Category Archives: Real Life

Real Life :: LA Sunshine + Work

Real Life

Last weekend I was in Los Angeles (Santa Monica to be specific) and the weather couldn’t have been more perfect. I was there for work (shooting some print ads). I’m always torn when I travel. On the one hand it’s so nice to stay in a swanky hotel, in a big ol’ comfy bed, eat fancy meals and not have to pay for it all. On the other hand…..I always reeeally miss my guys. This was a short-n-sweet trip, so it wasn’t as involved as our Prague shoot this September and I was able to get back to Wolfie hugs asap! I thought it would be fun to share some photos with you —a little taste of California sunshine— and a little peek into my nutty job. Keep in mind, half the time I’m slaving away at a desk and in meetings. It’s not always palm trees and fancy fancies!

We stayed at the Viceroy, a hipstery hotel designed by Kelly Wearstler. It’s over-the-top fab:

The decor is very black and white with pops of color—mostly green or yellow.


I realized that I had packed mostly green and yellow. Not on purpose—pinkie swear.

The skies were so blue, alas we were inside most of the day once we started working.



Our first shot was at the historic Union Station. It was an amazing building, built in 1939 and loaded with tons of ornate, art deco flourishes. Even the drinking fountains were deco:



We had to cast about 50 extras to stage our shot. It was the oddest casting—the main criteria was a random cross-section of “normal” people who might be hanging out at a train station. “What do you think? He looks kinda normal.” “Yeah. Cool.” “Ok 49 more….”



The next day we were at the historic Saban Theater. It was a backstage shot that needed to look like “behind the scenes” at a big rock venue. There were three cool things to say about this space. For starters, it was where they film the sectionals episodes for GLEE. (They had been shooting on the stage the week before we got there.) I’m a fan so I thought that was pretty cool! And in seeing next week’s previews, I can confirm that they were indeed filmed on this stage:

 

The space was, once again, rather Deco fabulous. The walls were all gilt—it was a gorgeous space.

Oh, and did I mention AL PACINO stopped by?? (sorry guys…..couldn’t resist….I promise never to mention Al Pacino again. Unless, you know, I meet him again.)

The theater had these crazy black and white tile bathrooms that were filled with full length mirrors. That’s not one of the cool things, by the way. Just wanted to ‘splain why I took a photo in the bathroom.

The final “cool thing” was the fact that our visual director for the shoot was Rick Floyd, an utterly groovy/fascinating guy who worked for years as Annie Liebowitz’s right hand man. His style is impeccable and he had amazing stories to tell. (Check out his site, his work is fantastic—loads of Vanity Fair covers and lush photo shoots.) I was pleased as punch when he looked at my wacky little outfit and said, “Girl, you are CUTE.” Hey, nothing like getting a professional seal of approval, right??

The entire day I kept looking at this long aisle and envisioning the Glee kids running down it, while bursting into song. You know how they bust through the back doors whenever there is a performance? Oh, i t was soooo tempting.

What can I say? I’m a professional.

Real Life :: Let’s Talk About Hair…

Real Life, Real Life : Dottie, ,

Man, I hope the Peach doesn’t inherit my lack of ability to do hair.

You see, I inherited that trait (or lack thereof) from my mother, who goes to the beauty parlor to have her hair done every week. That plus a can of Aqua Net and she’s good to go for at least five days. (I love you, Mom.)

I am dreadful at styling my hair. OK–not horrible, but it’s not my forte. I always said that if I had a super power, it would be the ability to snap my fingers and have my hair styled fabulously.

I do not have the super power. Sigh.

I mean, those pony tails are beyond lopsided and let’s just say that that is the Lombard Street of hair parts.

But I have this cutie pie looking up at me and wanting her hair in pony tails and braids and all sorts of stuff.

I’m already getting cotton mouth just thinking about the dreaded French braid–eek!  What is a gal to do? Help? And has anyone every tried to do toddler hair? Standing still isn’t really the Peach’s forte right now.

Any tips? Any tricks?

Please note the angle of pony tails…

Celebrity Dork Out :: When {Clean House} Came to the Bay

Real Life, Real Life : Alix, ,

I love home makeover TV shows. I have this fantasy that one of them will come over to my house and help me weed out allllllll the clutter and turn it into a pristine palace of serenity. Ahhhh. Wouldn’t that be nice?? So when I found out that Clean House was coming to the Bay Area I got all kinds of excited. I loved Niecy Nash (the hostess) and was bummed to hear she had left….but guess who the new hostess is?? Tempestt Bledsoe! Yep, Vanessa Huxtable.

