Just Like Jonathan's Mirror

With the grey skies outside, this sunburst is brightening my day. It's on Ebay, a tri-level sunburst sculpture that may or may not be an authentic C. Jere. Who cares, it's gorgeous.

Check out this mirror sold by Jonathan Adler. He recently debuted a line of authentic C. Jere sculptures that are much more expensive. This one goes for $1,100! I prefer the ebay one that's currently less than $100.


I don't have a place to put it, but maybe someone else does!

Check out the listing here.

It Never Rains in Southern California

I couldn't believe my ears this morning. The lovely sound of rain pattering on my roof & through the trees in the backyard. This is a shot from the bridge in our backyard. Usually by the time I get the camera, the rain has stopped, but today, it's a constant light rain.

Project Runway.. Angel Food

Beverly Hilton for the Project Angel Food fundraiser. The best part was the Ted Baker fashion show. They have lots of great dresses for gals & preppy coats for guys.

I couldn't resist a prance down the catwalk after the show. Do you love my dress? It's Kate Moss for TopShop. I really wish they had them here in the US.

Isn't Eric McCormick cute? Not that I know him. We just spotted him shopping & grabbed him for the photo op.

Holiday Photo Frenzy

We just finished shooting our Christmas card photo. There are so many great ones, but the final shot is under wraps. I want to surprise our friends & fam! Did you see the 3rd pic? It features a pouncing Saber Toothed Simba.

It was so much fun to be silly with Robert in front of our tree. This is our first official Christmas together. Every other year we've spent apart except for last year. But in 2006, our house was under construction & we didn't even put up a tree. We just let the holiday fly by

Don't you love Robert's Santa costume? I bought it for $39 bucks at www.santasuits.com. I bought a sexy green elf costume from yandy.com, but it was too small and the dress didn't match the stockings.

I went searching through my closet & this morning I hit the jackpot. My D&G dress from the Grammys was hiding in the back. It worked better than any elf costume. (Plus I got a second wearing out of it!)

Jonathan Shapiro photographed us. He is gifted & headed to Bali as we speak. All of his vehicles are biodiesel & he has aspirations of helping less fortunate countries convert to biodiesel generators. What's not to love?

Thrifty Tree Skirt

I found this DIY kit at Urban Outfitters. I am not typically a do it yourselfer, but I have $12 & about an hour's time to sew felt together.

This was a nice find, because most of the other choices I liked were over $100. It's only really necessary to cover up the ugly metal legs of my fake tree.

Plus, all of my great presents will cover it up anyway!

I'm almost there.

Cuckoo Over Koons

When I was watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, I was transfixed by this balloon, and then my husband reminded me of what was so familiar about it. Jeff Koon's "Rabbit" from 1986! It was wonderful & so true to the original.







There's a great article on the NY Times website. But the writer talks about how different his creation looked from the other colorful balloons. I happen to love that childlike quality of the parade. The "Rabbit" just gave it that wonderful chrome kick.

I also loved the Care Bears float featuring the bears ice skating. Brings back childhood memories. (Care Bears... stare!) The Hello Kitty balloon too! (I had my first shopping sprees at the Sanrio store while back to school shopping as a 3rd grader.)

Speaking of NY, I'm heading there for another trip. I can't wait! It's an all-girls trip with my mom & my niece. We are going to visit my brother again. So excited!

Our Holiday in Pictures

Here's some photos from Thanksgiving. I made the most of every minute!



Woke up early to start the bird cooking. Don't know if I got the thermometer in right. I need a trim.

Doesn't the table look festive? The candied yams, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, pumpkin pie, rolls & cranberry sauce were delicious. The turkey and stuffing were a bit dry, but if I ate them in the same bite as the green bean casserole they tasted moist!


That dinner was more work than I imagined, so immediately after the meal, I laid on the couch with Simba & let the tryptophan kick in.

AgAfter my power nap & a shower, I changed into this cute dress from H&M. I'm still a bit groggy at this point.

Robert isn't. He's ready to go to grandma's house. He's holding Sabrina, our 3-legged Halloween cat.

After a trip to grandma's house, Jaime & Dana came over.


We love to take pictures. They even brought a polaroid camera. It was so much fun.

A View from El Lay

I know many of you log on from all over the US and the world. I love that! So I thought I'd share a bit of home with you. Here's how it looked this afternoon in Hollywood, they day before Thanksgiving. It's our busiest travel day of the year, because people travel to be with relatives.

The first photo was taken around 3:30pm at the Beverly Center. Traffic was growing by the minute. It's been really foggy too.

The second photo is from The Grove. It was built a few years ago, and some people make fun of it for looking a bit Disney-ish, but I love it. It does look a bit like Main Street USA doesn't it? Oh well.

I love to walk and windowshop at malls. It makes me feel better for avoiding my treadmill. Ok, so one or two more photos. This is Anthropologie's store windows at The Grove. I snapped this llama or alpaca surrounded by paper snowflakes.

I'm taking on the turkey tomorrow, so I'll be back after I recover from the holiday with an update. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Our Tree is Up

We just put up our artifical tree (nothing's messing with my new floors) and Simba has already taken her post in front of it. Guarding it. Every time we add something special to our home she makes sure the other kitties can't get close. She's the tree's bodyguard. Nobody's messing with the tree.

