Big Sur

  

























Two weeks ago, lovely Anna and Mike came to visit, making them our first official East Coast visitors! They stayed with us in LA for two nights before we all headed up the coast to Big Sur.
We stayed in a house just off the PCH that was perched right on the edge of a cliff. We couldn't see another person or house for miles.

    























We opened wine at 3 pm, watched the most incredible sunsets, lived off of steak and lobster, and fell asleep each night to the sound of barking seals.

Joshua Tree National Park

Tim & I had a hard time leaving Hicksville while we were in Joshua Tree. But after a few mid-morning swims and the realization that we had already exhausted our instant coffee supply, we decided an outing would be in our best interest. We drove the isolated half hour to Joshua Tree National Park, and after getting a very long speech about the dangers of using our A/C in the park (killer bees, y'all- they love the stuff) we began exploring. 

It was 111 degrees in Joshua Tree that day, so we limited our hiking, but the park was stunning and gorgeous and also we saw the Salton Sea.

Hicksville

Ahh, Hicksville.

A hipsterific trailer park, grown-up summer camp, and secret desert retreat all rolled into one glorious sun-soaked acre. Tim & I *sort of* wanted to go camping(read: we wanted s'mores and stars but also running water and AC), so after some pretty specific google searches, we discovered Hicksville, Joshua Tree.  There is no address; directions are e-mailed 24 hours before you arrive, and the check-in/tour focuses mainly on how to operate the vintage jukebox and boozy vending machine.

After arriving and settling into our alien themed Airstream (yes, it does include an extraterrestrial communication center thank-you-very-much), we immediately changed into our bathing suits and began exploring the grounds. We found a miniature library (seriously, you have to crawl in, but it's surprisingly well stocked for a 6x6x6 foot cabin), an archery range (a bucket of arrows and bows on the front porch of said library), a ping pong room that opens up to the dessert(complete with a black-and-white photo booth), and of course, a hot tub on the roof.

We never changed out of our bathing suits, and spent the next two days perfecting our archery skills, figuring out how to make cinnamon rolls over an open fire, and staring at the stars from the rooftop hot tub. 

Washington Reid Gallery/UCPLA

Some of you know that I've started working with United Cerebral Palsy Los Angeles in their gallery! The Washington Reid Gallery exhibits the work of our artists-in-residence and we are working to expand our gallery's presence in the modern art community. 

Take a look at the press release for our upcoming show! If you don't know about Washington Reid Gallery and their association with United Cerebral Palsy LA, please feel free to contact me, or visit the website (here). If you are in the Los Angeles area, or know anyone in the Los Angeles area, please join us at our opening reception! 

                                                                









































































Opening Reception:

Washington Reid Gallery
6110 W Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232

June 22nd 6:00 pm until 9:00 pm

Spread the word, y'all!

Backstage at MidWinter

Last month, I flew to Atlanta for 26.5 hours to surprise my gorgeous sister (above), Charlotte, at her MidWinter Concert. I got pre-approved permission from Charlotte's dance instructors (formerly known as my dance instructors) to shoot backstage before and during the show. 

Also, the show included the sweetest father/daughter dance, choreographed by mine and Charlotte's first dance teacher ever. Sort of my Dad and Charlotte were the stars.

I had to leave at Intermission to catch my return-flight to LA, but on the way out, I caught a few extra (blurry) pictures from the front of the stage. 

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving this year was spent with friends. Anna & Hailey (thankfully) each brought their families and filled up our tiny house with love. I made turkey pot-pies in ramekins and pecan pies in cast-iron skillets. Tim hung twinkle lights and, being short both a dining room and a dining table, moved his work desk outside so we could all eat beside the lemon tree.

                                                                 


Much thanks to each of these beautiful people for sharing their holiday with us.

Happy Birthday, Gorgeous

One of our last Friday nights in Charleston was spent at the Gruenloh home celebrating beautiful Anna's birthday. Mike made an amazing dinner (comma of course) Nat & Lily brought bubbles, Tim added to the couple's art collection, and I made Anna a really unfortunate looking (read: hilariously hideous) birthday cake, complete with pink icing and red sprinkles (seriously, I spent a good hour trying to photoshop this cake into oblivion). We played some really intense Uno games and lit sparklers at the end of the night.

