I am off for a long weekend to San Diego, for the first time! I am so excited! Plus, I get to explore “America’s Finest City” with one two of our favorite people ever. See ya on Monday!
Trend Spot: Sun Hats
It might not be 85 degrees and scorching hot anymore, but that doesn’t mean we can’t incorporate some beach favorites into our lives . Sun hats are a perfect addition, plus you get to rock a major retro style that is versatile and easy to pull off. I find that nearly any look from girly dresses to nautical stripes can work with the floppy headdress. Winter styles are available, such as this, and it can easily be incorporated into any closet. Plus, hats are a great way to add a dramatic effect to your ordinary outfit.
{Vintage hat, H&M top, F21 pants, Target wedges, La Mer watch}
Showing off California
The last few days two of my best friends, in the whole world, came to visit. We successfully hit nearly all the most “touristy” sites we could cram into a 3 day weekend. As I suspected, however, my favorite part of their visit included ordering pizza, painting our nails, and watching movies we used to love (Spice World). I had such a great time, and it was such a treat to share my new stomping ground with such good friends.
{Obviously HAD to try Sprinkles!}
{Santa Monica Pier, PINKS hotdogs, Laugh Factory, the Late Late Show taping}
Allyson and Emily, thank you again for visiting. Love you!
On Thursday we have two more friends visiting, but this time we are heading to San Diego. Can’t wait!!!
Any suggestions of absolute must-sees?
Le Comptoir @ the Tiara Cafe
I just had the most amazing dinner. I love going out to eat, and tonight was such a treat. I caught word of this new “pop up” restaurant from my Dad so Jake and I decided to check it out. We started celebrating his birthday last night with a limo to a local martini lounge and continued the celebration at Le Comptoir at the Tiara Cafe in downtown LA. It features a weekly-changing menu with all produce locally grown. This is a special kind of restaurant because it is only open Thursday-Saturday for a couple of months. In addition to its seasonal opening, there are also only twelve seats available. Needless to say, we were thrilled to get a reservation. Since I will slaughter any attempt at sounding gourmet, or French, I will share our meal with you in lamens terms but still share the fancy verbiage.
Our meal started with “amuse”, which is French for bite-size, cheese stuffed pepper over grits. I was unable to snap a photo because I was too busy devouring the delicious for dourves.
Our first course was a “Broccoli veloute, creme fraiche, and crackers” which was basically a creamy broccoli soup with little crackers filled with the most delicious cheese. This soup was to die for.
The second course consisted of “oeuf sur la plat, sunny side up egg, tender greens, herbs, and flowers”. This was a bit of a DIY portion because we were able to fold in each addition to the egg as we pleased. Very fun…and tasty.
Next, was my favorite. In Chef Gary Menes words, we had a “roasted delicate squash, mustard frill, barley, preserved cherry compote, and chanterelle mushrooms”. I have always been too picky to try squash, but I finally see how much I have been missing out. And mustard frill?! YUM!
The fourth course was the main event. This was entitled, “poularde, young chicken ouched in whey, cracking, carrots, parsnips, hearts of romaine, and french shallots”. Chef Gary shared that the restaurant community is starting to move more towards the natural shape of foods, rather than altering fruits and vegetables to seems more appealing. As you see from the photo below, it is still a very interesting and artfully created plate.
Lastly, we indulged in something sweet…and chocolately. This, surprisingly, was my least favorite of the courses. The dessert consisted of a chocolate mousse/pudding with a caramelized orange peel, rich chocolate sauce, and pomegranate seeds. As I am writing this I am questioning myself on why it wasn’t my favorite, but perhaps I was just too full from everything else.
I almost forgot to mention the best part. THE BREAD. The most amazing, hot-out-of-the-oven bread I have ever tasted. How this bread was created is beyond me, but I would happily go back many times simply to sample the bread. It was AMAZING.
Overall, we had such a fantastic night. It was such a special treat to get to taste delicious foods with new and unexpected flavors, and of course celebrate Jake’s 23rd birthday.
*To make a reservation, email lecomptoirla@gmail.com
Orange Creamsicle
{H&M top, H&M shorts, F21 belt, Target Wedges}
I consider this outfit to be the epitome of a bargain, with all items equaling less than $45. I am a huge fan of sale shopping, and an even bigger fan of bragging about my amazing deals. I just got these shorts on sale from H&M for $5. What a steal! I had originally thought I would pair them with a black top, but when my boyfriend said they reminded him of a Creamsicle…white top it was! Jake always makes up names for my “costumes” and usually I find them comically amusing but today I happily took his advice.
