Action packed July 4th weekend in LA

So this time next week I had arrived in LA. And upon arrival I headed to SoHo House with my wedding industry friends Brooke and Rebecca to celebrate Brooke's bday.

At 10pm Brooke told us she was kidnapping us to take us to a secret place for an epic time.

I heard a rumor that she was taking us to The Abbey and asked her, "Are you taking us to the Abbey?"

And she was like, "uh...yes...have you been?"

Which I thought was the stupidest question ever, because pretty much anyone and everyone in LA has been to the Abbey at least once or twice or a hundred times in their life. It's the biggest, most-popular bar in all of West Hollywood and has been for at least twenty years...

So I was like, "uh...duh...YEAH...hasn't everyone?"

And she was like, "oh...well my uncle owns it."

...............so we went to the Abbey with David Cooley's niece. Amazing.

We got to sit at Mr. Cooley's owner's table and had three dedicated gogoboys/servers.

It was epic. Never have I gotten bottles at the Abbey.

And so right when I thought I'd experienced everything West Hollywood had to offer, Brooke's birthday brought it to the next level.

Yay!!!!

Then, for July 4th (Friday). We headed down to Long Beach, where Lady Di (in town from Arizona) had rented a beach house for her birthday weekend.

I never knew there was a fancy part of Long Beach!

Happy Birthday Diana/America!!!!

Don't you just loooove the baby superhero/American flag shirt I found on shirtwoot?

Sunset prettiness!

We DEVOURED that epic cake.

Then on Saturday morning I woke up and drove to Malibu where we started preparations for the beautiful beach wedding I was shooting.

Hair and makeup took place at this epic mansion in the gated hills of Malibu.

And my bride and groom were so sweet!

And at there wedding was a surprise celebrity attendee...Miss Brandi Glanville from the Housewives of Beverly Hills!

Oh I also forgot to mention I did two crazy amazing engagement shoots for two crazy beautiful couples whose weddings I'm shooting later this year.

Wally and Kate, who are getting married in Palm Springs in October...

And Michael and Jamie, who are getting married in South Carolina in December.

After the wedding, I woke up first thing Sunday morning and jumped on an 8am flight to Maui.

More on that later...I'm about to go diving. I'm in Belize!!!

4th of July in Vegas!

After LA I hopped on a 45 minute flight to Vegas to chill and decompress for a few days before heading back to NYC for 9 more straight weekends of weddings.

People ask me all the time if traveling so much is exhausting.

It usually really isn't at all. I get so much more work done when I'm in-transit sitting in an airline lounge or on an airplane than when I'm at home. I just view it as part of my job.

Plus, most people, when they think of travel, think of having to travel ON TOP of working an exhausting 40+ hour workweek at an awful desk job that they hate. And their flights involve massive lines, fighting for overhead space, and being squished into seats next to screaming children.

I've got my routine all set. It takes me 15-30 minutes to pack for a trip (I usually have one suitcase that is already mostly-packed and ready to go.) I drive to the airport and leave my car there. Delta lets me check-in at a kiosk with no wait, then there's a new ultra-fast frequent traveler security line at most major airports where you don't even have to remove your shoes or computer or belt. And then I just chill out at Delta with a bloody mary and a banana muffin watching for celebrity sightings until my flight is ready to board... and I usually get to board ahead of the peasants so that I don't have to fight for overhead space.

So yes. We LOVES to travel!

Anyway, VEGAS!

First stop was the Wicked Spoon Buffet at the Cosmopolitan. We LOVES this place! It's the best buffet and Vegas and they now charge like it too.



After stuffing my face, I checked into my comped room (that they gave me for my troubles last time) at the Aria.

There was a typical check-in snafu where had booked me for the wrong date and for I stood there for 30 minutes waiting for them to get their isht together and finally find my reservation so they felt bad and upgraded me to a corner suite.




The panoramic view was siiiick.



Hi Poor Palms!




I chilled for a few days. Played some poker successfully. Played some blackjack successfully. Got a massage. Played in the pool.

Took in a Cirque show (ZUMANITY) with ErikSorenson. (It was "meh.")

And hit up HASH HOUSE A GOGO where we had some epic corned beef hash.



And a massive heap of Sage Fried Chicken and Waffles.



The waffles....had BACON baked into them.

They were soooo good.



Erik also introduced me to my new favorite casino.

