photo shoot

so my friend mollie is an amazing photographer. i've always loved her work, and never loved our engagement pictures much [my amazing sister took them, but they weren't profesh or anything like all the cool photo blogs i read nowadays]. she offered a smokin' deal for the month of feb, so b and i decided we needed a photo shoot.

i wanted to do it in downtown l.a. since we have lived and worked in (or within nine miles of it, in the case of pasadena) this city for the past three years -- the entire duration of our newlywed life, and then some. plus we probably won't be here forever, so i thought this could be a fun way to capture this chapter in our lives.

here are a couple of my favorite shots. you KNOW you have a good photographer when the pics actually look like you...not even my real simple shoot could do that. i love them! thanks mollie! see more on her blog here.

ha! i love this next one. get it? wells?

[thanks to the wells fargo building for being right up the street ;) ]

weekend update

well...let's see...how should i begin my recap of this weekend? hmm...how about I MET KARA DIOGUARDI!! eeeee. still reallllll excited that this happened, if you can't tell.

back story: i have this super talented friend heather who designs her own hair accessories AND does p.r. for another hair accessory company called knotheads. yesterday also happened to be the academy awards, which is sort of a big deal in southern ca. [if you didn't know this, i don't blame you. as one of my out-of-state friends told me last week "i think the oscars are only a big deal if you live in l.a."]

so on friday and saturday, knotheads participated in an oscars gifting suite. [basically before every awards show they do these parties where celebs come by and pick up a bunch of free swag, in hopes that they'll then talk up your product.] heather graciously invited me to help work their booth on saturday, so i was delighted to accept.

the suite was actually inside a soundstage on the universal studios backlot. we're talking THE backlot...i saw two trams drive by on their "backstage tour" while i was walking around outside. [side note: i also walked over to try to grab a snack from a nearby cafe and was literally picked up by a stagehand guy in a golf cart. i felt pretty official, whizzing around the backlots via personal transportation.]

this is what it looks like, if you've never been on the backlot tour:


not incredibly exciting. trucks everywhere, basically.

so i staffed our little booth for five hours on saturday, taking pictures and talking up celebs who walked by to tell them how amazing knotheads are. [really i didn't do much. heather and her cousin did all the demos while i just snapped pics and stood there in my awesome blue knotheads shirt. i was like their intern and i loved every minute of it. NOT being in charge of something for a change is wonderful.]

we had a steady stream of celebs throughout the day...tila tequila, michael clarke duncan, dr. drew, dianne warren, and a slew of disney channel / wb / reality show stars who i could only vaguely identify.

lucky for ME there were also a few of my favorites. and i naturally snapped a few pics :)

dominic monaghan, aka charlie from "lost." i resisted telling him how much i USED to love the show but now hate it. i also refrained from singing "you all everybody," arguably one of the best (and lamest) songs ever. regardless, he was pleasant. and short.

driveshaft rules!


then there was the wonderful fred willard. you may recognize him from such lovely movies as best in show, wall-e or anchorman. b loves him, so i ran up to take a pic and said "my husband is your biggest fan." he was quite nice as well.

"apparently, my son was on something called 'acid,' and was shooting a bow and arrow into a crowd." (anchorman. a perpetual classic. please also note my cute little knothead accessories above the side bangs. trendy AND helpful!)


and, without further ado, here are me, heather and kara. the faces of heath and i are about to crack wide open with sheer joy.



please note that her arm is around my shoulder like we are bff. she was so adorably tiny and nice in person. while chatting her up i thought about how i truly think she needs some work as a judge, but hey! she's my new friend. can't say mean things like that to her face.

we talked for hours (okay, five minutes) all about idol -- about judging, bikini girl, contestants, working in the biz. and then she moved on. and i love her.

that was all. we then spent saturday night in westwood and yesterday in church, at home and catching glimpses of the oscars while holding teething babies at our friends' houses. the end.

amor en espanol

i love conversation hearts. they taste like chalk and are kind of disgusting when you think about them, but they're my regular february guilty pleasure. [and now that v-day is over, you can get them for 27 cents a box at ralphs! yay]

anyway, my lovely co worker brought me a box of convo hearts today -- but they are en espanol! i was delighted. words like guapo (handsome) and amor (love) made sense to me. but upon closer inspection, these hearts were a little odd.

first of all these were totally poor-boy hearts. every other heart i pulled out either looked like it had already been sucked on or the word was totally off center [or missing completely].



