|| What I’m Lovin’ Right Now ||

Posted in Accessories, Beauty, Breakfast, Fashion, Food, Fun, Handbags, Inspiration, Shoes, Television, Travel, Treats by C.

It’s been a roller coaster on the weather front here in L.A. Eighty degrees one day, rainy and cold the next. I‘ve often wondered the affect an environment has on its inhabitants. If you think about it: can it be pure luck that this city, known for its fickle nature, from the weather down to the very people that walk the city streets (myself included) is all happenstance? This might be a bit too deep for a Wednesday. Luckily, there are things that you come across that stick the moment you come into contact with them. Things that you know that you’re not at all fickle about. For me it usually involves cupcakes, a ridiculously expensive handbag, a large bag of Hot Tamales, when you have a good book in your hands, hear a new song or see a new film for the first time and know that you’ve just experienced something special. Here’s to finding those things that stick. And…

here’s what i’m lovin’ right now

{Chunky necklaces over buttoned shirts // Full skirts as day wear // Badgley Mischka Provence One Piece Swimsuit.}

{French Toast with Homemade Fresh Strawberry Butter // recipe here.}

{Best video EVER: 25 Ways to Wear a Scarf in 4.5 minutes.}

{Oscar De La Renta’s fun, wise words.}

{I heart Mindy Kaling. The Mindy Project has been on the air for awhile now, but I took a short hiatus and returned to it recently, catching up on missed episodes and it’s been a welcome source of comic relief. I was also uber excited about Mark Duplass joining in on the fun for a few episodes. No spoilers! Did I mention that I heart Mindy Kaling?}

11248

{Mind wandering.}

1-tumblr_lk4w1lAfFj1qdgauwo1_500

{Wine 101 for dummies // full article here.}

{Dreaming big.}

{Insert me here…with a tropical drink…in a pineapple shell…with an umbrella in it…thx.}

tumblr_m2p9fzktit1r4jtyyo1_1280 (1)

15Feb2013

Highlights

Posted in Breakfast, Cocktails, Dinner, Explore, Film, Food, Fun, Independent Cinema, Inspiration, Television, Treats by C.

It’s been a rough week where I’ve spent a lot of time reflecting – something I think we all need to do every once and awhile. Aside from the realization that it’s time to make some major changes, I had moments to smile about as well. After all, there’s always something to be grateful for. Here are a few of them.

Have a nice weekend. 🙂

TEA| jin patisserie

Purchasing my favorite loose leaf green tea from Jin Patisserie to take home to make a soothing cup anytime I want.

WATCH| downton abbey season one

Finally joined the Downton Abbey fan club. I sat on my couch for 2 days straight absorbing the complicated lives of a 20th Century British aristocratic family and their mischievous house staff.

VIEW| clear skies

1-2013-02-09_11-40-16_709 (1)

A few rainy days yielded fresh air and a clear, blue, beautiful L.A. sky which I happily appreciated on the way to yoga class.

DVD| celeste & jesse forever

1-2013-02-12_09-06-47_35

A very thoughtful gift that made me super happy – my favorite film of 2012, Celeste & Jesse Forever is now apart of my DVD collection!

EAT| breakfast for dinner

1-2013-02-11_19-48-57_566

Sometimes you just need a movie, a magazine, and breakfast for dinner to make an ordinary Monday night, something special.

VALENTINE’S DAY| gift

1-2013-02-14_08-48-55_103

A little something I gave to my valentine.

18Jan2013

Highlights: Wrapping up the Holidays

Posted in Accessories, Breakfast, DIY, Fashion, Film, Food, Fun, Treats by C.

Mid-way through January already…geesh! It’s been so much fun reminiscing about a very memorable holiday season with you! I’ll be wrapping up my winter adventures with a few fun extra highlights gathered during my Christmas vacation. Next week, I’m looking forward to officially wrapping up the entire 2012 calendar year with a look back at all my favorites in film, leading up to my top 10 personal favorite blog posts of the year! Enjoy the long weekend gang! Here are this week’s final highlights from the holidays:

{My new earrings worn on New Year’s Eve. LOVE.}

{New year, new way to make breakfast. While I’m no stranger to making breakfast on a Saturday morning, I have to say it was a nice change of pace on a Thursday morning over the long vacation to get up and try something new. Rather than scrambling plain eggs, I decided to punch things up and add some bacon and spinach and opted to make roasted potatoes and toast on the side. I couldn’t have thought of a better way to start a Thursday.}

{Making my first cup of tea in my new tea kettle that I got as a Christmas gift. There’s something so ritualistic and cozy about making tea the old fashioned way on a hot stove.}

{As a stocking stuffer, I received this awesome sweet treat from Baked By Melissa. 3 mini cupcakes dipped in chocolate. What a great idea! I found out that you too, can have these bite sized goodies delivered right to your door step from their New York based shop. Check out their website for details.}

{Baby it’s cold outside. Luckily, this new super soft scarf from The Gap helps.}

14Jan2013

Highlights: Carmel

Posted in Breakfast, Dinner, Explore, Food, Fun, Travel, Treats, Uncategorized by C.

