Long Weekend Report

I spent the long weekend with some of my most favorite people in the entire world. My mom, grandma, two aunts, and cousin all came in from Chicago to visit.

The weather was perfect (if not a little hot) and we spent pretty much every waking moment eating, drinking, laughing, and doing.

Their first day was a little hectic; the valet guys left my car running at lunch and then it died and from there thing just went haywire. We needed to catch a break and Milo and Olive delivered. Their food is always phenomenal - but we our order this time around was spot on, and everyone was in Heaven.  The atmosphere is casual and fun and it's a nice change of pace from your average restaurant.

If you are ever in LA, it's one of my all time favorites.

 

The next morning, our group hit the ground running. My grandma and Aunt Betty were staying with my cousin Cole who had his firstborn in October, so it was just the four of us.  Our first stop of the morning was the Santa Monica Pier.

 

We got to the pier around 9 which was nice because it wasn't overly crowded yet.

   

  

We hit some shops on 3rd St. in Santa Monica and then headed home to hose a lunch for more  more family come up from Orange County. My mom's cousins live in OC, so they made a day trip to come up to visit with everyone which was was so nice.

 

That night we ordered in pizza and babysat Nolan while his parents took advantage of all of the eager babysitters. 

After a Valentine's-themed breakfast, my mom, Gia, Joel and I went to Westridge to hike off all of those amazing donuts.

 

After the hike we freshened up and then went to M Street in Santa Monica for brunch. The weather was too perfect not to walk the beach to Venice so we left our car in Santa Monica and walked the mile to Venice Beach and Abbot Kinney.

 

Sometimes it really does take having visitors in to truly see how gorgeous LA really is. And Venice through a 15 year old's eyes is pretty hilarious. 

We went straight from Venice to Cole and Brianna's to visit with everyone, have dinner and play games. More of my cousins drove up from San Diego so we all had a blast catching up and telling stories. After dinner we played a competitive game of Heads Up, per my Grandma's request, which was as hilarious as you may suspect.

 

 

On our last day, we decided to take a drive up to Santa Barbara. Gia wanted to visit UCSB and the views on the way  never disappoint, so we took a little Sunday drive. 

 

We had a great brunch at Blush on State Street, then shopped around before turning around to head home. 

Joel had stayed home and cooked us all an amazing dinner of fresh ceivche, fish tacos, and corn salad. We watched the SNL awards and before I knew it, I was dropping them all back off at LAX.

These trips always go too fast and it never gets easier to say goodbye. I'm heading home in about 4 weeks which helps, but my house already feels lonely without them all.

Hey Joel

In lieu of Friday's Five, and since Joel and I don't have a chance to really celebrate Valentine's Day this weekend, I figured I may as well get him where I know he reads. 

Thank you Joel for being the very best part of my day. Thank you for dealing with me when I'm psychotic. Thank you for opening my car door. Thank you for watching bad tv with me. Thank you for understanding when I don't want to make dinner. Thank you for making me coffee every morning.  Thank you for checking in on me everyday.

Thank you for being so good to my sisters and friends. Thank you for working so hard. Thank you for not caring that I like bad movies. Thank you for washing my car. Thank you for always showing up. Thank you for making my dreams come true.

Thank you for being my safety net, my rock, my peace, my moral compass and my best friend.

Eye Candy

 

 

  

xo

How I try to chill the **** out

I'm not sure if it's Mercury, or that I'm just going crazy, or if it just really has been raining a shitstorm over my head these last few weeks but it's been overwhelming. I've just felt like everything, big or small, is too much - even the good stuff - so this week I've really, really, really tried to focus on relaxing at night and getting to a better mental place (without wine).

When I'm overwhelmed and stressed, watching TV and reading actually bother me more than relax me. I've found that to really zen out, I need to incorporate pretty much all of the below:

:::Phone calls - we all have our list of friends that we call for different reasons. If I need to be calmed down, if I need to vent, if I need to laugh, if I need to be distracted....I have friends that do each of those for me so it's nice to tap those resources.

:::Going outside - taking Roscoe more than around the block as the day settles is so relaxing. I normally find a reason why I can't take the 25 minutes, but when I do, I'm reminded that I love that time of day to be outside. The weather is perfect, everyone is getting home from work, it feels very cozy in my neighborhood at dusk. Sometimes sitting on our patio for a few minutes does the trick too.
 
:::Scented Candles - at 5 I like to light my candles and straighten up from the day. Since I work from home this my signal to put away the computer and try to start the night on a relaxing note.

 

::: Pintrest - normally before I start cooking dinner, I'll spend a good thirty minutes just binge pinning and totally zoning out.

 :::Hot Tea - After Joel and I clean up dinner we put a pot of tea on and when it's ready, its normally when I leave the living room to go chill out.

:::Magazines - books bother me, but US weekly is the exception to that rule so just zoning out with a few of the above (tea + candle, bath + dr.teals, etc) make for a super chill out moment

:::Lavender Bath - Dr. Teals  Lavender Soothe&Sleep is one of my top 5 favorite products in the world. 

:::Epsom Salt - if you haven't, you should try Epsom salt tonight. It's has proven qualities to relax your muscles, impact your blood flow, reduce stress and improve sleep. I try to soak in it as often as possible and can always tell a difference. 

