Last week, Greg and I were both under the weather. Fortunately, now things are looking up and we’re feeling better and better each day – which is a good thing because we’re officially on vacation in sunny California!
Saturday night, we left the dreary forty-degree weather in Virginia and are now enjoying the upper sixties and seventies of Los Angeles – and it feels oh so good. Back in June, I came to LA to spend some time with my mom and brother and take in the sights (more on that and my family’s not-so-normal temporary living arrangement in this post). It was loads of fun, but Greg wasn’t able to join in because of his 9 to 5. When I came back home, I found myself saying “Uhhh, you would SO love California!!” about a bajillion times, we both knew a bonafide California vacation was in order. We booked our tickets back in July, and after six months of excitement, we flew in last night and are now officially on vacation.
This is the street where my mom and Abram live in downtown Burbank… isn’t it cute?! Since my trip in June, I now have this deep I-Love-Lucy-kind-of-love for California. Not that I don’t love Virginia – we love our four seasons and down home southern living – LA just has a completely different climate, atmosphere and vibe than Richmond and I’m head over heals for it. My cousin said we should move out there and change the blog name to “7th House on the West”, haha. We definitely aren’t planning to move, but I’m hoping Greg tags along on the I-Love-California bandwagon so we can make it out here more often. Oh, and as for Bentley, he’s at home holding down the fort at the house with my dad who’s dog/house sitting for us. Thank goodness for awesome dads!
Funny story behind this photo. We drove up Canyon Lake Drive to get a good view of the sign (like every good tourist), jumped out of the car to snap this photo and… the keys were locked in the car. Three hours, a little bit of a sun burn and a bunch of photos later, a nice man named Kilo, from AAA, was officially our new BFF. I may or may not have told him he was my sunshine. Ahh, memories.
We have some fun stuff planned over the next two weeks… Greg will be going to NAMM with my brother (which is basically a huge convention for people in the music industry to check out all of the latest and greatest gadgets), we’ll be going to Disneyland (duh!), driving up the coast to Malibu, sitting in on a taping of one of my favorite Disney Channel shows, Jessie - Yes, I’m 27. Don’t hate. – shopping at the Grove, and taking probably more than one trip to Sprinkles.
Even though we’ll be enjoying a little R&R, we’re still going to be blogging as usual (Monday, Wednesday and Friday… and maybe a few bonus vacation-related posts here and there). Though, we might be a little delayed with moderating comments and answering emails. We’ll definitely be sharing our adventures on Instagram and Twitter – so make sure you’re following us over there if you don’t already. In the mean time, do you guys have anything we must see and do while we’re here? Your pointers during my last trip where perfect and you guys hit a home run with Porto’s and Urth Caffé!
Oh, we’re keeping Brown & Barkley open while we’re in LA, but orders placed between January 21st and February 2nd will ship on February 4th.
We hope everyone had a great week of Christmas fun and awesomeness! This was the first time Greg’s been off work for the entire week of Christmas since we got married, so we had a chance to take some time off and enjoy spending time with our family. Since we took some time off, we have some catching up to do in the post department (including the recipes from our “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” brunch and our monthly installment of His + Her Favorite Things). Be on the look out for a few extra posts in addition to our normal Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule over the next few days. We have a kitchen update to kick off the new year’s house-related posts later this week, but today, we thought we’d do a short post a little more on the “life” side of things with a rundown of our “Christmas break”.
FAMILY TOGETHERNESS // My mom and brother flew in from LA just in time for Christmas and got to stay for a little over a week. I talked more about our current crazy family living arrangement in this post. It was so, so nice to have them home, even for just a little while. To make things even better, my grandparents came up from Florida. Christmas wouldn’t have been the same without them, so, needless to say, we’re all so glad they were home for Christmas.
Along with my mom and Abram (my brother), came Packer, Abram’s dog. He’s been living the good life in LA, too, and we’ve missed him so much – especially Bentley. Like usual, they played pretty much nonstop – I was lucky to be able to get this quick Instagram photo of the two of them! You can always tell when Packer is in town because Bentley sleeps like a rock pebble at night. They literally play together all day long. We love it.
FOOD & FUN // While I was in AC Moore a few weeks ago, I was waiting in the checkout line and realized I was standing next to a huge display of gingerbread house kits. I quickly looked away and said to myself, “No, Ash. You don’t need a gingerbread house kit.” About fifteen seconds later, my inner kid got the best of me and in my cart it went.
I bought some extra red and green gumdrops to go with the kit, and we happened to have some extra chocolate cookie icing (used for the “mulch” on the side of the house and the sidewalk) and candy canes (for the “trim” and the “planked front door”) from our brunch. My favorite “feature” is the Golden Graham shingles on the roof. I had way too much fun with this.
MY CRAZY AWESOME HUSBAND // I’m totally going to brag on Greg a bit, okay? So… with the blog, our ever-overflowing email inbox, finishing up graphic design projects, cooking, last minute shopping and so on, my week leading up to Christmas was rather busy and a bit stressful at times. Fast forward to Christmas Eve morning… I woke up to perfection.