After a very happy Christmas Day and once I had gotten over the initial shock of such a thoughtful and extravagant gift, we headed out to enjoy the surprise Christmas trip from my boyfriend, a 3 (that turned into 4 – long story) night stay in Carmel!

I had never been to Carmel-by-the-Sea (which I learned is the city’s official full name), and honestly, had only heard of it because of Clint Eastwood. (How cultured of me, I know). As a lover of travel, good hotels, dining out, and sight seeing, I knew I was in for a real treat. Better yet, I was going to get 4 full uninterrupted days of adventure with my favorite person! 🙂

It was the prefect mixture of relaxation (i.e. spending lots of time lounging in our hotel room watching Saturday Night Live re-runs on VH1) and exploration (i.e. getting to know the city of Carmel).

Random fact: I just visited the city’s Wikipedia page and apparently there’s a law that prohibits the use of high heels without a permit due to uneven pavement throughout the town. Thank god I wore my Converse and didn’t get rock my 4 inch heels – it seems that would’ve been illegal!

Here are a few highlights from our Carmel-by-the-Sea adventure:

{Our hotel, Carmel Mission Inn.}

{Loved the beach-y inspired flair to the room with this cool electric blue lighting over the bed!}

{Nothing like starting the day with room service.}

{Exploring The Crossroads shops across the street from our hotel on a beautiful rainy day.}

{This is by far the coolest way I’ve ever been served a vanilla latte! Nothing but nice things to say about our breakfast experience at “From Scratch Restaurant.”}

{Exploring the shopping and dining places on the other side of our hotel, The Barnyard.}

{View from our 4th floor hotel room. I loved all the trees, so much greenery.}

{Roaming Downtown Carmel. Very quaint. Very expensive.}

{400 Degrees Gourmet Burgers & Fries. This place was super cool! You placed and paid for your custom made burger order on the device at your table and your hot food came directly to you when ready. I predict we’ll be seeing this in L.A. very soon.}

{Finally, I made a wish and threw a penny into this fountain in a park in Downtown Carmel. Here’s to hoping it comes true.}

18Dec2012

AXE Restaurant

Posted in Breakfast, Brunch, Explore, Food, Fun, Lunch, Uncategorized by C.

Location: 1009 Abbot Kinney Boulevard, Venice

Abbot Kinney is one of my favorite boulevards in all of Los Angeles. A short strip of quaint clothing shops, home decor boutiques, stationary stores, restaurants, bars, and cafes; fused together by a much more laid back L.A. vibe – thanks to the pacific ocean just 1 mile away.

Near the tail end of the boulevard, I recently spent a Sunday afternoon with 9 of my friends to celebrate a birthday at AXE (pronounced “ă • shay” I later learned). The menu is all about clean eating; using fresh, local, organic ingredients. The dining space promotes simplicity with a salute to earthiness. I have to give it to them when it comes to their intention with the design of the space and thoughtfulness in developing the menu, read more here.

For brunch, I went with the 9 grain pancake and a side of the crispy potatoes. One of the girls brought a bottle of champagne to share with the table to toast. Talk about Sunday Funday! I can’t think of anything more awesome than champagne and pancakes on a Sunday afternoon.

{Hello champagne.}

{9 grain pancake.}

{Crispy potatoes.}

Pros: Great atmosphere, awesome location, organic food, surprisingly not too pricey.

Cons: Took forever to seat our group despite our reservation (after waiting 30 minutes I went in and complained – lo and behold our table was ready); I was happy with my dish but the food wasn’t anything super special; service was slow, and the wait staff was pretty nonchalant and unwelcoming, with no sense of urgency at all, it took forever to get our food.

Overall: I enjoyed (as always) adding a new “been there, done that” to my LA restaurant list, but due to the vibe from the wait staff and food that was just okay it’s not someplace that I feel the need to ever return to. Especially, when my favorite place, Jin Patisserie, is a 5 minute walk down the boulevard. AXE really needs to work on service and their unwelcoming attitude. Oh, and I can’t believe a place like this would give a table of 9 a hand-written bill that was hard to read. I’m all for being more earthy, but get a machine to tally receipts. It’s 2012!

