ALONG COMES MARY

Sometimes, believe it or not, I have moments of wondering, why do I blog? Is anyone out there? What am I getting out of this little web-site? Then, a Saturday breakfast simply answers all of my doubts & questions. Afew weeks ago, hilarious blogger AJ from Confessions of a Fat Girl mentioned that EventbriteLA would be hosting #BloggersAndBellinis, a fun champagne brunch just for bloggers at 41 Ocean, a cozy little cafe right by the beach in Santa Monica.

Upon arrival, I knew I was in great company, while I got to see many familiar faces from The SoCal Lady Bloggers, I was assigned at a table with bloggers I had not yet met & had such a wonderful chat with everyone, especially Mac, Steve, Wendy & Shaun. (Mac is one of those people who instantly makes you feel like you’ve known each other forever, keep a lookout for his new blog coming soon & hopefully I will soon have a report of an amazing restaurant he clued me in to!)

For a ticket price of just $10, we were treated to a very hearty meal (Your choice of pancakes, french toast or an heirloom tomato & cheese omelet—we all know what I chose!) along with sides (Chicken sausage, bacon, salad, fruit & some of the best home fries I have had in a long time…my table colleagues very nicely made sure I got more than my fair share since I was devouring them), coffee & oh yes, Bellini champagne 😉 The omelet was delicious, it satisfied me so well that I did not miss having to pass on the griddle choices.

Our Hostess, EventBriteLA Marketing Manager, Leila Najafi, led a great little chat & trivia, following our breakfast…& much bubbly libation,  all about the internet meet up service that is Eventbrite. Have you ever used the web-site? I actually have, many times, usually to purchase entrance to fun events like this brunch. You can also use it to plan pretty much anything that you want a crowd at. In this day & age, when emailing is pretty much the new way to RSVP, I was interested to learn that you can plan birthdays, showers, even weddings, using Eventbrite. I have always been pleased at how easy the web-page is to use, navigate & the ease of logging in (You don’t even need to create an account if you do not want to.) has kept me coming back.

We had the patio at Ocean 41 all to ourselves, complete with beautiful floral arrangements from Butterfly Floral & each given a swag bag filled with exciting things I plan to highlight in the coming weeks, the first being Napoleons Macarons….because…psst…stop into their shop & whisper, “Bonjour, Napoleon” for 40% off a six-pack of their decadent macarons, through August 27th!

As far as a Saturday drive out to Santa Monica, it was lovely. For some reason, I didn’t realize Malibu was only 6 miles away, had I had more time, I would have taken a ride over The Pacific Coast Highway….its something too close for me not to be doing more often. Santa Monica looked just like it would in a movie or on Beverly Hills, 90210. Beautiful people jogging, walking pampered dogs, showing off their youthfulness looks at 50 & of course, my pet peeve, being late due to PARKING. I ended up at The Market structure, which I highly recommend as your first 90 minutes are free & I paid a dollar.

Seeing friends, making new, eating great food, drinking fun drinks, feeling like other people truly like your vision and being reminded of how fun your life is because of blogging…all for 11 bucks? Thats actually, priceless! xo