A mom date.

I've said it before but I'll say it again. In this phase of my life, mother-daughter alone time is the single most precious thing to me. It's rare and usually brief, but time with my mom always brings me back to my center.

I'm selfish to enjoy the fact that my mom is currently located in Orange County and I get to see her quite frequently these days. But she's so busy and I'm so busy that it seems to be a rare occasion where I just get to have an 'outing' with her. We're usually caught up in more serious matters, like getting passports, dentist appointments, work, family affairs, etc.. 

But last month something marvelous happened. I had an appointment to get my hair done in Downtown LA and I think she was afraid of me getting lost, so she decided to come with me. Long story short, we got to the salon an hour early and found ourselves just jonesing for a cup of coffee.

It just so happened that Bottega Louis was around the corner from the salon and I got to have an outing with my mother. 

Also, I got a sick haircut/balayage. 

Friends, if you need your hair done and you live in LA... Lacey is your girl. Just ask me and I'll give you her number. She's a long time friend of my sister and well, she's a gem.

Birthday Princess

Birthday parties are on definitely on my top ten list of the greatest great things. I mean, birthdays really are just so silly... nothing tangible happens on a birthday. But there is something so sweet about celebrating life and the lives of people that we cherish.

With that being said, Tessa is just getting older! And again, we surprised her. This time though, she came to us! I had her friends come up to Westwood to help prep my apartment for a girls night in, and then we all waited in CPK to surprise her when she came to 'pick me up before heading home' from the airport on the night her flight got in from Portland.

Tessa's friends are so cool and sweet, they brought most adorable party hats and a scrumptious cake to add to the desert table. I also brought Lauren along, because Tess loves her and I basically look for any excuse to make my best friend come up to LA. Overall, I'd say the night was perfect.

The next day, Tess and I had a beautiful breakfast on the patio and then road tripped to the Malibu Sand Hill and to Venice Beach.

Sister time has a magic to it that can be just surreal. :)

A casual hike.

My family is very comfortable in the outdoors. We raft, surf, backpack, repel, climb, and in general function pretty normally without running water, toilets, or stationary shelter. But for some reason on this beautiful March morning, my brother Joel and I were just not up for anything that would require physical exertion. I was tired and ready to relax with some tea and maybe pampering with friends and Joel had gotten not more than an hour of sleep from his late hometown galavant the night before. (We were on spring break... let's be honest.)

But family time is just so precious.

And when a full carload of masons pulled up to Lauren's spa on PCH in Carona del Mar, I couldn't help but feel a tad bit giddy about just spending the day with them. When I got in the car I asked siri (my new friend, shout out to her because she's aweeesomeee!) to find me 'the top of the world in Laguna Beach' and before long we found ourselves embarking on what must be the most casual hike I've ever. 'Hiking' was pretty much an excuse to just hang out and sing silly songs and have silly conversations with the greatest people around.

After, we went to Udupi Palace in Little India. Not only did we feast, but we did a little sari and idli shopping too, naturally.