Klondike Bar

What would you do, for a Klondike bar?

I would eat carrots for lunch so I can justify having one at 1:50 pm. ;)

(photo via The Daily Click).

Vacation

When was the last time you went on vacation? I'm very excited to tell you that Zac and I leave Tuesday for Austin and New Orleans. So I won't be posting as regularly for the next week, but I will have lots of pictures (I hope) to share when we get back. Zac and I are pretty helpless at picture taking, but I promise, we'll try. Joanna Goddard over at Cup of Jo had a great post recently about her upcoming trip to Austin, and readers' suggestions and comments were really helpful! Have you ever been to Austin? Or even Texas or Louisiana? I'm so excited to see the "south", I've never been!

I think I'm most looking forward to the beignets in New Orleans, and checking out the raved about South Congress area in Austin! Vacation here we come!

(photos via Forgiving Martha and Video City Guide).

Madness

Did you play sports growing up? It seems like most kids tried some sport out at some point. My thing was basketball. I loved it. Every day, since I was probably 7 years old. I remember getting a hoop at my house when I was in 7th grade- it was like the best thing ever.

In celebration of March Madness, I wanted to reflect on my long lost love for basketball. Sometimes me and a friend take a Saturday to shoot some hoops, but honestly, I don't do it enough. What is it about growing up and neglecting the things we found most fun as kids? I'm going to play this weekend. Well, probably after I watch some basketball on TV first!

Who says girls don't like sports?

(photo via 2600.com)

Scarves

Do you like to wear scarves? Living in L.A., I feel like scarves are a year-long accessory. Check out The Fashion Spot for a mini tutorial on 15 "chic" ways to tie a scarf. I always do #6, but I want to try #3. I think this calls for some scarf shopping. Any suggestions?

(photo via EcoSalon).

Collectibles

Do you collect anything? I collect Starbucks mugs. I've been doing it for years, as a way to represent my love for traveling, and my love for coffee, every time I go to a new city, I try to pick up a mug. And I have these awesome friends who actually buy me mugs from cities that I've never been to. My collection is up to 34 mugs. That's probably only half of the mugs in the photo above, but I still think it's pretty impressive. I've got an Australia mug, Tokyo, Beijing, Germany- you name it! Of course, there's always more places to go and coffee to drink, so I'm going to keep at it. The only question is, where will I put them!?

(photo via metrophoto)

Affagato

Have you ever tried an Affagato? One word: YUM. I tried this marvelous concoction once at an Italian restaurant, and now want it every time I go back there. The beauty of it is in its simplicity. The ingredients include vanilla gelato with espresso poured over it. And voila. Affagato. And if you're not an espresso fan? Well then, I'm just sorry for you!

(photo credit unknown)

Los Angeles

Are you like Randy Newman? Do you LOVE L.A? I love lots of places, but today, I thought I'd share a bit about my love for the place I have called home for almost the last 10 years (!), Los Angeles.

I love L.A. because each area is so different than the one beside it. I work in Venice, and live in Palms- one is a hippie lovin', laid back, wacky beach part of town and the latter is an apartment filled neighborhood with lots of dogs and near 2 major freeways. And there's so many other cities within the city. Santa Monica boarders Venice, and when you enter Santa Monica, as my friend Sarah pointed out, "you can tell". Santa Monica is more gentrified, more put together, with a Bloomingdales and a Promenade, it's still got great culture, but you're a far way from the tattoo lined boardwalk of Venice. I could go on, Long Beach, Beverly Hills, Downtown, Hollywood, West Hollywood, and good ol' fashioned L.A., which is somewhere in the middle of all of that. Los Angeles has SO much character. I've been here for years, and I feel like I learn more about this place everyday. So that's my abbreviated love song for the city. I hope you can come and take it in one day. As parts of my posts, I'd like to continue this Los Angeles theme and drop hints on my favorite places and tricks about town.

Where do you live? What's it like?

(photo via legends of america).

Bad habits

What are your bad habits? I guess most people don't like sharing them. Mine is biting my nails. I'm proud to say after probably 20 years, I finally stopped biting them regularly, but still, I have my nervous moments, when I find my nails ravaged by my anxiety. I know it's a bad habit, but hey, nobody's perfect, and we've all got bad habits, right? It's not just me, RIGHT?!

