Tag Archives: The Sycamore Kitchen

Best of Everything 2014

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New Year’s Eve, 2014. Where did the time go?

I distinctly remember where I was this very day last year. In bed. Sick. I had caught some sort of horrible stomach virus that literally took months into 2014 to fully recover from. I was so disappointed because my boyfriend and I had made reservations for dinner at a quaint little Italian restaurant that I was beyond excited for. At the time, however, food and I weren’t on speaking terms. He ended up ordering a pizza that I basically watched him eat. What a bummer…and a terrible way to ring in the new year.

I’m determined to get 2015 off on the right foot. Essentially, the plan is to finally get to that dinner reservation, one year later – and I have absolutely no intention of watching him eat. I plan to dig in with the best of them at that quaint little Italian restaurant tonight, but not before heading out to catch, A Most Violent Year, opening today. It’s the last film of the year that I want to see before I officially write my top films of 2014 post, forthcoming. As such, this post won’t go into narrative or feature-length documentary films.

The last day of the year is perfect for reflecting back on where you’ve been and where you’d like to go as the year comes to a close. Today, I want to reflect on where I’ve been with a look back at a little bit of everything that made 2014 memorable. From books I’ve read, to music I’ve rocked out to, to products, and experiences – here are new discoveries, things that stuck, and lessons learned worth mentioning.

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L.A. Discovery: Bottega Louie.
{Perfect for brunch or dinner…and macaroons.}

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Only in L.A. Experience: Broadway Theatre District Walking Tour.

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Thing I Did For Myself: Recommitted to a consistent yoga practice…though admittedly I’m currently on the market for a new studio.

Beauty Find: Mullein & Sparrow’s Facial Detox Kit. It’s giving yourself the spa experience at home, on a budget. I discovered this small Brooklyn-based herbal apothecary just weeks ago and if I could, I’d buy everything! Love them.

New Addition to the Hair Regimen That I Can’t Live Without: Macadamia Healing Oil Spray.

New Addition to the Skincare Regimen That I Can’t Live Without: Clarisonic Mia.

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Indulgence: Iced vanilla lattes from The Sycamore Kitchen (or Hot Tamales).

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Accessory: Gosia Meyer’s 14K Gold Filled Initial Necklace.

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Guilty Pleasure: The Wendy Williams Show.

Splurge: Madewell’s Transport Tote in Saddle.

Travel Experience: My Birthday in Ojai.

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Fiction Read: We Are Water by Wally Lamb.

Non-Fiction Read: MWF Seeking BFF: My Yearlong Search for a New Best Friend by Rachel Bertsche.

Lesson Learned: Be extra cautious when driving down a windy road just after a fresh rain or you’ll lose control and your car will swerve and hit a curb so hard it takes weeks to fix! This isn’t rocket-science but for some reason I still managed to screw up majorly…and it cost me thousands. Ugh.

Gadget: Kindle Paperwhite.

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Blog Post: Journey of a Dress: From Princess to Fashion Legend.

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Tune to Rock Out to: Defeated No More by Disclosure.

Album: It came out a few years ago, but “4” by Beyoncé was in heavy rotation this year after I finally sat down and actually listened to the whole LP. Fantastic.

Discovered Artist: Lana del Rey.

YouTube Video: Taylor Swift’s incredibly contagious “Shake it Off” song synced to the 1988 National Aerobic Championship Opening Number.

TV Addiction: Scandal.

Addition to The Home: Paper Source’s Foil Desk Calendar. It dresses up your desk space with subtle elegance. (2105 is now available!)

Wardrobe Piece: A classic dark washed denim jacket, it’s my go-to year round staple for instant California casual chic.

Image Featured on the Blog: The moment I captured the sunrise over the ocean as I geared up for a long day of shooting in San Francisco.Srunrise ATG FINAL

Memorable Day: Taking myself to the LA Times Festival of Books Fair at USC. It was the perfect day: sunshine, books galore, great music, and the grilled cheese truck responsible for the photo below. Fun fact: it was my most successful blog post of 2014!

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Biggest “Ah-ha” Moment: Reading The Daily Love’s beautiful post in the wake of Robin’s Williams untimely passing. As I read it, I had the biggest “ah-ha” moment, and wrote the following post, Words that Gave Me Pause, to share it.

The moment I Saw Growth in Myself: When I got my first parking ticket in years and rather than get upset, I laughed with the universe. Full story here.

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Biggest Blogging Achievement: Completing the 100 Happy Days Challenge. It was a powerful reminder to always look for the beauty in your day and I went strong for 100 consecutive days. Statistics show 70% don’t complete the challenge. I was in the 30% who made it to the finish line!

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Words: This piece of poetry by William Henry Channing.

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Thank you for reading along with me this year. Cheers to a 2015 lived beyond our wildest dreams! x

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{Day 50: I read this quote years ago, wrote it on a post-it note and stuck it on my desk. It always makes me smile.}

Transitioning back to the real world is always slightly jarring after such an enjoyable vacation. In this case, I also happen to be fighting yet another cold as well (while in the middle of a big editing project at the moment). Aside from kicking this cold, my first week back to life was a good one overall. I made a consorted effort to try to ease back into things as much as possible, not losing the spirit of my time off, hanging on to as much of that relaxed state as I could muster. Unfortunately, all too soon you start to slowly lose that vibe – up until you feel the need for another vacation.

Though I had a pretty packed week originally planned, many of those plans were subsequently canceled in favor of a book and getting to bed early many nights to tackle my cold. I did make it out one night this week when I felt a little better and wasn’t contagious to meet with my book club gals to talk about Wally Lamb’s We Are Water. I can’t say it was better than the other book of his that I really like, She’s Come Undone, but it did spark an interesting conversation – what human beings go through, how we’re all connected, how every action has a consequence, and how we are constantly flowing with life and adapting simply because we have to.

With that, I’m looking on to my next read (aside from The Body Book, of course). The plan this weekend is to rest up and figure out what’s next on my Kindle. Hopefully, I’ll be feeling a bit more like myself to catch-up on the plans that I kept having to cancel this week.

Today is day #53 on the 100 Happy Days Challenge. I’m halfway there. It’s been awhile since we’ve caught up – here are some of my favorite moments.

Have a great weekend!

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{Day 47:  The day I died and went to organic blueberry muffin heaven on a leisurely Saturday afternoon at The Sycamore Kitchen.}

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{Day 44: A stop at the Camarillo Outlets while on vacay last week, led to a birthday present to myself…and a little Calvin Klein in my life.}

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{Day 46: A night out the world famous Groundlings.}

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{Day 48: My 1st Oprah Chai (though I cheated and added a shot of espresso). Let’s just say it’s a DO!}