Hello Kitty..really hello

I can not wait for my new sewing machine to arrive. I ordered it last night, and I have so many plans for the both of us. My first project is to finish the raw edges on the curtains in the bedroom. Then to make a curtain for our pantry. After researching a bunch of machines I chose a simple beginner machine. It got the best reviews over all for beginners, though I sewed in highschool sewing machines can be tricky. The best part is its Hello Kitty. Soon I'll be making grocery totes and pillows, oh its endless.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas day...our official 1st Christmas as family. My favorite present by far was an astrology book, call me I'll do your reading.

Biggie's Chili

Tonight I am passing this blog entry on to my number one follower Billy. TAKE IT BILLY! Hey...Hey...HEY!!!! How's everybody? Tonight we had chilli. It was something quite special. Biggin' used three kinds of beans, Garbanzo, Kidney, and White Ones. We all had three bowls each. After the Chilli, Murph joined us and then things really started to take off. We sang carols and watched things on youtube. Helen, in a fit of holiday cheer, threw JuJu at the ceiling. Ouch! Goodnight to all, and godbless.

Get Cozy

It's Saturday night and I'm home sick. Missing out on some much needed work. I can't sit still very long and I am getting a bit stir crazy. Of course the only thing to do is read magazines which makes me want things or surf the internet which makes me want even more things. Murph sent me this link http://re-foundobjects.com/shop. They have the most adorable things, but these blankets make me want to stay home and just snuggle up with a cup of tea.

Makes me Blush

This wedding picture collage makes me smile, I think the feel of it is soft and warm. The tree looks like the tree in the back yard.... oh I'm so excited! Photo- Snippets and Ink

Friends, Family, Fun and Thanksgiving!

Here are some pictures of Thanksgiving! Good food, and a bonfire!

It's not always going to be perfect, and thanks girls.

This morning I had some much needed girl time. I met up with Murph and Sundee and we went to Starbucks. We were going to hike but instead we decided to do some window shopping on Melrose. John and I have been a little annoyed with each other lately. I am starting to realize he is not perfect and neither am I. It was just what I needed some girl talk, I vented out all my fustrations and they understood where I was coming from like only another woman could. So I am learning slowly but surely.

Sneak Peek

This morning I woke up at 8:45, which really felt like 9:45(woo woo for me) cause of day light savings; and I was immediately on the go. Since Monday I have been trying to start my save the date cards, but I have been babysitting non-stop because the family I work for, the dad's show started production in New Mexico and the mom was cast as a regular character. The show is In Plain Sight on USA, and by the way, you can see John in the opening credits. So I have been doing school pick-ups and ballet rehearsals for the Nutcracker, packing lunches, making sure there aren't too many white spots in the salami, and searching for lost blankies non-stop. I am not complaining this is a blessing, this allows me to have a little bit more freedom with the wedding, nothing extravagant, no ice sculptures here, but breathing room. So I have had this idea for the save the dates, not gonna let you see them yet, but I will show you some of the creative process. This morning I went to Micheal's craft store and got some wood, paint and glue, rushed home cause I had to make some signs and get ready for the picture. I didn't have all day cause I had to go to work at three, but I was determined to get step one and two done by today! I could not have gotten this done without John, as soon as I got home I woke him up and put him straight to work. He was in charge of painting the letters, cause the day before I got a manicure after work and I did not want to ruin it for the photos. In return I made him a Greek salad.(Re- I will also post the recipe for Greek salad just for you) I am so excited how this little project turned out I can't wait to show you all! Hold on though, my day got better, when I came home John had surprised me by cleaning the house. I don't mean to toot my own horn, but do I know how to pick them. THANK YOU JOHN FOR BEING SO THOUGHTFUL ALL THE TIME, LOVE YOU! We had so much fun today and you will see what I mean when you get them in the mail.

GREEK SALAD

2 ripe juicy tomatoes(I like on the vine)
2 cucumbers(I like persian but any will do)
1-2 tbls. extra virgin olive oil
salt to taste but be liberal thats what makes it taste yummy
1tsp.oregano
feta
mix it all together that really is it, I will post a video for you if it doesn't turn out again.

More Vintage charm.

Came across this dress adorable as well.

More Vintage Bliss

Just came across this dress adorable as well, I just love the vintage!

Tea Length Vintage Polka Dot Dress, HEAVEN!

This morning as soon as I woke up I came directly to the computer. A clear sign that I am getting addicted to a few of my favorite blogs. Snippet and Ink of course, she does these picture boards of wedding inspirations. Today there was one and the colors were pink and yellow. Anyway I spotted this dress and I don't use this word lightly it was FABULOUS! This is my dream dress.

