For you Mid-Century / Cinema nerds

This video by James Munn is delightful and the score is so very Kubrick-esque.

MID-CENTURY MODERN HOUSES from James Munn on Vimeo.

You can find more mid century gems here.

Hello

It feels like ages since I last blogged. Sorry lovelies, I've been enjoying hanging at home with Antz & Liv. We had an uneventful 3 day weekend. Saturday Antz and I had a business meeting. Monday, we watched the inauguration concert and hung out in the backyard. We finally had a break in the cold January weather and Antz moved our patio dining table back upstairs. Liv & Antz made homemade lemonade and I picked up Chipotle and we had our first outdoor lunch of the year.

I hope to have many more outdoor meals but our 7 year old grill died so we are looking at replacing it with this guy.

Totally cute and we only need a small grill, nothing fancy. After lunch we took a walk on York Blvd. Antz and I are not pleased that Cafe de Leche is adding a mural to the lovely brick wall. Highland Park has it's fill of murals; the Virgin Mary is plastered everywhere as well as every party shop has Spongebob, Elmo & Dora *which never seems to look right* 

I adore street art but something tells me that this guy isn't going to bring it in the mural department.

 I do love the lovely yarn bombing on York. Highland Park has been coming around. This article came out last week and gave us some hope that our little house could one day bring in the big bucks. Who knows, we're already being dubbed the next Echo Park. I don't know if that's a compliment or not. We're still debating the big kitchen remodel, go big or go budget?

These are a few of my Favorite Things

Oh, the world is full of lovely things, don't you agree?

kate spade new york 'arm candy' leather pouch *Drool, I want candy!*

M·A·C 'Sinfully Chic' Face Kit *my makeup collection is lacking nude tones*

Rae Dunn by Magenta Small Fruit Colander

Tory Burch Fox Lace Up Rainboot *boo, these adorable guys are sold out*

A new pretty headband for Liv and a statement necklace that I patiently waited to go on sale

Gloves for the cold weather

Still on the hunt for the perfect pair of oxfords *I cannot resist these dots*

Deena & Ozzy Metallic Loafer *20 in store, $30 online* GOLD!

Winning Misha Lulu/Lili giveaways rule

Thanks so much Karen, we are huge Misha Lulu fans!

Some sale scores are too awesome to keep secret. I saw a post by Kate Spade on facebook late night last Monday *it really does pay to follow your fave designers on fb* about their site having technical difficulties due to the huge cyber-Monday sale. I was intrigued but had no intention to buy anything but when I saw the very first item on the home page, my jaw hit the floor. Back in August I was hunting everywhere for this sold out bag. Ebay had a bunch but they were selling for $350 and they looked like fakes. I even emailed customer support to ask if any stores might have them in stock or had any returns. They pretty much told me, "Sorry sweetie, you snooze, you lose." So when our anniversary came around, I didn't get the gift I'd hoped for *although the amazing pop up dinner and a surprise trip to Disneyland definitely made up for it* Not only was it the infamous Eat Cake for Breakfast bag but it was on super cyber sale marked down from the original $248 price tag. Say Whaaa?

kate spade new york 'call to action - terry' tote

I'm so freaking excited to get this guy *it's supposed to arrive tomorrow evening*. It is an iconic bag and so minimalistic. It's big enough to carry all my junk and I got it on S A L E!! High five to me. There are some new versions of it available on the Kate Spade website but if you ask me, they aren't as cute.

And I know cute when I see it...

Liv model from sunkissis on Vimeo.

The Breakfast Club

Please forgive my Sunday afternoon case of the lazies. It's such lovely weather and I've got a full tummy. I'm so sleepy from a fun filled day so I'm not feeling so chatty.

We started our day with video chatting with our favorite niece & nephew, Evelyn & Dion from Paraguay. They only have 9 months left with the Peace Corps. and I know how fast 9 months can go by. Then we went to brunch at Cindy's. I had an idea to get together with my friends on a monthly basis and we'll try a new restaurant each time. Cindy's was my choice for our first Breakfast Club.

