D - LICIOUS.

This Friday Victor and I got off work pretty early and with a pretty big appetite so we  took a drive down to Hollydale, (his childhood hometown) and went to the mom and pop burger joint "D's". Victor introduced me to D's a couple months after we started dating and shared the history of the burger joint with me. His mom had actually been coming to D's in her teens and even when she was pregnant with Victor and his twin sister Valerie! I thought that was so cool, I love going to places with history, places that have stories. It's also fun just how (I am going to use some of Victors favorite words when describing classic places) 'stuck in time' this place is. It hasn't changed a bit according to Victor and you can pretty much see that in the photographs. We ended the night by going to the mall and Victor was able to find some great buys at the crazy sale Forever 21 was having that day.

DIY VALENTINE.

Valentines day: an occasion in which lovers express their love for one another. This year I wanted to express that love in arts and crafts form! I usually try to personalize my gifts regardless, but I wanted to emphasize the idea of DIY for this Valentines Day. I feel like now the best gifts are the ones you make your own. The gifts which you thought of and took the time to plan out and bring to life.

Breakfast + Gifts

Victor suprised me that morning by whipping up a Valentines breakfast! Heart shaped pancakes, bacon (a fave!), scrambled eggs, AND strawberry milk (another fave!). He even turned our kitchen into a Valentines cafe!

I made Victor a Valentines Day card by tracing a kissing picture of us. I personalized the card even more by adding lyrics from one of his favorite Katy Perry songs: "Teenage Dream".  Knowing how much of a California boy he is, I made him an art piece that he can display in his little office, I have seen photos of the California outline and a heart over LA on Tumblr before so I took the idea from there but made it my own with the glitter. I ordered a custom pillow case from Etsy shop "FeatherHen" with our initials and the year we met.

As always, Victor wrapped the gifts beautifully, too cute to even rip apart! He gave me 3 cute growing kits, one is even strawberry! I love gardening as funny as that may sound so I got pretty excited once I opened these. I got even more excited when I opened the other two gifts, the book and film The Perks of Being A Wallflower! I haven't read the book yet but have heard so much about it from Victor that I have been wanting to read it not to mention that I fell in love with the film adaption of the book. In DIY form, Victor made us a board with a knitted heart on nails, and the three nails at the bottom represent the Valentines that we've spent together. So cute!

Dinner + A Movie

Victor whipped up a delicious dinner after work: bacon wrapped steak, sautéed green beans, rice, and biscuits. The perfect dinner for a perfect valentines day! After work I picked up some pastries from a bakery in West Hollywood called 'Between Us'. We ended the night by watching Frankenweenie and enjoyed the Heart shaped macaroons, a berry tart, and some fresh baked Disney heart sugar cookies. This has been the BEST valentines ever!

Here are some "behind the scenes" photos of my DIY gifts:

 Now to plan for next year...

LOCAL TOURISTS.

This past Sunday Victor and I finally used the Hollywood Museum tickets he had gifted a couple months back! He could not have given me a BETTER gift! I had a blast, it was amazing just to be in a building like the original "Max Factor Studios" with so much history. The museum is HUGE. I was not expecting all that they have to showcase. The museum's third floor changes 3 times a year, so there's always something new to see! I especially loved the different rooms they had for each hair colored movie star; the "Blondes Only", "Red Heads Only" and "Brunettes Only" rooms. The "Blondes Only" room I'm sure is the most popular. They have several Marilyn Monroe items to display, anything from her personal gowns to high heels to the death report AND her original prescription of Decadron found at the time of her death. There is just way too many things to even try to sum up the museum! I want to go back there again asap! I was so happy just looking at all the vintage fashion, handbags, personal letters, and photographs of the golden era, the true Hollywood. It's nice to see just how glamorous Hollywood really was back then and how much the art of acting has changed. Victor kept saying how he wished he lived in that era, and so do I. *sigh* 

"BLONDES ONLY ROOM" 

"RED HEADS ONLY ROOM"

 "BRUNETTES ONLY ROOM"

I was able to get some great shots of Victor in and out of the museum. He should be posting a blog about soon, I even made a short behind the scenes video of me shooting an outfit look for his blog. Check it out below and make sure to check back to his blog VICTOR-GO.COM to see which photos made the cut!

 I encourage everyone to take the time and visit the "Hollywood Museum" to learn more about 'Hollywood Royalty'.

www.thehollywoodmuseum.com

FRENCH SUNDAY MORNING.

 eggs|milk|cinnamon|texas toast

Whipped up some french toast and scrambled eggs this morning and I must say it turned out pretty good! Victor had been hinting that he wanted me to make french toast one morning so this Sunday felt like the perfect morning to do so. The recipe is super easy and it doesn't take too long to prepare/make. I think the best part of the breakfast was the presentation. You don't have to be a great cook; sometimes the presentation is what makes the food delicious!

*We had a great Sunday being local tourists in Hollywood, post to come soon.*

FAVES.

* the title photo is a view from our apartment, with the font it really looks to me like an album cover art and I LOVE it! You can see the Downtown LA skyline just below the 'A' *

With this blog post I felt like sharing a few favorite photographs of mine: favorite photographs that I've taken, and favorite photos of Victor and I.

CIRCA 2009 PHOTOGRAPHY:

Favorite shots of Victor and I :

2013 has been pretty good to me, it actually doesn't feel too different. I just feel something inside of me wanting to experiment more, experience more, and try new things as well as go back to a hobby that I loved growing up. I've been getting into videos and video editing. I would like to practice more on that, and hopefully start making videos soon. I'm feeling very inspired by the city, sky scrappers, and sun glares. I've also been wanting to get back into photography. Straight out of high school that was one of my favorite things to do (I received a Nikon coolpix p80 as a graduation gift from my parents). I loved playing with my camera, setting up photo shoots with my sister Julie, and taking my camera wherever I went. At times I revisit my flickr account and think back to the boy I was back then. This past year I've been relying wayyyy to much on my Iphone for photography, and I'm going to try and change that this year. 

ONE PHOTOGRAPH AT A TIME.