My darling friend Goretti and I happen to share birthdays. We were both born on the 10th of July- she in 78' and I in 87' ♡ This year we decided to combine forces have 2 parties, double the births, double the fun! N'est pas? ☺
The Downtown Rooftop Dinner Party
photo by Jennifer G. Goretti made a pitcher of Caipirinha! DIVINE
Photo by Jennifer G. This drink was an early morning drunken concoction by Rene made up of: Svedka vodka, natural cranberry concentrate, ginger ale, fresh raspberries and lime wedges.
It was magical! Not bad for off the cuff! Not bad AT ALL...I love how the sky looks so bright- it was near dawn !
Liz, my cousin, was gracious enough to not only fly in from San Antonio, TX to grace us with her presence but went above and beyond and made us a 5 star, award winning cake!
Liz blew us all away when she busted out these 3 little miracles. Lemon curd tarts w/meringue and raspberries for anyone unfortunate enough to not adore chocolate!!!
Honestly, not to be emo or anything but this night was part one of the best weekends of my life. Amazing company, food, music, ambiance, everything. So so perfect. Truly left me smiling from ear to ear and feeling so very blessed to have such wonderful friends, family.
Stay tuned for part 2, it was the perfect sequel to the dinner party- a party in an enormous and historic house in Pasadena, filled with 100 of our closest friends, and the cherry on top of this magic sundae was residents of the house, the members of my new favorite band, Lagos Jump actually played a show!
Muffin's birthday is coming up and I reeeeaaaalllyyyy wanna get her one of these with like 2 diff color bows. Love that lil ball of fur so so much.
The next cat I adopt will def have to be a short haired male so I can buy him a bunch of accessories from the CatAtelier on Etsy. I love how snazzy this cat looks!!!!
I met Catey on my 1st day of 8th grade. Both of us were newbs. New town, new school,& new friend for LIFE. We don't get together as much as we'd like to so I cherish each day we spend together.
On Saturday, we went to Forever 21 (to help her mom shop for a top lol) & discovered a photo booth!! Back in the day we were prone to hitting up a photo booth or two.
Well now a days, in 2011, photo booths are a lil more advanced.....this one had video.
My little sister summed up my sentiments on the 4th of July pretty well. She sent me a text which read: "Go American idiots watching lights going up in the sky"...she just turned 13. So poignant.
Most Americans celebrate 'Independence' Day by having a BBQ & blowing things up all night. Toasting to 'Freedom' & keeping the fire and police departments plenty busy.... But what are they really celebrating? Declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain.....that shit was done on July 2nd! My guess is for most it's really all about having the day off of work, spending quality time with family/friends, & not so much about patriotism. I'm down for a good time, but something about celebrating this country rubs me the wrong way...
Still, I'd be lying if I said that's the only reason I dislike this holiday.....
It was the summer of 1997 that forever changed this holiday for me. A beautiful day in So Cal; spent on my dad's boat in my favorite pink rose print swimsuit. We made crêpes, snorkeled, & watched fireworks (put on by PROFESSIONALS & not the bad ass lil kids in the neighborhood) from a safe distance (i.e., watching from the deck of the boat that was anchored near the beach).
The entire day had been really lovely & coming home to find the giant driveway gate had been somehow knocked down by our 3, probably terrified, dogs was a real shock. The bubble literally burst. Full on panic set in when we realized that only 2 of the 3 dogs were accounted for & the search began. We all ran around the neighborhood frantically searching for our beloved Shar-Pei. Sadly the search ended rather quickly when I spotted what looked like a mangled paper bag laying lifelessly on the side of the road. A quick inspection by my then step-mother Sarah confirmed the worst-our lil wrinkly bundle of joy had been run over by a car & killed. My dad wrapped him up in a bed sheet & we had him (illegally) buried in our backyard in between the tree house & the plum tree. :'(
When I think about it, that summer, and our pup's death was a pretty major marker in my life.
By the following summer almost everything in my life was different! Moved from Beverly Hills to a to the equestrian side of Glendale, where I didn't know a single soul. Dad divorced Sarah & got with his current wife, whom I still can't fucking stand. I graduated from the 5th grade, which in my school also meant moving from the 'little kid' grassy playground to the 'big kid' black top basketball courts that the middle & high school kids shared-A scary step I wasn't looking forward to!!!
My little sister was born July 2nd, 1998 & the world was new.