The house that was being “Cleaned” belonged to some friends of friends. These people are major collectors and have lots of good loot, so I was pretty excited to snap up some fun vintage stuff. I grabbed Wolfie and we hit the road! Here is my little indie boy….he decided to bring this little satchel with some toys and his DS, just in case he got bored. I {heart} Wolfie!

As we looked for parking THIS crazy thing was cruising down the street in front of us. Wolfie was impressed.

When we finally got to the sale, there was a line to get in—but it moved quickly. There was tons of great stuff, but I have to say all the cameras made you feel a tad self conscious. And the prices were all really high because they wanted you to haggle on camera. My fab friends Doe and Otto (of the equally fabulous Tiki Oasis) came with their two little boys. They were dressed in a fantastic matching Tiki outfits (I’m pleased to report that Doe’s green 70s blazer was from my Vintage Boutique sale!). While they were checking out a bamboo book shelf, Mark, the show’s designer, zipped on over with the camera crew. It was awesome!

Wolfie, Vander and Dashiell were awesome. They were SOOOOOO unimpressed by the whole thing. They had fun hanging out together and Wolfie was actually in a great mood despite the “i’m so over this” look.

Here is “Matt,” the Go-To Guy who builds stuff….he had on a grass skirt and a coconut bra and was really lively. The whole “vibe” was def kitschy cool.

FINALLY! We spied Tempestt. She was in this Mae West style ensemble and looked very perty. Doe kept nudging me to go over and chat with her but I felt a little shy—plus she always had people around her and I didn’t want to be a big ol looky loo!

I found some vintage kid’s books (of course) and a kooky 70s kitty bank. There was tons more stuff cool stuff but really I needed these people to come to MY house to clean up, not be shoppin’ at their sale! I went over to the fella who was actually part of the couple who was going to be on the show and he was super sweet and gave me an awesome deal on all my stuff! Clutching my sales slip I wandered off to figure out where to pay.

All of a sudden there was a HUGE crash—someone broke something and the camera crew went flying over to get it on film. And well well well….look who I found myself standing next to??

It was perfect. No camera crew just me-n-Tempestt! Our exchange went something like this:

TEMPESTT: Ooooh, you finding some good bargains today?

ME: Yes! I got some fun books and this cute kitty bank for $3.

TEMPESTT: Hold on a second $3? For the kitty kat bank? Oh no, nononono!

ME: No? (i was confused)

TEMPESTT (snatching the pay slip from my hand): NO.

ME: Soooooo, you’re gonna give me a better deal??

TEMPESTT: Better deal? I’m gonna give you a WORSE deal! That’s too cheap! We’re here to make money girl!

ME (laughing but thinking “OH lord is she really gonna charge me more for this stupid cat thing??”): Oh no!

TEMPESTT: Listen, I gotta be kept in boas!

ME (trying to be charming): Oooooh wait…..did I say $3? I mean THIRTY Dollars! That’s what he charged me!!

And we laughed and laughed and traded makeup tips. OK not really. But she did laugh and sent me on my way…..and YES THE CAMERAS CAUGHT THE WHOLE THING. My friend Karen was watching and she said “Oooh, you just had a ‘bit’ with Tempestt!”

Me, Doe and Karen……cleanin’ house!

The weather was soooo glorious! Wolfie and I went to the cafe with Doe and Dash. We got some ice coffees for the mamas and milk and cookies for the little fellers. It was a super fun day! And who knows…we just might might it on CLEAN HOUSE. Now if I could only convince them to come and actually CLEAN our house.

So that’s my most recent celeb dork out!

Semi-Homemade Valentines= Everybody Happy.

Real Life, Real Life : Alix, , ,

I love pretty, homemade valentines. Wolfie, however, wanted to impress the kids at school with some ALL ACTION Bakugan blinkie hologram valentines. For those who don’t have kiddo’s old enough to experience the glory that is Bakugan, let’s just say they are in the “crazy Japanese anime” cartoon world and are one of the hot “it” show & toy combos. Basically, everything I DON’T want in a Valentine. Therein lay the dilemma. On the one hand, the prefab valentines are soooo not cute. Or even remotely pretty. On the other hand, when you are a 6 year boy , “pretty” and “cute” are definitely not top priorities when trying to make a statement. What to do, what to do?? Do I force my desire for glittery handmade goodness on my boy? Or do I let him be independent and pick his own Valentines?? We compromised and did a little bit of both! I’m pleased to report that while they were pretty darn simple….. they were both bad ass AND pretty!

