Lunch at Villa d'Este

I have never experienced anything more luxurious than a lunch at Villa d'Este, on the shores of Lake Como.  I was lucky enough to get the chance to go with my mother-in-law at the beginning of my recent vacation.  The villa is hands-down the most exquisite hotel I have ever seen, the food is top quality, and the setting is awe-inspiring.  This place is magical.

And we also saw Bruce Springsteen.

SRSLY.  Euro celeb sighting #2!

{the restaurant}

Awards Season



{via}

L.A. doesn't mess around when it comes to fame.  This town takes its celebrities personally, and nothing brings that to the forefront like Awards Season.  (That's what we have here instead of "winter.")

In the post-Oscar's L.A., people are either elated that Argo won and f*** the Academy for not nominating Ben for Best Director they are all snobs anyway and did you see how he kissed his wife (best couple ever!)?  Or they are pissed that Jessica Chastain didn't win best actress and this Jennifer Lawrence girl doesn't deserve all this attention it's just because she's young and hot and who does she think she is talking sh*t on Meryl?

It's LOVE him or HATE him.  I want to BE her or I can't even stand to LOOK at her.  They are the PERFECT couple or I KNEW it wouldn't last.  All of this based on what she wore, what he said in GQ, and what Perez told Carson on the radio.

Awards season is a city-wide emotional roller coaster out here.

Like I said, L.A. takes her celebrities personally.

Best Night Ever

No, really.

Last night was the Best. Night. Ever.

It started with a cocktail party under Endeavour.  Pretty sweet.

We got our free passed aps, a pic with the space shuttle itself, and I was ready to head out.

BUT THEN.

Out of nowhere, we scored some amAzing tickets to a pre-Grammy's concert and of course we were like um HECK YEAH WE'LL HIT UP THAT AMAZING CONCERT IN OUR WORK CLOTHES.  DUH.

Right place, right time.  Wrong clothes.  But to Hollywood we went, dressed like corporate suckers.

We pulled into a parking lot on Hollywood and Vine, and in the process, cut off the host of the concert, will.i.am.  In his Escalade.  Because we're shitty LA drivers.

And then once we were inside, we just kept flashing our wristbands, and they kept opening the red ropes for us, and I just kept laughing like whatttttt is going on???  And then we saw the most amazing performances ever.

Like Estelle.

And Black Eyed Peas.

And Alicia.  Ohmygoodness Alicia!

I just kept looking around, wondering if anyone else could possibly understand the state of shock I was in.  This was certainly not how I thought I'd be spending my Thursday night.

And so I took a video (what? yeah.).

I'm counting this as my birthday celebration :)


P.S. M.C. Hammer was there!  We're basically old friends by now.

That Time We Saw Selena Gomez in Paris

{via}



There had been a hoard of pre-teen girls teeming outside our hotel for the last two days.  They stood out there all day long, waiting.  For whom, we wondered, every time we had to awkwardly walk down the "red carpet" to exit the building.  We took guesses, but figured it was probably some French boy band we'd never heard of.

On our third day in Paris, I woke up at 11:30am.  11:30?!?!?!  Cue panic induced by guilt of wasting sweet, precious vacation time, followed by self-pity whining session about how we wouldn't have time to do anything and it was all my fault.  Once I got over that (sheesh, I'm cranky when I sleep in), we recovered with a plan.  We'd go to the d'Orsay today.  There wouldn't be lines on a Monday, right?  Right -- because it's not open on Mondays, as we found out from the concierge.  Neither are restaurants.  Or markets.  And it was drizzly and gray outside and I didn't have a raincoat or a coffee and nothing was going right.  (Like I said, crank-y.)

Following a pep talk from Brian entitled "who needs plans; we're in Paris, bitches!," I stopped being a jerk and we set out to do something.  Buy some presents for people at home.  See a subtitled movie.  Get tipsy at a cafe at least.

As we walked out of the hotel, there was the usual gaggle of girls anxiously waiting for a glimpse of the unknown star.  This time, though, Brian managed to sneak a peek at a flyer one of them was holding and saw that it was a Selena Gomez poster.  Ah-ha!  So she was the mystery celeb.*  Funny, I said, that she was staying at our hotel, and maybe we'd see it in Us magazine next week or--

I looked up, and --

No way, I thought...yes, YES WAY. 

There she was, Selena herself, right smack in front of us, being ushered into the cheesy, run-down Chinese restaurant down the street from the hotel by her bodyguards.**  How is she wearing those heels when there's so much cobblestone here?  (Yes, that's what ran through my head.)  I looked at Brian, he looked at me, and we just laughed in disbelief.  A celebrity sighting in Paris?  When we live in LA?  And again with the uncanny timing!

