Summer in LA

Nik and I spent the past several days in LA. Usually when we visit, it is only for quick, super-short trips–2 nights at the most. This time, however, we arranged to spend 5 whole nights in LA! Although the trip was just as packed full of fun and gatherings as normal, the trip felt noticeably longer. It was fantastic! Here is a recap…

Thursday–

This was our wedding planning day. Our incredible, sweet, adorable, detail-oriented wedding planner, Kim, arranged an entire day for us. Nik and I spent all day in meetings and tastings, and Mandi joined in halfway through the day. We started off with a meeting with a photographer. We had chosen her from the cream of the crop of photographers recommended to us by Kim. She is extraordinarily talented and ends up with gorgeous shots with really vibrant colors. We were very impressed by her, and really comfortable around her. She is hip, chatty, really knows her stuff, and doesn’t hesitate to climb trees or wade through bushes to get awesome shots. After talking with her and looking through a bunch of her albums, we walked through Saddlerock with Kim, laying out the ceremony, cocktail hour, dinner, and reception areas and solidifying some of our ideas. I had forgotten how huge the space is that we have. Saddlerock itself is 1,000 acres. Although we are pretty much free to roam the ranch and check things out (there are some gorgeous art installations around the property), we obviously will be concentrated in a smaller space. However, that smaller space really is huge. There is going to be a lot of room for fun and festivities, and for people to wander around and check things out. Here is a shot of me visiting with some of the Saddlerock residents:

Up next, we went to a tasting. This was one of our favorite parts of the day. The caterer had set up the exact tables and chairs that we were interested in (they’re kind of unique…) and brought us course after huge course of food. Mandi, Nik, and I chowed down on everything from butternut squash soup (which Nik now eats!) to filet mignon to fried artichoke hearts. There were large portions of everything, and we really enjoyed it!!

Full, we headed over to the florist, who was great. Kim raves about this florist, and her reviews are phenomenal. She looked through my obsessive and ever-growing wedding binder, and we made some rough plans and got some quotes. It was a very productive meeting!

Finally, we headed off to perhaps the most fun part of the day–dinner and cake tasting at Kim’s fiance’s restaurant. Wedding cake sure is good with mojitos. We had a blast and Kim had us rate the multitude of cakes we tried. Nik and Mandi worked as a team, and Kim and I worked as a team. Kim and I somehow managed to eat every bite of every cake, while Mandi and Nik wisely saved pieces of each to do a second round of tastings of their favorites (although somehow, I got to those pieces instead…). Anyway, things are really starting to come together and we can really envision everything now!! We are really excited and have a lot of plans we think you will enjoy. (On a side note, I have struggled with how much detail to provide up until the day. While I am really excited about the plans we are making and want to share them with everyone, I kind of want to keep things to myself so that there is an element of surprise on the wedding day…).

Friday–

A bit of free time on Friday morning allowed me to visit my favorite nail and hair salons. After that was squared away, I met Mandi and our mom for lunch at Le Pain, one of my favorite spots in Manhattan Beach. We did some shopping in the beach boutiques after lunch, and then rushed home so that I could get ready for my cousin Milton’s wedding. It had been quite some time since I had seen that side of the family (which I will collectively refer to as the Ayalas), so I was really excited.

Milton and Carolyn’s wedding was gorgeous, and I had a blast. I ended up dancing the night away, wee into the late hours and on through the after party at Teresa and Alvaro’s house. Here are some shots from the evening:

Saturday–

Saturday morning started off slow, due to the late dancing the previous night! However, I roused myself in order to celebrate Logan’s birthday! We took advantage of the fact that JoJo was staying with us to arrange a party for Logan. The humans had carne asada and shrimp tacos, guacamole, grilled corn on the cob, raspberry mojitos, and strawberry shortcake, and the dogs enjoyed pupcakes, wrapping paper, cookies, fluff, and poolwater. Everybody had a blast.

Some plans fell through Saturday night, leaving me with some time to relax and hang out at home with my mom. I picked up El Pollo Inka, and we spent the evening chatting.

Sunday–

My mom and I began Father’s Day at the mall, engaging in a very successful shopping trip. Nik and I then headed to Victor’s house to celebrate with the Ayala clan. I got to see them all twice in one weekend, which was great!! We hung around with my dad, chatting and enjoying some incredible food. It was nice, relaxing, and a great way to end a fantastic mini-vacation.