We took double sided tape and glued the little Bakuagan hologram Valentine in the center of a pretty heart-shaped paper doilie. Then we glued the doilie on to to a square of construction paper. We picked black because we thought it would show off the heart the best. Then Wolfie used a gold crayon to write his name (and his classmates). We also made those rockin’ lollipops I showed you guys on Friday. And when I say “we” I mean “me”.

Awww, here’s my boy bringing mama flowers! So sweet….he did complain they were reeeeeally heavy. “A little help over here!” [fyi, he’s wearing his Michigan snow boots even though it’s totally sunny out]

Wolfie’s classroom made these cool little paper backpacks as a Valentine’s carrier:

The valentines fit in the top of the yellow part. I thought it was pretty clever!

We had a lovely day. I made Wolfie heart shaped waffles and was silly and cut his PB&J into a heart shape—annnnnd of course he didn’t eat it. Ah well. Wolfie got to be the Person of the Day for his first grade (which was super cute….it meant he got to lead the class to lunch and to the playground and got to check the class thermometer etc etc).

I was thrilled to discover that my Mini Heartlette Crown arrived just in time (it’s sooooo fab I love it). Greg and I actually went to a real-life grown up movie (WOW! no talking animals!). We saw The King’s Speech and it was really amazing. Colin Firth is fab and Jeffrey Rush was utterly brilliant. I still couldn’t escape kid’s movies, though, because I kept whispering things like, “Hey Greg, is that Dumbledore??” and “Look! It’s totally Peter Pettigrew as Churchill!” and “How funny that Helena Bonham Carter was playing Bellatrix LeStrange at the same time as she did this!” We are a Potter family for sure.

I hope you had a special day…lotsa love from us to you.

Real Life :: Valentines Day With the Penguins

Real Life, Real Life : Alix

Last year on Valentines Day, Greg and I decided to take Wolfie to the California Academy of  Sciences, which is located in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. I’m sure you’re thinking, “Um, the Academy of Sciences? Valentines Day? What the what??” I know it doesn’t sound very romantic, but stick with me here folks! It gets better.

Golden Gate Park is huge and lovely—a little bit bigger than Central Park. The Academy of Sciences is just one of the many attractions and it’s really fun. They have a “living rooftop” which totally reminds me of Teletubbie Land!

(I look like I’m making Stink Face up there…please ignore me and focus on my sweet child….thank you)

My little rosey cheeked Valentine. It started out foggy, so we bundled up, but then it got a little hot. Classic San Francisco.

After a some fun wandering around in the sun, we went inside the museum.

There are all kinds of hands on exhibits, and a great “wild animal” diorama collection—which I totally love.

The aquarium is also very popular:

But lets face, we were here for one reason. THE PENGUINS. You might be thinking, “What’s so special about penguins?” Imma ’bout to tell you!

Every Valentines Day, the Hall of Science does something really cool.  Children of all ages are allowed to decorate special red paper hearts….and then the valentines are passed out TO THE PENGUINS! And I have to say, it is a sight to behold! The penguins LOVE the valentines! They strut around with the in their mouths, preening and showing off. Amazingly, they don’t eat them— in fact they are quite competitive about them!  It’s hilarious to see them waddling about, all puffed up. The boy penguins were bickering over them, all for the honor of “delivering” them to the girl penguins, who were in these little caves setting up their nests. Have you ever seen anything so cute??

“One moment, mi amour….I bring you zee heart!”

Wolfie was enchanted. He was totally grinning from ear to ear.

Whoops….someone’s heart fell in the wading pool.

We had a really terrific day. The place was totally packed….and guess who else was there?? The super gorgeous Halle Berry with her little girl Nala! ( i love a good celeb sighting….) She was just strollin’ around like a mommy with her little one. Really cool. Honestly the place was so packed, I think she managed to slink around relatively unnoticed.

We ended the day with a trip to the cafe for a wee post-penguin snack.

Ze Milk Moustache, she is always en vougue!

It’s funny, at one point earlier that morning, Greg told me that he and Wolfie would have to sneak off at some point to “take care of a some things” (which usually means buying last minute flowers for mama, haha) but in the glory of the sunshine, flowers were forgotten….and you know what? I wouldn’t have had it any other way! We came home happy  and hungry….so we ordered a big ol cheese pizza, had a little picnic on the living room floor and watched Finding Nemo (in honor of the aquarium). I have to tell ya, Valentine’s Day was pretty darn perfect. I’m looking forward to this year and another fun adventure!