August 06, 2015

STRANDS BEACH IN DANA POINT

August 06, 2015/ MARLAN

I had forgotten that Strands Beach in Dana Point (also known as The Strand, Salt Creek Beach Park and Strand Vista Park) is one of my favorite places in the world, until Mila and I visited last weekend. It's a bit of work to get down to the beach, but wow, is it worth it. This is the beach my dreams are made of.

The waves are big but there's lots of shallow water for the kids to sit and play in before that point.

Beautiful path along the beach.

Looking out at the ocean from Strand Vista Park, the funicular on the left and stairs on the right, both lead down to the beach.

After leaving this glorious place, we ended the day with dinner at Gulfstream and dessert at Sprinkles Ice Cream. Perfect summer day!

July 06, 2015

IT'S ICE CREAM SEASON: SPRINKLES ICE CREAM

July 06, 2015/ Laurén

Next up on our ice cream must list - Sprinkles. Our favorite cupcake-maker has expanded to take on another beloved American classic and as always, they are doing it well. With several California locations and more Nationwide, you can now get your summer sugar fix fairly easily. We recently stopped by their Orange County location to scoop up.

Why we love Sprinkles Ice Cream: They use organic California dairy and slow churn their ice cream for a more densely flavorful and creamier ice cream. And it's also just plain old fun in there.

Festive cones for July 4th week and endless toppings to choose from.

Fresh cupcakes and cookies are on display for any and all ice cream sundae needs.

A gluten-free cupcake sundae. GENIUS.

Daddy, Mommy and Baby Servings. Yes, mine is the biggest.

B's first official scoop of ice cream went down without a hitch. Like mother, like son. xx

June 30, 2015

MODERN QUEEN KIDS LAUNCH PARTY

June 30, 2015/ MARLAN

If I were to dream up a magical launch party for a kids' line, this would be it. Hilary Rosinkranz and Stacy Rosen, founders of MODERN QUEEN kids, really outdid themselves on this one -- the perfect celebration for their new luxury accessory brand.

The party was a mini queen's fantasy filled with dreamy portraits, glittering makeup, custom hair braids, tattoo jewelry art, cotton candy, macarons, cupcakes, cookies and donuts.

Bon Puf spinning fruity flavors that were then topped with edible stars, hearts, flowers and butterflies, atop gold glitter cones.

Queen prep underway.

The line includes a stunning collection of fanciful jewelry, sparkling adventure sticks, crowns and warrior bands.

Launch Party for MODERN QUEEN kids

Venue: Ron Robinson Flagship Store in Santa Monica

MODERN QUEEN Event Portraits: Rebecca Farmer Photography

Event Photography: Rebecca Farmer Photography and Krissy Millar

Capelets, capes and tutus for MODERN QUEEN portraits: Tutu Du Monde

Macarons: 'Lette Macarons (gold dusted with gold painted stars)

Cotton Candy Cart: Bon Puf

Custom Cookies: Modern Bite

Donuts: Best Donuts

Cupcakes: Sprinkles Cupcakes with custom MODERN QUEEN kids logo toppers, stars and hearts

MODERN QUEEN kids Gold Glittered Signs: Blessed Blondies on Etsy

Gold/Pink Glitter Star Picks: Catch Some Rae's on Etsy

Pink Paper Straws: Kikkerland

Gold Glitter Straw Toppers: Sandy Lynn B Scrapping

Florals for Photo Wall: Floral Art

Balloon Wands and Star Crowns: Party gift to guests from MODERN QUEEN kids

May 14, 2015

HANNAH'S BANANAS

May 14, 2015/ Laurén

We have been seeing Hannah's Bananas everywhere and we were dying to try these treats taking the event world by storm! Thanks to our 1-year-old BFF, Ruby, we were able to dig in and have these super cute frozen bananas at her birthday party last weekend.

Hannah, who started her company as a high school project, 10 years ago, offers a variety of packages and banana sizes for all of your party needs. And she was the sweetest person. Her website says that her 1st grade dream was to be "ice cream (wo)man." Love it.