Memorial Weekend

We had a great Memorial Day weekend.  Went to Michael's graduation party on Friday night (congratulations, Michael!), then drove up to Sedona on Saturday morning to do some serious wedding venue hunting.  I'm happy to announce that we've found THE place!  It'll be a small and intimate gathering with close family and friends.  We checked out hotels for guests, rehearsal dinner places, and even did a cake tasting!  I took tons of pics of everything, but I don't know how much I want to give away yet.  (Am I supposed to keep everything a secret so it's a surprise?)  We're deciding between about three Saturdays from the end of April and beginning of May (ahem, don't want to get in the way of any trips to Italy!), so we'll announce the date shortly.  Now that we've decided, it finally feels real!  

Here's Joseph and me at dinner in Sedona last night.

And Bodhi in the luxurious down bedding.  It was hard to find him in there sometimes!  (Yes, our little man traveled with us, and I think he approves of the venue.  He LOVES the ducks!)

We spent the evening last night with our friends, Judy and Stephen.  Went to dinner, then for desert on an outside patio, then walked in the pitch black dark along the creek.  

As usual, pics just don't do it justice.  Sedona is such a beautiful place!

Pics from our cake tasting.  The tasting was at the chef's house.  She has this huge, gorgeous commercial kitchen that smells delicious.  She's been on Food Network, in magazines, and everything.  And yes, we picked a cake!  It's the design I had my heart set on (the one thing I just HAD to have), and I hope people don't think it's too weird.  And we picked two very yummy flavors!

Justin (left) and the graduate, Michael.  Aren't they the cutest?  They are seriously the sweetest boys ever.  I hope our kids turn out as wonderful as all of our nieces and nephews.

Good morning!

Joseph and I had a fun weekend in Phoenix.  Went to Titus's birthday party on Saturday and then on Sunday, Roberta, Katrina, Jill, and Jennifer took me bridesmaid (not wedding) dress shopping!!!  It was so fun!  And it helped me a lot - I kind of started to figure out what I do and don't like.  All of us were trying on dresses.  So fun!  

Joseph, Bodhi, and I are going to visit a resort in Sedona next weekend to check it out as a possible wedding venue.  I'm so hopeful that it'll be what we're looking for!

Since Bodhi and Daddy are on vacation this week, Joshie and I are living it up.  Unfortunately, with Bodhi around, Joshie doesn't play a whole lot anymore.  Bodhi is always getting in the way!  But since Bodhi's in Phoenix, Joshie got a lot of playing in this morning!

Happy Monday!

I hope everyone had a nice Easter.  Joseph and I enjoyed a lazy weekend.  I made Easter dinner for just the two of us and we watched movies.  It's sad not being with family on holidays, but snuggling up on the couch all day with my boys is the next best thing!

I came home from the gym to find Easter presents waiting for me.  Joseph had a bunch of flowers hiding in the fridge, and he got me a magazine, a movie, and candy all in a little chickie purse!

  

My Engagement Ring

So there's just too much to tell.  I had the most amazing, incredible, perfect weekend of my life.  And I still need to call some family and friends to share the news.  But I couldn't help but post a picture of my beautiful engagement ring from Joseph.  I'm overwhelmed by how beautiful it is.  

Before diamonds are cut into the sparkly ones we see today, they exist in a beautiful, untouched state wherein they are unique from all others.  A long time ago, raw diamonds were worn only by royalty and believed to be fragments of stars or tears of gods.  People thought they held all the powers of the earth and kept the wearer safe from all harm.  

So here is a picture of my raw, uncut (and conflict free) diamonds that are perfect just as they are, no cutting needed.  

Happy Birthday To Me!

Thanks, President Obama.  It's the best birthday gift you could have given me!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/obama

Life Drawing

I started my life drawing class yesterday.  I've taken this class a few times, but haven't been able to recently because of scheduling conflicts with school.  It's a great class because it's really just model time without any instruction (unless you want it). 

I'm VERY rusty after a few months off, but it was nonetheless wonderful to get back to it.  The human figure is my most favorite of any subject.  I love the complexity of it, the softness of the body, and the way the light gives it form.  For me, both drawing and viewing it evokes more emotion than any other subject can.  I love getting my fingers full of charcoal and zoning out for a couple of hours.  The only problem is that time goes by too fast.  But that's what happens when you're doing what you love...

Anyway, thought I'd post my sketches each week to share (I thought my mom would especially like this) and also to track my own progress through the weeks.  The first are quick sketches - the model moves every couple of minutes - and the subsequent ones are anywhere from approximately 10 to 25 minute sketches.  

Weekend Update

We had a busy weekend.  On Saturday, Joseph and I went to the gym, Long Beach for lunch, and then friends came over to watch the fights.  

Sunday was SAG.  We had a lot of fun and saw all the usual celebs.  I was in charge of Jenna Fischer from The Office (see me in the pic on the right below!), The Entourage cast, and Mickey Rourke.  Joseph had Tina Fey and Mrs. Cosby (can't remember her real name).  Tina was nice, but Mrs. Cosby was snooty.  We had a fun day, the show was really easy, and the after party was crazy and packed so we didn't stay long.  And by the end of the night our feet hurt like hell!

I liked these people best: Tina Fey, Jenna Fischer (and her nice boyfriend with whom I had a long and awkward conversation while we waited for Jenna to come out of the restroom), Amy Poehler (her friends were all calling her "Pole Cat" and she was soooo nice and funny), and the casts of 30 Rock and The Office.  

Oh, and the women were skinnier than ever this year.  I felt like a blimp!  

Anyway, I'm hoping to get some pics of us around the Shrine later from Maggie (the producer of the show), so I'll post again when I get them.

Hope everyone had a nice weekend!