Category Archives: Treats

Visual Aids

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

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!”

Deep Fried Everything: The LA County Fair

Posted in Dinner, Explore, Food, Fun, Lunch, Treats by

Location: 1101 West McKinley Avenue, Pomona

A great way to appreciate the last few weeks as the summer season winds down (at least according to the calendar, but not the weather gods and/or global warming) is a day among animals, carnival rides, shopping booths, cotton candy, BBQ pits, and deep fried everything. This past Saturday, we made our way out to the Pomona Fairplex and braved 93 degrees of sunshine to enjoy the LA County Fair.

{Thanks to Groupon we got a buy one, get one free deal. FYI – tickets are $17 each. Not sure why they said $5.95.}

Since I knew that we were going out to dinner later that night, I did my best to indulge lightly. A few spoonfuls of my boyfriend’s vanilla bean ice cream, a sip of his lemonade, followed by the heart attack waiting to happen from the best chili cheese fries ever! In retrospect, I wish I had at least tried the deep fried Oreos, but felt that I did well under the given circumstances.

{The fist station I saw when I entered the grounds.}

Luckily, before all the eating began (though not much later) we started the day with a trip through the farm to meet and greet the animals. What a sight to see a pig feeding their young! Who knew they just climbed and fought all over each other, looking for the prized milk source, and go to town as poor mom just lay there? So anxious were those little guys!

{Animals, animals, animals.}

From there, the day became a special mixture of walking around the grounds, people watching, trying to decide what to eat because the options were endless, looking for shade when we needed a break, walking through special exhibitions; and browsing around the shopping buildings filled with booths from hundreds of vendors, ranging from the cheapest looking of jewelry to purchasing a new hot tub. (Apparently, people actually go the fair to remodel their homes?)

{Food, food, food.}

{Rides, rides, rides.}

5 hours later, I was LA County Fair’d out (in a good way)! As the day went on, it got more crowded and warmer; and while I loved being there, I wanted nothing more than a chair, a solid healthy meal, consistent air-conditioning, and a shower!

We finished the night at Osteria Coppola a small Italian restaurant in Sherman Oaks, and was I ever excited to see their insalata mista (aka salad) and a fresh-baked chicken lasagna sitting in front of me. It was the first time I had a vegetable all day. It was the perfect way to top-off a perfect LA day!

{Insalata Mista.}

{Chicken Lasagna.}

Strawberry Smoothie: A Homemade Jamba Tale

Posted in Breakfast, DIY, Fun, Treats by

I woke up one morning last week wanting something different to start the day. The caveat being that it needed to be quick to make, easy to take with me on the way to work, and ice-cold because I knew a hot summer day was ahead of me.

Thanks to Pinterest, I’ve been collecting ideas for awesome smoothies, but found certain things that turned me off (i.e. Greek Yogurt) within the recipe. So I took a chance, trusted my taste buds, my instincts, and went with an admittedly safe, but very yummy Strawberry Smoothie. My first homemade concoction. Jamba Juice would be proud! Well, maybe not so much. I’m sure they’d prefer I come in and spend $5.00 on one of their smoothies, but you get the point. 🙂

It took 4 simple ingredients:

-1 cup of ice

-1 and 1/2 cups frozen strawberries

-1 cup vanilla yogurt

– 1/3 cup blue agave sweetener

With the press of a button, I had breakfast ready in just a few minutes. I grabbed my reusable travel cup, filled it up, and placed it in the freezer while I finished getting ready for work. 20 minutes later, I made a quick stop to the kitchen to pick it up and out the door I went.

Highlights: The Weekend

Posted in Breakfast, Brunch, DIY, Film, Food, Fun, Treats by

It was a complicated couple of days for me this weekend. Suffice to say I went through a myriad of emotions, for a myriad of reasons. (I think the ladies can understand this feeling every once in a while :)).  As the weather decided to be a bit kinder this weekend, so did my take on everything that was happening around me and within me. I managed to keep an eye on the sunshine! Here are a few highlights that brought many smiles to my face:

{FILM}.
Movie marathon on Sunday. Instant mood booster. We even covered three genres. Sometimes you just need a completely lazy day in bed watching movies.

{FOOD}.
The simplicity of grabbing my two favorites from Starbucks: an iced grande, soy, toffee nut latte & a cranberry orange scone.

My sweet boyfriend bringing a big bag of my favorite candy (don’t judge!)

{FUN}.
They say money doesn’t buy you happiness. In this case, I beg to differ and tend to do so when it comes to flowers. $5.00 well spent!

