Tag: lisa and alex

5 things I learned from my first Fall on the East Coast

I just got back from a trip to the East Coast during a time that is called “Fall.” I’ve always heard good things about Fall — it’s beautiful, the leaves of trees change colors, the air is crisp, it’s cold-but-not-too-cold. Sounded lovely. I enjoy a typical Fall color palate of burnt oranges, mahogany reds, and mustard yellows. I have partaken of an apple cider or two during the Fall months. And I even knew that acorns were somehow associated with it. But OMG I was not prepared for how fucking Fall Fall can be.

Here are the five things that New York, Boston, and Maine taught me about Fall…

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“One way ticket to NICELAND, please”

Guess what, guys. I’m going to fucking Iceland!!!

The timing couldn’t be better. The same week that I learned I lost my dream home and my husband, I got an email from my friends Alex and Lisa (the ones traveling the world getting married) asking:

“Fancy a slinky 7-8 day press trip in Iceland for 8 days? Hanging out with us guys, dog sledding, ice climbing, Viking shit etc. etc.”

There was only one answer: FUCK YES, VIKING SHIT!

So on May 1st, I head to Iceland, and, to be honest, I’m not exactly sure when I’m coming back yet. You see, The Brits (that’s what we call Lisa and Alex) have invited me to come back to England with them for a week. Of course I said yes. Now it’s my turn to culture clash my way into their world, amidst family members and friends I feel like I already know through their stories.

Then I thought, hmmmm…

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Wine-ing, Vine-ing, and dining with the Brits

My first fondue dinner, made by @2people1life. Fuck. Yeah. Delicious.

The thing about Lisa and Alexmy British friends who are traveling the world getting married — is that you never know when they’re going to pop in for a visit. This time they were heading from Tahiti back to Paris and, oh would you look at that, Los Angeles is between the two!

So we got to spend a short-but-sweet weekend together with the Brits. I had high hopes for a hiking around Lake Hollywood, a picnic in the park, and introducing them to Cinco de Mayo. But since they had a last minute flight delay, we had very limited time. And who was I kidding anyway?

We did what we normally do:

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Lots of sharktastic fun at the 5th annual Shark Attackiversary

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Another year has gone by and Aaron has managed to not get himself bitten by a shark! Oh yes, and he also survived that exact thing five years ago on October 29th. In honor of that, ever since the one year anniversary, we invite our friends over, drink shark-themed beers, and chow down on red velvet cupcakes to celebrate Aaron still being alive.

Speaking of the cupcakes, how cute are those cupcake wrappers that I found!? They’re totally made for Halloween, but they were too perfect not to purchase for a shark attack party.

Now click through to see party photos and a couple shark-themed party accessories and surprises…

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Things. Are. Happening!

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Since my days of private journaling I’ve had the habit of writing less when the most was going on in my life. I don’t know why that is. You’d think I’d be thrilled to write about all the things that are happening, as I finally had interesting shit to say. My theory is that, much like when Mark Twain was in Maui and expressed that he found it all just too beautiful to waste time writing about it, I just want to spend my time enjoying the moments as they are instead of worrying about how to recount the event.

That all being said… THINGS. ARE. HAPPENING! in my life. In a short amount of time I was:

Phew, that’s feels good to finally get off my to-do list. Originally ALL those things were going to be individual blog posts. But seeing as how, as I write this, I’m also having an IM conversation with Ariel about how there’s too much on my plate at the moment. It’s no surprise that my personal blog (and achievements) are getting swept aside. Things have definitely calmed down now… just in time for holiday madness to start!

Holidaaaay maaaaaadnessssssss…

How being a bridesmaid in a wedding for two total strangers renewed my faith in humanity

My friends’ story has gone viral this week, as it should, because it’s an AWESOME story full of travel and love and two sweet people. But, of course, that also means that there has been some negativity. So to counter that negative energy, here’s the blog post I wrote about them that never got published. Now’s a good a time as any, right?

Lisa and Alex with Coco and me, their last-minute vampire bridesmaids. Photo by Bwright Photo

For a couple of weeks in October, my world was a whirlwind of wedding planning — emailing photographers, searching for venues, finding the perfect outfits, last-minute fittings, picking out the right shoes and accessories, figuring out transportation… you know, the usual wedding-time scramblings. I certainly wasn’t doing all this for MY wedding, nor was I busting my ass for one of my close friends, or even a photography client. I was doing it all for two total strangers.

Lisa Gant and Alex Pelling sold almost all their wordly goods and quite their jobs in Manchester, England to travel around the world for a couple of years, and getting married in every country. So far Lisa and Alex have been married in the UK, in Canada, in Hawaii, even in an airport, and are currently winding their way back to the US from South America. And all along the way they’ve been getting help from total strangers and friends alike.

But it’s really the way in which these weddings are being pulled off that is so incredible and — I mean this in a rare-for-me moment of total emotional sincerity — wonderfully life-affirming!

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Now we’re cooking

The food prep

I’m between lunch and dinner on day one of my Offbeat Home Cooking Challenge and I’m already exhausted. Between making food, writing about my experiences, and begging asking for help over the SMALLEST things, I have to squeeze in Offbeat Bride work, and, since it’s the weekend, I’m also spending time with Aaron and friends whom I never get to see.

Still, this is kind of one of the most exciting things I’ve been involved in. And I’ve been super touched by the outpouring of people who’ve gone out of their way to help. From Alex who went on a two hour shopping trip with me, to my mom who video chatted me through slicing an apple, and Ari who not only gave me farm fresh eggs, but showed me how to chop them. Thank you thank you thank you ALL of you.

If you want to keep updated on my trials and tribulations OR if you want to cook along with me, keep checking in with Offbeat Home. You can also follow me on Twitter to get real time updates.

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