From that point on, everything changed that day.  The sun came out, we found an awesome cafe for lunch, explored the Marais, and generally had the best day together.  We decided it was because of Selena -- I suppose there's just something about an unexpected and perfectly-timed celebrity sighting that makes it impossible to stop smiling.  Now when something isn't going well, Brian or I will sometimes say we're going to "Selena Gomez it," and it never fails to make me feel better.  Thanks for that, Selena :)





*Indeed, she was.
**I'm assuming she was going to go out a back door to avoid the fan line-up.  Although it's funnier to imagine that she just really wanted some greasy Chinese food.

The LACMA & Ray's

Last Sunday, Brian and I took his parents out to the LACMA for lunch and some art browsing.  It was a gorgeous LA day -- perfect for an outside lunch at Ray's!

Everything we tried at Ray's lived up to the hype.  The chile appetizer and the steak were two of my favorites!  Oh!  And Tabatha was eating a few tables away!  Gotta love a reality-show celeb sighting :)

{loved these giant kitchen sculptures!}

Zooey Sings

You guys, last night, Zooey Deschanel sang to me.  Yes, to me.  No matter that there were like hundreds of other people in the room.  We definitely connected.  I waved at her from across the room, she didn't notice...it was magic.  If only we had been wearing our matching pink coats.

 And a little sampling of Zooey's band, She & Him

 

P.S. Zooey Deschanel magicalness provided by The Alliance for Children's Rights - check them out!

FarmShop

One Saturday morning, Brian and I decided to venture outside our little corner of Santa Monica in search of a worthy brunch.   FarmShop, we decided, was where we'd go.  We arrived at the absolutely charming Brentwood Country Mart, sat down at the bright, rustic-modern FarmShop dining room, and decided it had been a good choice.

Then our morning went from lovely to UNbelievable.  In the sense that I had to double triple check that I wasn't dreaming.

Me to Brian:  What are you ordering?  Savory or sweet?  Sweet or savory?  I'm starving.  How is that possible after what we ate last night?  Ohmygosh everything looks good.  And I love these napkins.  Oh, what about the frittata?  Was that bacon on that plate that just passed by?  I want that.  Or maybe sweet?  Pancakes?  Oooh that lady's purse!  Ok, food.  Ummm...I don't know, you decide.

Brian to Me (after completely ignoring all of the above):  (in the voice of Leslie Mann as the sister in Knocked Up)  I think I'll have some fucking Freeeeench Toast.  

(Play this.  It's only 10 seconds.  It's important, I swear.)

I look up.  A small blonde woman, hair swept up in a bun--jeans-boots-cape-sunglasses--walks right behind Brian.  Could it be?  No, it can't.  I look back again.  No.  I look again.  Yes.  YES IT IS HER.  

YES LESLIE MANN AKA THE FRENCH TOAST LADY JUST WALKED BY RIGHT AFTER BRIAN DID HER FRENCH TOAST LINE IN HER FAKE DRUNK VOICE FROM KNOCKED UP.  

And there goes her husband, who happens to be Judd Apatow (nbd).

LIFE WIN.

So that happened.

But besides providing me with my second favorite celeb sighting ever (this is still my first fave), FarmShop totally delivered in the food department.  Like, can we talk about that scone?  Yeah, the herb goat cheese one.  I don't think I knew what a real scone was supposed to taste like until I had that one.  Generally I think of the scone as the muffin's thinner, more uptight stepsister.  But you guys, believe me when I tell you that this scone was like a biscuit and a croissant and a cheese plate combined-- flaky, buttery, salty, savory deliciousness.  I had the frittata with burrata and wild mushrooms and it was hearty, earthy and just the right amount of cheesy.  Oh, and the French toast didn't disappoint either!  Thanks for that one, Leslie; you made my day.

The Coat

Anyone watch New Girl tonight?  Anyone??  Did ya see the coat?  You know, THIS coat that Jess (Zooey Deschanel) wears to Schmidt's holiday party?

{via Kate Spade}

Guess who wore the very same coat to her company's holiday party?!

I always knew we'd be friends in real life.

P.S. Have you seen the blog Zooey co-founded?  I<3 her.

So L.A.

Last night, I went to my very first movie premiere!

It was for the animated film directed by Steven Spielberg, Tin Tin.  I'm not usually a huge fan of animated movies, but I was really impressed by this one.  It was clever, not very kiddy, and the animation was so insane that it really looked real at times.  Plus, it was 3D!

Somehow, we also accidentally ended up on a red carpet.  Or should I say, the red carpet...

{Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood}

We got in the wrong line, but they let us walk down the red carpet anyway, and as we passed the wall of photographers, one of them actually snapped a picture of us!  It was hilarious!

{Brian's FACE.  That's all.}

The theater was built in the 1920s and has been the site of lots of famous premieres.  It was so ornate and rich on the inside, and it really made me feel like I was in the Hollywood of the '20s.

Well except for the 3D glasses thing...

(And the free popcorn and soda.) 

The after party was held at the Roosevelt Hotel, where we drank champagne and ate ice cream bon bons while I continuously scanned the crowd for a famous face (to no avail).

Such a glamorous night!

Happy weekending, everyone!