Pita Pizza

Posted in Dinner, DIY, Food, Treats by

Summer nights. Summer cooking. I’ve been afraid to turn on the oven over the last few nights because my apartment has been so H.O.T. You can only use the “let’s eat out because I don’t want to turn on the oven” excuse maybe once a week (and I used mine already). When the hummus I bought at the farmer’s market expired and I still had an entire pack of pita bread left over, I threw it in the freezer until I could figure out what to do with all the leftovers. So I took advantage of a little treat that my boyfriend will sometimes make while we’re hanging out on the weekends, tailored it to my taste buds, and turned it into a quick dinner item. The best news? The oven only needs to be on 20 minutes max.

You’ll need pita bread and toppings of your choice. I went with pepperoni, mozzarella cheese, monterey jack cheese, black olives, tomatoes, pineapple and olive oil.

Spread olive oil over pita bread and assemble toppings to your liking.

Place directly on the oven rack at 425º. I like to line the bottom of my stove with foil to catch any toppings that fall off during baking (and it always happens).

In 10-15 minutes you’ll have:

Grab yourself a glass of ice tea and some parmesan cheese and you’re good to go! YUM!

Weekend Cocktails

Posted in DIY, Food, Treats by

While I like cocktails as much as the next girl, it turns out I’m not a big drinker on the day-to-day. Sure, I’ll have a glass of wine with dinner every once and awhile, sip a midori sour during girls night out, or grab a margarita over Mexican food; but ice tea is my liquid of choice (passion-fruit iced tea if I’m feeling especially feisty).

Fun fact: this past weekend is the first weekend I can recall in quite some time having a cocktail on Friday, Saturday AND Sunday.  What a lush I’m turning into! Perhaps it’s the vibe of the season and cradling a sweet drink in your hand makes the days of summer all the more sweeter.

It all started at happy hour with the gang from work on Friday evening. Followed by two super delicious and well-presented homemade concoctions that I can’t take credit for (thanks Ryan!) other than the bellini peach-raspberry syrup that I buy by the bottle every time I hit the Olive Garden to add to my iced tea because I’m obsessed with it. Don’t laugh,  I admit I have a very strong affinity for the Olive Garden.

If you’re looking for a good summer cocktail,  I just had to share the deliciousness I experienced every single day of the weekend with you. Try it at home yourself! While you do, I’ll be seriously rethinking the frequency of my cocktail intake!

Friday Night 
White Tea Cooler

Ingredients: wild tea vodka, st. germain, mint, fresh lime juice, luxardo maraschino cherries, soda water.

Saturday Evening

Homemade Concoction #1

Ingredients: Olive Garden’s bellini peach-raspberry syrup, vodka, club soda

Sunday Afternoon
Homemade Concoction #2

Ingredients: Olive Garden’s bellini peach-raspberry syrup, vodka, 7-UP, sugar-coated rimmed glass

Cupcakes (no Cashmere)

Posted in Food, Treats by

In celebration of tiny cakes everywhere and one of my favorite blogs, after having spent lots of time researching my passion for carbs topped with icing and taste testing my behind off; here are my thoughts based on my quest to uncover some of LA’s best cupcakes. Clearly, I haven’t tried every single cupcake in this great land, so I’m basing this list off of the places I’ve personally frequented.

Cupcakes Couture
Location: 916 Manhattan Avenue, Manhattan Beach
BY FAR the most delicious and best dressed cupcakes in LA!  I stumbled into
this oasis of sweetness when hanging out on the Manhattan Beach Strand one Saturday afternoon nearly a year ago. It’s a trek to get down to the South bay for me, but MY GOODNESS, it’s worth every traffic light and hassle to get there. The shop is well designed, the girls that work the counter are sweet, and the concoctions are the best. Nearly every cupcake has a sweet filling in the center, always tastes fresh, and NEVER disappoints. This place also has THE BEST gluten-free selection (which makes my boyfriend very happy) that I’ve come across if you struggle with an intolerance to wheat. My favorites are the Cupcake Wars reality TV show winning Lemon Blueberry, Strawberry Cheesecake, and the Sunday Mimosa (only served on Sundays, get it!?!) 
Sprinkles
Location: 9635 Santa Monica Boulevard, Beverly Hills

THE place that started it all, well, at least in my opinion. This is what I think of as the originator of the cupcake craze in Los Angeles – like how Pinkberry spawned the frozen yogurt movement. I can’t recall how I first heard of this place, but it remains an oldie but a goodie in my book. Sprinkles’ forte has always been location, location, location; oh and the cupcakes are moist and delicious! They have one the largest selections of flavors but rotate them out depending on the day, as seems to be the case with all places. Beware the place is small and the line LONG. Their best invention yet? The cupcake ATM if you want to grab a cupcake at 2:00am. Great ones to try: Lemon Coconut, Red Velvet, Strawberry, and Pumpkin.