other hearts said funny things. paz (peace) -- like you're peace-ing out of the relationship, or you need peace from your significant other? also amiga/amigo -- would you really want a lovey dovey heart telling you they just want to be friends? those spanish speakers have an interesting interpretation of valentines day.

in other news from my kitchen, i needed to buy garlic to make a delicious white bean dip. unfortunately the grocery store i went to only sells them in five packs. i needed TWO cloves of garlic for my recipe, so now i have four and 3/4 garlic heads left. if you need garlic for a recipe any time soon, let me know. i'll give you some for free :)

working girl

i ate a lot of raw cornbread batter (i.e. raw eggs) tonight and i'm feeling a little tipsy as a result. [did you know you can't eat raw cookie dough when you are pregnant? of course you did, because the majority of my readers either have children or are in the process of having them. but i am not. and now i NEVER want to. i can't have cookie dough?? no kids for me. that was easy.]

anyway. my old phone is back in my life. it's funny how archaic it looks after just eight months of using a more high-tech phone. oh well. at least i can text again. yay!

today i drove allll the way to thousand oaks. that place is far! then i came home and worked. and at the end of the day i saw this and thought it looked funny, so i took a picture of it. here is my dining room table after i finished my day. phone, blackberry, notepads, planner, two glasses of water, event binder, keys. yep, a typical day in my life ends up strewn around the table (or desk) just like this.



and i would just like to personally thank president washington and president lincoln (and whomever else we are supposed to celebrate) for having a holiday all to themselves yesterday.

i LOVE thinking tomorrow is only tuesday, and then realizing it is in fact wednesday. and that american idol is on tonight :)

chocoholic.

remember how i said i was making those chocolate molten lava cakes? uh, yeah. they were just as amazing as anticipated.

i got the recipe from the ny times food blog, bitten. you'll have to go there for the full effect, but here is my recap of the process. and i highly [highly] recommend it.

a. melt



b. mix



c. pour



d. enjoy!



[brandon got the two scoops of ice cream. and yes, we each ate our own instead of sharing. hey, it was v-day! who ISN'T gluttonous on that day?]

my life would suck without you

so i was never really a fan of valentines day. for some reason two high school boyfriends broke up with me right around v-day [maybe to get out of gift giving?]; all the other years i really had no reason to celebrate. except that my mom would always give us cute little presents and candy. i guess that was good.

anyway, now that i'm married and i actually have a permanent valentine, i like the holiday a little more. we never really do anything huge to celebrate [why celebrate love on ONE day when you should be living like that on all the rest?] and this year is no different. in light of saving money for future endeavors -- and also because that little european extravaganza last year was technically supposed to be ALL our gifts for a year -- we played it low key.

i let b choose the homemade menu tonight: carne asada, mexican salad (which he let me know consists of lettuce, red and green peppers, black beans and corn with any dressing you want -- in case you were wondering. i didn't even know that "mexican salad" existed) and garlic fries. because naturally garlic fries go with carne asada. whatever. i'd picked them up from tj's last week and we'd been looking for an excuse to eat them. i will also be crafting chocolate molten lava cakes, apparently a v-day tradition for us now as this is the second year in a row we've made them (new recipe this year...i'll post it later if it turns out any good).

anyway, even though this is ridiculously cliched to say, i am so lucky to be married to such a fun and amazing guy. this week on regis & kelly, they showed surprise engagements each day. on thursday, it was a couple on the top of the empire state building -- the "most romantic place on the planet," according to kelly. it brought back lovely memories of my OWN engagement, which i was lucky enough to have happen in that same spot. we also happen to have it on video, so i thought i'd post it here in honor of the holiday.

just a little background first:
a. yes, we are on the observation deck of the empire state building
b. yes, it was windy
c. i hadn't seen brandon in one month and had no idea he was coming -- NOR did i know he'd be coming with a ring
d. b has a ridiculous haircut and i cringe whenever i watch this
e. even though it sounds like i don't, i actually said "oh my GOSH" when he gets down on one knee. this bothers me every time i see it.
f. be prepared for kissing.

and thats it. enjoy! and happy valentines day, whether you've been proposed to or not :)

the little things

i'm home!

the week ended up sort of rough. all in all the event was a success -- no trips to the hospital, no missed flights, no upset clients. but i think i was emotionally strung out by the end. and...i don't want to get into too many details [mostly because you'll probably think i'm an idiot]... but i broke my own phone on thursday. i cried after it happened.

