Twenty-five candles

We spent the long Thanksgiving weekend with my daughter in her little tiny town. It was everything a Thanksgiving weekend should be ... family and great food and time to sit and relax. And ponder. I took a drive one day into the mountains and soaked in the golden leaves and collected some pine cones and evergreen branches. And I did a little research on Advent. 

When I was growing up we did not talk about Advent. Or if we did, I missed it. Advent to me was opening up little cardboard calendars with chocolates inside ... it was nothing more than a countdown to Christmas.  

I decided that I wanted this year to be more simplified. More about the thought behind this season than the frantic pursuit of gifts and bringing down the boxes and boxes of ornaments. 

I decided I want it to be more about Advent. I read here about the way this family celebrates Advent.

via

I tried to find an wooden advent "wreath" like they used. But couldn't. So I decided to make my own. 

One candle for each day until Christmas. The tall candles are for the Sundays leading up to Christmas and one for Christmas Day. Each day I will light one candle, read a scripture and say a prayer. It is a way to stop and reflect; to focus on what is important to me. 

I read that the candles represent Hope, and Love, Joy and Peace. Can't we can all use more of those?

"Arise, shine;

  For your light has come!

  And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you. 

  For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,

  And deep darkness the people;

  But the LORD will arise over you,

  And His glory will be seen upon you."

                  -Isaiah 60:1-2

Bar carts, a great lunch and my latest obsession

My youngest daughter, the one who is a farmer, is in town and yesterday we took a little trip up to Venice to check out some vintage stores and to have lunch. 

 I am not normally that into vintage, but since I have been doing the weddings I have been scouting the vintage stores more and more. It is amazing what you can find!

We started in The Mart Collective on Lincoln Blvd. The Mart Collective is 16,000 sq. ft. of vintage and antique objects, furniture and art in 120 dealer spaces. It opened last year and is owned by the former managers of Wertz Brothers Antique Mart in Santa Monica which also closed last year. We spent an hour browsing around ... we could have easily spent two. It was packed with so many fun things and a lot of bar carts. I have a thing for bar carts. Have you seen my Pinterest page devoted to them?

I found this one first. I kind of liked it. In fact, I thought about it the entire time I was walking through the store. It was not in the best condition but it was only $60. Or so I thought. I went back to look at it just before we left thinking it would come home with me ...

I really need to get better glasses! 

This one was a much better deal at $225.

This 1960's Danish cart was selling for $495.

And they were asking $745 for this 1970's brass plated cart. 

The Mart Collective is just across the street from the Hardware store. I couldn't resist shooting the sign - remember my sign obsession during our Route 66 road trip last summer? After we left the vintage store we headed over to Abbott Kinney Blvd. to walk around and have lunch. We ended up at Lemonade a fresh and colorful cafeteria. 

I loved the colorful pots ... and they even had a gluten free cookie I could eat!

It was a really fun morning! My favorite salad was the beet salad. Funny thing ... right after lunch I had an appointment with my kidney doctor who told me that I need to avoid certain foods from now on so I won't get another kidney stone. Guess what was first on the list ... beets! And then he went on to say that citrus will help balance the bad foods so I should drink plenty of ... lemonade!  It made me smile anyway (until I saw that chocolate was also on the bad list). Oy vey!

Oh ... I was going to show you my latest obsession ...

Have you tried this gelato? It is delicious! (#helpmeIcan'tstop) Happy Friday everyone!

Saturdays, creating a wedding and new beginnings

There is something about Saturdays that just because it is Saturday, it feels different. If I am meeting with a client on a Saturday, it just feels more casual, even if it is not. During the week I would never do this, but on a Saturday if I am meeting a client, I do not feel the need to dress up as much. And I might not even shower (shhh!). I love Saturdays. I don't feel guilty to watch television during the day ... or take a nap. It is a day to refresh. And not matter how hard the week was ... you get to start over on Sunday. Kind of like a new year. Or a new season.

 

Wedding images via 100 Layer Cake

I spent this Saturday with my latest wedding client - a darling girl whose wedding is going to be spectacular. Oh, how I love working with my brides :)

Engagement photos by Duane Peck

This is going to be a barn wedding and it will be filled with vintage furniture, gold candelabras and naked cakes on peach pedestals. We planned and made some changes and worked on specific details. And these will be used:

There is something very magical and exciting about planning and creating a wedding. They are new beginnings. It is not just about this one day. It is about a the fresh new start as a couple beginning their life together; a coming together of two ... joined as one. A new season of their lives. I can't think of a better way to spend a Saturday! 

“[T]hat old September feeling, left over from school days, of summer passing, vacation nearly done, obligations gathering, books and football in the air ... Another fall, another turned page: there was something of jubilee in that annual autumnal beginning, as if last year's mistakes had been wiped clean by summer.”
― Wallace Stegner, Angle of Repose

"Do not remember the former things,

Nor consider the things of old.

Behold I will do a new thing,

Now it shall spring forth;

Shall you not know it? 

I will even make a road in the wilderness

And rivers in the desert."

-Isaiah 43:18-19

A busy week

It took me a couple of days to recuperate after styling two big weddings in two weeks - but it didn't take me long to get back into the swing of things. I managed to fit in a couple of lovely lunches and celebrate a couple of birthdays ... and even attend a wedding as a guest.

I made a little bouquet to thank a friend for helping with the wedding flowers ...

And she brought by a gorgeous pink Dahlia that she grew in her garden!

I took a friend to lunch for her birthday at Number Nine - a fantastic Vietnamese restaurant on 4th street in Long Beach. 

And was treated to lunch by the mother of the bride from last weekend's wedding.

One of my interns (I have two), Rachel, got married last weekend as well, and it was lovely to sit and enjoy a wedding where I didn't do a thing. Rachel and her mom did everything themselves. They made fabric flowers that they put on all the table linens, kept their details simple but stylish and everything turned out great! 

I spent the rest of the week working and catching up with some design projects I had put on hold ... this is a proposed entry for a long distance client.

We have family in town for the long Labor Day weekend and have enjoyed sitting out by the pool with our lovely summer weather and celebrating my son-in-law's birthday.

I hope you are able to take a day off from the hustle and bustle of everyday life and enjoy a labor free day today. Can you believe it is already September???