To my Valentine

Thank you for being my Valentine!

Thank you For:

Loving me
Giving me the most wonderful boys
Protecting me
Spoiling me
Making me laugh
Honoring me
Admiring me
Being my biggest fan
Comforting me
Understanding me
Giving me time for myself
Supporting me

And for the little things:
Doing dishes
Always gassing my car
Charging my phone
Bringing me treats
Being so neat
-------------

These almost 10 years of marriage have been wonderful, thank you!
&
Happy Valentines my love!

Hippo Valentine's Sale at Jackapotamus

Jackapotamus is the first boutique that started selling my clothing. It used to be called The Artist Web, my friend Cassie, designer of Jackapotamus (a cool t-shirt line) took over a couple of years ago and has turned it into a very successful boutique filled with handmade items by mainly local designers. The store is on 2806 Main Street, Santa Monica.

This is what's happening now:

Stop by and take advantage of all the great deals we will have; clothing for boys and girls from baby to size 12, vintage toys, eco toys and gifts all on Sale.

Valentine's Day Chocolate Cake

I'm a huge fan of Chocolate cake, specially the kind with the molten center. I can eat a lot of it, specially if I have vanilla ice cream with it, Yum!! I'm getting hungry just writing about it.
Amy Atlas has this amazing blog about high end dessert tables, she is nice enough to share ideas and recipes. Here is what she wrote today and I just had to share with you:


Chocolate Cake with Molten Center
Ingredients
• 1/2 cup butter
• 4 (1 ounce) squares bittersweet chocolate
• 2 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
•
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Butter and flour four 4 ounce ramekins or custard cups.

2. In the top half of a double boiler set over simmering water, heat the butter and the chocolate until chocolate is almost completely melted.

3. Beat the eggs, egg yolks and sugar together until light colored and thick.

4. Beat together the melted chocolate and butter. While beating, slowly pour the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture, then quickly beat in the flour and mix until just combined.

5. Divide the batter between the four molds and bake at 450 degrees F (230 degrees C) for 6 to 7 minutes. The centers of the cakes will still be quite soft. Invert cakes on serving plates and let sit for about 15 seconds, then unmold. Serve immediately with fresh whipped cream, if desired.

Recipes courtesy of Cooks.com


Did I make you hungry??

Travel Town

LA is full of fun and cheap places to visit. I know a few and I want to start sharing them with you, I would also love to hear about your favorite places in LA.

As a family we have many favorite spots, we visit them regularly and the boys love them. One of them is Travel Town, my oldest has had his birthday there a couple of times, we bring my parents when they are in town, or we just go get sandwiches at Giamela's, then eat and watch the boys play and always have a wonderful time. It is an outdoor train museum/park, there are lots of cool old trains kids can climb in, you can bring a picnic, watch the miniature train exhibition, ride the little train and shop at the gift shop.

Is Free to get in and only $3 to ride the train. This year we took our Holiday pictures there, Ashlee Raubach did a wonderful job, she was so nice and fun to shoot with. Here are some of my favorites:





What are some places you like to visit?

Picture Perfect

I love reading & looking at blogs with beautiful photography, don't you?
One of the reasons it took me so long to start my own blog was because I don't know how to take beautiful pictures.
I wanted to get a nice camera and learn how to take pretty pictures, so for Christmas the only thing I asked of Santa was a good SLR camera, "Santa" didn't know which camera to get, so he had me order it online :). The camera came, I opened it and it has been seating in its box ever since. There are just so many buttons, options and settings. I became very confused and intimidated by this camera, I was starting to think I should return it and just get a nicer "point and shoot" camera.

But then, I found this blog:Nicole is a professional photographer and also a photography teacher. I'm so exited Nicole is offering classes here in Los Angeles & they are affordable!
The event is called: The Mini Art Weekend. Classes are the weekend of February 19 & 20. The class I'm taking is Photo Basics, is a 2 hour class for $45. They have many other interesting classes, including an all day Crash Course.

I would love to go with a friend, let me know if you are coming, I hope to see you there!

Booties

I have not been shopping much for my upcoming baby boy, being my 3rd boy, I've saved a lot of my gear and clothes from my previous 2. But, I had to buy these:



They are the most adorable thing I've seen in a long time! Hand made from repurposed leather, they are so original, soft, simple and practical. These boots are made to order and cost $28. You can get them here: Kaboogie's Shop.

Is not often that I find "must have" gifts for my boys, but I had to have these little boots. What do you think?

What are some of your "must haves" for kids?

Helping Hand

I have felt so helpless watching the news and seeing all the devastation in Haiti. What gets to me the most are the little children, their scared faces and vulnerable situation just breaks my heart.

I want to help, but I'm always a little hesitant to send money to charities, I've often heard that with some charities 50% + of the money goes to managing costs and very little money ends helping the needy.

I looked around and was so happy to find a small way to help, there is an organization called K.I.D.S Kids in Distressed Situations, Giving back in a brand new way. The great thing about this charity is that 97% of all donations go directly to children and families.*

I was able to send 24 of my dresses to them and they sent them to Haiti, it was so easy! You go on their site, tell them what you can donate and they tell you where to send it. They even give you their UPS account to ship the items if you don't have one or don't want to pay for shipping.

Here is their site if you want to help:

http://www.kidsdonations.org

* I'm not affiliated with or represent this organization.