We have been spending lots of time with our wonderful friends. We've gone to visit, we've had visits, and we are loving every single minute!
I drove down to L.A. to spend the day with one of my dearest childhood friends, Theresa. Theresa is so creative (the puppy themed party, the Trike-A-Thon…all Theresa) and I'm always telling her that she really needs to start a blog. (Do you hear me T, you NEED a blog!) I loved getting to see all of her incredible home renovations and decorating ideas and then I got to see her latest and most genius idea — baby Ethan — her newborn son. Oh to snuggle a newborn is just heaven. And big brother Isaac didn't want to miss any snuggles, so I got to get loves from him, too. It was an awesome day — snuggles, chatting, and lots of love. Gwendolyn stayed home with Daddy and I had to be quiet about what I spent the day doing because she would be so jealous that she didn't get to babysit and snuggle Ethan, too! Can't wait for her to meet him soon!!!
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Last weekend the amazing Lauren Lundy O'Connor (aka SMA Getter aka Team Run For Owen founder and captain) flew in from New York. We were so, so excited and, YES, she is really THAT AWESOME in person!! And this time we had the extra treat to also get to spend time with her hubby, Liam, and dad, Papa Lundy. Gwendolyn was so excited when they arrived. She wanted to show them her big girl room and her big horse, Sunshine. The weather was gorgeous that day and so we took a walk from our house down to the beach, stopping at different sites along the way. We got the perfect table at a restaurant on the pier and spent the afternoon having lunch, watching the ocean, enjoying the sunshine and chatting the day away. And on our way home we stopped at the Giessenger Winery tasting room downtown. We've never been there and it was really fun to try a new place with Lauren and her awesome family. After some cupcakes from Crushcakes and a dance party, it was sadly time to say goodbye. We can't wait for the Team Run For Owen gang to visit again soon.
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A few days later our friends, Nick and Aubrey, came to stay with us for a few days. Nick and Bill were roommates at USC and along with their other best friend, Matt, were all in the accounting school at USC together. (Oh the trouble (and laughs) accounting students can get into!) You may remember we went to Nick's stunning wedding two years ago (huge day for us and an absolutely gorgeous event that Aubrey completely planned and designed. And she DOES have a blog — well her business Atlas & Campbell has a blog — and I drool just looking at their incredible design and letterpress work!). I digress. We had a blast having them stay with us. They live in NYC now and we miss them a ton! It rained off and on, but on a warm sunny day we drove out to the wine country and took them to our favorite place, Demetria Estate Winery. We also got to try a wine/cupcake tasting at Saarloos & Sons in Los Olivos (Let me just say, brilliant concept and Enjoy Cupcakes are deelish!). We loved having Nick and Aubrey here. We ate constantly. We stayed up late talking. We laughed. We reminisced. And Gwendolyn was in absolute H.E.A.V.E.N. She loved the attention and she loved cuddling with their incredibly adorable dog, Rufus. And because Rufus is the best dog on the planet — THE BEST — he has made us feel like a Gwendolyn puppy plan may be hatching…but we will have to see. We all had so much fun and we soooo didn't want them to leave and neither did Gwendolyn. We had to promise to put a picture of Rufus on her bulletin board 
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And then this weekend I got to get dressed up in my never-get-to-wear red shoes to celebrate Marina's birthday (she's the creative mastermind behind the Yummy Mummy blog and I basically want to eat everything she makes, writes about, or photographs). We spent the afternoon at the Four Seasons Biltmore enjoying their famed Regal Afternoon Tea. This was so fun and something I've never done. We laughed the day away, watched as the sun set over the ocean, and then ditched the lady-like tea and moved the party to Marquee for martinis. A few of us less sensible girls kept the party going and hopped from spot to spot and my red shoes woke up thinking we'd been to Vegas all over again .
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We have amazing friends — both new and old — and we know it. They are incredible people — period — but given SMA and how it has changed everything in our lives, we know we are so very fortunate to be surrounded by people who encourage us, support us, allow us to cry, make us laugh, rally and cheer Gwendolyn on, and have been by our side every step of the way. We love them and they make our life richer and more full.