bunny is six!

on tuesday my baby turned six!

you may remember the love letter i wrote for her last year; 

the same holds true--and ever more--this year. 

a beautiful day was had, followed by a beautiful sinus infection for me. 

boo.

but i'll be fine thanks to my workup of home remedies 

(not to mention some damn fine western medicine)... 

and in the mean time, i'm planning a supertasticwonderfullyicious vintage carnival party for her party to come in a few weeks. 

xo

christmas traditions

holiday season is in full swing:

colorful envelopes peek out of our mailboxes, 

packages arrive upon our doorsteps, 

lights twinkle on frosty branches, 

carols play in cars, elevators & stores, 

shoppers hustle to scoop up last minute gifts.

i love the holidays!

creating special, unique memories are paramount this time of year. 

especially when you have children. 

especially when you're me.

but lets back up a second.

there's something you should know.

honest as the jolly old elf himself -- 

i believed in santa until i was thirteen years old. 

yup. 

when i was eleven i had an ugly-cry-style breakdown
 in the laundry room, where i yelled at my poor mum 

("how could you lie to me like that?!")

and thought i'd never believe in anything again...

until i got a letter in the mail, addressed from the north pole, signed, sealed, delivered--and not in a script that i recognized. 

it was real. 

i believed. 

(well. sorta. i still don't know how she did it!)

today i continue choosing to believe, and having children of my own takes the magic to a whole new level. 

creating magic happens to be one of my favorite things
--a specialty, if you will--

so when the holiday season rolls around, you can expect things like this in our house:

 (via)

(via)

(via)

i'm that girl who puts "santa's" boot prints and magic fairy dust at the bottom of the chimney on christmas eve. 

you may recall how i deal with the tooth fairy. 

i also really love creating our christmas cards.

these are our "cards" from last year.

this year, since we moved across the country & i'm still unpacking my crafty stuff (its a mess. must remedy that soon!), 

i think we've earned the right to do a regular card...

still kicking myself for not taking advantage of calliespondence's sale before halloween! next year. mark my words.

as kids, on christmas eve, my brother, sister & i would get to open one gift before bed time. it was always a tough choice; do we go with the wild card from a distant aunt & uncle, or more of a safe bet (but it could be socks?!) from mom & dad... 


david and i have continued that tradition with our girls, and i conveniently orchestrate it so that they open up their 
"christmas pj's" every time. 

(via)
control issues, much? much too much. thanks. 

of course we also bake cookies for santa, leave out some reindeer food, carrots & celery -- personally, i think the big guy appreciates a vegetable option-- and milk on christmas eve.  


what traditions do you & your family have to celebrate the season?


i think i'll have to cover our christmas day traditions in a separate post; there are recipes involved. 
sweet, delicious, recipes. 


bunny came home sick from school yesterday, poor baby, so she's home with me today... i have christmas cookies to bake for a swap party at school on friday, a very special houseguest to prep for, decorations to create for our christmas service at church next week, and this event tonight:

i'm excited! hope to see some of you there. 
will be missing the rest of you. 
xo

gift horse

via

nothing pisses me off more than seeing christmas and holiday decor out and about even before halloween.

(ok, i lied. things which piss me off more: my waistline, drivers who refuse to use their blinkers, old navy commercials, the waiter bringing me flat water when i clearly asked for sparkling 
(i said "con gas"!!!)...

i digress.

the day after halloween, my inbox was flooded with the 

first wave of this year's onslaught of 

holiday deals/gift ideas/party dresses/etc.  

all of this has me freaking out a little bit

--i have got to get on it with my cards! gifts! i'm living across the country from everyone...just how am i going to do this?!--

but also has me excited. 

i truly love the holidays. 

my family schedule is always jam-packed with fun events 

of memory-making material, and i do my best to 

decorate/cook/craft up the season. 

in that vein, 
(and because when i went to the halloween party armed with a bottle of veuve to give the hostess, people looked at me funny--and not because i was dressed like sexy dorothy), 
i thought i would share with you some of my favorite hostess gifts, including some new ones i'm going to use this season, and get your opinion on the act itself. 

do you normally give a hostess gift when attending 

a (holiday or otherwise) party?

what is your favorite thing to give? to get?

here are a few of mine:

 

1. veuve clicquot brut yellow label 2. st. germain 3. two hands shiraz 4. knob creek bourbon 5. avion tequila (exposado, silver, or anejo)

you can never go wrong with a nice bottle of booze.

unless, of course, the recipient doesn't drink. so yeah.

poilâne french bread.

you can order a fresh loaf to be shipped overnight for about $35bucks. it is an extravagance for sure, but for the right recipient and special occasion, it would make an impression, and be a thoughtful (and delicious) gift.