26Nov2012

Highlights: Thanksgiving Day

Posted in Breakfast, Dinner, Film, Food, Fun, Treats by C.

Wow, where does the time go? All the build-up and the planning, coordinating; then eating, sleeping, eating, watching a movie, and more eating until it’s all over. Thanksgiving was a complete success on my end. In large part because I had the best company, and we ordered the most delish ham from The Honey Baked Ham Store, with a slew of sides from Bristol Farms. Let’s just say we had Thanksgiving dinner two nights in a row, ham and eggs for breakfast twice over the long holiday weekend, and at some point this week a ham sandwich will be in my immediate future.

As I look back on an amazing, relaxing, and food-filled Thanksgiving Thursday these are the parts that made me smile and what I’ll always want to remember:

I stopped on Wednesday afternoon (in the actual chaos of last-minute grocery shoppers…I did it for the drama!) and got a fresh bouquet of flowers to give my place a bit more of that festive Thanksgiving vibe! They were perfect!

How the food arrived. 🙂

Thanksgiving entertainment. We tried to find movies that were themed for the holiday (and I just thought E.T. would be awesome to re-watch). We eventually got through everything during those 4 days, but Planes, Trains and Automobiles was the perfect flick to kick-off a movie-filled weekend.

Thanksgiving dinner: honey baked ham, glazed baby carrots, green beans almondine, mashed potatoes, and candied yams. That’s a little sparkling apple cider in the wine glass. Words cannot describe how happy I was at this moment – yum! 🙂

Dessert: Pumpkin pie, naturally!

The BEST surprise and my personal favorite, this Esque candle that my boyfriend gave me as a little Thanksgiving day present. Aww! I was totally shocked because I was admiring it a few months back at Z-Gallerie, but didn’t get it. It’s so pretty I don’t even want to burn it!

I hope you all had an amazing Thanksgiving holiday this year. There was much more for myself on the horizon as the long weekend got started (posts to come) but it truly was a day to be remembered. Thank you to my awesome guy for making it such a special day!

On to Christmas….yikes!

15Oct2012

Highlights: Fall Inspired

Posted in Breakfast, DIY, Fashion, Food, Fun, Inspiration, Treats by C.

Hey there Glitterati!

Took a short hiatus but I’m back with tons to catch you up on! First, some highlights. Much needed smiles came from these recent findings. Coincidentally, they were all a nod to the Fall season:

{Do yourself a favor and go out and get a tub of Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Cream Cheese. I had my first bagel with this spread a few days ago and my tongue did the happy dance.}

{The Halloween decorations have begun! If you need an inexpensive way to salute the season, these pumpkin shaped lights from Target are perfect. Similar here.}

{While the heat is still ever-present in L.A. (and even I’m over it at this point), we did get our first Fall rain last week which promoted some candle burning at home and clean air (and mat) outside.}

{This t-shirt I saw in the storefront window at Wet Seal put a huge grin on my face – naughty, naughty!}

So much to talk about with you all, and I’ll get you up to speed. In the meantime, have a great week! 🙂

26Sep2012

How to Survive A Plague at The Nuart

Posted in Breakfast, Documentary, Explore, Film, Food, Fun by C.

Location: 11272 Santa Monica Boulevard, West LA

Just past the congestion of the infamous meeting of Sepulveda and Santa Monica Boulevards, under the ramp of the 405 freeway, and immediately to your left – rests one of my favorite L.A. movie theaters, The Nuart.

Though it’s apart of the Landmark family, The Nuart keeps that off-beat theater vibe well in tact from the marquee down to the strictly independent and documentary focused programming you’ll find here.

It was a more “fall-esque” Monday evening. The weather a bit chillier than it had been and the sun setting a little earlier than in recent weeks, a small indication that Autumn is slowly making its way to Los Angeles. After a quick and cheap breakfast for dinner stop at what used to be Delores’ Restaurant right down the street from the theater (that’s changed menus twice and now its name – spawning a much more mediocre dining experience), we headed back to the theater to learn “How to Survive A Plague.”

{Breakfast for dinner – always a good idea.}

What a powerful and thought-provoking way to start the week. The documentary chronicles the New York activist scene fighting the lack of attention from the US government, hospitals, and drug companies to the raging AIDS epidemic stealing the lives of millions in the gay community beginning in the early 1980’s and until a treatment was discovered to survive. Most impressive about the film is that it’s mostly compiled of and told through the use of archival footage of old Act Up and TAG activist meetings, media coverage of protests/demonstrations across the country, and personal home video.

