Circus Vargas!

The circus is in town, the old fashion kind in a tent and small town entertainment.

At the entrance to get some popcorn and a snow-cone.

Alex and me clowning around.

A little snack before the show.

Alex and David trying to cool off in the hot circus tent

Alex playing with the sunlight poking through a hole in the tent

Going into the bigtop

Yes, that's a real boa constrictor. At intermission we had a chance to pet it. We got in line, but then I chickened out.

Heat Wave

We love the summer weather these last couple of days. Hot enough to treat ourselves to some purple Taro frozen yogurt from Modeberry. It's a modern self serve frozen yogurt parlor near Mile Square Park. Stylish and Yummy!  

Restless in Venice

The weather in So.Cal has been unpredictable lately and we've been restless. And since we really haven't gone anywhere since SF, we decided to get a bit of fresh air and headed to a little shack in Culver City called Cafe Brasil. Our friends the Garcia's introduced us to this place years ago when they lived in LA. And since then, we've been hooked on their Havana sandwiches, fried bananas and tropical drinks. 

Alex on the patio cuddling with Mommy

We kinda spent a little too much on food, but it was worth every penny. 

After lunch we went to shop at Abbott Kinney, a cool little shopping district in Venice near the Mar Vista neighborhoods.

David stopped by Steven Alan, a New York label with a great eye for quality and simplicity.

We also visited Colcha, which carries one of my favorite home furnishing company - Casamidy.

I love their modern south-of-the-border hacienda aesthetic. A must read is the Casa San Miguel book which features many of Casamidy's collections. 

Soul Plane

This has been all over the internet, so why not this blog too.

The Rapping Flight Attendant:


Is that Dick Cheney at the very end of the video?

Our Easter Ham

We want to wish you all a Blessed Easter.


Alex being silly and talking into the carrot "Hello? Rabbit - somebunny wants to talk to you!"

Date Night in SF

Date night in SF did go off with a hitch. We had hoped to go to Joe DiMaggio's in North Beach, a place we went to over 12 years ago the evening when Princess Diana got in that car accident. We drove by my art school where I spent my Summer in SF back in 1994. I came back to OC because I ran out of money, but met David in May 0f 1995 the rest is history ; )

Academy of Art College - now it's a University.
This location is on New Montgomery, South of Market.

After driving for almost an hour trying to find a restaurant and parking, we ended up at Mels.

I had fresh squeezed orange juice since it was practically breakfast.


David enjoyed a tuna melt at 1:00 am in the morning.


I took a picture of David driving by SF red light district when we were lost. Drove by "Showgirls" and was teasing him saying "Hey - they're open!"

Valdez Family Reunion

Autnie Faith (Valdez) celebrated her 80th Birthday in Daly City. It was so great to see the family.

Here we are at the nursing home where the party was held.

David, Alex, Jasmine, JC and me with our Lola Faith.

Santa Cruz

We had never been to Santa Cruz and always wanted to check out the boardwalk that we've heard so much about. Unfortunately, it was drizzling the morning we arrived, but Alex was able to go on a few rides.

Daddy and Alex fascinated by the big gum ball machine.


Alex on the classic carousel ride.

Alex zooming through the Speedway.

In my rain coat on the beach boardwalk of Santa Cruz.

David and Alex in front entrance of the arcade.

If we had time, we would have gone on this indoor pirate miniture gold course.

Above the golf course was this mural - very Goonies!

Alex giving his Mommy a kiss as seen on the crazy mirror.

Alex is growing up so fast, it's nice to be able to stop time and spend time with him.

Staf and Desh

I work for a corporation that has divisions all over the world. Two years ago, the several of the Visual Managers came together in Vegas for a business conference. One of them was Ladesha from New Zealand. She recently got married, and she and her husband just embarked on an epic 3 month tour of SE Asia, starting in Vietnam. Staf and Desh Travel the World is their blog chronicling said vacation. Read with envy.




post by David

Erin McGuire

Came across Erin McGuire's work on Drawn. Beautiful stuff. I wish I could illustrate even half as well. Here are two of my favorites:



all illustrations via emcguire.net

Her etsy store where you can buy prints of her work.

post by David

De Young Museum w/ Warhol & YSL

Right after we went to the Academy of Sciences, we walked across the plaza to the De Young Museum. There was an Andy Warhol and an Yves Saint Laurent exhibit. The museum was designed by the Swiss architects Herzog and de Meuron. They clad the building in copper, which will develop a green patina over time, like the Statue of Liberty.







Alex ascending a staircase


We stopped for lunch in the cafeteria, which had some cool lollipop lights.


During lunch, we spotted a woman dressed up like a mouse walking around the park with her friends.







Posing next to the exhibit sign with my shopping full of YSL souvenirs