Michael's gem

Casey's cousin Michael lives here in Pasadena and we had heard he has an amazing house. So when he hosted a birthday party for his dad (Casey's Uncle Cal), we were excited to check it out. It did not disappoint. These pictures don't do justice).

Michael completely gutted the place but stayed true to it's 50s/60s origins and decorated with a similar vibe, in a very modern way. That chandelier is an original that came with the house:

revamped kitchen:

guest room:

cool mirror:

master bedroom:

If you know Pasadena geography....his house is off Linda Vista, on the West side of the Rose Bowl. Every house on that street is dreamy and well-kept (no wonder it never came up in our home-search criteria!):

The back patio:

the pool:

and, Michael!
Fabulous house. Your style is impressive.

But snooping around wasn't all we did. It was great to catch up with the Cal side of the family. We usually only see them at Thanksgiving time (though they live in Ventura).

The party boy, Uncle Cal:
Lucy playing with her cousin-once-removed...and removed again? who knows. Cute kids:

Linda and Owen:

More cousins. Great shut-eyes:

Parry and Owen:Casey and Michael chatting. Michael made THE MOST AMAZING burgers I've ever had. Truly. Huge diamonds of blue cheese hiding in the middle of each one. I've talked about these burgers to Casey on so many occasions now, that it's almost a joke.

But look at these? Wouldn't you want one too?!

Me and Parry:

Casey and his mom:

Owen, looking like a big boy:
Lauren and Chad:

Owen loving the two little dogs:

I tried to take a picture with him but he wanted nothing to do with me:

I gave up.

at least Lucy was (somewhat) cooperative:

Time for the cake!

Happy Birthday Cal!

It really was as fluffy, marshmallowy, and coconutty as it looks. YUM.

Most of Uncle Cal's immediate family:

Thank you Michael for hosting a great party! Everything was fabuloso. Even the almonds.

KJ's party and the girls

Added to the list of "people I will miss" are my fun girlfriends that I met about 8 years ago in the LA single's ward. There are many of us still in the area and I get to see them fairly often, which is a treat. On this occassion we were celebrating, Kristen Johnson:

(photo by the talented Jennie Doezie)

I love this lady. She is high energy, super creative, great sense of humor, a human encyclopedia for anything 80s, and someone I can talk to for hours. We had a party at Jennie's house to celebrate her birthday; and it was perfectly Kristen. It was girly girl, with good friends, delicious food, and cute decor. Jennie's house is somewhere I always love to hang out:

Jennie the hottie hostess, prepping dessert:
And here's the whole bunch of us. I really love these girls! (along with many who weren't there). I feel like they totally get me and I can be Dana-Default around them. From left to right: Me, Eva, Kris Kane (who's having a baby in a month!), Kristen, Kristy (in front), Stacy Keysor, Erica (who just had a baby), and Jennie:
We were told to wear a fun party dress. So I made this for the occasion.
We feasted on fabulous food (anything with mac 'n cheese is automatically fabulous)
Drank from an array of Trader Joe's sparkly juices:
Had amazing desserts:
and enjoyed KJ!
Sorry Erica, but this picture was too cute; I had to post. I'm pretty sure you're saying something like, "are you really getting that close with your camera?"

okay, that's better:

Erica's cute shoes:

Happy Birthday Kristen!

I will miss the special chances to hang out with you ladies (especially since it often involves food). I guess it's time to join Facebook, since that's where most of you reside. See you online!

Happy Birthday Jeremy

Over the past few months we've done some partying and I'm only now getting around to blogging about it all. So, first up.....Jeremy's 7th birthday party!
My sister Camille is an amazing artist and goes all out for his parties. The kids really love it. The theme this year was Pokemon.

She had the awesome sanck bar with cotton candy and fresh snow cones:
And a bounce house with a slide. Our kids got to enjoy it before all the big kids came and it got real crazy. I thought my dad was going to have a heart attack watching the older boys come down that slide all afternoon. Someone was bound to smack their head on the concrete. But, no injuries!
There were tons of cute kids there (and adults too). I don't even know their names but I had fun shooting pics of them:
My mom, Bryan, and Bryan's dad running the snack bar:

Bethany and Camille:

Kathy and Bruce (Bryan's parents):

Heather and her husband:

Eric and Ava:
Lucy drawing in the garage:
me and Owen:
Our good family friend Jessica and her little girl Sophia:
And the birthday boy, Jeremy!

Jeremy is such a good kid. He's sweet, loves to have fun, and acts really silly at times. You can tell his friends love being around him.
a few of his good friends are, Hayden:

Savanna:

and I'm not sure if he's tight with this girl but she was so cute, I kept following her around with my camera:
All the kids enjoyed cupcakes. Lucy mostly enjoyed the frosting:
and then everyone gathered for present-time. What a crowd!
The best part for us was the after-party with just the fam. Plenty of left-over cotton candy:
and plenty of balloons just hanging out. Lucy walked around the house and gathered all of the bunches together. I thought she'd have a curious george, fly-away moment!
But she stayed on the ground. The balloons however were only safe till Bryan grabbed a 2x4:
And then we enjoyed watching them in the sky for the next half-hour.
Happy Birthday Jer! Glad we could be there to celebrate with you!