A birthday in Santa Barbara

Last Saturday was another special birthday. My childhood friend Chau turned another year older. She's a few months younger and we have been friends since kindergarden.

She was in Santa Barbara celebrating her special day with her beloved hubby Tom, her younger sister and her husband, Maggie and Phillip. Of course, Reza and I drove up to join in on the celebration.

It was a little brisky, but breathing in the cool ocean air was definitely a nice break from the stuffy air in Los Angeles. We had to so much fun biking around the crowded boardwalk, hiking through the acres of the botanica gardens, monkeying around and, of course, eating our faces off.




They were stacking up on each other for an interesting pose...


...and crashed down as Reza unexpectedly jumped on top of the human tree (Thank god no one was seriously hurt in the making of this photo)



I caught Maggie resting on her husband during our "little" hike in the garden:


Chau getting a romantic birthday kiss from her husband:


Reza, being goofy as always, pretended to hold up the humongous rock on the side of the dirt road:


Tom, the Ballerina? Just kidding...


Happy Birthday, Chau!


Thank you for such a fun weekend! Love ya!

Happy V-Day!

Valentine's Day was two days away as I was driving home from work thinking about what we could be doing for that night. Being that Reza and I are newly weds, everyday has been a Valentine's Day for us. And the fact that we are homebodies - at least that's what we had slowly become to be - and love quiet times of simply being at home - enjoying our new crib - I knew that we would be most likely to stay in. We had been so busy between the both of us that I didn't think Reza even knew that V-Day was even coming, let alone planned anything.

I got home, walked up to the front porch, and been sitting at the door were a dozen of blooming red roses, a fluffy teddy bear and a heart-shaped box of chocolate attached with a sweetest note for me:

He remembered!

And it didn't really matter what we were doing that V-day anymore. I was a happy wifee :-)

I'm on Facebook

"Are you on Facebook?"

I guess I am now. It's finally time for me to join all the cool people on the cleaner version of Myspace.


See you there!

The Edalat Family

The weather had been unusually strange for Los Angeles at this time of the year with continuous rain pouring for days. However, with what's left of a rare occasion being together, we planned for some family photographs with hopes that it'll at least stop raining.

That morning turned out to be one of the best mornings we had all year. Dark clouds had all been blown away from the night before, making room for only bright warm sunshine and new fresh brisky air. It was definitely meant to be for some beautiful photographs for the beautiful family.

I snapped away, as they were posing, laughing, jumping, climbing, hugging and kissing each other. Onlookers at the park might have thought they were doing it for the camera, but I know well that they were simply being themselves - the fun and loving Edalat family.

Everyone's portraits:







Show this family some swings and you can absolutely be certain that they will all swing...




My favorite photo of the day is of Reza swinging really high and jumping off into my camera:



I cannot post this blog without these photos of my SIL and BIL. They LOVE the camera, and, as you can see, the camera loves them just as much.

Niosha:




Poria:

All Moved In...

After two and a half month of renovating the kitchen and two bathrooms, plus lots of sanding, painting and cleaning, Reza and I decided that we were done (at least, for now) and we FINALLY had our housewarming last Sunday.

I know I promised to share photos of the house, and I know they are very late, but we FINALLY got a landline and internet connection:

Kitchen and family room:




Dining room:



Living room:



Our second floor is in the process of decoration, and I promise more photos to come once it looks a bit more decently occupied.

Happy New Year!

Skiing at Mountain High:

Happy Holidays!

This holiday season has been warm, mellow and sweet all at once for us.

First, we didn't do much shopping for gifts. Reza and I decided before the holiday season to stay clear from the shopping and traffic madness at the malls and spent most of our time working on the house. We didn't make any plans for New Years, either, so for me to just be spontaneous is going to be difficult, but I'm trying to be more adventurous and allow Reza to be the planner this year ;-). Hint hint!

Last week, our little family Christmas dinner wasn't like any family get-together. It was certainly more like a pet get-together. It was us the people, then Snowball, Rocky, and our two new family members - Benji, a high-energy-Snoop-Dog-look-alike Chiguagua, and Puffy, a little ball-of-sweetness American Eskimo. Oh, it was one hella dog party, let me tell you! Ho Ho Dogs! :-)

Benji:


Puffy:


Snowball and Puffy getting to know each other:


The Fantastic Four:


Benji and Puffy playing Secret Santas:



Too cute! Congrats to their new parents, Niosha and Lina. I foresee many many play dates to come for the new year. :-)

The Most Special Birthday of The Year

Reza's birthday is a very special birthday to me, even more than my own. I am forever grateful that he was ever born into this world and will continously celebrate this one day. Cheesy? :-) It's love!

He's ridiculously handsome, outrageously funny, extremely patient, and certainly forever mine. :-)

Happy Happy Birthday, honey!


Big thanks to everyone who came to have a little fun with us on Saturday. Hope you had fun!