I left the theater feeling like I had a solid understanding of the struggle it took to get medication, education, and compassion towards what was a modern American plague only 30 short years ago. I couldn’t help but think about how a similar uprising could benefit the millions of people in Africa as I type this sentence battling the same disease, among arguably even worse circumstances.

I highly recommend this film for anyone who wants a crash course (for lack of a better phrase) into a hard-fought battle over basic human rights and the AIDS virus, or for anyone who just needs some inspiration to go out there, follow your beliefs, and “Act Up.”

You’ll be surprised what you can do when you don’t give up.

25Sep2012

American Rag Cie

Posted in Accessories, Breakfast, Brunch, Explore, Fashion, Food, Fun, Handbags, Shoes by C.

Location: 150 South La Brea Avenue, Mid-City

American Rag. This place is bittersweet for me. On the one hand, I love the idea of killing some time sifting through vintage clothes looking for that perfect one of a kind piece that I can throw on and say, “look what I found!”

Unfortunately, the handful of times I’ve been to American Rag I usually kill some time sifting through the clothes thinking, “I can’t afford this crap!”

Don’t get me wrong, I admitted it’s a love hate relationship with this shop. The place screams “trendy” just in the clientele that’s perusing the aisles next to you. It’s pretty clear that stylists from all over town are looking for special outfits for that next photo or film shoot; while you’re simply looking for something that you like, can afford, and actually fits. If your wallet doesn’t quite expand so far as to justify spending $100 for a shirt, the best times to visit this place seems to be when things go on sale. What fun it is to try on sweaters during the hot sticky summer days to save 30% on something you can’t wear for another three months anyway.

Unfortunately, a notorious reputation looms over American Rag (and I share a somewhat similar distaste) with some of their staffing choices. At times, it’s been great, no problems. Hooray! Other times, that LA hipster vibe is alive and well. I recall buying a belt once and the guy at the register acting like he was doing me a favor because I was shopping in the almighty American Rag and got to leave with something.

As with any vintage shopping trip, the key is just to decide to head in and look around but for not anything specific. You might find something that appeals to your fancy, you might not. My experience has been the latter here and it has much more to do with the over-pricing versus the selection.

I have consistently better experiences when I wander next door to the connecting Maison Midi boutique. Still expensive, but ultra-cool to take a peek in if you’re looking for something on the home front. Awesome perk? Seeing huge plates of food walk past you from their in-house cafe. I’ve never eaten at the Midi Cafe, but not to worry, it’s on my bucket list and you’ll be the first to know when it happens. Stay tuned.

As for American Rag, take this place and its hype with a grain of salt. It can be a great experience or not. Either way, you’ve been warned.

13Sep2012

Visual Aids

Posted in Breakfast, DIY, Food, Inspiration, Treats by C.

I’m certainly one of those people who always appreciates aesthetics and very much consider myself a visual person and learner. A friend of mine had fresh strawberries on her desk one day that looked amazing and my taste buds started salivating. It then occurred to me how I could incorporate more fruit into my day and in a more celebratory way. I decided the best way to do it, was to have it in a place where I could see it, smell it, and enjoy it.

When I bring fruit with me to work, I typically just eat it right out of a zip-lock bag or in a piece of tupperware. How boring! I took the time to be a bit more mindful with my fruit intake and work with that side of me that likes things to “look pretty” for lack of a better girly expression. I made myself a small bowl of fresh fruit that I could place on my desk to snack on throughout the day. It was not only a beautiful reminder of the season just outside my window, but was an easy way to have a healthier alternative around me when I was craving something “not so healthy.” Placing the fruit in a nice china dish and arranging it to my liking set a very special tone (and brightened my desk) as I went about my work day grabbing a strawberry here and a grape there. Think of when you see a really intricate and colorful fruit platter at a party: aren’t you more inclined to walk over, appreciate it, and eat it? It’s all about visuals!

It was then that I became even more inspired and by fruit of all things!

Though summer will soon wind down, I’m realizing how important it is to have beauty (natural or created) around you in any capacity as much as possible. The simplicity in some red grapes and strawberries on my desk was wonderful and worked at getting me to ensure I was eating more fruit, but I want to incorporate my new visual aid experiment into other areas. From how I serve my meals, to displaying jewelry at home, to the arrangement of my closet, I find that this matters to me more and more as I get older. It makes enjoying the small things all the more enjoyable. Here’s to the last days of summer fruit, celebrating presentation, and “pretty things!”