Olivia's Frozen Going Away Party

Yesterday was nuts in a totally fantastic way! Not only was it Olivia's last day at school but I had tons of errands to run for our trip. I spent an hour at the bank ordering foreign currency and then I put on my party planner hat. I'm sure if you have a child under the age of six, you know Frozen is like kid crack. I may not be the biggest Frozen fan but I love my kid so of course I threw a Frozen themed Going Away party for her class. Let me say, blue colored cupcakes are scarce in LA but luckily I found a baker who would airbrush vanilla cupcakes to look Frozen-esque. I searched every party store for weeks looking for Frozen party supplies but no luck. Finally, I checked the pinata/99 cent store on the corner and all that was left was a paltry bag of favors and a mylar balloon. At first I was all ambitious to make a huge Pinterest worthy craft project but you know what? I have too much going on at the moment so, I found her an Elsa crown and called it a day. As they say, let it gooooo!

The kids got kaleidoscopes, tattoos, rings and stickers. The boys were more into Frozen stuff than the girls

Liv and her bestie Sara

Liv was delighted to wear her Princess Ana dress to school and I played Michael Jackson during her party

Liv hugged me and said "This is the best party ever Mommy, thank you so much!"

Those crazy eyes and happy face are all worth it! I am so grateful for our two years at her school. We feel like part of a happy family and I know we will stay in touch with everyone. We handed out some parting gifts for the staff.

We made a cartoon of Mrs Crissy and ironed it onto a tote bag, she loved it!

Mrs. Crissy gave Liv a scrapbook filled with photos of her teachers and classmates. I cried when I read what she wrote in Olivia's Oh! The Places You'll Go book.

She is such an incredible teacher. I really love her. She is so rad. I apologize for my inability to form sentences, I am writing this a midnight so I'm very tired but I have an exciting post coming soon. Goodnights!

What's in the bag?

Ready for more packing fun?! I finally got the backpacks I ordered from Amazon so I wanted to share my essentials for the trip. I'll start with Liv since hers is the lightest. I have been wanting to get her a new backpack for her new school so when I found the Fjallraven Kånken *which means arctic fox in Swedish* I knew it was the one. It was hard choosing a color because of course Liv wanted pink but we wanted a more neutral color. I almost bought the mini version but I am glad I went with the classic. Liv is so tall and she can fit more stuff in there. I chose the ochre color and I really love it *I just may have to borrow it, Liv* Olivia is going through a transition from toddler to big girl, so she really likes having her own bag with her own things.

Fjallraven Kanken Backpack in Ochre
Urbanears Plattan headphones in Colbalt
Apple ipod shuffle *loaded with all her favorite Michael Jackson songs*
Frozen Little Golden Book
Paris coloring book *I had to get it when I saw it at Michaels*
Twistables crayons
Newsweek Michael Jackson special edition magazine
Harry & Wills the two-headed Dragon *purchased from this awesome store*
Eos lip balm in strawberry sorbet
Fisher Price digital camera *it holds 1,000 photos so she can go nuts!*
Fruit leather from Target
Organic Lavender & Orange Blossom Lotion stick *a gift from my friend Kim, smells so yummy*
Neutrogena Baby sunscreen
Liv's passport
Funko POP Michael Jackson "Beat It" Vinyl

Here's my backpack

Herschel Supply Co Backpack *mine was filthy but a trip to the dry cleaners has it looking brand new*
SkullCandy headphones
my iPhone/Ban.do case
The Fault in our Stars *so excited to read this on the plane*
Bon Voyage Travel Journal
Wandering Paris
My Passport
Marc Jacobs Honey Perfume rollerball
Aviator glasses *I buy cheap ones from Anthropologie since I break/lose them so often*
Rebecca Minkoff P.Y.T. Pouch *I keep my lipsticks in here*
Aveeno Positively Radiant Daily Moisturizer Broad Spectrum SPF 15 *this stuff has changed my complexion for the better, I use it everyday*
Eos lip balm in Sweet Mint *I used to swear by Rose lip salve but the container is hard to open and my last one melted in my bag*
Nikon J1 camera *just had it repaired and cleaned*
My rosary that smells like roses Aimee bought me from the Vatican *I travel with it everywhere*
Orla Kiely for Target bag *I keep socks in there and my eye mask so I can sleep*
Kleenex Wipes *I have a three year old, I'm never without these*
*I may have to add a small umbrella

Also in my backpack:

Our itinerary, vouchers, hotel info
Copies of our passports and drivers licenses
Streetwise maps
Streetwise makes my favorite maps. They are laminated and small so you don't look like a lost tourist and they are easy to find landmarks, museums and public transportation. Another packing tip I found was to take photos of everything in your luggage so if it gets lost, it easier to file a claim.

I am going to Flight 001 this weekend to buy luggage tags and a voltage converter for my flat iron.


Of course Antz hasn't packed yet because...well, he's a boy and he works full-time so I'll add photos of his backpack hopefully soon. What are your must-have travel essentials? Did I forget anything? I will pick up some snacks at the airport and my electronics/extra batteries and cords are in my laptop bag.

