Happy Anniversary

13+21

XOXO

Where I Love You Best

Happy Birthday To You.

XOXO

A Harvest, A Recipe, And Some Lovely Finds...

Pictured Above - Some Beautiful Purple Cauliflower From Our Garden!

Some Friday Fun that is sure to make you smile:

MAKE:
Simple Recipe For Roasted Cauliflower
(or any vegetables you like)
Preheat Oven To 400º
Cut Up Vegetables

Put Them In A Roasting Pan

Pour A Few Glugs Of Olive Oil Over The Whole Thing

Sprinkle Kosher Salt And Fresh Ground Pepper

Toss It All Together

Roast For About 20-25 Minutes

Or Until The Veggies Get A Bit Brown And Carmelized.

Eat.

Yum.

READ:
This fantastic blog by Michelle Gardella.
It feeds my 50-times-a day-urge to sell 90% of our stuff and hit the road.
Love Her:
CLICK

LISTEN:

To this beautiful Podcast

The Last Quite Places

XOXO

Have A Beautiful Weekend...

Y

PDN Top Knots!!

Earlier this month, I was thrilled to learn that I placed in the Portraits Category of Photo District News' annual Top Knots Contest. The judges are some of the most influential people in our industry, and it is amazing to be acknowledged in this way... Rebecca Crumley, Weddings Photo Director For The Knot Magazine; Jessica Latimer, Managing Editor of Grace Ormonde Wedding Style Magazine; Muzam Agha, Photo Producer For Martha Stewart Weddings; and Jason Groupp, Director, WPPI.

Deepest thanks to my wonderful clients, Cindy And Carl,

whose wedding will be published later this year.

And Kudos to everyone who was published and profiled in this issue.

Proud to be amongst  you.

XOXO

Yvette

Good Small Things.

"Live An Examined Life"

Yvon Chouinard

It's Earth Day tomorrow.  I keep thinking about

the last time Fred and I were on an airplane together, flying over LA,

we were both overwhelmed and aghast with the sprawl,

and the weight of this place where we live.

We both felt kind of stupid,

thinking that we were even making the smallest dent

with our little garden and our compost pile,

our worm farm, and our solar panels.

 Joke's-On-Us.

But that's no reason to stop.  

We have to tip the balance.

Every tiny thing counts.

There is so much beauty.  So much sadness.

So much anger and tragedy.

We are evil.  We are goodness.

This horrible, senselessly tragic week,

filled with both the most profound cowardliness

and the most profound bravery, is there, in front and center.

The kind of world we choose to live in is the kind of world we create.

We have got to slow down.

***

Here are some beautiful things I have found lately:

Read:

The truly meaningful words of my new friends, who have this incredible blog...

I look at it every single morning with my coffee.

It moves me to the depths:

TELL ON 

Listen:

To the public gallery in the New Zealand parliament breaking into song following the vote to legalize same sex marriage, singing the traditional Maori love song Pokarekare Ana.  Pure Joy:

XOXO

Do:

If you live in LA, come ride your bike with us tomorrow!

Venice Boulevard is shutting down from the beach to downtown LA and it's going to be

15 miles of car-free fun...

CICLAVIA

See:

This film.  What a journey.

It is a wonderful, amazing adventure that we all would be better for doing...

For now, enjoy the trailer and be sure to make time to stream the whole film on Netflix.

180º SOUTH Trailer from Woodshed Films on Vimeo.

XOXO

 Now Go And Be Brave.

Tip The Balance With Your Goodness.
Yvette

We Are Smitten!

We are beyond thrilled to be featured in the current issue of Smitten Magazine!

They did such a beautiful layout, and I can't give enough thanks to them for their

incredible depiction of this spectacular wedding.

Thank you also to Marissa And Randy,

who were so generous to share the intimacy of their day with us.

What joy!

Gracious Nods To All The Folks Who Made This Day Sing:

Maren Parsons (Event Design)

Modern Day Design (Florals)

Duo Catering (Food And Bev)

Pastries By Vreeke (Cake)
The Hahn Estate, Montecito (Location)

One Last Randy And Marissa Thing Before We Go:

(16mm Film By The Extraordinary Living Cinema)

XOXO

Yvette

Idyll Is Not Idle.

i was a latchkey kid.  all of my friends were.

we ran wild until dusk. the light in the sky told us when to go home.

no phones in our pockets, accompanied by our family dog on (most) adventures.

we played with footballs in the middle of the street.

we went hiking on fire roads and swung out over a secret creek

where someone had hung a rope swing.

we ran up and down the street in our nightgowns.

we collected rocks and sold them to neighbors.

we made magazines out of notebook paper,

and put on shows, using the handles of jump ropes for microphones. 

there was pain and heartache and sappy love notes to boys that went undelivered.

we wrote a play. i mowed the lawn (when prodded).

i (angrily) practiced the piano, which I still can't play.

we built a (very) dangerous tree house and no one fell out.

we made experimental food in the blender and had to clean it off the ceiling.

i taught myself how to bake pies while grounded (i spent a lot of time being grounded).

i spent hours and hours and hours and hours lying on my back on the floor in my bedroom wearing headphones, listening to music and staring at the ceiling.  

we fell down, we dusted off, we rose again.  

we weren't managed but we did manage, and we learned all sorts of really amazing things.

and all of this while living in LA.

we are so so lucky that we had those idyllically idle days. so so lucky. 

xoxo

yvette

ps. grateful thanks for the inspiration for this blog post: (CLICK).
pps.  share your idyll story in the comments box below.  can't wait to hear.
ppps. an addendum from my mom, who says "it makes me so very happy that you have happy and carefree memories.  One correction, in addition to the ceiling, the experimental food debris also always somehow landed behind the fridge.".