                                                                 

I could never begin to say enough about Anna. She's the warmest, kindest, most up-for-anything friend a girl could have. She got the red wine stain out of my wedding dress during our reception in two seconds flat, lent me a dress for her own wedding day, painted my students faces for their end-of-year musical (and stayed for the whole performance) and hosted a going away party for Tim & I on her actual birthday. She is incredible and today, she's the thing I miss most about Charleston. Typically I reserve "happy birthday, gorgeous" for my husband, but I'm making an exception this time. 

The Grand Onion

Two nights before we left Charleston, we went out to dinner with Tim's parents. His step-father and I killed a bottle of Pinot and tried to name every movie on the Top 100 Films of All Time, but Tim's mother was more focused and gave us a beautiful extra large atlas of the United States. When she gave it to us, she strongly suggested we actually look at it instead of just blindly driving and hoping we'd come across cool things (how do Mothers know everything before we do it?). Admittedly, we didn't take a peek in the atlas until we reached Georgia, and it wasn't until Alabama that we realized we would be passing through the Grand Canyon. We were beyond-words-excited by the time we were in Mississippi, and by Arkansas, Tim had taken to calling our destination "The Grand Onion" for reasons unknown (but let's be honest-it feels REALLY good to say those words out loud).

                                                                    




















Due to some really impressive last-minute internet hotel shopping, Tim got us reservations inside the Grand Canyon National Park. We arrived when it was dark, but we could smell the canyon air for miles around.  In the morning, we got up early and spent hours walking along the Southern Rim. Gorgeous.

Don't worry, there's more to this story than "my husband and I visited the Grand Onion and I took some mediocre-at-best pictures."

Oh, yes, there is more.

If any of you have ever been the victim of my Leica, you'll know it makes a really satisfying "chuh-KINK" sound when the shutter closes. People LOVE it. Animals maybe not so much. On the path that wound back to the parking lot, Tim and I wandered around a corner and suddenly found ourselves within 5 yards of an EIGHT FOOT TALL FEMALE ELK. I, of course, sprung into "chuh-KINK" action and began snapping as many pictures as I could because when am I ever going to see an elk again without a gate between us?! I moved closer and closer (but still within tolerable distance) until I heard Tim shout several expletives and yelled "WHAT are you doing?! Get away from it!" I looked down at my preview-screen and realized that the elk had begun running at me, and was now a mere 12-16 inches away from my face. Here are the REAL shots I got on my camera.

I froze. And I realized that I was about 8 feet away from the canyon rim. I also realized that I had exactly one chance to move laterally away from the elk. I jumped to the side and into Tim's arms just as the elk took another 4 steps that would have almost certainly involved nudging me closer to the abyss. Tim lead a mother and her baby around the elk-attacking area while I collected myself and reviewed my pictures. When Tim got back, he politely inquired if I thought putting myself in harm's way was worth the blurry shot of the running elk.

UM YES.

Stewart's Petrified Wood & Oddities!

                                                                     









By the time we reached the New Mexico/Arizona border, Tim and I had seen our fair share of strange side-of-the-road flea markets, antique stores, and Native American flute stands. We stopped and admired, but nowhere compared to Stewart's Petrified Wood & Oddities. It's right on I-40 (and the original Route 66) and you won't be able to miss it because you'll be in the middle of nothing-nothing-nothing New Mexico and then all of a sudden you'll look up and see LIFE SIZED PLASTER DINOSAURS eating LIFE SIZED PLASTER HUMANS. But that's not all! Once you drive over the dirt roads that lead to Stewart's, you'll park in front of several large ostrich pens, complete with decorative 10 foot tall teepees and about 30 gigantic birds, which you might be tempted to pet if not for the large painted signs reading "CAUTION: OSTRICHES BITE". In the area surrounding the main building there are broken cars, mannequins that have been baking in the sun for probably three decades, stone bears, and more plaster-of-Paris creatures than you thought existed in America. 

                                                                 










I never quite got the whole story from the lady working at Stewart's, but I did find out that regrettably the business is going under. More than anything else on our trip, I'm glad we stopped and explored here-Tim and I talked about it for miles after we left (comma of course). It's a one-of-a-kind place and I'm sorry to see it go. However, if you're interested in saving it (and being the coolest person that ever existed ever) the land is for sale and the ostriches too. No word on whether or not you can buy the dinosaurs or the sun splotched mannequins, but we took a card so... fingers crossed.