Lipstick

{Lipstick.  On Lisa.}

Guess who I get to meet this weekend...Guess!  GRANT HILL.  What, you don't know who that is?  C'mon guys.  He's only the most famous among Duke fans basketball player of all time.  Also apparently a movie producer?  Generally, a baller (get it?), and I think we get to screen his movie, too.

And guess where I get to meet him...the W Hollywood.  Ooooh la la I'm ironing my fancy pants as we speak.  Thank you, Duke Club of SoCal, for stepping it up.

Oh, and if you weren't already jelly, tonight I've got a hot date with my BarBri books.  I might even get a few minutes with my flashcards.  Man, my life is great.

Any plans you want to share, my loves?

Celebrity Sighting of Celebrities Sighting Each Other!

Celebrity sightings make me smile. They always feel so surreal because, in my mind, celebrities are fake - they are just characters, not people (sorry, celebs).  So seeing one in real life is kind of like what I imagine it would feel like to see a unicorn.  But less crazy.

Well if celebrity sightings make me smile, you should have seen the grin on my face yesterday when I sighted TWO celebrities at the Santa Monica Farmer's Market, SIGHTING EACH OTHER!!!  It was so out of this world.  I kind of felt like I was having an out of body experience.  I will now recount the entire story to you so that you can join me in smiling disbelief.

Sunday morning, I woke up (after successive rounds of snoozing the alarm), and of course, my first thought is: coffee.  Coffee and food.  My second thought is: we have none.  So I complain to Brian, and he says we should walk down to Main Street and get some (always a problem-solver, that one), and I say, let's go to Urth.  On our stroll down to Urth, we realize, it's Farmer's Market Day!  Hurray!  My favorite kind of food establishment!  So Urth is out, farmer's market is in.

The SM farmer's market is much smaller than the SF Ferry Building farmer's market, but at least there was live music (strangely - white men playing steel drums in African garb...but whatevs, I'm not picky about my live music), decently priced produce, and a pretty impressive selection of food-making stalls, so I was happy.  (I'll skip over the part where there was a petting zoo and pony ride filled with little kiddies - suffice it to say that these could be major deterrents to future farmer's market visits if they are a weekly thing.)  Our first order of business was to buy an omelette with fried potatoes and sit down by a grassy area to eat it ("eat" is a delicate way to describe what occurred at this point).  A few bites later, I look up and see a very beautiful lady with her two little boys standing in front of me.  I mostly noticed her because her skin was so flawless and glowing, and in a few seconds, I realized I had seen her before - a celebrity! I thought, the smile and giggle already sneaking up on me.  But I couldn't place her in a movie or a TV show until a few seconds later, when who comes over to say hello but Madeline Zima!  Or in my mind, Mia from Californication.  They were surprised to see each other, and they hugged.

And then it all came together for me -- the woman with the beautiful skin, who Madeline Zima had just greeted was Natascha McElhone, who you might know as Karen, Mia's stepmom in Californication.  There were so many layers of craziness going on that I had a moment of brain overload.  In my mind, I had just witnessed Mia running into her stepmom, Karen, at the farmer's market, but in reality, it was Madeline Zima running into Natascha McElhone at the farmer's market, and then on top of that, I was observing it all, so I was experiencing what shall now be known as a celebrity sighting of celebrities sighting each other!  SO META.

{Natascha Elhone as Karen (with David Duchovny), via Daily Herald, and Madeline Zima as Mia, via Small Screen Scoop}

I'm hoping this is the first of many of such occurrences because really, it made my day.  Gotta love L.A.

P.S. The link on the word "Meta" goes to a blog run by a friend of mine from high school!  Go check it out - she's hilarious.

Veeps

There's nothing like being within photographing distance of a celebrity to make you feel like a veep (veep being, of course, the Italian pronounciation of the American acronym V.I.P.).  Last summer while working in L.A., I spotted a few celebrities, the most notable being Jessica Simpson in a tragic red romper in the parking lot of Hamasaku.  I was probably cropped out of that picture.  Just sayin.

This weekend I added to the celebrity sighting list when Brian and I happened upon free tickets to a sit down chat sesh with the cast of Eastbound and Down as part of the Paley Center's TV Festival.  It was at the Saban Theater, where they have a bar and even let you bring your drink to your seat!  Just try not to spill your wine all over the seat next to you...not that that happened to me or anything...

{inside the theater}

Now.  I don't watch the show, and if you know me and you know the show, you probably have no qualms about that.  But (surprisingly) I think I could enjoy the show.  Maybe this is Brian's lack of filter for his TV watching preferences rubbing off on me, but no joke, I thought Kenny was hilarious.  Plus, Danny McBride and Jody Hill (the creators/writers) are both from NC (and I still claim that state even though I only know what exists within the confines of Duke's fake-old stone walls).  So basically, they're my peeps.

And no, of course I didn't take any pics of the actual celebs.  What do you take me for, a tourist?

P.S. have you seen this yet?  You will laugh.