"Saturday, March 24,1984. Shermer High School, Shermer, Illinois, 60062. Dear Mr. Vernon, We accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong. What we did *was* wrong. But we think you're crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are. What do you care? You see us as you want to see us - in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. You see us as a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess and a criminal. Correct? That's the way we saw each other at 7:00 this morning. We were brainwashed."

Always cheesing for the camera

We checked out a really nice open house in Atwater Village after breakfast. The house is small but cute. My biggest disappointment was the faux fireplace and it's the first house on the street so there's an alley next to it. However there is a huge wall so you would never hear any noise from the cars driving by. The price was excellent, there's no doubt it will sell quickly.

I drool for pools!!

Antz must have also been inspired by this pool because he decided that today was the day we get Liv a pet fish. We bought the aquarium but the guy at the Pet store said we should wait a day before adding the fish. We're picking up a couple of goldfish friends tomorrow.

*Update* Yesterday Antz brought home our new pets. Olivia has named them Dory & Nemo *although I call them Fred & Ethel* So far so great, they survived the night and Lola hasn't noticed them, yet!

So now that Liv is watching The Goonies with Antz in the other room. I'm going to sneak a little nap before I get started on my crafting for Liv's Winter Solstice.

OH! I forgot to post a photo of our garage. Antz straightened it up and made it cute again after weeks of neglect.

Merci Mon ami!!

Open Hizzy

Ugh, do kids still tizz-alk like thi-zzis anymore? Today was a lovely Sunday, we did some house cleaning, organizing and getting rid of shit. I've been babbling about crepes from the Beverly Hills farmers market all week so we headed over there for one. Sadly, it wasn't as yummy as the one I got last time but that could be because I didn't order Nutella.

Always order Nutella, Dork!

Liv was looking fresh to death in her new summer outfit her Dad bought her last week.

How are you liking her ponytails?

Liv ate almost all the blackberries we bought

"My popcorn!"

After a trek across town for delish Tandoori chicken for lunch, we stopped by at a pretty rad open house in Atwater Village. I thought it was nice, has a lot of charm and almost everything on my wishlist *it's lacking a fireplace* but the interior was pretty small. There was one jack-and-jill bathroom *it was in between the master and the second bedroom*  but the bathroom in the guest house was awesome. That was our favorite part of the house. It's located on a nice, quiet street but not my ideal location. It was adorable, my photos turned out horrible so here's the listing photos

Love this arch!

The master closet...uhhhh?

Doubt a king would fit in here

The master bedroom was about the same size as our current one

The vanity seems unbalanced, there's wasted space under the window

Nice, private backyard

It was really hard to not jump in that salt water pool with my clothes on

Outdoor shower is a nice feature

I love the hydrangeas but I'd add some peonies

The yard is much smaller than ours but easier to maintain and large enough for Liv to play in

Converted garage guest house

That huge shower looks like heaven! There were so many people checking it out, the price is so reasonable, I'm sure it will have multiple offers and sell well over the $599,000 they are asking. Everything in the house was brand new and renovated. I wasn't a big fan of the kitchen cabinets and countertops but Antz liked the overall spaciousness.

Liv was all about the pool

I would love to get our house looking that sweet. We need to put about $60k into our crib to completely update it.

-New bathtub/shower (still waiting for a quote from our plumber)
-fix the foundation
-new chimney/fireplace mantle
-fix the shitty plumbing (definitely doing that next year)
-new kitchen cabinets (least paint em and give them new knobs)
-get rid of the popcorn ceiling in the hallway and living room (hopefully next Spring)
-get rid of half our junk/de-clutter (tackling this everyday)
-grow our grass back in the backyard (Antz has this on his to-do list)
-paint (every room could use a fresh coat)

We plan to do the work on more than half of this list. There's no way I'm spending $40k on our foundation. Our house is already crooked and I'd rather spend that money towards a down payment on our new house. I am so happy we have a garage that gives us a place to store all our crap and pretty stellar curb appeal.

I would really love for our agent to come by and give us her professional advice on what we need to do to sell this joint. The agent who sold the house next door said it wouldn't go for more than $350 so we should stay put for another 5 years. Not uh, I've got 4 years max to stay in this house. Every year Liv I goes without a pool makes me crazy. Seeing houses always gives me the itch to move. If someone offered us what we paid in 2006, I'd take it in a heartbeat.