Happy New Year!

Looking back over the past year, it's pretty incredible to see how much has changed in our lives: we left Belgium (we still miss it daily), landed in Toronto, bounced around between the grandparents' homes for a couple months, and finally settled down in LA. We spent many hours at the beach, many hours eating fish tacos, many hours at the park. We caught up with old friends and made new ones. Our sweet little baby turned one, started walking, and developed an attitude that can rival most 16 year old girls. 

We're so thankful to have had the love and support of our family and friends throughout the year (especially during those rocky months last spring when we didn't know what the heck we were doing with our lives)... And we're so glad to share our adventures (even the mundane day-to-day ones) with you here. 

We'll drink a glass of bubbly and cheers to YOU tonight... and then go to bed at 9pm :) 

Happy New Year! xo

Christmas in Palm Springs

I grew up in California, but for the past 6 years I've lived in places where winters are long and cold. My self-diagnosed Seasonal Affective Disorder would kick in, and I'd be cold and grumpy for months. Didz would tell me to toughen up, I'd tell him to go suck an egg. We'd bicker on and on like this. He'd try to convince me to embrace the winter - white fluffy snow! hot chocolate! bundling up! - and I'd translate that to mean: nasty, slushy, slippery sidewalks! scalding hot liquid burning my tongue! wearing a million layers to go outside, but then sweating profusely indoors where the heat was blasting to a gajillion degrees!

This year, we decided to skip the holiday travel, the snowy cityscapes, the ice storms and power outages, the flight delays and long lines... and enjoy wearing flip flops and t-shirts for Christmas. We made a spontaneous, last minute decision to drive to Palm Springs and spend a few days here:

We missed our families, and wished we could've all been together... but our little gettaway was warm and wonderful and I think Didz is coming around to understanding how magical living in California really is.

We splashed around in the pool, we ran around on the grass, we woke up all our neighbors with early morning bocce, we ate tacos and drank beer, we chased Ina around the lobby (we spent HOURS in that lobby) and we opened Christmas presents (who knew a pair of mittens could bring SO MUCH JOY) and played in our room until we were all completely exhausted.

We hope you had a wonderful Christmas! Sending lots of hugs and sunshine to you all... and BIG BIG LOVE to our good buddy TK and his darling girl, Vija, who got engaged yesterday. Love you guys! xo

Last Week + Weekend Bits

My parents came to stay with us last week. It was fun, and delicious, and wonderful, and went by too quickly, as it always does when they're here. We didn't do much, other than eat, drink, play and console a cranky teething baby (molars are the WORST). Didz and I snuck off for a couple of dates alone, but mostly we all just hung around at home. On Thursday we prepared a Thanksgiving feast, and sat and ate and wore napkins on our heads (a ridiculous tradition that we take very seriously).

Early Friday morning my parents took off back to Boston, so the three of us jumped in the car and drove up to Ojai. We spent the weekend in the country, at Mia's family's ranch. Ina met a horse and ate dirt, we breathed in fresh mountain air, and got to see the stars at night. We even got to go out with friends one evening, while Ina slept back at the house with Mia's folks. It was relaxing and rejuvenating and such a perfect escape from the city.

Here's a glimpse into our week, and our weekend gettaway:

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! This week we'll be eating salads and fruit (does apple pie count?;) and working off all that stuffing with long walks by the beach. I'm hoping to do a little holiday decorating around the house - but we'll see how that goes. My little helper will be far more keen on taking decorations down than putting them up. It'll be a minimalist Christmas for sure.

Happy December!

Weekend Bits

Krupnikas, a Lithuanian honey liquor, is a staple in our household - we put it in tea when we're sick, we take shots of it during parties, we sip on it after a big meal as a digestif. There was a bottle of it at every table at our wedding, as well as a few full barrels of it by the dance floor for refills. It's potent. It's delicious. It's a no-brainer that when my best friend (and honorary Lithuanian) asked if we could make some for her wedding next year, we jumped at the opportunity to brew a batch.

Our Saturday consisted of making (and tasting) Krupnikas, and our Sunday was spent recovering with a drive up the coast and into Topanga Canyon for lunch and margaritas.

It was a good weekend, and we look forward to toasting the happy couple with a finely aged shot of Krupnikas next year.

   

The bug is 13 months old today... I think we'll bake some cookies to celebrate. Have a happy week!

Weekend Bits

Little Iny turned ONE on Friday, so we spent the entire weekend celebrating. Friday, we spent the day up in Malibu, eating fish tacos with our toes in the sand, and frolicking on the beach. Saturday we co-hosted a birthday party with Ina's buddy Max (they were born just a day apart) at a park with some friends. And Sunday, we spent the morning at the farmer's market, then bought some books at our favorite little children's book store and went home to chill out and eat left over cake. It was a great weekend with our darling girl and some of our favorite people.

 

She received her first pair of Chucks from Auntie Brigs and her boyfriend Felix... I think we can all agree that babies in Chucks are the cutest thing EVER.

We'll be sleeping off our birthday coma and continuing to unpack and settle in this week (last night we brought up a bunch of boxes we had stored in the garage when we first moved here). It's slightly embarrassing to admit, but we've almost unpacked all our our wedding gifts from over two years ago (all of which were in storage while we were in Belgium - feels like Christmas opening all these boxes!)... I can't wait to host a dinner party and finally put all these dishes and fancy platters to use!

Have a great week!