(photo made me laugh from parenting4tomorrow)

Drinkify

Have you heard of the website Drinkify.com? Here's how it works: you enter an artist or a band that you're listening to and it tells you what libations to pair with the smooth tunes. I put in Jewel, and it spat out a microbew concoction mixed with Nordic mist (whatever that is) and grapefruit juice. How fun!

(check out what they recommend for Miles Davis music. Yikes)

The flu

So that illness I eluded to on Friday, the flu. Ugh. Being sick is the worst! And I am such a wimp when it comes to feeling all achy and weak. I have to say, I am one grateful girl for having Zac around to take care of me. Zac has been heating up water, making soup, and even opening up the Tylenol bottle when I couldn't handle that! On top of that, when Zac was at work when I first got sick, my best friend Kim came and delivered me Tylenol and Gatorade! A sick girl's dream!

Are you a wimp like me when you're sick? Or do you take care of yourself? If not, then who takes care of you? My mom is another A list caregiver. Maybe you're more of a caregiver than a care-receiver? I have to say, I do a pretty good job taking care of Zac when he's sick because I definitely have empathy for him! I don't know about you, but I think we all need someone to take care us, whether it's a mom, dad, best friend, boy/girlfriend, or spouse. Here's to you all feeling healthy today!

(photo via 9ori)

Talking about Money

I recently watched a documentary called Born Rich. The movie is done by a young heir of the Johnson and Johnson family, and most of the movie is him interviewing his young friends who have all inherited their huge amounts of wealth. What a fascinating window into another world. Have you seen it? Do you like documentaries?

But here's what I wanted to ask you. As a throw back to Living Proper, and whatever that means, what do you think about 'talking about money'? Is it proper, improper, tacky? This kid got a lot of flack for making this movie. But I say Bravo! Bravo because we need to talk about the hard things. Don't worry, there's not a wrong answer. The important part is to participate in the conversation.

Cheers!

Monday Quotations

For those of you who like to start your week off with an extra kick in your step, check out this website for some inspirational quotes. I liked the last one the most:

"The problem with quotes on the Internet is that it is hard to verify their authenticity"- Abraham Lincoln.

That one made me smile. Hope your day is filled with them.

Girl Scout cookies

Which ones are your favorite? Were you ever a girl or boy scout? If you were, what did you learn/ take away from that experience?

My favorites are definitely the Caramel Delights, or "Samoas", as they're apparently called now. The chocolatey-coconut mixture, with that extra little crunch from the coconut shavings on top is my own little slice of heaven. Maybe I especially like them because I was a girl scout. I remember going on a kayaking trip with my troop, which was super cool. I must have been in 4th or 5th grade. To this day, I feel especially confident in my kayaking skills, I mean, I did earn a badge.

Today, I saw some girl scouts and it donned on me that it is "that time of year". So immediately, I dragged Zac to the nearest Pavillions, and scoped out the cookie stand. We bought one box of Caramel Delights and one box of Thin Mints. Splurge!

Grandma's advice

My grandma, lately, has been checking in on me to see if I've been drinking my smoothies. Yes, smoothies. Now, don't get ahead of yourself- this is not an "oh, silly grandma" story, but an "oh my gosh, my grandma is so cool" story. Today I wanted to share a secret with you. My grandma is one of the healthiest women I know. I would tell you her age, but she would hire someone to have me killed. Let's just leave it at this- she is spectacular, and healthy, which is something I really admire about her. So take it from grandma, this is how to stay strong and healthy:

Every day, make a smoothie. All you need is some ice, a blender, and an assortment of fruit. Grandma recommends red grapes because they have antioxidants and make the smoothie taste "chocolatey", and a banana. Otherwise, feel free to throw in some berries, melon, you name it. Personally, I like berries and I include some nonfat vanilla yogurt, I'm not sure if that's what grandma includes in hers, but I've tried it this way, and it is de-licious. So that's it. An easy piece of advice to start your day off right, get MUCH needed vitamins and anti-oxidants in our otherwise nutrient void foods, AND it tastes good! I swear! Leave it to grandma to have it all figured out. Are you close with your grandma or grandpa? Do they, or did they ever give you advice, or recipes? (picture of Eleanor, aka, grandma; isn't she gorgeous?)