The Michigan Cousins Meet Los Angeles

This week, Carrie’s cousins Parisa & Sahra came to visit during their spring break. We had an awesome time hanging out, and we had to show them Los Angeles as best we could.

We started things out first with a trip to Sprinkles in Beverly Hills for adorably delicious cupcakes. What’s more LA than paying $4 for a cupcake?

Next, we drove down Rodeo Drive to see the bling in person, and then stopped by The Standard Hollywood (one of our favorite spots) for lunch.

We decided to work off the treats with a lengthy shopping session on Melrose for some cool LA shopping, and then of course we had to hit up Grauman’s Chinese Theatre for the touristy stuff!

But … the highlight for ALL of the girls definitely was hitting up Kat Von D’s tattoo shop, High Voltage Tattoo, which is the shop on TLC’s famous TV show, L.A. Ink!



We all were pretty starstruck at the shop, despite the fact that no one on the show was actually working there that day. The shop also seemed a lot smaller in person! We did spot Kat’s sister, but that was about it. No ink for any of us, but we still left happy – Carrie & Sahra bought T-shirts and of course, we got many cheesy pics out front!

All in all, it was a good week, and we’ll be sad to see them go tomorrow. Our last hurrah tonight was at Pinkberry, for stylish frozen yogurt! Good times!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Yesterday we had a very special luncheon to celebrate Mom’s Birthday (which is on March 3rd). We wanted to make it as special as she is, so we went to a beautiful restaurant in Topanga Canyon called Inn of the Seventh Ray. The restaurant is gorgeous, all outside, next to a creek. It was the perfect place for her. Our pictures of the place couldn’t do it justice, so we grabbed a few from the web:



The food was delicious too – and afterwards, we had to celebrate with a little birthday cake. You’re never too old to blow out the candles and make a wish!

Our gift this year was to make a book for her. Our goal was to compile as many pictures of significant moments in her life as possible. We found quotes appropriate for each decade and wrote a forward to the book. It was a wonderful experience for us both going through the photos and learning so much about her life – and we were so happy that she loved the book too.


Overall, it was a wonderful day spent with our family! Happy, Happy Birthday to you, Mom!

The birthday keeps rollin’ on!

Now that we’re back from our Palm Springs weekend, we had one more round of birthday celebrations for Carrie to go. For the final bash, we had to get the parents involved, so we all met up at PF Chang’s for a massive and delish meal.

Before the meal came presents! From Carrie’s parents came this great card showing everything that had happened in 1976 and the most awesome polka dot purse.

Ed’s mom got Carrie this really cool Luvcat wallet:

Ed’s dad knows that a Target gift card is a surefire hit with Carrie!

Everyone had a great time and came away with really full stomachs, as you can see…


As they say in all of Asia during birthdays, long noodles for long life!

And how do you finish off a Palm Springs weekend?


At The Parker, of course! So this day was Carrie’s actual birthday, and we’d been wanting to visit for a long time. The Parker was once owned by Gene Autry, and was reopened a couple years back under the creative and stylistic guidance of Jonathan Adler, one of our favorite designers. It had been redone in a very groovy late sixties/early seventies style – not so much Modernist, but a bit of regency, and a huge helping of whimsical grooviness. It got some publicity as of late thanks to being the subject of the TV show Welcome to the Parker on Bravo.



We met up with Lewis and Mary, along with Mick and Andy and Mick’s parents for an amazing brunch. Alfresco dining with incredible (but down to earth) food, and the incredible surroundings that were both “shagadelic” and dreamy all at once.


Afterwards, we walked about the grounds, and came across Samir, the manager who is one of the stars of the TV show!! He was more than happy to indulge us with a photo. Samir’s the tall, imposing man in the back.

We can’t describe just how amazing the place looks. It reminded Ed of his childhood in many ways, with very familiar early 70s materials, furnishings, textures, and colors. We have to stay here soon! Here are some more pics:


The amazing fireplace lounge…


Some competitive Ed vs. Mary ping pong…


Colored vases…



Mister Parker’s, the onsite restaurant. It’s so swingin’ London.


How do you like that bar!



The happy couple!

Pics don’t do the place justice. It’s mindblowing and just plain fun all at once.

So that’s it – that was our Palm Springs weekend #3, and a fine way to celebrate Carrie’s birthday and Valentine’s Day! I’m pretty certain you’ll see another set of blogs about this time next year….if we’re lucky, maybe we’ll be staying at the Parker!