A California Easter

As many of you know (cause I told the whole world!), I spent a long Easter weekend visiting my sister in Los Angeles. I was so excited about this trip for many reasons. Not only is it LA (the pop culture capital of the world!), but I knew Sarah and I would have tons of fun. My pictures don't go in chronological order ( a pet peeve of mine), but here they are none-the-less, with a breakdown of our weekend.


On Easter Sunday, Sarah and I went to church in the morning. It was so refreshing to be in a church out of the Bible Belt and that had a different atmosphere then mine at home. We packed a picnic lunch and a change of clothes and went to the beach afterwards. I love this picture below. It was windy by the water, and a little chilly. I think it depicts the day quite well, despite all the hair :>).

The beautiful sea shore!

Sunday night, all of Sarah's roommates collaborated to make a huge Easter Greek Feast! We had leg of lamb, ham, Greek salad, spanikopita (sp?), rice and herbs wrapped in grape leaves that has a Greek name that I can't remember, mousaka, baklava, and hava....all home made! It was truly delicious and was a true display of hospitality as they invited many of their friends from school over.

We also went to visit the famous Rodeo Dr, home to all of the best known designers and a huge celebrity hot spot in CA! I, of course, wanted to see someone famous, but alas, they all must have known I was coming and stayed home (wink). We took a trolley tour of Rodeo Dr. and Beverly Hills, driving through some of the neighborhoods. Our tour guide pointed out lots of houses and told us who used to live there. My favorite was Julie Andrew's home!

Sarah and I on the trolley

I must say that one of the highlights of the trip was reuniting with these two women.

My aunt Carol and my cousin Lorie live in Bakersfield, just a couple of hours from Sarah. They were sacrificial enough to make the drive down to Pasadena to visit and spend the day with us. I hadn't seen Lorie since her wedding six years ago or Carol since my wedding three years ago. We went to a wonderful lunch and then shopped around Old Town Pasadena.

And of course, getting to see Lorie again meant that I finally got to meet her son, Henry! I had only ever seen pictures of him. He is so handsome and such a bundle of joy. It was very inspiring to see Lorie in her element as a mother. Knowing some of my own fears about motherhood, I felt peace in seeing her still be the same Lorie that used to talk all about boys with me in high school while being a loving mom as well.

Lorie is also a very accomplished photographer with immense talents. Ever since she started a blog and has been posting pictures of all the people she photographs, I have been wanting to have my own Lorie Chambless photo shoot. Well, I got my wish! Lorie brought her big camera and took tons of pictures of Sarah and I. I don't have them here, but find her blog on my blog roll....her blog is the one called My Cousin in California. I can finally scratch that dream off my life long "to do" list.

Overall, the weekend was a perfect balance between fun and rest. Sarah and I went to a fancy dinner on Saturday night (courtesy of mom....thanks mom) and I introduced her to Twilight. Conversation flowed, laughs were abundant, and I left feeling blessed for her presence in my life.