Frosted Cupcakery
Location: 1200 North Highland Avenue, Hollywood

If I can’t make the trip to Manhattan Beach or Beverly Hills, Frosted comes in a close third. The cupcakes more than cover it in a pinch, but I so desperately wish that Frosted would catch up on the flavor selections! They stick with pretty safe choices. Their shop seems to run of cupcakes quicker in my experience than with other places, and the treats themselves are very good, but I find they don’t have quite the same punch. The best thing about this place? The price! These guys run under $3.00 each, which is a steal! What scores additional brownie points? Their awesome ice cream cupcakes. I’m a huge fan of their red velvet and cream cheese cupcake filled with vanilla bean ice cream!

Vanilla Bake Shop
Location: 10250 Santa Monica Boulevard, Century City

My latest taste test on the cupcake front comes from Vanilla Bake Shop. I’ve noticed the shop for a while now when checking out a movie or shopping at the Westfield center; and have been in before a few times to check out the place, but had never purchased anything (which is so unlike me.) I have to say this place is aptly named, it was a very “vanilla” experience. I hate to call this out, but the person working the counter was pretty dismissive (coloring in fact) when I walked-in recently. Further to that, they only have 6 flavors to choose from on any given day. I went with a safe Vanilla Bean and did enjoy the cupcake. It satisfied my sweet tooth but they lose points for not much variety on any given day and poor service. Perhaps it was an off day. I was also told that a gluten-free selection was in the works and would debut in May of this year, but nothing yet.

Crumbs
Location: 6801 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood

Love the name, pretty blah when it comes to the cupcakes. I do like how decorative these guys are, but for some reason, I get a “straight out of a box” taste from them. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes you just want sugar, and you don’t really care how or in what format, so these will more than handle your needs, but the fresh taste wasn’t quite there for me. Dare I say they were a bit too sweet as well?  I love that they have multiple locations around the city. I count 6! Then again, because they have so many locations, maybe this alludes to why quality lacks in their cupcakes. It seems they’re more into design, which is super important, but I’m also about my tongue doing the happy dance on contact.

With that, I’m now seriously craving a cupcake and I don’t care which location it comes from! If you have a hidden treasure on the tiny cake front that is missing from my list, please do let me know! I’m always looking to gain 5 pounds (said no one ever!)

Graffiti Coffee Bar

Posted in Explore, Food, Fun, Treats by

Location: 180 S La Brea Avenue, Mid-City

Welcome the City of Angels! The place where even making a quick stop to grab an iced latte on a warm Sunday afternoon between errands necessitates valet parking. The first 20 minutes free, of course.

Anytime I see the word coffee, cafe, latte, or any iteration of the espresso bean posted around town, it makes my heart flutter with pure joy. I picked up my now ever-present coffee addiction (or daily treat as I like to say) when I first started working in “the industry” and was charged with the glamorous task of taking everyone’s Starbucks order. Outside of that cliché fact, you can’t help but notice when a brand new, blinding, stark white building pops up while driving down the in-progress revamping that has become La Brea Avenue. A street that while trendy in its own right, sticks to a more common opaque color scheme.

Enter Graffiti Coffee Bar. Strangely named given that there isn’t much chromatism to the two-story black and white interior space. You feel like you’re about to walk into a Hollywood nightclub with the door entry selectively located on the side of the building, only to feel like you are actually in a nightclub with the thumping music and fireplace greeting you as you walk in. The Intelligentsia brewed coffee is delish (I smiled with every sip) but given that I spent $6 on an iced vanilla latte, it’ll be more of an indulgence than a regular neighborhood coffee spot.

Beware, they’re cash only (unbelievable and quite unacceptable in this day and age) and only serve whole or soy milk options, but were super friendly. I don’t see myself stopping in to sit and blog with my laptop anytime soon, I like a more quaint atmosphere where you can sit in your sweats and zone out for a couple of hours with your typical soft guitar music lacing the background; but I would make the trek here to meet a friend to catch up over coffee or if I’m feeling exceptionally rich and want to splurge on my caffeine fix.

All in all, a bit of a dramatic experience just to grab a latte, but it gave some spunk to an otherwise lazy Sunday last weekend. Then again, would it be Los Angeles if there weren’t some form of drama attached to it?