I have a feeling I won't be in the US this time next year so maybe I'll be looking at this holiday with a different sentiment, but currently it's one of contempt.....
meant to post these like a month ago hahaha
stunning images from the Puyehue volcano that after being dormant for several decades erupted early last month. For many more images click here
Cashmere hills filled with evergreens
Flowin' from the clouds down to meet the sea
With the granite cliff
(Big Sur mount)
As a referee
Crimson sunsets and golden dawns
Mother deer with their newborn fawns
Under Big Sur skies
(Big Sur mount)
That's where I belong.
Big Sur I've got plans for you
Me and mine are going to
Add ourselves to your lengthy list of lovers
(Big Sur mount)
And live in canyons covered with a springtime green
Wild birds and flowers to be heard and seen
And with my old guitar
I'll make up songs to sing.
Sparkling springs from the mountainside
Join the Big Sur river rushing to the tide
Where the kids can look for sea shells at low tide
Big Sur my astrology it says that I am meant to be
Where the rugged mountain meets the water
And so while stars shine brightly from up above
The fog rolls in through a redwood grove
And to my dying fire I think I'll add a log.
//////////////////////////////
An eagle's nest on the head of an old redwood on one of the
precipice-footed ridges
Above Ventana Creek, that jagged country which nothing but a fallen
meteor will ever plow: no horseman
Will ever ride there, no hunter cross this ridge but the winged ones, no
one will steal the eggs from this fortress.
The she-eagle is old, her mate was shot long ago, she is now mated
With a son of hers.
When lightning blasted her nest she built it again on the same tree, in
the splinters of the thunder bolt.
In a broken shack an old man takes his time about dyin'
And just at the back a wild flowerbed that he'll lie in
In dawn's new light a man might venture
A horse drawn stage from Monterey.
The she-eagle is older than I: she was here when the fires of eighty-five
raged on these ridges,
She was lately fledged and dared not hunt ahead of them, but ate scorched
meat.
The world has changed in her time; humanity has multiplied,
But not here; men's hopes and thoughts and customs have changed, their
powers are enlarged, their powers and their follies have become fantastic.
Spilled down the hill a wagon load of bodies lay scattered, shipwrecked
at sea.
Limestone ore is all that mattered.
They took it from the hills right through the cargo doors
How many ships have come and gone at Thurso's landing shore?
The unstable animal never has been changed so rapidly.
The motor and the plane and the great war have gone over him,
And Lenin has lived and Jehovah died: while the mother-eagle
Hunts her same hills, crying the same beautiful and lonely cry
And is never tired: dreams the same dreams,
And hears at night the rock-slides rattle and thunder in the
Throats of these living mountains.
It is good for man
To try all changes, progress and corruption, powers, peace and anguish,
not to go down the dinosaur's way
Until all his capacities have been explored: and it is good for him
To know that his needs and nature are no more changed, in fact, in ten
thousand years than the beaks of eagles.
Of the eagle's plight, we know that nature's balance is undone.
And it's the birthright of man to unify and live his life as one.
A whisper of the word will let you soar with your soul.
/////////////////////////////////////////////
On my way to sunny California
On my way to spend another sunny day
Water, water get yourself in the cool, clear, water
The sun shines brightly down on Penny's place
The sun shines brightly down on the bay
The air's so clean it'll just take your mind away
Take your mind away
Take your mind away
Have you ever been south of Monterey
Barrancas carve the coast line and the chaparral flows to the sea
'Neath waves of golden sunshine
And have you ever been north of Morro Bay
The south coast plows the sea
And the people there are of the breed
They don't need electricity
Water, water, cool cascades of clear, clear water
The sun dance final scene sets the hills ablaze.
Horizon edges quick up the mountain's way.
Have you ever been down Salinas way?
Where Steinbeck found the valley
And he wrote about it the way it was in his travelin's with Charley
And have you ever walked down through the sycamores
Where the farmhouse used to be
There the monarch's autumn journey ends
On a windswept cyprus tree
Water get water get yourself in that
Get yourself in that get yourself in that cool, clear, water
The sun shines brightly down on Penny's place
Get yourself in that water
The air's so clean that it just takes your mind away
Take your mind away
Take your mind away
Have you ever been to a festival, the Big Sur congregation?
Where Country Joe will do his show
And he'd sing about liberty
And the people there in the open air, one big family.
Yeah the people there love to sing and share
Their new found liberty
