8.30.2015

Tropical Mint

Happy Sunday! If you're following the Coptic calendar, today's Gospel reading is from Mark 13: 3-37...heavy duty stuff! 

Hope you're having a great Sunday.

Best,

H.


Here's the look:

Blouse: Vince. Find similar here.
Skirt: Worthington. Find similar here.
Shoes: Franco Sarto. Find similar here.
Purse: Kate Spade. Find similar here.  



You can see my communion handkerchief folded neatly.

The grass is still green!


Earrings: Chloeandisabel

8.17.2015

What's Your LA Story?

I'm not even going to try to explain my absence. No excuse. But what I will explain is the title of this post. While waiting at LAX for our red eye flight to board, I spotted a billboard near Gate 80 that showcased a few 20-something's raising their hands with glee asking, "What's Your LA Story?" 

Let me tell you about my past week in LA. Past week=So. Much. Fun. This year's family vacation took us to Playa del Rey or "Beach of the King", a coastal neighborhood in the City of Los Angeles where our relatives reside. By going west, we not only get to enjoy California's beautiful beaches but also spend time with family that we only get to see every few years. 

For this trip, I definitely had a point of interest: Villa Blanca. Fans of the Housewives franchise will recognize that Villa Blanca is one of the restaurants owned by Lisa Vanderpump. Honestly, besides seeing family (including the toddler and newborn both of whom I completely adore) and getting some sun, having dinner at VB was the ONLY thing I really wanted to do. No, I didn't want to go to Death Valley or Disneyland nor drive down Big Sur (the only Sur I wanted to see was the one that served drinks). 

And who better to share this experience with than real LA Housewives like Mora and Julie. These girls are simply AWESOME. When I told them that all I really wanted to do was go have dinner at VB, they were very supportive...neither judgmental nor cheeky. And so, that is what we did. Both having husbands and very young children, they were so kind to leave them for a few hours while they helped THIS 40-year-old mother of teenagers visit her only point of interest. 

Villa Blanca was magical. Pure white magic. The flowers, decor and food were spectacular. I don't want to go overboard with the details of the experience because that may take hours to write and could be the subject of a subsquent post. But what I do want to hold on to, more than visiting Villa Blanca and later SUR (which was a total bonus and indulgence), are the special moments I shared with Mora and Julie. At our core, we are all so much alike. We are mothers. We are wives. We are lovers of Christ. We are professionals. We are reality tv junkies. We are storytellers. We are nice people. We are romantics. We are proud of our past and hopeful about our future. At one point, Julie said, "Lisa brought us together." And while that may sound corny, I guess you just had to be there. Just. Had. To. Be. I miss those girls already and wish I could have spent more girl time with them.

So that was my brief #LAStory: Lisa brought us together. 

What's your story?

Best,


H.

 







                                                       
                                                     Sorry for the horrible photo quality. What I had on:
                                                            Dress: Betsey Johnson. Find here. 
                                                            Shoes: Tsubo. Find here
                              








Me with James Kennedy from Vanderpump Rules. He was nice. Not super nice. But not a jerk.

Sorry for the cleavage but the girls were too excited to stay in. The cross necklace I am wearing is one of my very favorite pieces by Mariana. Find similar here.
Me and Mora. She looked hot!


Me and Julie. She had on the perfect color for VB.

Our waitress Jenn. She's an aspiring actress. She was so sweet...even after I asked her like a billion times about Lisa's whereabouts.

My delicious salmon.

No shame. No game. Me in the bathroom at SUR. The tiles in the bathroom are the same exact tiles in my kitchen. Hmmm?
My drink. Jenn said it's Lisa's favorite: The Big Pinky.