Birthday Weekend: Umami Burger and Melrose Trading Post

In addition to showing my parents the Getty Center during their weekend visit, Rich and I knew we'd have to take them to experience the one and only Umami Burger. Let me just start by saying if you've been to LA and never eaten at Umami... you're SERIOUSLY missing out! It's the best burger I've ever eaten, dreamt about, drooled over, etc. And not only are their burgers the best around, but their Cheesy Tots and Onion Rings are game-changers as well. If that wasn't enough to make you loosen your belt, they've got AMAZING desserts too. Like I mentioned earlier, this is the kind of place you'll literally dream about.

Once we finished hanging out at the Getty, we ventured down to the Umami Burger on La Brea. After a little bit of a wait, we got down to business. My dad ordered the Port & Stilton Burger, Rich and my mom got the Umami Burger, and I enjoyed the Truffle Burger. To this day, Rich argues that the Umami is better than my beloved Truffle, but he is just straight up crazy. The Truffle Burger is where it's at!

{Truffle Heaven}

{Umami}

{Cheesy tots and Onion Rings...they couldn't even wait for me to get a picture!}

{The rents}

I wish I had snagged some pics of our dessert too. It was SO yummy! Cherry almond pie, ice cream sandwiches, and red velvet mini cakes. Needless to say, we loosened our belts and rolled ourselves outta there at the end of the night. So worth it!

The next day we got an early start and headed to the Melrose Trading post--one of Rich and my favorite things to do on Sundays. It was a warm, sunny day and we all enjoyed strolling around and checking out all the vendors. I even scored a cheap pair of sunnies!

{my hunny}

{new sunnies}

What a fun weekend, right? It was great spending time with my parents and showing them around town. Rich and I absolutely love having friends and family visit... so dear friends, consider these posts a bribe to come and see us. :)

Come back soon mom and dad!

Birthday Weekend: The Getty Center

Well, why not kick off November with a post about something that happened in September? Business as usual 'round these parts!

At the beginning of September, my parents ventured up to Culver City for a weekend of fun to celebrate my birthday. Rich and I were so excited to play 'tour guide' and show off some of our favorite things to do in LA. Though my parents spend a good amount of time here visiting family (my mom grew up in the valley), we were happy to show them a different side to this crazy city. 

We began our adventure by heading up the 405 to the Getty Center. Surprisingly enough, neither of them had been there before! The Getty is such a great place to spend the day--with it's amazing views, lush garden and vast array of exhibitions--there's something for everyone.

{Momma bear}

{Rich never misses an opportunity to jump in front of the camera}

{Garden}

We had a great time showing my parents the Getty Center. Even after almost 5 hours there, we still hadn't seen everything. Guess that means we'll have to go again soon!

Next up... Umami Burger and Melrose Trading Post.

Happy Friday!

Hooray, it's Friday! You guys, I am seriously SO excited the weekend is here. Life has been buckwild these last few weeks, so I'm eagerly anticipating the little downtime we get before the big move next Saturday. Speaking of moving, can you believe this weekend will be our last in Culver City? I'm still in denial about the whole thing. Don't get me wrong--I'm SO excited to move to Sherman Oaks and start decorating enjoying our new little home, but I can't help but feel sad to leave our Culver City digs. It's the first place Rich and I lived together as husband and wife! Though we're both sad to leave, I know the moment we set up shop in Sherman, we'll never look back.

On a lighter note, I'm also quite excited today because I got a great deal on a new iphone case! Isn't she a beaute?

Kate Spade is having a Friends & Family Sale right now--30% off your entire purchase. Yes please! In addition to the discount, they were offering free shipping. How can you turn that down? Well, I definitely didn't. Now I just have to patiently wait for it to arrive! I absolutely love getting fun packages in the mail.

So yeah, Fridays rock. :)

So long, sweet summer.

Or not.

Today's heat wave left me dreaming of our last beach day this summer.

Filled with sun, sand, Izzes and chatter about the exciting things Fall had in store for us. 

