places to stay that aren't hotels

For those of you who may be traveling, here is a list of places to stay near my house.  I will update this occasionally, so check back.

Vacation Rentals By Owner. These are nice options if you don't want to stay in a hotel.  If a group of you are coming down together, this could be fun to rent a house!  Here are a few options to get you started.  This website is fun to browse, but the neighborhoods that are near our house: Silver Lake, Los Feliz, Echo Park.  Downtown is about 15 minute drive from my house, as is Hollywood, but in the opposite direction.  When I checked, all of these were available the weekend of 30 August, but they book up fast!

1. vrbo.com/163303  Not walking distance, but in nearby Los Feliz.  Nice neighborhood, with lots of shops.
2. vrbo.com/62400  Again, in cute Los Feliz.
3. vrbo.com/174313  Great house in Silver Lake, my neighborhood.
4. vrbo.com/114544  Another cool one in the Silver Lake hills. 
5. vrbo.com/168545  Cute little apartment in Los Feliz.
6. vrbo.com/154434  Cute cottage in Los Feliz/Silver Lake.  
7. vrbo.com/147596  Not sure exactly which neighborhood this is, but says it is close to Silver Lake, cute house.
8. vrbo.com/89520  Cute studio in Silver Lake.
9. vrbo.com/153608  Great looking house in Silver Lake.
10. vrbo.com/126939  Another cool looking house in Silver Lake.
11. vrbo.com/165084  Really cool house in Silver Lake/Echo Park.
12. vrbo.com/196781  Downtown loft.

Bed & Breakfasts:

1. Sanborn House.  This is really close to my house and looks really adorable!
2. Cassie's Cottage.  This looks cute & is nearby as well.
3. Hollywood Pensione.  This is nearby, maybe a 10 minute drive.

garden transformation: {before}

We have began to transform the garden for the wedding.  Here is the "before" photo.  Georgia is my fabulous wedding planner & helping with the garden transformation.  Last week, we went to Sunburst Rock in Baldwin Park and chose some decomposed granite (DG) for the seating area for the wedding.  After the wedding, it will become Patty's dog run.  Georgia also had her handy man, Mario come over.  He painted the laundry room, cleared out the backyard, trimmed the trees and laid the DG on the seating area/dog run.  We ordered 7 square yards and there was a HUGE pile left over.  Thankfully, our neighbors took the rest of it and made some nice paths.  Now, the next step is choosing the plants for the backyard...

wedding date

We have chosen the date for our wedding:  August 30, 2008!  It will be in our lovely backyard!  photo by the lovely and talented romy suskin.