good old blue chocolate now looks like this:



luckily it still works, but i obviously can't text, access pictures or view my contacts. so feel free to call...but don't text me for a while.

also -- if you happen to have an extra verizon phone lying around, let me know. seriously. i wasn't insured, so it's going to be a pretty penny to replace little blue.

anyway, i'm home now. after pretty much working 24/7 for multiple days in a row on events like this, it is SO nice to come home and enjoy my regular day-to-day luxuries.

today i:
- painted my nails
- wore regular clothes [luckily my skinny jeans still fit, after all that nonsense with the cookies!]
- got my hair cut
- ate cereal for lunch
- went to target w/ b
- worked out [okay, this was actually last night, but helpful all the same. i blame my recent lack of cardio exercise for my mental instability over the past few days]
- socialized with lovely friends at a pancake breakfast party
- caught up on top chef and a.i.
- bought some candy cane joe joes [they are on sale for 99 cents, everyone! apparently i've overcome my holiday-induced overdose. plus, you can pretend the red and pink box is for v day :) ]


and now i am back to regular, happy, normal lyndsey :)

it is pretty here.

hello, vineyards. [please note the hazy fog. it is FREEZING.]

hello, cows:

hello, river.

hello, ocean.

i've been driving around a lot, back and forth to the coast mostly, so i take some random pictures while trying not to steer my minivan over a cliff. northern california is like a whole different state. so pretty here!

and remember those nightly cookie deliveries? yeah, a nightmare. i just can't say no. now, if you'll excuse me, i have to go stuff my face.

tell all your friends.

no, seriously. tell them.

i like to make cards, if you didn't know. i'm also obsessed with stationery. [nothing makes me happier than browsing the thank you card section at target or shopping for new pens. i'm sort of nerdy.]

so i'm working on some new endeavors. and i'm kind of excited about them.

first up: i started a new blog. [don't worry, one-eyed wonder will continue to be updated regularly. i know you were so worried.] this one is all about the latest trends and news in the paper / stationery world. i've got all sorts of do-it-yourselfs, interviews with paper pros and other news in the pipeline.

check now and check often:

http://www.the-stationery-place.blogspot.com

secondly, i've decided to begin hawking my wares. i started an etsy shop and am selling my handmade cards online.

http://www.hotpinkpatchwork.etsy.com

you'll find pretty things there...but don't think those are the end. i'm happy to work with potential customers on any preferred orders, with requested colors or messages. :)

a sampling:

hope you like what you see!

"my density has bought me to you."

b and i started out with big plans for this saturday. they involved all sorts of productive things like grocery shopping, a trip to the gym and some shoe shopping. but when we woke up and it was still cloudy outside and it was just one of THOSE saturdays, we changed our minds and decided to be lazy :)

we stayed in our pjs and laid on the couch and watched back to the future. i so love that movie. [side note: oddly i had not seen it all the way through until about two years ago. i missed most of the pop culture treasures of the 80s due to a family loyalty to the disney channel.]

while watching the movie, b remembered that part of b2tf was filmed right here in lovely pasadena. so after we decided to get ready for the day and join real life, we hopped in the car in search of the mcfly house. imdb lists george mcfly's house at a certain address a couple miles from our apt; this was incorrect, because that location actually turned out to be doc brown's house. i think. regardless, i'm fairly certain this is still the street where marty got hit by lorraine's dad's car, so that's something right? (and fyi, the mcfly house is actually in pacoima.)

after that, we walked up to old town and went to lunch at a cute italian place we'd been wanting to try for months. we have a tradition of going out to dinner the night before one of us leaves on a work trip, but last night he worked late and we had alternate plans -- so we opted for a lunch date instead. it was delightful; we need to do that more often! [the food was probably only a 7 or so, on a scale of 1 - 10...but still fun just to be out.]

also, i don't think i've posted a pic of us on this blog in a loooong while. not that you care or anything. but here we are at lunch -- happy to see you :)

after our outing, i left for the airport. i'm currently in santa rosa, ca and will be here for the next six days. don't worry, i'll be home in time for v day. which is important. because if i missed my anniversary AND v day in a six month period, i might as well just get divorced. it was really hard for me to leave today, though. most of the time i'm fully independent and self-sufficient, but once in a while i just want to be clingy and stay home w/ my hubs. :(

airport etc. was uneventful. picked up my rental car and drove on up. best part of the ride: i got to drive over the golden gate bridge! fun. (i felt like i was driving through the credits of full house.) try to see it in this dark photo...i like how all the lights turned out all long-exposure-y:

i'm staying in a waaaaay nicer hotel than my last trip. hard to know much about it because it was dark when i arrived, but here is one important fact: THEY HAVE A COOKIE TURNDOWN SERVICE! woo hoo! [the nice hotels usually have a nightly turndown service -- i've found various items on my turned-down pillows in the past including chocolates, orchids, etc. but cookies?!? i could definitely get used to this.]