Pumpkin Pie Mmm.

Last night spinach pie tonight pumpkin pie. As much as I love being Greek I do love good old fashioned Americana. So tonight my cousins and I cracked open a tin of pumpkin puree and made some pumpkin pie. We also watched Flash Dance so Murph can be Jessica Biels for Halloween. Did you know that movie alone inspired me to move to L.A. "Take your passion and make it happen, you can have it all."

A little bit of this-A little bit of that.

jollybebakery.com

confetticakes.com
katrinarozelle.com

Dress by Jenny Yoo
So I'm back on my blogging kick. The internet is great but quite addicting. Planning a wedding is fun and overwhelming. I love my dog. I love John. I like pretty tablecloths. I like short wedding dresses. I love my kitchen. I like brown boots.

M.I.A

Sorry I haven't posted a blog in a minute. The truth is I have been unmotivated, or I just had so much I wanted to share I got overwhelmed. And I have been in a funk. Honestly, I'm still not in the mood to talk, but here are some things that I have been looking at for inspiration. All styles are on Bumble and Bumble.com

Rings!

I found these rings in my favorite magazine, Domino! I like them cause they're thin and comfortable. The are from a store in San Francisco called Rare Device.

Sneaker Freaker

One of the things I am most excited about for the wedding is the dance off. Dance off? Yes, DANCE OFF! Oh I can't wait. We are encouraging our friends and family to, well put a little routine together: Music, choreography and wardrobe! As for me, I am preparing. I'm probably a little more excited to get my dream high top sneakers for the dance off then my actual dress. Did I say that out loud, can't really blame my mom for thinking I'm wierd. When John and I started dating he surprised me out one night in Chicago. I was at Celebrity a hip hop lounge with my best friend Helen. I remember it like it was yesterday, I was looking all fine with gold peek-a-boo heels, skinny jeans, a white wife beater(tank top) hair, make-up and jew-ry. He showed up in his white button down short sleeve shirt, shorts and flip flops-tan and handsome. As soon as I saw him I remember lighting up. That night he didn't stay very long, he stayed long enough to dance. We danced for about 30 minutes to hip hop and R&B, it was like everybody disappeared and we just meshed. After he left two girls came up to me and said "How they loved watching us dance!" We love music and dancing and that is definitely something we like to share with each other. So bring you dancing shoes cause IT IS ON!

Break Through with Dora!

Dora is my mom. Dora and I have pretty much never seen eye to eye. Whether it was my hair or my clothes, playing "boys sports", moving to L.A., being an actress whatever, she usually said "NO"and I, have usually put up a fight. I am a dreamer I see things in color lots of color, I celebrate weirdness and unconventional things, Dora... not so much black and white-right way wrong way. So this wedding business has been a bit difficult for her, because two of her sons took the traditional path. They had beautiful big Greek weddings and followed tradition and that made Dora happy. For the past few weeks I have been trying to explain some of my plans with my mother over the phone. My ma is old school, doesn't use computers or DVD players nothing, so not the easiest to show her colors or dresses or anything really. Well thank you Voula! Voula is my sister in law, my mother trusts her judgment and thinks she is far more sophisticated than me. She is and thanks to her who looked at my blog told my mom everything looked good and I WAS doing a good job planning; my mom seemed more at ease talking to me today and that made me happy and more at ease. Cut to lunch today, John and I went to this restaurant which is a L.A. landmark called Phillipe's. They serve french dip sandwiches, fresh pies, 10 cent coffee, 70 cent lemonade really good and old timey. What I loved was the plates everything was served in. They are made by Pulpex, they are brown and made from recycled fibers. John and I thought these are sturdy and we liked the way they looked and not to mention that they are green and by "green" I mean good for the environment. I was a bit weary to tell my mom that I'm gonna use paper plates for the wedding, but you know what she understood the concept, she understood they weren't flimsy ugly paper plates from the grocery store. She thought it fit with the food we were serving. So even though I know you won't read this, Thank you mom thank you for letting me do it my way.

The Good Life

About two weeks ago I had gone with Murph to IKEA and in the" as is" section found these black iron candle sticks. They have a good sturdy base and I really like their shape, but....hate the color so I bought a set to see how they would look painted. TADA! Apple green candlesticks! Still trying to put together the color palette for the wedding, have an idea. Anywho, went by yesterday with Patricia my neighbor and picked up ten more for one dollar a pair, ONE DOLLAR A PAIR! This wedding is coming along slowly but surely. That was just the beginning of the day, when we got home John brought home Red Velvet Cupcakes from a restaurant called Auntie Em's Kitchen. He brings me dessert, he is SWEET! I highly recommend trying them way better than Sprinkles, the cheesecake frosting is creamy and rich and the cake was moist and tasty. So recap art and crafts, yummy cupcakes, cute cuddly dog and the most awesome giant ever. That is the good life.

