Reason # 101 why I love my Room$

Last weekend was beautiful so Room$ and I decided to go to the beach. We drove separately as she needed to go to the movies after and I had to drive up to my parents. At the first stop light I sitting waiting for the light to change behind her and notice something...I think to myself...is she planning on turning right? But we are in the left turn lane. And then it occured to me...ahh yes, Jenny shows her Asian in only two places in her life...her food and her driving skills.

Loves it!

(Room$ don't be mad at me for posting this...it was am awesome moment!!)

Cup Half Full

Today was a good day! Today was a great day! I really feel like I was apart of something bigger today! My mom text me this morning asking if I wanted to go to LAX airport to see the homecoming of Keanan/Kembert. In the blog below it explains a bit about this little guy who was adopted by The Howertons two years ago and finally was able to come home due to the evacuation of orphans after the earthquake in Haiti.

Of course I went because I love being apart of life changing events...you know those moments that are once in a lifetime moments. Especially at airports! Airports are some of the happiest places on earth. Move aside Disneyland there is something way better than you!

My favorite moment is flying on an itsy bitsy plane (no that's not my favorite moment, that's the moment I think I might die) from Auckland to Nelson, New Zealand. I arrive a little airport that you have to walk down the plane stairs to go into the terminal. Then a little cart brings your bags to you because there is no such thing as baggage claim! I still am the first person getting out of my seat, ever so politely moving others aside to run down the stairs into the Nelson Airport and seeing one of my family members waiting there for me. I LOVE THAT MOMENT. I always want to cry with excitement.

That is why I watch Love Actually often, for the airport scenes like that. Moments that make you heart so full of joy that it literally feels like it could burst!

Moments like this...

Mike Howerton and Keanan Howerton embracing at Orlando airport.

Say a little Prayer!

I keep looking at slide show after slide show of people in Haiti. I remember the day it happened and I was looking at pictures of the aftermath with my co workers. The first thing I said was "I want to be there" the first thing out of their mouth was "you're crazy!".

But it's true I really do want to be there. Just like I wanted to go when New Orleans was flooded and that feeling that came over me when I got to Iowa to help out with the flooding there.

I want to do something bigger, go and save the world!

But for now I just look at the photos and follow a blog about an amazing family at my church who is waiting to get their adopted son from Haiti. The wife Kristen was actually there when the earthquake hit and was evacuated. I HIGHLY recommend checking out their blog. If you don't do anything else today absolutely check out their blog and read their story, it's life changing and you too will be changed. (and might have the urge to adopt a Haitian baby just like I do!

www.thehowertons.blogspot.com

***updated Keanan's on his way to Orlando, praise God!

Always a bridesmaid...

You know how the saying goes...

As posted in my blog below, it's wedding season so I have been doing some research recently and have some really fun things that I have found.

My roommate laughs when she comes home and finds me watching "Say Yes to the Dress" on TLC, which is a show about the store Kleinfelds in New York where girls go to fine "the perfect dress"!! I swear up and down that it's my maid of honor duties to research dresses and such, when in actuality I find the show so amusing! You should really check it out! Yes I am that girl who has a picture of a wedding dress cut out since I was in highschool, but from watching this show (and the change in fashion), clearly that is not the style that I should be going for. Right now my favorite designer is Lazaro, here's a sneak peak at one of his designs.

My roommate also told me about an AWESOME website called once wed that feature pictures of different weddings, different locations and fun little trinkets to use for decorations or party favors. Take a moment to check it out, even if you're already married because it's just nice to see all the love that's still in this crazy world we live in! (click on the words "once wed" above, if you couldn't figure it out)

500 days...

So this weekend I had a really great time enjoying the lovely town on LA and I have decided to share it with you. Awhile back I saw the movie 500 days of summer. Amazing movie and I highly recommend it. As I was watching the movie though I was trying to figure out where it was filmed and to my surprise it was right here in my backyard. The movie made LA look cool all over again.

So my roommate told me about a walking tour of the film to see where it was filmed. I was instantly excited and took the day off work to enjoy the day in LA. It was set up through the LA Conservancy who does tours all over LA and including Venice Beach. Our tour guide was the guy who choose the places for the movie to be filmed which was great because he told us why he chose those places and what makes the so unique.