Our Taco Fiesta

Our last party at home was our bebe shower four years ago!! I have been wanting to have friends over for a BBQ before our trip. The more I planned, the more I got overwhelmed with the idea of cooking and then I remembered how great the food was at our friend's party. So I called their caterer and was surprised at how affordable hiring a taco caterer was. I made fresh lemonade and cucumber spa water, put up some decorations and voila, our party was ready.

For the last few days I've been searching locally for peonies but I guess they are late this season so this morning I headed to the downtown flowermart. Bad idea, the day before Mother's day is the worst time to be shopping for flowers. The roads were closed, traffic was at a stand still and this was at 8am! I lucked upon a parking spot and stepped over the dude sleeping on the sidewalk to walk the three blocks to the flowermart. I have never seen that place so crowded before. You would think they were giving away flowers but everything seemed to be double the price. Horrible tacky roses were everywhere. The good news was I found peonies, the bad news was the same bunch I would normally pay $6 from Trader Joe's was now $20. Oh well, I shopped around and found a pretty bunch for $15 *all the pros know how to find the flowers at a discount* I fell in love with a bunch of mini daisies and was in and out in under a half an hour. 

New bedding makes me so happy *I love my Alexandra Ferguson pillow I received as a gift from Leslie*

Thank you Fancy!

A giant balloon and a giant Ban.do pouf are a girls best friend

Thank goodness the weather cooperated. It was sunny enough without being too hot. Everyone relaxed and ate tons of tacos.

I enjoyed myself so much I hardly took any photos, I did manage this shot of the peppers cooking, which no one was able to handle their hot.

Liv was a party animal

I bought my lemonade dispenser two years ago, so happy to finally use it

I made this banner out of scraps of fabric and Liv's old baby clothes

Tomorrow I'll take a better shot of my Oh Joy for Target vases

Chris just cannot keep his clothes on! Nice Cthulhu dude.

Veda stole the show with her adorableness

I tried my best to catch a Veda smile

Merci to Letty for taking care of all the cooking. Contact me for her number, she's wonderful! Big hugs and kisses to all my lovely guests, your presence was a pleasure and I am so happy to have such rad people in my life. What a perfect way to start Mother's Day.

*Special thanks to Kim for making the tastiest sangria, everyone loved it!

Great photos Ana!!

Misha Lulu Spring/Summer 2014

Back in February, Karen and Joe shot Liv for their new Spring/Summer line in our backyard. I was so excited to see donuts featured since it's our favorite treat.

You can shop the line at Misha Lulu site. This is the biggest we've ever styled her hair.

The Lollipop tank

The Donut Tank 

Brown Sugar shorts

Cali Skirt

I am so excited for the Fall/Winter 2014 line to launch!

Here's the kid trying out her new Urbanears headphones. We love them!

She's wearing her new backpack but I'll take more photos of it during our trip

Have a lovely weekend.

Pack Rat

I have been running around like a chicken with her head cut off preparing for our trip. I hope to have everything done by next week so I won't have any last minute surprises. I am trying to stay uber-organized because this is the longest trip we've taken so I am packing our entire lives. Not really but I did a preliminary pack last week and it turns out my clothes, shoes and toiletries didn't come close to fitting in my tiny carry on suitcase.

I'm trying to follow this example I found on Pinterest.

Luckily, I can borrow one of Antz suitcases and use my carry-on for Liv's clothes and other stuff I couldn't fit into my bag.

We bought this 4-piece Swiss Gear set from Nordstrom Rack for only $99 back in 2005!

I am wearing my heaviest clothes and shoes on the plane

I am trying my best to condense my packing list but it's harder than it looks. So far I've got:

Suitcase
4 pairs of pants
2 pair of jeans
4 dresses
3 shorts
5 skirts
3 blouses
2 cardigans
3 sweaters
7 tops
2 scarves
1 trench coat
Pajamas/socks
Underoos
Clutch/Tote
Makeup Bag
Hair products *still unsure if I'm bringing my flat iron
Ban.do Accessories/Jewelry
8 Pairs of shoes *I know, I need to cut this by 3!

Laptop bag
Laptop/Cords
iPad
Adaptors
Extra chargers/Batteries

Backpack
Wallet
Passport *bringing extra passport photos
Itinerary folder *it's 10 pages long!/Travel vouchers
iPhone/Headphones
Sunglasses
Umbrella *I hope it doesn't rain
Nikon J1 Camera
Eos lip balm
Water bottle

Camera bag *we may put this guy in Antz backpack

Our heavy, giant Nikon DSLR
Extra lens
Cords/Batteries

Aye yi yii! My suitcase is bursting at the seams. I am praying we don't get charged for exceeding the weight limit. I don't know how I will be able to bring home any souvenirs. I'm sure I'm forgetting something, I always do.

I have been ordering things online like crazy. I got a new backpack for Antz and Liv *so excited for hers to arrive next week!* and we needed this Apple travel adapter kit. I also ordered some cute sandals I couldn't resist that were on sale for Liv. I have a few more things I'll share later.

So after two weeks of drama with finding a place to rent in Paris, we got our apartment!! I can't believe our luck. It's super cute and affordable and the host seems really sweet.

Looks rad huh?

So many things I need to do today. Any tips for efficient packing?

Have a lovely weekend!!