Meet Guiliana.. A true 1 year old princess!

One of the greatest perks of being a parent is that you get invited to so many fun filled functions. BBQ's, birthdays, & play dates start to fill the calendar. These events are just as much fun for adults as it is for the kids. (I'm not sure who has a better time, Josiah or I when we attend)
This weekend my little family was invited to a gorgeous little princess's 1st birthday party at "El Torito" (brunch buffet style feast is amazing). There was face painting, Balloon animals, super heroes and several adorable princess's. When I hear the word "Princess" I automatically think of the Disney princess's such as Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty... Etc. But one look at this birthday girl and there's no surprise of why she's given the title of Princess.

After Breaking the Piñata.. Someone had a sweet tooth! 

Proud parents of Captain America (Lil David) and Princess Giuliana

Her first Birthday cake.

Happy Birthday Giuliana!!! Thanks for the invite.... and may god keep blessing you and your lovely family with many more birthdays to come.   :)

Enjoying life as I would in Havana, Cuba.

O.K. Maybe the title of this blog post is a tad bit exaggerated seeing that I've never been to Cuba. I sometimes wear a cuban hat with a Tommy Bahama button up shirt and thats the closest I get to feeling Cuban until the day I visited a local Culver City Cuban Restaurant by the name of "El Rincon Criollo". Let me tell you a little bit about this hole in the wall I have been driving passed for years and have never been to till a few days ago. But first let me tell you some Random Facts I know about Cubans...
- They can dance (As seen in such films like "Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights", "Dance With Me" And lets not forget those cool moves Ricky Ricardo always showed off at his Club Babalu in I Love Lucy).
- Their Cigars are sooo good that they banded them from being sold in the US.
- Last but not least, I know they have some of the best health care systems as seen on Michael Moore's documentary called "Sicko"

O.K. I might not know too much about the Cuban lifestyle but I do know that "El Rincon Criollo" makes great delightful dishes that leaves you 100% satisfied all while providing an ambiance that all the movies portrayed Cuba to be. Here are photos of Josiah and the cool vintage car they have parked in front of their place. My wife, my son and I had a great feast and will definitely visit again soon.

The Man Cave.. (My little home away from home)

Every other Friday after a long days hard work, I look forward to one thing! Getting a hair cut. Not because I can't go another week without one... Or because I look ridiculous with long hair (Maybe I would look good with the "Fabio" look)... But because I'm in love with the experience my BarberShop offers me. I know everyone's seen a movie or t.v. Show where there's a barber shop involved, and everyones either talking about sports, rumors, life, etc... and just having a blast! Well, Pacific Barbers is a place where you'll get all that plus more! It's actually my only little getaway spot where I am greeted with a brewsky, I get to converse with old high school buddies, and I get the best hair cuts money could buy. Located in the heart of Santa Monica (Wilshire and 5th st) you can breath in that fresh beach air as soon as you put your car on Park and step outside. First thing you'll notice as you enter their door is the vintage yet modern look and feel of the place and the oldies but goodies playing in the background. Adrian and Art (business partners/Barbers) do a great job of making you feel welcomed wether it be your 1st or hundredth time entering the shop.
On our previous visit Josiah sat through his first hair cut without sitting on my lap and without crying. As Adrian put that booster seat on the barber chair and Josiah climbed up right after, I knew my little boy wasn't a baby anymore... (almost made me shed a happy tear :-)
On this last visit I decided to bring my camera along and snap a couple of pictures to share. Here's my version of the shop as seen through my lens... Enjoy

Josiahs first hair cut without sitting on daddy's lap 

I got the best model in the whole wide world!

This little man has stolen my heart since the day I cut his umbilical cord. It really isn't hard to see how joyful this boy is in pictures... but you should see him in real life! The Terrible Twos are difficult at times... but nothing compares to when you share a good laugh with your little pride and joy.

2012 Santa Monica High School Grad Portraits at PAL (Police ActivitiesLeague)

I just received my invite to attend my 10 year High School reunion. So you know what that means.... It's time to get on a diet!
When I was in High School I used to always attend PAL after school and enjoy the tons of activities they had to offer. I remember racking up all the balls at the pool table and learning how to perfect my "8 Ball, Corner Pocket" finally to try to impress the cool kids... The Several mile long marathons we used to train for running down the streets of Santa Monica, and let's not forget to mention free movie premiers, Ice Skating, and field trips to theme parks we always did on a weekly basis.
This place holds a really special place in my heart! It kept me out of a whole lot of trouble in my rebellious teenage years.... I always wanted to pay them back some way, some how. Well, what better way than to revisit and capture the smiles of the current "Rebellious Teenagers" that are there now (J/K on the Rebellious part... or not :)
Thanks to Don Condon who's been super awesome through out all these years, we set up a Time & Date to capture today's youth the day before their big graduation day. It was the first time they had unpacked their caps and gowns and were feeling the enthusiasm of THE BIG DAY just around the corner.
Here are a few pictures I captured... Enjoy!

Culver City High Graduate! (My wife Martha Gratuated from Culver High so had to give them a shout out too)

10 years Later and still feeling young... Shout out to the CLASS OF 2002 and everyone who graduated High School.

Remeber kids.... Be Cool & Stay in School!

(Is that still a cool thing to say to kids these days? Eeek... Stay Swag)

Inspiration! Where do you get it from?

As A kid I always believed in maybe one day becoming a super hero just like Superman or Spiderman. At 7 years old I remember taking aluminum foil and sticking it inside the toaster to do an experiment on what would happen. Well I got electrocuted! Didn't give me electrical super powers like I expected it to. Did give me a little spanking from mommy for ruining her brand new "General Electric" bread warmer.

Now that I have a little family of my own I could only try my best to show my son the good from the bad. 

I made a huge mistake and taught him the word "FIGHT" a couple weeks ago.

We love to wrestle and drive mommy insane but I never expected to be awakened by my son screaming "FIGHT" at 6:30am this sunday morning and swinging away at my head. 

I had tons of images to edit saturday night and went to bed pretty late... So waking up by tiny knuckles wasn't in the agenda but So what... It was Time To FIGHT! lol 

It's amazing how one simple glance at my sons dimples can brighten up my day no matter how dull or cloudy it may be. 

To all the readers out there... If we have not had the honor of meeting each other,  I could honestly say that I'm just a simple man, who is living a simple life, Just having the time of my life, Loving the "JOY" of my life (who you probably already guessed is my son), & Loving the "LOVE" of my life witch is my very supportive wife. 

TWO OF MY BIGGEST INSPIRATIONS OF ALL TIME!

Wrapped up in one. 

When I grow up I want to be a famous Photographer... 

I got my 2 inspirations to provide me the fuel to get to my destination...

So now it's time to take it to the next level.

Thanks for joining me on this little ride down memory lane and if you want to share where you get your inspiration from please feel free to write on the comments section of this blog.