A Year of Gratitude in Pictures

I'm grateful for moments of grandeur in the state of California, when everything is so very big...

...small things from California's farmers market that make me happy on Sundays...

...and the rights and privileges that I've enjoyed in that state - rights that everyone should enjoy, but these days, seems hard to come by.

I'm grateful to have someone who'll share a hammock, a view, and a kiss with me...

...and I'm grateful to be someone else's hammock.

And I'm grateful for family.

I'm grateful for the delicious joys of this year...

...the lost battles of Double Dragon...

...the reunions with old friends from 7th grade...

...and the happiness of even older ones.

I'm grateful for the journeys I didn't know I'd be going on, destination unknown...

...the weird, blood-soaked adventures I ended up embarking upon....

...the victories I had this year...

...and even the misses.

I'm grateful for a home that isn't perfect but is ours...

...where afternoon light glazes everything in spun gold and nostalgia.

Lastly, I'm grateful for the glimpses of beauty and peace this city gives me....

...and the reminder that everything is going to be okay. No, better than okay.

Party on, Garth.

Estate Sale Treasure Hunt

One of the best things about living by Larchmont Village is the gorgeous neighborhood of mansions in Hancock Park. Just about any Sunday of the month, you can drive around and find signs pointing you to an estate sale.

These sales aren't your regular run-of-the-mill yard sales with castoff Ikea furniture and old VHS copies of The Money Pit. Since the hood has been historically ritzy (read: rich people live here), there's plenty of rich people stuff: antiques, collectibles, nice furniture...meaning it's score-central for treasure-hunters like me. I recently wandered into a neighbor's estate sale and found some of these delectable goodies:

This tall Shaker-ish ladder-back antique farm chair:

A chair for Yao Ming

And this cool leather tufted Chesterfield sofa.

This thing looks like a turn-of-the-century torture device...

Rosebud!

I would've loved to take home this gorgeous Chippendale-style bamboo chair and repainted/reupholstered the seat cushion...but I'm outta space!

I would've liked to have done something along the lines of Jonathan Adler...

Speaking of Chinese Chippendale chairs, almost every estate sale I walk into has a ton of Chinoiserie. Dunno what's up with that...except maybe it's a thing that rich old people like. At least it's pretty to look at...

Like this blue and white floor vase (sold in a pair):

...these Asian tchotchkes:

Even these cool Louis XV French armchairs have...yep, you guessed it, little Chinese people embroidered on them.

Of course, one of my fave things about going to an estate sale is getting a peek into the houses of the rich and famous (in LA, it's not impossible)...

Antique iron twin beds for the creepiest of twins

 This weird dog painting is the only thing I regret not buying.

Well, that and this random magazine cover of Hillary Rodham Clinton dressed as a dominatrix. Don't ask.

Overall, lots of good stuff but I left empty-handed. Onto the next!