Hello Brownie Pops, Goodbye Cake Pops
Well actually, I am not quite ready to say farewell to my beloved cake pops. I probably won’t ever be. But brownie pops are 100% easier, and I really appreciate that. Cake pops used to be my favorite dessert but cake is so moist and easily slips off a stick {cake pop recipe}, while brownies are a bit more sticky and do not require the addition of frosting. Enjoy a fabulous treat that looks very involved, but once you get a system going…it runs very smoothly, and I promise you will have fun!
Before you get started, make sure you have the following:
Brownie mix – homemade or store bought..I. choose the latter for simplicity
Meltable chocolate – I used CandiQuick because a) it is cheap, b) it really is quick and easy, and c) i can’t tell the difference between this and other, higher quality brands
Crushed nut of your choice, I used walnuts
Pretzels
Small marshmallows (halved)
Optional Additions:
Styrofoam block
Popsicle sticks, or if you want to get fancy, buy {THIS }
Bake brownies as directed. Cut into squares as if you were going to serve them. Instead of sharing your treat, drop the brownies into a large mixing bowl and roll into small balls and set aside. Remove the outer rim of the brownie batch and save (we used them for an ice cream topper).
Melt your chocolate according to packaged directions.
Once your brownies are rolled into small balls, insert a popsicle stick and prepare to decorate. See my work station above.
Once you have decorated the brownie pops, freeze them for about an hour to solidify the chocolate coating.
I went a little crazy with the extra toppings…we now have A LOT of rocky road Ritz crackers and pretzels.
There are so many fun variations on this recipe, what toppings sound good to you?
Enjoy 
Walking Dead
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
We did our celebrating this weekend at the Long Beach Zombie Walk, which was quite a site. Minneapolis holds a pretty amazing Zombie Pub Crawl which I have unfortunately missed the last two years, so I was very excited to hear that Long Beach had something planned too. The event had TWO world record goals, first to host the most zombies in one place (Seattle holds the title with 4,700) and second to achieve the highest number of people doing “Thriller” at once (Brazil is #1 at 11,000). I have yet to hear the results. Regardless of whether or not we broke the records, we had a fantastic night that was well worth the $6 we spent on make up and fake blood. Precede to photos below with caution.
What are your Halloween plans?
Photos courtesy of LB Zombie Walk
Black on Black…On Black…On Black
{H&M top – similar here, Len Druskin skirt – similar here, ASOS socks, TopShop Shoes – similar here}
Today was perfect. I got to sleep in, have lunch with a good friend (while I might add, having AMAZING crepes), meet with Jenn from Fabulous on a Dime, and enjoy the evening at home with leftover mulled wine. I am loving my new job, but a day off in the middle of the week is absolutely idyllic.
“Ahh…October in a Glass”
When I decided to come to California, I had this image of the southern part of the state being perpetually 80 and sunny. I was not 100% correct in this assumption, there are definitely the occasional chilly days. Despite my love for the sun, I am happy to bring on a bit of chill because that means it is appropriate to make some of my cold-time favorites. And this recipe just oozes autumn.
I first tried mulled wine in London last year with my family. It seemed like every pub and restaurant we visited had the traditional drink as a “special” around the Halloween and Christmas season. I took some convincing to try this beverage as it was ladled out of what I can only imagine was a large, tin garbage bin. Once I got over my sanitation fears, I was very pleasantly surprised. If you are unfamiliar with mulled wine, it is simply a mix of dry red wine and spices that is served warm on cooler days.
Ingredients:
2 bottles of dry red wine
5oz. of Brandy
4-5 cinnamon sticks
14 full cloves
orange zest
juice of one orange
Warm all ingredients over medium heat for about 20 minutes but do no bring to a boil. Garnish with a cinnamon stick.
P.S. Mulled wine is good the first day you make it, and even better the next day once the spices have all set in.
Window Shopping
Yesterday Jake and I spent the early evening window shopping in some of the interesting stores in Belmont Shores. We successfully did not purchase anything {except a Lebanese dinner at Open Sesame}, but did find some cool additions for a wish list. Some of my favorites include a cookbook that designs gourmet meals for two, cologne packaged as Cuban cigars, a cork that doubles as a wine chiller, and bath salts disguised as delicious cupcakes…
(Cooking for Two, a vintage typewriter in great condition, Cuba Paris Cologne}
{Corkcicle, Feeling Smitten bath bombs, Tea Forte with gorgeous serving pot}
Happy Hump Day!