i like pie.

For thanksgiving I made Mark's favorite pie - a chocolate/pecan/bourbon pie from Melanie's recipe. (Melanie is Mark's mom, my future mother-in-law!)

I hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving! Love, J

giving thanks

I have a lot to be thankful for this season. I'm engaged to my best friend, and I am excited to see what the future brings. I am freelancing and scraping by, and I'm thankful that my writing is paying the bills. I'm thankful for friends and family that love me and are part of my life even though I'm far away. I'm thankful for the ability to make friends here. I'm thankful that Mark and I have somewhere to go tomorrow to eat and drink and be merry.

Tomorrow we are going to Emily and Charlie's house for a Thanksgiving feast. We spent the 4th of July with them when they lived a mile away. Now they have moved to a different area of LA, so I'm excited to catch up with them, pet Walter (their unbearably cute pug), and enjoy a delicious meal. Pictures to come!

I am thinking of all of you during the holidays. I can't wait to see you all in December!


Love,
J

bling!

So it's happened! Mark and I are engaged. We've been talking about getting engaged for a few weeks, talking about practical things like expectations, etc. (Mark had asked me one night, and I thought I ruined it with my talking.) So we let the talk simmer, and then last night he gave me a ring made out of yarn to put on my finger. Then he asked me if I wanted to pick out a ring soon. And OF COURSE I said I did, and I started "geeking out", if you will.

Mark was looking at rings online and didn't know my ring size, so we just decided to look at rings together today. After my finger was sized we looked around the shop, and I started piecing together a ring. We walked home to "think about it", and once I got in the apartment I knew what I wanted. So we walked back to the shop to order it.

So the ring in the left photo is the correct setting of the ring we ordered. The middle stone is also the same shape/size as the one I will have. The ring on the right has a violet amethyst in the center. My ring will have the same color/type stone in as the one in the picture on the right and the same setting/size as the one on the left. PHEW. (Sorry if that's confusing!)

Thank you everyone for your well-wishes. Not many (any?) plans have been made so far, we are just enjoying each other! We are very excited (and tired)! More details as they come; love to all! :)

J

new friends

So I've finally been bored enough to want to get out there and meet new friends! Yay!

My friend Michelle (who lives in Miami) has a sister named Kat. Kat is an actress living and working in LA. Kat recently invited me to her book club meeting. We met on Sunday at another girl's apartment, which happens to be within walking distance of my place. (You guys know how much I love places within walking distance!) Chelsea then invited me to go art gallery-hopping with her tomorrow. She's an artist and is looking for places to show her work.

I also joined a Ladies Meetup group (from Meetup.com), and I went to a happy hour with them at a nearby bar on Tuesday. I could walk, the place was cute and the ladies are really nice and fun. I will definitely go back to the next meetup!

Another exciting tidbit of info: Mark bought a brand-spanking-new computer, which means that I've inherited his MacBook Pro. It has a 17 inch screen, it has PhotoShop (YEAH!), and it is so sleek and pretty. :)

More to come! Miss you all lots.

j

Michael and Melanie in Santa Monica

Mark's parents came to visit us this past weekend. On Saturday we went to the Getty Museum, which has incredible views and a vast collection of art. Unfortunately I left my camera in the car, but next time I go I will take pictures. The architecture is equally as impressive as the art, and we all had a great time! Here's the Freemans at lunch at The Shack near our apartment.

On Sunday we went to Will Rogers Park, where we had taken Maggie and Emily on their visit. The experience was completely different. As you can see, Sunday was a clear, sunny day and we could see for miles and miles! When we took Maggie, it was foggy and misty, but still quite magical in its own way.

Thanks for visiting Michael and Melanie! We had lots of fun. Can't wait to dance on the pool this New Years Eve. Maybe Mark and I will start practicing our dance moves...