Tuesday, October 13, 2009

La-La-Land & Lucy's wedding.

Friday morning, Gia and I set off for the lovely Los Angeles. Kari picked us up at LAX and we stopped by her house to say hi to Uncle James, Winston and Marco.

Marco is Aunt Kari and Uncle James new dog. Both Marco and Winston are is a Cavalier King Charles spaniel. And they are so precious and perfect for Miss Gia. We are seriously contemplating this addition to our family. After we said hello, we headed to Surfas. Surfas is a cooks paradise. Kari is one of LA's acclaimed personal chefs and I love to cook. We bough more cheese, bread and pate than any three girls could handle and we headed back to Kari and James and devoured it with gusto only two foodies could.

Gia and I headed back to LAX to pick up RT. Ralph had been in meetings in Saint Louis for eight days. He was certainly exhausted.

We decided that Mexico City fit the bill for dinner and traveled from West LA to Los Feliz. It was such a lovely drive with great conversation and very little traffic.
Ralph and I have been eating at Mexico City since we were dating and it was so great to share one of our favorite LA spots with Kari, James and of course Miss Gia. I think all enjoyed the food and I know we all enjoyed the company.

Saturday morning Gia walked Winston and Marco (with the help of Uncle James and Aunt Kari) and then we all headed to the Santa Monica Farmers Market.

"The ULTIMATE community gathering place in Santa Monica. Great for family, food and fun!"

Of course, Gia ended up with all of the bags and her stroller. Strolling around Santa Monica like so many, bums, people and celebrities alike. With bundles full of delicious goodies!
Gia has really been fighting me on ponies lately. I am not a mom that is willing to fight whether or not my child does her hair, but I DO NOT want her to look un kept. So, we decided to take Gia to Floyd's. Floyd's is just a walk in barber shop, but the cool factor is through the roof. The walls are adorned with old school band and magazine posters and the music is pumping through out.

Gia had her hair bobbed by Alexandra and she did a fantastic job. Gia is walking around telling everyone about her new haircut.

That night, we went to a birthday BBQ at a friends house. They have such a lovely home and Kari made the most fantastic bread pudding ever. And I do not even like bread pudding. It. Was. Sinful. Sinful. I tell you.
Sunday morning, the girls headed to the beach for a brunch picnic while the guys watched SPORTS. The beach breakfast was glorious. The sky was overcast and temperatures a bit cool. We ate fresh Quark from the farmers market and sipped fresh squeezed OJ.
Gia spent the morning playing in the sand, the water and ultimately ended up skinny dipping in the Pacific. Watching Gia take such pleasure and fun in lifes little pleasures brings me a new level of happiness. I want my child to forever find that as long as she lives.
Everytime she experiences that. It brings me back and makes me savor the little moments.
We said goodbye to Aunt Kari, Uncle James, Marco and Winston. Which was tear inducing for both Gia and me. Then we headed up to Malibu for the night.

On our way, we stopped at Malibu seafood. A local favorite. Not nearly as famous as Neptunes Net, but just as delicious. It is both a seafood market and a place to grab a quick bite. The clam chowder is warm and comforting and the fish and chips is flaky and fresh. The views from the balcony are breathtaking and it certainly makes you feel that you are in a small secluded beach town. Not just seven minutes outside of Santa Monica proper.
We then checked into the hotel where Ralph and I stayed on our second LA house hunting trip when I was pregnant with Gia. This provided for endless, "When you were a baby..." stories for Gia.

We headed to Calamigos Ranch for Lucy and Jim's wedding. The wedding was elegant and perfect. Such a great celebration of a fantastic couple.

It was so much fun to see so many LA friends at such a celebration. Gia was one of three little girls invited to the wedding. They danced and danced.
Kiara was Lucy's flower girl and God daughter from France. Kiara came to Gia's first birthday party. So sweet to see them grow up.

They had a little language barrier, nothing that precious toddler hood could not overcome.


Our night ended early with a little girl fast asleep on her daddy's shoulder. She had so much fun and so did we.
Congratulations Lucy and Jim!! Thank you for sharing your special day with us!

Monday morning we got up and went to Gia's old school. Ralph and I spend hours telling her stories about this school and all of her amazing teachers. Gia was squealing with excitement to see Miss Barb, Miss Mercedes and Miss Shannon.

On our way to the airport, we stopped at Tico's Tacos and got out yearly fix. It was just as good as we remembered it being. Oh how we miss you Tico's.

Our fantastic La La Land weekend was ended by a not so fabulous four hour delay at LAX. We are back home in NorCal safe and sound and so thankful for our dear southern Cali friends.

1 comment:

Tonia said...

What a great trip! Gia's hair looks adorable like that!