Though Fall is somewhat of a no-show at this point, the exciting things-- 

they're a comin'.

Time flies...

..when you're having fun! Ah, isn't that the truth. I have so many things to share and seriously don't know where to start. For now, I wanted to make sure you all knew I'm still here--and to prove it, I'll give you a little peek into my Instagram feed over the last month.

{Birthday dessert at Fraiche}

{Parents visit to celebrate}

{Flea Market Finds}

{Ojai weekend getaway}

{Disneyland}

{Wedding with the Millards}

{Baby Zoe was born}

I'll share more on all the above soon, just trying to get ready for our big MOVE at the end of the month!! Yep--we're leaving our cute abode in Culver City [tears] for a lovely little place in Sherman Oaks. We're so thankful that the Lord provided a cozy new home for us. Can't wait to move in and start decorating! (...And the hubs is probably squirming in his seat as he reads this :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EM!

{This post is coming a little late but I just want to make sure you ladies and gents know it's still Wednesday 9/28, even if it's 11:30 at night!}

Oh my, where to begin? Today is such a special day! 26 years ago from today, my best friend Emili was born. Yippeee for that! I literally don't know what I'd do without my girlfriend.

Emspice and I have known each other since middle school, way back when. We became instant friends in Spanish class, gabbing our faces off about anything and everything. But the true magic really happened in high school, when the junior girls got together and formed an Airband team. Em and I became really good friends while preparing for Airband, and her parents even allowed me to sleep over on a school night. It was kind of a big deal--I'm pretty sure I was the first friend of Em's that got the green-light on a school night slumber party. Holler! Our friendship continued to blossom throughout high school and soon enough, I was practically a part of the Andrews family. I even got to go on family vacation to Hawaii!

Em and I stayed close in college, despite me moving to Arizona for a few years. Eventually I moved back to San Diego, and shortly thereafter we became roommates. We had the best time together, always running around town and having adventures--like late night McDonalds runs for ice cream and apple pies, which we'd sit in the car and eat in the parking lot, mind you. Classy, we know. Emili and I experienced so much together this past decade and have grown up tremendously. We've been there for each other through thick and thin, good and bad--always available for a much needed laugh or cry. And although we both traded in for new roommates (our husbands!), I've never felt closer to my amazing friend. Thank the Lord for such wonderful friendships!

And now, some snapshots of our friendship over the years..

Em--thank you for being such an amazing friend. Love you so much girlfriend, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

A Delightful Site

I've officially fallen in love with Spoon Fork Bacon. 

Lovely, drool-worthy photos and great recipes make for a delightful site. 

How yummy do those jam straws and cinnamon rolls look? 

I need to start cooking, pronto.

Universal Studios Hollywood

Life these days has seemingly become our own again. With the summer madness long gone, the hubs and I have been making the most of our time at home in LA. To kick off our newfound freedom, we purchased season passes to Universal Studios Hollywood--Rich's favorite theme park. We agreed it would be a fun place to visit when we had nothing going on, whether to dine on City Walk or check out the new park attractions for the holidays. A couple years ago we purchased memberships to the San Diego Zoo, and ended up using them a lot--so this sounded like a good idea for our next adventure!

[He was a little excited]

[Cooling off in the shade]

[Studio Tour]

[City Walk]

We had a great time at Universal Studios, despite it being what felt like the hottest day of summer! I have to admit, we were pretty disappointed with the new King Kong 3-D experience on the Studio Tour. Honestly, the commercial was way cooler than the real thing. Oh well, at least they gave it their best effort. We enjoyed the Shrek 4-D show, and had a few good screams on the Revenge of the Mummy ride. Of course, we didn't make it to everything--but that's where our season passes come in! After leaving the park, we hung around City Walk for a bit and stopped at Buca Di Beppo for some bomb pizza and salad. We also dropped by an outrageous candy shop and pretty much drooled the entire time. I guess lucky for me and my waistline, Rich didn't notice the drool--so we left with nothing but an unsatisfied sweet tooth. We'll save the candy binge for next time!