which he had just finished reading, was a masterpiece. This was where she struggled for months on end with The Years, trying to cut down on her smoking (from six or seven to one a morning in 1934). This was where, on Friday March 28, 1941, on a cold spring morning, she wrote a farewell letter to Leonard before walking down to the River Ouse, leaving her papers in disarray, with several revisions of her last essay on Mrs Thrale in the waste-paper basket and immense numbers of typewritten sheets lying about the room.

With any craft whether it be writing, drawing, painting or sculpting, I think the space in which a person feels most comfortable to let creativity take control of their body, mind and soul and produce physical reflections of these abstract ideas is crucial to perfect. Sometimes I think that I'm too particular about how high my chair is in relation to my desk, how comfortably my arms rest on my desk while writing, what music is playing in the background, how the lighting is, what colors surround my space, etc. But in reality, these things need to feel perfect at the time so that I can be creative and comfortable enough to explore. Obviously, what's perfect one day isn't perfect the next...it's all about what feels perfect in the moment.

I think it's very interesting to look at these writers' rooms. After all, these rooms were probably where they spent most of their time and most likely in isolation. The walls of these rooms probably saw many tears, heard many crazy laughs and observed people teetering on the brink of insanity.

I really encourage you to check it out. It's quite amazing and there are more than 30 writers featured!

<3>

I have an announcement.

In just a short 5 weeks, I will be embarking in a 6-week road trip with my family from June 14 to July 26!


There's no doubt that I'm crazy for happily agreeing to be in a minivan with kids ages 10, 8 and 7 for six weeks but my excitement surpasses any desire to run away/back out. Not only will I see some pretty awesome places throughout this country, I'll spend some serious quality time with my family before I jet set to Korea.

Not to mention the wonderful blogging/photography opportunities that will come from this. The only rule we have is that at the end of each day, we will always sleep in a hotel that has a pool. Hopefully this means I'll have easy accessibility to the internet to document all of my wonderful, crazy adventures!

Locations we plan to visit:

Phoenix, AZ
Surprise, AZ
Carlsbad Caverns, NM
Houston, TX
San Antonio, TX
New Orleans, LA
Sanderson, FL
Jacksonville, FL
Charleston, SC
Jamestown, VA
Washington, DC
Gettysburg, PA
Wilmington, DE
New York, NY
Boston, MA
Niagara Falls (Canada Side)
Mansfield, OH
Des Moines, IA
Mount Rushmore, SD
Yellowstone, WY
Provo, UT
Bryce Canyon, UT
Zion, UT
Las Vegas, NV


Whew!!! So that's the tentative plan...with 3 kids, this is definitely subject to change. I've officially been designated NY and DC to plan out for the family. Very excited!!

If any of you have been to any of the locations above and have suggestions, please share :) Thanks, lovelies <3

What did you do this weekend?

I hope all of you had a beautiful weekend!

Mine was filled with lots of laughs, gorgeous sunshine and goofing around with my brothers and sister.

For those of you in Southern California, today is supposed to be a beautiful day--75 degrees!--so go outside and enjoy the sunshine :)

(via naturally nina)

Have a great, fantastic, marvelous Monday!!