The El Cortez!



The El Cortez is downtown and across from Erik's apartment building. The crowd there is hilarious and ANCIENT. They have $5 blackjack. And the dealers are these little old Asian ladies who constantly misdeal and make mistakes like paying you out when you've busted a hand. (And security doesn't do anything because "security" is probably just a little old man watching a little tv screen.) It's amazing.

Rent and real estate in Vegas is really inexpensive compared to LA or NYC. Erik lives like a king by himself in a massive three-bedroom apartment for just over $2,000 a month. You'd be lucky to find a non-terrifying studio in the East Village for that little.




After some gambling, we went over to his friend's house in the suburbs for a BBQ.




His friend is a gay who was once married to a lady and had children with her so the kids and ex-wife were there and it was all very "Modern Family" and we lit fireworks in the streets and had a great time.







We LOVES downtown Vegas! Happy Birthday America!

'

Next up: AC & Shiri's wedding!

July 4th Fireworks

For 4th of July we went across the bridge to [gasp] NEW JERSEY.

Arj and Sanaz lured us over with the promise of meats and a spectacular city view.



And friend-filled laughter time.




The sunset was unreal. I didn't even color-tweak this.



And the fireworks were unlike any I've ever seen. We had a perfect view of the NYC skyline and the entire river. I couldn't even fit it all in frame.



From our vantage point we could see traffic stopped all over the place to watch the 'works.



Soooo pretty.




Here's a little video I shot so you get an idea of how epic it was.



Happy Birthday America!

July 4th Weekend in LA

I PROMISE I will eventually post pictures from Campus Dance, Goons Wedding, Danny's Bday, etc etc.

There's just so many pictures from those events that it's a lot to process and these quickie posts are less daunting and easier to get up right away.

They will post eventually and soon. Promise promise.

------------------------------------

LA! July 4th!

Crazy that it's been a year since our wonderful 4th of July Retreat at the Gastlers.

I landed and immediately found myself in a rando bar surrounded by wastedfaced Mariokart characters. (It was Mark's dodgeball afterparty that he brought me to.)



Thursday night I met up with SJ and Brian and ZAMEER (in town for a wedding)!

We hit O-bar and Fubar.



Friday night it was off to PopStarz with Will and Lady Di where we resurrected our Rude Boy dance.





Saturday there was brunching and daydrinking at BLD and The Abbey.







Loves the ridiculousness of WeHo.





Saturday night was Adrian's birthday at the Viceroy.



The birthday girl looked smokin'.



And she knew the manager or something and thus managed to secure us a private room library with a patio leading out into the main pool area. Supersexy.




Always nice to see my favorite supermodels.





And oh look! It's a former Mormon!








Loves the Viceroy. LOVES it.



Sunday morning Kristy made Egg Sandwiches and Breakfast Pasta




And we played on her incredible new rooftop.






Played non-stop games of Scrabble I mean. We are superdorks.




From there I bounced with Danny over to OtherDanny's for another pool party.




Narns was there.



We made Bloody Mary's with grunion (green onion) straws.



Delish.




And then it was off into the Hollywood Hills for a superfabulous pool party populated by tons of twinky Disney stars.






The only fault I could find with the setup was that the hamburger buns were way too big.



Gorgeous house.



Incredible view.



Incredible life.




Late night we hit Here Lounge and bumped into people we had just met the other night at Adrian's birfday! So rando!



And ohmigosh. Is that AnnieAli?



Ohhhh! And LA is not complete without celebrity sightings!

Can you spot the "celebrity" in this photo?



Well...it is Brandon Stoughton, the hunk from Britney Spears' Womanizer Video!



YUM.





Speaking of celebrity sightings. I had several photo shoots.

One for Ming-Na.

And another for my former client Michelle during which my other former client Kevin Weisman of Alias fame drove by!




Had some sushi with Euguela.






And then Smileyjohn (and Sally) dropped me off at LAX.



Where I took the redeye back to NYC.



I was so tired and comfortable that I zonked out for the entire flight (LOVE DELTA).

It wasn't until I woke up and was deplaning that I realized I had been sitting next to (across the aisle from) John Legend and his girlfriend Chrissy Teigen the entire time!

And the only reason I noticed him is because SHE was GORGEOUS.




This is what they look like from the front:



Love LA!

Especially when NYC is 107 degrees!