I highly recommend taking a tour around LA to fall back in love with the place you live because sometimes we all just get stuck in a rut!

Awesome building that I want to plan an event like a wedding or a ball, this scene was at the end of the movie when the main character was at a job interview. Amazing amazing building!

LA first sky scraper, so cool to see up close and notice all the little details.

The famous bench in the movie also known as Angels Knoll, super cute place to relax and just hang!

When I say I do...

So a couple of my friends are getting married this year and the last couple of months I have seen multiple engagement and wedding photos. It doesn't help either that I work at a wedding destination where for a mere million dollars you too can get married there!

At work we receive wedding resumes of the couples, with information all about their grand event and the names of all their vendors. I usually look at who their wedding event coordinator is and then I look at the photographer and visit their website for ideas of my own. I find that photographers are so creative not just with pictures but also with such a beautiful view of life. I know have my dream wedding pretty much planned in my head but won't be planning it for quiet sometime!

I have come across one of my favorite photographer so far. I love this guys work because it is so vintage, funky and out of the box. I have also met him and his wife and think they are just the cutest couple! Check out their blog and see for yourself, this is Gabriel Ryan's blog.

Summer Lovin

So now that summer is around the corner (as well as my bday) I have been trying to come up with cute ideas for summer dinner parties or a cute cocktail idea. Also fun things to do with the little ones during those hot SoCal days. So the other day I went and checked on to see what Martha would say.

Yes we all know martha, the crazy lady with lots of crafty ideas, the lady who went to jail for investment fraud, but really the lady is amazing! Check out some of these ideas for the summer, super duper cute!

Yummy to do with the kids, a scoop of ice cream rolled in sprinkles!

Very classy way to dress up a candle, wrap around some string or rope and pop in a flower and you have a very attractive center piece!

One of my favorite ideas. Decorating a vodka bottle from the outside. You can use fruit, flowers anything you decided. So fun!

A little Change Goes A Long Way...

My roommate and I have been redecorating our apartment since the beginning of the year and it has been quite a fun process. We started out by taking a day trip up to LA's fabric district which is always an adventure. We came home with a wonderful cream colored (washable!) fabric, we managed to barter down the price quite significantly, as two well knowledgable ladies would do. My extremely talented roommate then made a slip cover for our lounge chair from scratch with no pattern. We also rearranged some items so give more height and depth to the room, painted a mirror, ordered at print online which I saw at a store in Fashion Island for $250 but found online for $25 on esty, a great source for all things creative and hand made.
The next step was to pick a color for the walls. This came from an inspiration pictured below which my roommate found. Now that we are in the just about finished we are so pleased with the results and will catch each other staring at the walls.

Redecorating can be done on a budget from getting discounted fabric to saving on paint at home depot and just a simple reorganizing of a few fixtures. You'll be amazed at how a little redecorating can change the whole feel of your home and makes everything look fresh again!

What Can I Say...

I've got a new obession! Today we travelled to Hebron because I have been seeing these amazing pieces of palestinian pottery in the Old City, but it is basically a joke to buy it there if you have access to Hebron where it is half the price. So fortunatley my uncle needed to pick up a few things for his new place and made a work trip out of it with a UN driver and all.

So we stopped at a pottery and glass shop which was just amazing to see the guys blowing and making the glass right in the front of the shop. Then we went in to where all the beautiful and colorful pieces of pottery were. I could have spent many hours just looking (and a lot of money). I had to keep reminding myself that I need to some how get all this stuff back to the states with me.

While we were shopping there was also a group of about 30 palestinian school girls on some sort of field trip. After about 5 minutes I began to feel a bit cramped and realized that these girls were literally following me around the store and were standing right next to me, no matter where I went. They tried practicing their english by asking; What your name?, "Amanda", Where you live? "California", Are you Hebrew? "no no", and at the end of the round of questions they said "Amanda we love you" and walked away.

Looks like I am moving to Hebron.

I Hate Guns!