behold, my giant comfy king bed WITH my bag of cookies:

and that's about it. i'll be here enjoying my in-room fireplace and undoubtedly hours of tlc programming (catching up on what not to wear! yay!). and of course working 12 hour days. beats a day at the office, i must say!

letters, feb. 09

dear belgish family [formerly of next door],
i am sad you have moved away. i miss hearing your whiny one-year-old in the mornings and your blond three-year-old babbling away in your crazy language when i get home at night. i miss seeing you eat your dinner out on the patio and watching you clip your toenails out by the pool. [okay, i do NOT miss that one. i almost barfed the one time i saw this in action.] i miss you knocking on my door to ask for a blow dryer because said one-year-old spilled a glass of water on your laptop (for the second time. keep the laptop -- and water -- away from the baby!).
i do keep myself entertained with theories on why you left so suddenly. maybe you were illegal aliens. maybe you were spies. maybe our crazy landlord decided she hates foreigners. whatever the case, i miss you. and i hope your replacements are nice and appreciate my baking like you did.

dear rain,
i love you. especially when i'm inside.
but when i have to walk to the train and get wet, i do not love you that much.
NOR do i love what you do to all the california wackos who do NOT know how to drive when it rains.

dear american idol,
you are bugging me.
i've never seen h-wood week before but decided to give you a chance. now i am regretting that decision. i think last night you decided to pack in as many ridiculously annoying people as humanly possible to see just how far you could push me before i went over the edge.
where are the good singers? why do you kick people off without even showing us their performance? why don't you even NAME half the people still around?
i work in media. i get it. you want a marketable person with a compelling story. but I do not want to watch all that drama in the meantime! there's a reason i don't watch the hills, you know.

crazies on the train

we call this one "the phantom of the subway."



kind of hard to get a good pic of her because she runs like the wind. i grabbed my phone as soon as i saw her go by tonight, even though i was weighed down by a 40 lb. laptop bag, and snapped that one.

b and i see this woman almost every morning on the train [depending how early or late we are running...she's always on the 8:10 train, without fail. we are not]. she wears ALL BLACK. black shoes, black pants, black trenchcoat, black sunglasses (even inside the subway -- which is underground, so there is no sun), a black hat, and my favorite: black gloves.

every. day.

even when it is 95 degrees outside, she feels the need to be fully clothed. in black. i especially love the gloves. i hate germs probably more than the next person and have mastered the art of subway surfing, where i ride standing up but keep my balance enough to avoid touching any handrails. maybe i'm missing my calling -- i should wear GLOVES! then i can touch every single disgusting surface out there!

she also tears through the train and subway stations like she is late for something...but i have personally seen her cross hill street and stop right in front of a bus station to wait who knows how long for a bus. she waits a lot.

i keep a pretty tight clip myself, trying to stay ahead of the pack of bumbling slow-walkers, but she always rushes by us. b and i give each other the look and whisper "the phantom!" and then we smile and walk to work.

living on the edge

i read a humorous article on msnbc today about how people knowingly participate in risky behavior. i apparently am a major risk taker because i comply with exactly one of their five criteria:

1. swab my ears with cotton swabs? -- CHECK (who doesn't? it's the best part of my morning)
2. eat raw cookie dough? -- CHECK. double check actually. i do this daily.
3. no carbon monoxide detector? -- check. we only have one functioning smoke detector at the moment too. oooh.
4. no rubber mat in the shower? -- check. never have, never will.
5. drink beer while operating power tools? -- yay! finally i'm safe! prob only b/c i don't drink beer. but if i did, the FIRST thing i'd do is go operate a power tool.

guess i'm suuuuper dangerous. i also jaywalk on major busy streets, keep my blog public and only clean my kitchen with soap a couple times a week.

i'm a REBEL.

[oddly enough, i do however compulsively lock all car and apt doors behind me immediately, and i always wear a seatbelt. guess i'm safe at some things.]




in completely unrelated and random news, i know four -- count them, FOUR -- women who have given birth in the past seven days. beat that.