Champagne wishes and RPV dreams

Last Friday Andrew and I headed south to Rancho Palos Verdes for a weekend-long wedding bonanza for his friends Brian and Erica. He was in the wedding, so thanks to Erica's very generous parents, we got to stay at the Terranea for two nights. Holy high rolling! 

Brian and Erica

I have always been fascinated by the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Sandwiched between Torrance and Long Beach, the area always struck me as a diamond in the rough that is Los Angeles.  It's easy to forget you're in the smoggiest city west of the Mississippi when you're surrounded by wild peacocks, open space and a rugged, beautiful coastline.

Mary Donovan

I read a little bit about the history of PV before we left and my imagination got all fired up!

The Palos Verdes Yacht Club (not sure if it ever actually existed, but it looks great)

I read that Myrna Loy and Ethel Barrymore used to attend lavish parties at Villa Narcissa, which still belongs to the Vanderlip Family, the original developers of the area. Old school Los Angeles Glamour! Oh the magic I would find in Palos Verdes!

Villa Narcissa,  Courtesy of Palos Verdes Peninsula Library District

Myrna Loy!

 The wedding attire was formal,  so naturally I had a neurotic crisis about what to wear. In looking for inspiration, I started thinking about Myrna and other movie stars of the 1920's and 30's.

I was thinking Great Gatsby! 

And the Roaring 20's!

I also had an at-home-coloring fiasco last week and I have black hair now. I thought I'd make hair-lemonade and work with it.

 How cute is Nancy Carroll?!

I watched numerous tutorials on YouTube trying to learn how to do a "finger wave". I was obsessed! I borrowed a curling iron! I bought bobby-pins! I had great big dreams. 

But my inherent laziness  won out, and I pulled a total cheater maneuver and just stuck a bunch of bobby-pins in there. I may have curled two strands, so all the room that the curling iron used up in my suitcase wasn't a total loss.

And lucky for me, a girl can't look bad when she's got a hunky man in a tuxedo on her arm:

Andrew's Mom loaned me the strand of pearls at the last second. Good call, Marion.

Of course, Erica looked stunningly beautiful.

Although I prefer this look on her.

There was an 80's cover band!

So of course this happened.

Looking deeply into Andy Dick's eyes...

Nicole is such a fashion maven. She matched her glasses with her beautiful dress. Hawt!

Love was all around us that night. Jarrod and Katy were really feeling it.

True Love!

See? It's true. E+B = heart.

Thanks Erica and Brian for a fantastic weekend. I wish you all the happiness in the world and a long, wonderful life together!