Nearly a 6 month hiatus with me completely MIA… and, oh what an emotional rollercoaster these past few months have been for me. To break it down and not go into too much unnecessary detail…

My father was diagnosed with cancer in September. Specifically, a gastrointestinal tumor found in his small intestine. A very rare cancer that is usually caught too late and which had already spread to his liver. As you can imagine, this was quite a shock for our family and has been especially hard for me. My dad decided to move back to LA and get medical care at UCLA medical center which I think was a very wise decision. He’s also moved back to his home which is where me and my husband currently live. Some days are good and other days are not so great with his health. But mostly his state of mind has been affected as he is often sad, depressed and expresses much self-pity.

websites as graphs

For years I’ve been saying to friends why is it that we don’t have an H&M here in Los Angeles. I’ve been a fan of the stylish and very affordable Swedish based clothing retailer for many years. And now, FINALLY, I don’t have to wait for a trip to Europe or New York to get my H&M fix. Driving on La Cienega last night, I noticed a huge billboard outside the Beverly Center with Madonna and the H&M logo with the tagline “Coming to Beverly Center Fall 2006″. I nearly jumped out of my seat. I found out there will be one opening in Pasadena as well. Oh yeah…I’m ecstatic!

As I mentioned in a previous post about our day trip to Costa del Sol, a beautiful beach in El Salvador, here are some of the polaroids I took that day.

As much of a great time we had these last 3 weeks in El Salvador, it feels good to be back in Los Angeles and to our home in Santa Monica. Driving around town today made me realize that I missed my neighborhood and how much I love living here. Coming back to high-speed internet is especially wonderful…wow what a huge difference this is! Lars and I celebrated our return by dining at our favorite local sushi spot, Ninjin. BEST FREAKIN SUSHI in town!!!

Justin Wood is a highly talented artist in Los Angeles and his illustrations are out of this world. His main influences are music, clean air and dirt, tales of technological discord and antique photographs. Enjoy his work.

Our last day in El Salvdor, bags are packed and we are leaving in a couple hours to the airport. These last three weeks were everything I expected and more. I’m really happy that my father and I have become so close and this was a great opportunity for my husband and him to bond. I may actually be coming back here in a couple of months…we shall see.

Oh, I had a pedicure today and it was the strangest pedicure I’ve ever had in my life. My father gets his feet done there and likes it. But, it was completely different than any pedicure performed in the US. They were using tools and machinery that looked like torture devices and instead of using acetone to remove my nail polish, they used some buffing machine. So weird. Fortunately the place was sanitary, but I definitely would not come back nor recommend this to anyone. Oh..and they don’t use nail polish.

I took a bunch of photos from our trip that I will upload when I’m back in LA. Here are a few from the farmer’s market.

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