He later said, “If I knew you were going to Instagram that, I would have used better handwriting.” haha! When I first woke up, I noticed the lights on the tree down the hallway were still on. I thought that was odd because they normally go off around 1 am. The more I woke up, the more things I noticed… like Christmas music coming from the living room and… the best smell ever… cleaning supplies. Little did I know that Greg had stayed up until 4:00am the night before and formulated my perfect, stress-free Christmas Eve. I woke up to a completely clean, spotless house, every piece of laundry washed, folded and put away, all of the dishes that were in the dishwasher the night before, washed and put away, Christmas lights and Christmas music on, presents for his family lined up by the back door for ready to head to their house later that night, the outfit I was planning on wearing that day laid out on the dresser, and the ingredients I needed to make the green bean casserole and corn casserole all laid out in the kitchen and ready to go – with the recipes! Oh, and he even had my toothbrush and tooth paste laying out next to the sink! Seriously, it was the most thoughtful, sweetest Christmas present anyone could have ever given me. Yes, he’s definitely up for husband of the year. Best. Christmas. Eve. Ever.
WHAT SANTA BROUGHT // ”Santa” brought Bentley a stocking filled with toys and treats. Although, one of the toys in particular didn’t last the day…
Yeah, he’s lacking a carrot nose and hat. We also got Bentley a “stuffless” raccoon (from Target) that we call Rocky. It’s now one of his new favorite toys. Bentley bought Packer a matching bunny and he looooooves it. Even now that he’s back in LA, he babies it constantly and carries it with him from room to room. Here’s a picture Abram sent me last night…
As if cleaning the entire house and making my Christmas Eve absolutely perfect wasn’t enough, Greg also hit a home run in the gift department. He gave me an awesome Tory Burch key pouch (which is perfect for keeping my cards, license and keys all in one place) and the Kate Spade ear buds that I mentioned in this Favorite Things post a while back.
He also filled my stocking with a bunch of my favorite goodies like Essie nail polish, Smashbox lipgloss, Lindt truffles (my favorite), and a gold Marc Jacobs pouch from the Neiman Marcus Target line (which is 50% off right now!). That boy was a really awesome shopper this year! I would have loved to see Greg in Ulta when he bought the lip gloss… priceless.
I gave Greg a Dremel (something that’s been on his wish list for a while now!) and a new sound card for his computer. Oh, and I totally shocked him by giving him a Companion Cube for his office. I’ve never really been into video games (aside from Mario Kart Wii and my very brief stint in World of Warcraft – yes, it’s true) and I’m pretty sure he thinks I totally zone him out when he talks about them. So, this gift totally took him by surprise.
My parents totally floored us by surprising us with the dining room light fixture we’ve had our eye on for the dining room. I talk through all of our decorating ideas with my mom (she’s the best sounding board ever) so she was well aware of our love for this light fixture. We have some other changes we want to make to the dining room and we need to change the placement of the current light before we can hang it, but we’re so totally excited to tackle the dining room – finally!
5TH ANNIVERSARY // A few days after Christmas, on the 29th, Greg and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. FIVE years. I think I’ve said it about a million times in the last 48 hours, but time has flown by. Seriously, I can’t get over it. We celebrated with a trip to the “outdoor invisible church” where our ceremony was (officially known as Pole Green Historical Church) then downtown to the James Center (where we had our reception) to take in the lights and dinner.
Since our wedding, they’ve added lights and, this year, even decorated it for Christmas (which is how it is in the Instagram photo above). A few of you asked on Facebook and Instagram if we could post more wedding photos. The short answer: Maybe. There’s a long story in there but here’s the condensed version: We hired a photographer that had a very awesome portfolio, and we met with him in his really nice home studio. He seemed like a great fit. Fast forward after our wedding and about a year later, we finally got the proofs only to discover that the photos looked like they were taken by a 10-year-old using a disposable camera. Seriously, the only remotely “good” photo of Greg and me was one taken at the reception… and my eyes were closed. We were, and still are, completely heartsick. Another year later, he finally gave us an envelope of negatives. My plan is to have the negatives transferred into digital photos, but I have yet to go through them. I think I keep on putting it off because deep down, I just don’t want to get upset about it all over again. When I do get around to it though (something that is on my grand to-do list for 2013), I’m going to try to edit some myself and see what we come up with. Hopefully at that point, we’ll have a few to share here on the blog.
For our anniversary, “Greg bought me” a cool chunky charm bracelet from Anthropologie– AKA I picked it out, bought it and told him it was his anniversary gift to me, haha. It hasn’t come in yet, but I’ll Instagram a photo when it does. We decided not to do anything “big” for our anniversary this year because we’ll actually be flying to LA at the end of the month for two weeks of relaxation, fun and sun. This will be our first non-Disney World vacation since we’ve been married (is that weird?!). That said, we are going to be at Disneyland for two days, so we’ll still get some Disney magic this trip too.
