dia de los muertos: Hollywood Forever

Day of the Dead

My absolute favorite festival here in Los Angeles, Dia de Los Muertos 2012 at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. 

Musicians, coffee, whiskey and Handsome boys

Last week was another fun week. Forgive me, these photos are not my best work! :) I either used my iPhone or I was too far away. But since this blog is really just a journal, it was nice to be able to document everything somehow. :)

An evening with David Byrne and Trent Reznor in Little Tokyo...

even though we had tickets, we waited in the longest line to get in!

String Theory performed as well.

But before the talk we had yummy bowls of noodles at Daikokuya...

sweets from Fugetsu-Do Confectioners...

and a cup of Pinkberry to wash everything down...

Little Tokyo is a pretty cool place to hang out for a night too...

Then there were the Handsome guys... 

Unique LA hosted a coffee & whiskey tasting event. It was held at Handsome Coffee Roasters in downtown's Arts District. And the whiskey tasting was provided by New York's Hudson Whiskey.

I so wish I had brought my camera instead of relying on my iPhone to document the night. The event was so nicely done, Sonja did such an amazing job. But I figured my camera was not safe in my hands if whiskey was to be involved. I can not hold my liquor! ;)

the 2010 World Barista Champion!!! How cool is that?!

the whiskey was out back in the prettiest parking lot in downtown LA that night, for sure! 

S'mores from Gotta Have S'mores {which after tasting one, yes please, I DO want some more!!}

Everyone also left with goodies... a bag of Handmade & Damn Handsome Coffee, Hudson whiskey glasses, and a cute tote bag.

and a bonus for us!  they had a trivia contest and my man won a Hudson Whiskey shirt for me! woo! :D

I am so glad we went to both of these events. It was really nice to listen to such inspired people and to learn what makes them tick, what they daydream about and how they make it all come together. Makes me want to work even harder at being an artist and reminds me to never give up on my dreams as well.

smitten with L.A.: a fun week Oct 7-13

Last week was a lot of fun. A tea ceremony, an opera, seeing my cello teacher perform with a chamber orchestra, successful dog training, rain, and shopping! Although I missed a few things that would've made it an incredible week, such as Cig Harvey at Julia Dean's and seeing Endeavour roam the streets of Los Angeles. Although we did get to see it's final flight the other week. It flew right over our house! So that counts. Anyways, Los Angeles has so many things to do you can never be bored.

{ A mix of iPhone & regular camera photos. :)}

A tea ceremony at the Huntington Library & Botanical Gardens in San Marino. 

Plus my pics were on Modern Family, always makes me smile to see them. :D

And our first time seeing an opera:  LA Opera's Don Giovanni.  We took LA Weekly's recommendation to eat at Tina Tacos before the show. Super cheap and super delicious. And the nicest view too. :)

And I was so excited to see my cello teacher play. He is amazing! :)