 



:::Vix Vapor Rub - Joel is not a fan, but 'a little dab will do ya',  and for some reason, the rub takes me from physco to calm in seconds flat. I know it's not intended to do that, but like a chamomile spray, the smell and focus on deep breathing has major calming effects for me.

 

My list is very #basic but it works for me, and making a fuss of zening out helps me feel indulgent and so I try to rock the experience guilt free. Do you have any stressed out cure-all that I need???

Our (low carb) Dinners

 

This was last week's plan, and it all went accordingly except for the shimp bowls which were inturrepted for a happy hour that went later than we planned so we had eggs and toast for dinner that night. 

But the 3 out 5 meals that I did make were all hits.

Monday

Roasted mushroom and cauliflower quinoa salad

My girlfriend Laura made this salad for me and it's been on heavy rotation ever since. I've been throwing in chicken too which helps hearty it up and then I serve over kale.

 Tuesday

Rosemary Garlic Steaks

I currently have a love affair going on with fresh rosemary and these were mouth watering.

Thursday

Crock-Pot White Chicken Chili

The recipe called for white corn, but Trader Joe's didn't have any so I used half a can of yellow corn. The recipe also calls for sour cream which I subbed out for plain Greek yogurt. 

This upcoming week we only have two meals on the board because my family is coming to visit, but hopefully I'll be able to get back on track sooner than later.

Five on Friday

:::1:::


I bit the bullet and grabbed the J.Crew sneakers. I ended up going with a different color than I originally planned because the lighter ones were just a little too bowling, if you know what I mean. They are really comfortable and really cute on. I'm not in love with that way they look when I'm in jeans, but I think I'll be wearing them mostly with workout pants for walking around my neighborhood and not wanting to be in flip flops or serious running shoes.

:::2:::

Next week my Mom, Grandma, aunts, and cousin Gia are all coming out to California - and I'm so excited! I feel really fortunate that my family is constantly coming to visit. I mean, this is the 2nd time my 86 year old Grandma will have come and stayed with me. I do need to find a few activities that my grandma, new born cousin, and 16 year old cousin will all have fun doing....but I'm up for the hilarity that will no doubt ensue.



:::3:::

I joined Equinox yesterday. I'm still a little nervous about it, but I have 3 weeks to test it out before I'm locked in. For the last 3 years in LA, I've gone to different classes and run outside,  but the classes have been seriously adding up and I'm overpaying for what I'm getting. The gym is walking distance to my house and offers every class under the sun, a pool, spa, machines, personal trainers, the whole kit and caboodle for about half of what I'm currently spending. I really, really, really hope I like it.


:::4:::
I have had a major spring cleaning bug and just want our entire house updated and organized. We have a lot to do and little time to do it, but these tidy images have been like porn lately!

 

     


:::5:::
This weekend we have a lot of plans to spend time with friends and family, and get our damn taxes done...and both of those things to me scream wine.

Have a great weekend!

What I Wore and Shoes I Want

Work It Girl

 

 

Monday 

I think the sweater is Maxx Studios? It's from Marshalls, gap leggings, Tahari boots, hat and scarf from Paris

 

Tuesday

 

Blouse is from a local boutique in Santa Monica, J.crew pants, J.crew heels

 

Wednesday

 

Vince Top, Paige Jeans, Loft Necklace, TB flats 

 

Thursday

 Zara top, J.crew Blouse, TB wedges

Friday

Veronica M. dress, gap leggings, ivanka trump boots

 I feel like my days to wear boots are starting to wrap up so I'm thinking about joining every other woman in America and snatching up some new kicks from J.Crew. I've been hesitating because I wasn't sure how I would style them, but after stalking and searching I may be able to pull them off with more than just workout pants.

             

 

What do you think? Have you rocked the jeans with sneakers look?

Meal Planning Weekly low-carb Dinners

I'm going to try and share some of our weekly dinners on a more consistent basis. I've really started to get in the groove of consistently cooking 4/5 nights a week and I like to try and keep adding new recipes to rotation. I try to keep our weekly dinners as low-carb as possible because I just feel better without too much white stuff in my diet.

Every week I spend about an hour going through Pintrest and pulling our menu together. I try and do only one grocery trip a week, so normally our Trader Joe's bill is about $150. I tend to cook dinners for 4 people so that we always have leftovers for lunch the next day.


We have a chalkboard menu in our kitchen which I stick pretty closely too.  Last week we had....

Monday

 Chicken Kale Ceaser

This makes an appearance almost every Monday. It makes a ton, holds up well for lunches, and is so damn good.

 

Tuesday

Quinoa Enchilada Casserole

Since the kale salad calls for quinoa, I made the whole package on Monday and saved half for this bake.

  I recently started buying pre-diced onions which is a major time saver

 

Wednesday

 Chicken Fajitas

Thursday

Buffalo Turkey Meatballs

This recipe is from my girl April, and it's one of my favorites! Since creamy blue cheese dressing can be really high in calories & fat, I take blue cheese crumbles and add them to plain Greek Yogurt and add salt and pepper. You cannot taste the difference!

I'm hoping I'll be able to remember to take pictures of our dinners this week but if you have any easy, low carb ideas - I'd love to hear your favorites!