I guess that about wraps up our Christmas vacation recap. We’ll be back soon with the recipes from our Christmas party and another installment of His + Her Favorite Things!
PS All of these photos are from our Instagram feed. If you don’t follow us on Instagram, look us up at 7thHouseBlog.
“I hopped off the plane at LAX with my dream and my cardigan…” For the life of me, I cannot get that Miley Cyrus song out of my head!
Technically, I haven’t “hopped off the plane” yet, but I’m currently getting ready to hop in the car and off to the airport because today I’m bound for sunny California for three weeks! Well, two weeks and five days to be exact.
My reasoning for going to LA probably needs a little explaining. This is something I haven’t talked about here on the blog until now, so bear with me a minute while I give you a little back story… I have one and only brother, Abram. He’s a best friend, confidant, secret-keeper, my partner in crime and literally the best little brother anyone could ask for. Well, he’s not so little anymore – he just graduated high school last Friday!
When Abram was about 11, I gave him my old guitar. I told him that if he’d play guitar, he’d get a lot of girls. He took the bait and started playing. Greg (who was my boyfriend at the time, ha!) taught him a few chords to get him started. After the chords came lyrics. Most of Abram’s songs were just impromptu ramblings about funny things – like our Dad’s bald head… “My dad has a bald dead, when he gets mad it turns red…”. I remember nights when we’d be laughing so hard, we’d be crying! After a while, he started writing music that was actually really good. Abram played guitar and sang at a few school talent shows but that was pretty much the extent of his “music career”. Around the 16 (not that long ago) he told my parents he wanted to put down sports for a while to pursue a music career. We were all floored because Abram had been playing sports since he was 5 and at the time he played football and was on two basketball teams. In an effort to help Abram be certain he was making the decision, our mom signed him up for a local talent competition, Hanover Jr. Idol. He ended up singing/playing an original song called “Talk to Me” and won the whole kit and caboodle! That night, he booked his first four gigs and signed his first autograph. Over the next few months, things started picking up. He was asked to perform at a lot of local events like the Hanover Tomato Festival (we’re serious about our tomatoes around here!), the Ashland Strawberry Festival (and our strawberries!), and headline at the Virginia Special Olympics Closing Ceremonies. This little adventure became a family affair. My mom was his manager, my dad ran sound, Greg played electric guitar in the band, and I managed the online “stuff”, graphic design, merchandise (t-shirts, wristbands, etc), and all that jazz.
I really wish I could post some of his new stuff, but it’s under wraps for now (boo!). But here’s a “homemade” video we put together earlier this year to go with a scratch track (aka rough draft) of one of his much earlier songs…
To make the long story short, let’s fast forward a year… Abram was offered an opportunity to work with an awesome manager and some incredible producers that have worked with many of his all-time favorite artists. So, in true “now or never” fashion, about two months ago, my mom and Abram, packed up and headed to Los Angeles. My dad owns an access control business here in Richmond, so he needed to stay here, bring home the bacon, hold down the fort and, of course, help me and Greg on our house projects, haha! Seriously though,I don’t know what we’d do without him sometimes! I’m sure most people think my family’s current living situation is crazy weird. But the way we look at it is that you’re never going to “make it” unless you get out of your comfort zone and take some risks. And that’s what we’re doing – as a family.
As far as their new home away from home, my mom and Abram have a three-bedroom apartment in downtown Burbank. I’ve only seen it on text message photos and FaceTime, so I’m anxious to see everything in person! On top of being able to spend some time with my mom and little bro, my cousin Danny, his wife and my childhood BFF Sarah, and their two freakishly adorable kids, Elliott and Nora also live in the area (you might remember them from this post!). And yes… I’m going to Disneyland for the first time! I’m told not to expect much because apparently Sleeping Beauty’s castle looks like a Polly Pocket compared to Cinderella’s digs in Orlando. Nevertheless, this Disney freak is still insanely excited! …and Greg is insanely jealous.
My trek to the west coast doesn’t mean we won’t be posting! However, since I’m the one that normally moderates comments/answers emails, there might be a slight delay in response here and there. Before packing my bags, I even wrote a few posts for while I’m gone. We’ve also got a few “quick tips” for a Tuesday here and there and Greg’s working on an awesome Reader Reno post as well as an outdoor DIY project that he’ll be finishing up and posting while I’m gone. So basically, expect “your usual programming”. Also, I’ll be checking in on Twitter and Instagram during my travels. Love me some Instagram!
Greg’s done packing the car, so I’ve got to run! Simply due to the fact that I can’t seem to get this song out of my head, I’m leaving you with this…
You are welcome ; )
In the mean time, any must-see places / things to do in LA? Do tell!
Be sure to check back later today for a giveaway from our friends at Rust-Oleum!
