Birthday Goodies

TOMS (a new staple)

Death And Texas Handlebar Bag

Inside holds all my essentials: lip balm, wallet (though I had to switch to a thinner one) and cell phone.

Baggu Backpack next to my current favorite top.

Gratitude - aug 30

Finding time to blog has been a little tough lately. Between working full time, starting my stationery line, and starting school (today!), things are feeling a little hectic. Thankfully the summer heat has died down and I can be a little more productive than just wanting to melt into a puddle.
This past week has been wonderful.  It's easy for me to start feeling down but last week I've been shown how fortunate I am to have such great friends and an amazing boyfriend (I'm trying my hardest not to sound too sappy but I can't help it.) Here are the highlights of one of the best weeks I've had in a long time!
- celebrating my birthday with a delicious seafood dinner and the San Diego Zoo!
- a surprise birthday dinner with my dearest friends (that my boyfriend secretly planned!) at my favorite restaurant
- eat pray love
- stationery progress (more on that later)
- all the lovely gifts I received including a Baggu backpack, DNTX bag, perfume...
- farmer's market goodies shown above. the two little tomatoes are from my plant!

How was your weekend? Do anything fun?

Vain and Vapid

 Thinking about treating myself to this dress by Vain and Vapid.

Strawberry

homemade strawberry ice cream.

San Diego Zoo

My wonderful boyfriend took me on a surprise weekend trip to San Diego for my birthday. We went for a nice dinner on Sunday night and went to the zoo on Monday (the day of my birthday).  I haven't gone to the San Diego Zoo in at least a decade, let alone any zoo! It was so exciting seeing all sorts of different wild animals up close.  Towards the end I started feeling a little sad though because many of the animals looked either sad or lonely.

Gone

Where do the days go? I keep on meaning to post but end up...not.  Trying to get everything checked off my to do list but when the sun is shining and temperature is in the 100s all I want to do is laze around or go swimming. I haven't even had a chance to catch up on all my favorite blogs! But anyway, here is a sneak peek of what's to come.  I went to the San Diego Zoo on Monday for my birthday! This is one of my favorite photos I took. Will update soon!

Collard Green Chips

I made collard green chips after constantly seeing them online as a healthy snack.  And let me tell you, they were sooo good!  I've mostly seen kale chips but I accidentally bought collard greens.  Not sure if there's a huge difference but I really enjoyed these.  There's not much of a recipe and they only take about 15-20 min in the oven (and about 2 minutes to eat). I got my recipe from smitten kitchen, but all you do is rip the leaves into pieces, toss them with some olive oil, and then sprinkle some salt on!  That's it! I made some more today and added a little red pepper powder.  I know they don't look the most appetizing, but the really do come out crisp and yummy.

Gratitude - Aug 16

Whoops, sort of disappeared for a week.  I was feeling pretty lethargic and didn't get much done. But now it's a new week and I hope to be more productive.  I did have a chance to make pickles and kale chips... but that's about it. I took some photos but they didnt come out so I'm hoping to try again tomorrow. In the mean time, here are some old photos I found on my computer.  Hope everyone had a nice weekend!

tulips

some knick knacks, perfume, my favorite candle (volcano no. 6), and a for me, for you necklace

caprese salad (my brother went overload on the balsamic vinegar), cheese and crackers, and salami

 a rainbow on my ceiling

Some gems from the past week:

+ new Intelligentisa cafe in my neighborhood

+ making pickles for the first time

+ visiting Art Center... so much talent!

+ getting more paper samples for my stationery

+ summer has finally come to LA!

+ also, thank you for all your kind comments on my outfit post (and all comments I receive, really). I'm hoping to make it a weekly thing to get myself out of this clothing rut!

August Weekend

Hello, hope you all had a nice weekend.  This post is coming up a little late because I went on a little trip to Las Vegas with two of my best girl friends.  One is moving to Chicago for grad school in less than a month so we had to plan a little something.  It was so fun and relaxing.  One of my favorite things to do there is eat at the amazing buffets.  I am not a fan of buffets except for in Vegas, and the Bellagio did not disappoint. 

I didn't snap very many photos because I didn't want to bring my camera.  Instead here are a couple shots from my phone.  One thing I wish I did take a picture of was the beautiful desert on the drive over.  Miles and miles of nothing but rocks, cacti, and mountains.  So calming.

Chocolate Ice Cream

Last week the was a post on the Etsy blog about Van Leeuwen's Artisan Ice Cream.  Attatched to the article was a recipe for bittersweet chocolate ice cream.  Right then I knew I had to make it! I looked for a chocolate bar with the highest percentage of cocoa (the recipe asks for 99%), but only came up with something around 86%. Although my chocolate of choice wasn't according to the recipe, it still came out delicious.  It has just the right amount of sweet and bitter.  I'm not a fan of super sugary ice creams and noticed this one calls for less sugar than other recipes I've tried. It's rather flavorful so I only have to eat a couple small scoops rather than my usual uh... half a quart. (Did I really just admit that?) Anyway, if you are a lover of chocolate and ice cream, definitely try it out!

Exposition Park

How was your weekend? Yesterday started off as a nice lazy Sunday, but after a couple of hours I felt anxious and needed to get out of the house.  My boyfriend and I decided to go to California Science Center because they have a new ecosystem exhibit that shows eight different zones in our world.  It was really fun! The best surprise was everything else around Exposition Park.  I'd completely forgotten that there are a few other museums, the coliseum, and a rose garden all right next to each other.

 

The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. - Albert Einstein

The next few photos are a little different from my usual posts.  I decided to take some photos since I was wearing a few of my favorite things and in a pretty location.  I'm kind of nervous posting my photo but here goes...

My favorite hand bag by Clare Vivier (Whom I got to meet at my work once!)  

 

Some of my favorite things...lace top by American Apparel, "office" nail polish from AA, messenger bag by Clare Vivier

I don't usually wear my glasses (and don't find this photo particularly flattering, the sun was so bright!) but I really like the photo with the fountain in the back!  I'm thinking of documenting my outfits because lately I've been in a clothing rut.  Hopefully by keeping a record I can figure out what works for me and what doesn't.

Gratitude - Aug 2

+ leisurely walks at sunset
+ exposition park, rose garden, california science center
+ paper samples, color schemes, pricing quotes
+ inception. wow! not usually my kind of movie (I'm easily frightened!) but I enjoyed it very much
+ "office" nail polish from american apparel
+ so grateful for my comfortable (but sorta ugly) work shoes. no more aching feet!