 

1. votivo 2. balenciaga 3. tom ford 4. diptyque 5. temperley

6. d.l. & co. 7. fomasetti 8. d.l. & co. 9. seda france 10. koff

the left side was curated solely on scent; 

these are my faves, & they are delicious.

the ones on the right are showstoppers as far as candles go.

gorgeous!

(now if someone could send me one of each of these, that'd be great. mmmmkay? thanks.)

those are my top three simple hostess gifts... however, i often like to create custom baskets/bags for that special event. 

they are, in fact, kind of a signature of mine, 

and i really love creating them. 

the key is to tailor it to the recipient, as with any gift; i'll show you what i mean soon. 

stay tuned...i've got to go untangle the spider webbing from our front gate, take the spiders and pumpkins down, and start planning our thanksgiving dinner!

xo

halloween in the hills

saturday night was super fun. 

actually, one of the most fun nights i've had since moving to la. 

i went to a party in the hills at the gorgeous residence 

of a friend of a friend... 

who apparently has a lot of friends herself. 

there were hundreds of creatively costumed guests, three bars, valet parking, security, food, and one hell of a view. 

uh oh... looks like someone sold out.

remember my last post? 

yeah. well. i didn't have nearly enough time to get creative like i wanted to... so i took my hour and picked up a pre-packaged dorothy getup. 

i know.

my date. isn't she hot?

you know... cause she's a firefighter? 

pretty sure that is a regulation uniform, btw.

love these guys drinking together at the bar. 

spiritual.

there were a ton of different takes on the black swan... but these girls were my fave!

super chic, they put the costumes together themselves, 

and they were very sweet--not to mention hilarious. 

new friends!

holllllaaaaaa!

toddlers & tiaras "mother"/daughter duo... in character all night! they were awesome.

i would have had a great photo op with this khal drogo if i had gone as khaleesi! 

andy garcia was so there.

omg! jesus christ church of latter day saints guys... complete with backpacks and bike helmets... and incredible name tags! ha!

this girl walked in and everyone was blown away!

she's like...a...faun? i think its called? 

get this: she made the costume herself. 

as in, all of it.

these would be hooves. with feathers and sequins! 

amazing!

steve jobs.

he actually looked a lot like him. 

sads. 

(love the "mail order bride" in the background!)

my absolute favorite costume of the night! 

junice.

oh, how i love you.

it was a blast. 

have you seen any super creative costumes thus far this year?

happy halloween!  

xo

i hear disco music!

so tuesday night there was a party at studio 54.

yes, that studio. 

sirius xm reopened the club, "for one night only", to celebrate the launch of its latest station, inspired by the legendary club.

a fabulous mix of "beautiful nobodies and gorgeous celebrities", a la the door policy of years ago, packed into the space at 254 W Fifty Fourth Street for a night of epic proportions.

a few of the a-list in attendance:

(via justjared)

cam, naomi & bar. my girls. 

the donald and melania

the lovely liya kebede

bar rafaeli. seriously? 

this is how amazing she looks in a plain white t-shirt. 

i kind of want to hate her. but i just can't!

oh, cameron. when are you going to realize we were meant to be 

besties?!

patti hansen. killing it in leather.

someone i would never have expected to see at this party?

martha herself. 

little do you know she used to go by the nickname 

dirty party marty... 

sweet emma roberts... was just a gleam in her parents' eyes when the original club was in its heyday. 

bethenny. 

she looks...? (fill in the blank, it'll be fun.)

alexandra richards. 

at the club with her parents. 

supercool or ubercreepy?

i, for one, would jump at the chance to see my mom do the cabbage patch to a donna summer soundtrack... but... her parents don't look like they do the cabbage patch.

exhibit a.

keith richards and the aforementioned patti hansen. 

supercool, am i right?!

obviously.

lady bunny and pat field. 

can you imagine?! oh, how glorious.

i'll bet pat could tell us a story or nine... 

if she could remember them.

obviously if you're going to party here, you've got to dress the part.

it got me thinking... if it were the swinging seventies, and i were one of the lucky attendees at studio, just what would i wear?
i think this would do.

a girl can dream, right?

xo

(all photos via vogue.com unless otherwise noted)