Yeah for Spigots!

Did you know that its spigot not spicket? I love these big glass jars with spigots. I'm thinking a rum punch and a vodka lemonade for the wedding in these big jugs so cute-right? The top two are my favorite but only hold 2 gallons each and don't love the plastic spigot. However the big one on the lower left holds 5 gallons and can be monogrammed.

Ooh La La!

Today I stopped by these two lingerie stores is Siverlake, I drive by them all the time. I was with my cousin Murph who is in the process of designing her own line of lingerie, so we took a little adventure. Absolutely adorable. They also carry sizes up to 38DD, that don't look like grandma bras!

CAKE TIME!

Today I went over to my friends house to babysit for her 2 year old, Luke while she ran an errand. Laura makes amazingly pretty cakes. I met her about 5 years ago at the YMCA taking care of her 3 kids(she's up to 4 now) and we hit it off right away. She usually doesn't do wedding cakes but she is making an exception for us! Pretty Special. Her blog is listed to the right under the blogs I like, its My life is a piece of cake.

Once Wed DIY cakestand- SWEEET!

As many of you know I have quite a sweet tooth and love everything sweet. Check out this DIY cake stand I came across on the CRAFT: blog. Click here to see for yourself.

Holy Guacamole!

Today we picked the church we're getting married at and nice avocados for guacamole! For the past few weeks John and I have been trying to figure out what church we would get married at. We originally were hoping to get married at a Greek church in L.A area, but unfortunately we did not get through the red velvet rope, in the words of the priest,"I'm running a buisness." Even though I don't always agree with the church, it is a tradition I want to carry on. I think its special that we are joining in the eyes of God not neceserily the church.  My first instinct was lets go to Vegas I'm tired of this bullshit, but the man upstairs sure has a way of working it out.   Today we woke up got ready and headed to the Hollywood farmers market with our friend Shannon, we enjoyed some fresh lemonade and a few other goodies. I also wanted to make guacamole so I picked up the ingredients at the market. On our way home I asked John to stop by our landlord's church, St Kliment. Our landlord is an old school Bulgarian Orthodox priest, who has invited us to his church many of times. When we got there the service was over so John and I went and lit a candle. Then we went around back were Father Nikola sat talking with the men having a drink and enjoying there Sunday afternoon. As soon as he saw us he immediately came over gave us a hug and introduced us to some of the other parishioners. It was warm and friendly again we looked at each other and knew this is where we wanted to get married. Found a church and I made some great Guacamole, another great day. Enjoy the recipe I got it from Melora Hardin's(The Office) housekeeper back in the day- Oh Hollywood!



Guacamole

2 ripe avocados
1 small tomato
2 cloves garlic
1 small yellow or white onion
1 lime
2 tbsp. fresh salsa(store bought fine)
salt
pepper
hot sauce (optional)

Chop onion, tomato, cilantro and garlic. Scoop out flesh of avocados, mash up with fork and save a pit to keep in the bowl with the dip to keep the avocado from turning brown. Add the other veggis to the avocado, sqeeze the juice of one lime and add the 2 tbsp. of the salsa. Add salt, pepper and hot sauce to taste.  mash it all up. Thats it, nice and easy! Enjoy.

So Blessed!

There is so much I want to share, but I'm gonna start with what is on my mind tonight, cause I'm starting to plan mine and John's backyard wedding. With in the first 10 minutes I met John, I knew my life was about to change. I know it sounds corny but I physically felt electricity, not lusty Grease lightning chills down my back kind, but a friendly warm feeling, like I had known him forever, just had no memory of it. We always joke that in heaven before we were born we high fived and said "see you soon." To put it simply hes my best friend that I can kiss and we get to have a sleep over for the rest of our lives! So after dating in Chicago for 5 months we jumped in his 67 chevelle and drove to L.A. the best road trip of my life. That whole ride we looked at each other and knew that this was it, all we did was laugh and dream. I am blessed to have such a supportive, loving, compassionate, talented and funny man to share my life with. Life has moved pretty quickly since last year, we live in a cute one bedroom duplex with our dog Juju who is sweeter than pie and have a huge Avocado Tree in the backyard. I am so excited to throw the party of our dreams under that Avocado tree. So this is my way of sharing the wedding plans with everyone back home please feel free to share ideas and comments. We our blessed to have loving family and friends and an extra special angel in heaven looking over us.