All my life I have been told not to use the word hate because it is "not a nice word". Well I hate guns, hate hate hate them. They are not nice and they hurt people. Being here I have had to get used to seeing them every where and worn by any one. The other night after dinner we were walking to the taxi and there was a kid dressed in civialian clothes carrying this big gun, I was told he was an off duty solider but I think he was just showing off to the girl he was walking with.
Now I have gotten used to stopping in the front of parking lots so the attendants can check your car to see if you have any weapons or bombs and I have gotten used to opening my purse to show the security guy that I have no weapons when entering a store, but not to the open policy of guns!

Here it is acceptable to have a gun and wear it around town. My uncle has noticed my fear of them and now points out when he see's one. For instance we were walking out of the grocery store the other day and there was a nice looking man walking in front of us with one in the back of his jeans, just as normal as carrying his cell phone clipped to his belt.

Here is a typical day in Tel Aviv out and about shopping with some friends, and oh yeah encountering more guns. In this picture are two police officers on the sidewalk next to me, this is one thing I won't miss.

All's Fair in Love and War

My first blog from Israel! I have had blog subjects running through my mind since I have boarded the plane in LA! It amazing how much your life and your perspective can change within 4 days. I went from working at one of the most beautiful areas in the world to going through an army check point with boys holding guns on the westbank of Israel.

A story I have decided to blog about is from my trip to the Old City in Jerusalem. It is a brisk walk from where I am staying, about 20 minutes away. I got to the gates of the Old City and right away felt a presence when I walked through. It is an amazing experience! I thought I had my route planned out but my world was turned upside down by the lay out of the city. From what I can compare it to is, when I was a child and went to the fun zone there was a maze you would wonder through and collect stamps and once they were all collected whoever exited first won! That's what it was like, a crazy maze with streets lined with vendors and places I knew I wanted to see. Since I was by myself I didn't want to walk around with a map in front of my face so once I realized I saw the same place 3 times in 2 hours I sat down and tried to figure my route out again.

I was looking for a church and this boy, who was no more than 17, came up to me and asked if I was alone, I told him noooo I am meeting my friends at the Church of the Sepulcher. He then asked if I knew where I was going, I said oh yeah I am fine and walked away. He came up to me again and said, mamm you are not going the right way let me walk you there. I thought "red flag" after I told him I was American and he said his sister lived in Chicago, New York...hmmm really? But we walked quickly through narrow streets and up narrow stairs and ended up on a roof top. I thought right away if anything happens here this guy is going off the roof!

It turns out that it was an amazing view of the city and of the Dome of the Rock that only locals would know. He then showed me the street that I needed to go on. I thanked him for his help and gave him 20 sheckles. He said NO! That's not enough you give me 50! I gave him another 10 sheckles so that he wouldn't harm me and went on my way. I almost said "You can't hussle a hussler homie", but left it as it was.

Hello World!

It is an astonishing thing what a new baby can bring. There is a sense of excitement and something new in the air.

I went over to my sister’s house Tuesday night after picking up some frozen yogurt which was a craving, for her husband, to find she was having contractions. One would find this uncomfortable to watch and though it was hard to see her in pain, it was a different feeling because I knew that the baby was coming. So it was more of an exciting anticipatory feeling rather than a negative one.

The last time she had a baby I was living in Seattle and so I missed most of her pregnancy and moments before the birth. This time was much different as I was able to watch her grow and go through those pregnancy moments with her, also fortunate to throw great baby shower with her dearest friend. Now nine months later I am an auntie (or Tia as Zach would call me)again to a beautiful new baby boy, Mason Charlie.

I am even more excited now to have children of my own in no less than 10 years. I am excited to share those precious moments with my family and friends. I am also excited to go shopping and register for all the fun things that the baby can use and wear. Some things that I am hope that will not happen when I have my babies are as follows. One that we will not be in a recession, two that my sister will not be too busy with her 15 children that she will be too busy for me, three that my parents won’t be living more than 20 minutes away from me at any time before, during or after the birth, and finally four that I won’t gain more than the baby weighs. My only hope is that I can look as good as my sister does after giving birth because I’m pretty sure there was an extensive list of people who thought she looked amazing after the birth of both her sons!

I wanted to add photos of the little guy to this posting but didn't want to spoil it for his parents, so photos to come!