Why is it up so early? Well we were watching I Love New York 2 this morning & Robert says, let's put up the tree. I figure why not, since I'm not in the mood to lug it up our stairs on Thanksgiving. If he's inspired, he can do most of the work.

By the way, this comes from the gal who put up her tree in August two years ago. Not because I was selling it on ebay and needed to take a photo. It was for a much more pathetic reason than that. I was homesick, alone, & it provided comfort. Better than stuffing myself with oreos, right?

That's the same year I collected all of my vintage ornaments. I don't have the time to do that now. Maybe I have more of a life now? I sound pathetic. It's that time of year anyway when sappy pitiful stories are all over the place. That was mine for the holidays. You're welcome.

Getting Lucky Before Giving Thanks

Hard to believe it can be 11pm in LA and there are no decent restaurants open to grab a bite. It's enough to make you want to move to NY. I missed dinner, so I was desperate for food & a cocktail to relax before Thanksgiving. That's how I ended up in the McDonald's drive-thru & landed at the Good Luck Bar.

Love the drink names - Hong Kong Bong, Gold Cobra, Fist of Fury. Though the Mai Tai is still the best thing they serve there. That's my husband Robert picking out some tunes. So many beautiful details to enjoy with the libations, I snagged a few matchbooks for luck.

I just learned some of my favorite bars - Good Luck Bar, El Carmen, Bar Marmont and Jones Hollywood - are owned by the same person, Sean MacPherson. Bravo.

Great things in Small Packages

These holiday cards are simple and compact - like calling cards. It's the perfect amount of space when you've only got a bit of time to sign a quick note. These are from turtlepapers.etsy.com

Gothic Good News

This is the end credit sequence from Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events. I was mesmerized when I saw it the first time & the music is the perfect match. It was directed by Jamie Caliri and designed/animated by Axiom. The score is by Thomas Newman.

I was inspired to post this short masterpiece after learning that another outrageously talented and macabre-inspired talent - Tim Burton - is directing two new 3D films for Disney. Frankenweenie & Alice in Wonderland!

I love Alice in Wonderland so much. Lewis Carroll's imagination was boundless. Here's an excerpt from the book, right after she finds the tiny door she can't fit through:

There seemed to be no use in waiting by the little door, so she went back to the table, half hoping she might find another key on it, or at any rate a book of rules for shutting people up like telescopes: this time she found a little bottle on it, (`which certainly was not here before,' said Alice,) and round the neck of the bottle was a paper label, with the words `DRINK ME' beautifully printed on it in large letters.

Ahh.

Crafty Animal Ornaments

I'm an obsessive collector of vintage ornaments. I have many shiny balls and few toys. I haven't been lucky finding cute vintage toy ornaments, so I'm looking at new ones.
These sweet animals have so much life.
The chick wearing a tiny hat looks like he's ready to lick a flagpole and get his tongue (or beak) frozen to it.
The mouse with tinsel halo & soft wings reminds me of a girl performing in a holiday play.
Both are made by Jennifer Murphy.
These are at Urban Outfitters, but she has her own website where she sells her creations. Click here!

Thanksgiving Countdown

I bought the amber glass turkey tureen on sale for $19.99! I blogged about it a few posts ago. My next step was linens. I found these cute napkins (with the birds on them) at Pottery Barn yesterday. I bought red placemats to go with them, even though an oval shape looks best on our round table. Hey, beggars can't be choosers when you shop last minute.

By the way, I first stopped at Anthropologie and everything was still way too summery. I was a bit disappointed.

So here's my menu. Not necessarily the official names:

Roast Turkey that won the Most Votes on AllRecipes.com. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Henrietta's Southern Cornbread Dressing - my mom's recipe. fingers crossed.

Russet Mashed Potatoes - potatoes, butter, half & half... not much else. pretty easy and delish

Hot Candied Yams with Marshmallows - One of my favorite flavors. I love yams

Cranberries from the Can - both jelled & whole berry. Mmmm. The fresh stuff never does it for me.

Campbell's Green Bean Casserole - I can't wait to make this. My family never had it growing up. I tried it at a friend's house once & LOVED it. I wonder if I still will?

Mrs. Smith's frozen Spiced Pumpkin Pie - I'm not about to make it from scratch after everything else. Plus it tastes good.

Oh yeah & the vino. I bought a bottle of Chalk Hill chardonnay. My mom says after drinking this, it will be hard to drink any other chardonnay. It's a bit expensive for my budget, but I love a nice glass of wine & after all.. it's Thanksgiving! Did I tell you how excited I am?

I bought my usual La Crema & Kendall Jackson chardonnays in case the food takes too long to cook or friends stop by. I hope they do!

Mid-Century Modern Gingerbread House

This isn't your grandmother's gingerbread house, complete with garage & driveway, rock garden, and low-slung roof. This is my kind of gingerbread house. Love the California touches like palm trees. It's edible of course.

I live in a 70's modern home, but this is as close as it gets.

Thanks Red Envelope.

I also like this holiday card from MoMA.