Puttin it down for Californ-i-a

Throw it up y'all, throw it up, Throw it up
Let's show these fools
how we do this on that west side
Cause you and I know it's tha best side

Tupac, I'm not as you undoubtedly already know. So my pictures of LA are a little tamer than what the above song lyrics might suggest, but I couldn't resist a little throw back to California Love--especially since the band at Sara's wedding did a rather odd cover of it at the reception. Anyway, please enjoy these debauchery-lacking pictures that I do have to offer.

This is the hotel that we stayed at in Beverly Hills. The top picture is the plaque that is by the entrance on the side facing Rodeo Drive. The other one is by the gate where you drive up. We had a rental car, so we always used entrance B as opposed to entrance A. Better for our financial stability if I stay off of Rodeo Drive especially because California has a ridiculously high sales tax. Not that I let that stop me from shopping completely or anything; I am still a woman after all.

Friday night was the rehearsal dinner at a little place on Olvera Street. " Olvera Street is the birthplace of the City of Los Angeles, otherwise known as El Pueblo Historic Monument. The colorful village features 27 historic buildings with a traditional Mexican style plaza area." I obtained that little blurb from this site in case you're interested in learning more. I want you to know that the two photos below were taken after the consumption of a few glasses of sangria. This will be as scandalous as the trip gets.

There are a couple of girls I know that are going to be very jealous that I was at Rory Gilmore's alma mater of Chilton...

Andy was at Greystone Mansion too, but he found the large koi to be more exciting than reliving Rory's high school years. You can read more about Greystone here.

The fam standing outside of the Natural History Museum before the wedding ceremony. Don't we look spiffy? Too bad you can't see my sexy Jessica Simpson 3 inch black heels, but if you look real closely, you might see the slight grimace on my face from the pain that those damn shoes were causing.

Dum, dum da dum. Beautiful, smiling bride.

This is why you don't leave your husband in charge of the camera at a wedding.

But I think he made amends with this one.

After the ceremony, we headed inside the museum for cocktails and the reception. Ramin is Persian, so the wedding had Mediterranean food and cultural touches that celebrated that ancestry. So, imagine a combination Jewish/Persian reception set in a museum with moose and caribou staring at you from behind their glass enclosures. It was definitely the most unique wedding I've ever attended. I'm so happy that we got to share in what must have been the happiest day for Sara and Ramin-and not just because it was an excuse to spend a day driving up Pacific Coast Highway either.


Run! you silly girl, there's an elephant behind you! Oh wait, you can't run because right now your fancy stilettos are cutting off all circulation to your toes. Well, at the very least you should try to limp on out of its way or something.

And, there you have it--one weekend of sun and love all wrapped up in 11 half decent photographs. Now I'm just going to need you all to:

Shake it shake it baby
Shake it shake it baby
Shake it shake it mama
Shake it Cali
Shake it shake it baby
Shake it shake it shake it shake it...