Off to the Races!

So... It looks like it took me closer to 12 days to get back into the blogging saddle but the good news is that that expression sets me up with the perfect segue for my next post topic (see what I just did there?)...  Tomorrow I am going to Opening Day at the Del Mar Horse Races!  This will be my first time at this particular race track and subsequently my first opening day.  I am told it is quite the scene and there is even to be a hat contest for the ladies.  And you best believe I have my hat ready too!  A HUGE bright yellow one to be exact.  If I hadn't already had my outfit planned out for weeks, here is what I would (hope to) wear:

Will you look at these hats from a previous year? I mean, wow.

And since this is predominantly an interior design blog after all, I've compiled some equestrian inspired interiors that I would have no problem at all making a home in.

I don’t know if these next two technically “count” as equestrian style rooms but there’s something about Hermes that makes me think of that preppy, sophisticated, Ralph Lauren-hot, lifestyle.  Maybe it’s the uh, logo?

And don't you doubt for a second that I won't be getting my Kentucky Derby on and having a mint julep or two!

Wish me luck at the betting windows!

Happy Birthday 'Murica!

Welp, went to Pinterest and typed in "Fourth of July" and picked my favorite 4 for the Fourth of July (get it?).  I'll be spending this special country's birthday in Hermosa Beach for the FOURTH year in a row (I guess we can call it a champagne birthday for me, Hermosa Beach and America). 

I'll also be taking a FOUR day weekend off of responsibility and that includes blogging so, I'll catch ya'll on the flip side!  Enjoy your holiday!

Post Birthday Post

So remember, oh two posts ago, when I told you about the peacock painting I wanted for my birthday? Well.....  I got this instead!  

And I am ecstatic!  (And also looking for suggestions on what kind of framing I should get for it, so please comment with your burning input). 

At this amazing luxury tented safari camp I stayed at with my family in Kenya, called the Sarara Camp, they had this photo in the gift shop.  The photo was actually taken by the camp director, Jeremy, who runs the lodge with his adorable girlfriend, Katie.  Jeremy's dad began the camp and now Jeremy and Katie have taken it over as a Swiss Family Robinson style retreat.  I suspect there will be another blog post in the near future with more juicy specifics and pictures.. but for now, I want to talk about ME and MY BIRTHDAY!!!

We (my mom, my sister and I) spent most of the day at this hot springs spa called Glen Ivy Resort. We treated ourselves to mud baths, eucalyptus wraps in a grotto, and hot stone massages. Jealous yet?

(Note: I was too embarrassed to put up the picture of me, lathered in clay, looking like a Neanderthal, so the strangers pictured here will have to suffice instead.)

We had dinner at my favorite restaurant, MB Post, located in the old Manhattan Beach post office building. At dinner, I was gifted this amazing pair of vintage "binos" that I'm in love with. 

But the best part of the whole day was these Bacon Cheddar Biscuits they serve with Maple Butter.  'Nuff said.

All in all, I had a FANTASTIC birthday.  Thank you to my family and friends for making me feel so special and loved!

Oregon Trail Birthday Bar Crawl

This past weekend I had my 27th birthday party.  Within the past few years, I have cultivated a reputation for throwing bar crawls on my birthday for both the economic benefits of having people to buy their own drinks as well as the fact that they often provide perfect forum for my sister and I to crazy with theme.  And go crazy was just what we did (perhaps a little too much, but that is neither here nor there).

We chose to create an Oregon Trail themed pub crawl.  Perhaps the screenshot and outdated graphics below look familiar to you?  

If so, you were probably part of the generation of school kids who got to go to the computer lab and play "Oregon Trail."  Based on the actual historic wagon route connecting Missouri to Oregon that many families traveled on during the mid-1800's , the game "attempted" to teach school children about pioneer life on the trail.  In reality, most children who actually reached Oregon in the game probably learned very little about the real trials and tribulations of those settlers.  The most likely outcome (and what has become the most popular joke among cult OT fans) is that you died of dysentery.

We started out the "Trail" at a local bar that had a western theme (and ended up closing right at the start of the crawl, oops!).  We deemed it the "General Store" to mimic the beginning of the game and then handed out manila envelopes containing the following three "documents": 

The trailblazers had to make their selections from the general store with the $1000 budget they were allotted.  They had to manage their funds to purchase the necessary amounts of clothing, oxen, food, spare parts and medicine in addition to selecting the wagon they thought best suited their needs.  My sister and I appointed ourselves as the trail guides, Lois and Clare K.  (which I was endlessly amused by).  It was after we ventured to the second bar that everyone began to realize that their general store choices actually mattered as we began to hand out the "peril" cards:

The one unforeseen downside was that people began to avoid me as I started handing out these cards at random, which was not the intended goal since it was my birthday party.  However, the ultimate surpise was on me when my friends showed up with this miniature wagon that accompanied us along the trail (pictured below) that they had MADE themselves.  Can you believe it?! Do I have amazing friends or what?  We partied until the wheels came off, literally (cue obligatory audience laugh).

Some of the most prominently dressed members of the caravan

Do I concede that we probably went a little over the top on the preparations?  Yes.  But everyone seemed to have a good time and perhaps this time around they learned more about what our forefathers who bravely journeyed to new land went through to reach Oregon… (ha! doubtful). 

Shake Yo Tailfeather

My birthday is in a few days and I am asking for this amazing peacock painting to hang in my room on the wall next to my bed.  

Because this atrocity needs to go:

I'm not sure if it's the frame or the fact that I'm still hanging onto the coat tails of this post mortem trend but regardless of which, both make for a strong case as to why I need this peacock picture!  Let go or be dragged as my friend and I are always reminding ourselves we need to do with the men in our life...

... And back on topic, I'm also digging these rooms, just as pretty as a peacock, that feature or embody the colors and intricateness of this beloved bird! 

Did you know.. that only the male bird is called a peacock and has the colorful train, females are called peahens and have a grey and/or brown train?

And, the collective name for a group of peacocks is a party... Now don't you just love that?!