Birthday Celebrations !

This post is really long overdue.  Back in February when it was PC's birthday weekend, we headed to El Matador Beach as the weather was particularly nice.  On the actual day of his birthday, the weather wasn't so great so we spent the afternoon having coffee and cupcakes at Akasha. They do the best cupcakes that I've tasted in LA and have lots of flavours to choose from.  They also do smaller sized ones so that you can sample a few without feeling too sick afterwards.  On this particular visit, I had a carrot cupcake and PC had a peanut butter chocolate cupcake (his favourite).  Since visiting Broome St General Store I have been in love with properly made cappuccino coffee.  I usually opt for a quick hit of espresso but when it's afternoon cakes a long cappuccino is the perfect accompaniment.  

See below for more about what we did in the evening

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El Matador Beach, Malibu

When I came to LA in February last year to visit PC for his birthday, we took a drive up the coast to El Matador Beach in Malibu.  This year, we decided to do the drive again and therefore make it an annual birthday tradition.  With us being in the peak of the winter season, the weather is usually pretty chilly (as far as 'chilly' goes in LA), but the weekend before his birthday saw a rise in temperature up to 80 degrees (the girl from rainy England is not going to complain about that!).  We bought some mortadella sandwiches and some chocolates from Sorrento Italian Market in Culver City and took along my newest obsession:  my Big Ben Lego.  I had the idea to photograph the lego in the sand by the sea, as a polar opposite location to where it resides in real life (see pictured below). 

The chocolates we got were Baci, also known as 'Italian kisses'. My friend Helen introduced me to them a few years ago when she lived in Perugia (which is where they are exclusively produced). They are supposed to be given to people to say "I love you", but I've never given them away and probably never will do because 'I. love. them!' 

As quoted on their website: 
Say “I Love You” the Italian Way! The world famous Bacio was created in 1922 and, according to legend, introduced on Valentine's Day. Nearly 100 years later, the Bacio tradition is unchanged: A heart of gianduia (a luscious blend of milk chocolate and ground hazelnuts), is dotted with chopped hazelnuts, crowned with a whole hazelnut, enveloped in silky dark chocolate, and hugged with a love note.  

I'm a sucker for anything that comes with a quote or a little note (like the jokes in a Christmas cracker), so I love reading the 'love notes' that are wrapped up in the foil packaging.  If you have never tried them PLEASE track them down because they are a dream to eat and now also available in white chocolate! 

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30th Birthday Poster

The boy turned 30 on Tuesday!  So as a homage to him I created a very silly poster to put up on his Facebook page.  He has this obsession with pulling funny faces, especially showing his teeth (or 'teef' as we call it), so I just had to use this as ammo.  When I started out the project I was concerned that I wouldn't have enough photographs to use.  I mean, how many 'teef' photos can there actually be in the world??  A lot in fact!  The ones shown below are the the best, (ahem...most ridiculous looking) of the bunch. Enjoy...  

Of course our dogs had to feature somewhere.  So I took what is a well known photograph (amongst family and friends) of Mr Bubba and Mr Theo and made them into 'birthday celebration dogs'.  A little extra fun for the day.

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