Happies on Hump Day

This week has been stock full of goodies, and I'm just happy.  My cup runneth over.

[ My cup of  Sauvigon Blanc ] 

Here are the goods:   

• A new vacuum - and with a shedding dog, that is a major happy, which is equal parts alarming and hilarious. 

• We just booked a trip to meet my family in Scottsdale, Arizona in mid-September. I'm obsessed with Scottsdale and we are going to spend 5 days at the The Phoenician, play tennis, relax by the pool, drink and eat far too much, and just soak in as much family time as we can

• The cherry on top of this is that my sister Hannah is going to come the week before to Los Angeles and stay with Joel and I. Hannah is actually convince-able to move to LA and so I'm trying my very hardest to show her the best time, and find her a job. Any locals need a really cute, fashion/styling assistant? I'm not kidding...

 

• I'm hoping that by the time you are reading this, I'm officially a California licensed driver. I've got the DMV and test standing in my way - both of which do not have favorable reputations. And, I'm not going to lie, I've been studying all week, so if I fail I'm going to be the opposite of this friggen post.

 

• The older I get, the earlier I start to get excited for fall and I am counting down the days for college football to start!!

• Joel and I played tennis on Monday and are trying out tonight for weekly Live Ball matches in Westwood. I am seriously loving being back on the tennis courts.

 

• I finished and LOVED Four Of A Kind by Valerie Frankel - if you are looking for a great book on friendship, marriage, and/or motherhood, this will be your jam. I couldn't put it down. 

xo

Weekend Recap

 

 

We had another fantastic weekend with lots of friend, lots of food, and a few really awesome experiences.

Friday night I had a girlfriend come over for a drink after work. There is nothing like a cold glass of wine on Friday in good company. Shelby ended up staying for dinner, our good friend - and neighbor Matt - joined in the fun too, and I made everyone a homemade curry. Too much fun and tequila impeded on my picture taking - so I'm making it again this Friday and photo documenting the whole way though. It was so good, and really easy. 

Saturday morning Shelby and I took our dogs on a hike in Westridge canyon. Both of our dogs go off leash and on this hot morning they found a shaded spot under a few trees. They were sitting there for 10 seconds when they got warned with a rattle from a 4 foot rattle snake.

Can you spot him? That's his skinny tail.

I've never heard a rattle snake like this before, and it was the scariest and loudest sound I could have ever imagined. I knew if I ran away from the scene, Roscoe would follow, so we sprinted away and I got him on a leash right away. All of the other dogs were ok, but it could have gone much differently. We obviously ended the hike then and there.

Saturday night was our "underground" dinner with Foodshop. I wasn't sure how dressy the event would be but I ended up appropriately dressed in jeans, a blazer, and heels. 

 

 The location for dinner was in warehouse attached to an art gallery in downtown Venice. 

 

The warehouse was small, but housed one long table that sat about fifty of us for dinner. All of the serving ware was mismatched and eclectic, the lights were dim, and the crowd was fun and outgoing as soon as we walked in. I was a little apprehensive about the night, but once we sat down, we knew we were in for a treat.

 

Before they started serving dinner , they served everyone a gin gimlet - which was awesome. Then, came their enormous - and spectacular dinner. It started with homemade lemon and tomato foccacia bread and a grape salad - smoked mussels, grilled artichoke, steak frites, and a stone fruit ice cream with grilled peaches followed.

 

We were there for almost four hours - and every hour was more fun. We met such amazing people, had top notch Michelin style food and took in one of the coolest dining experiences I've ever had. 

  

On Sunday, we tried to fit in a quick workout to makeup for all of the eating we did the night before - but I'm not sure much of it helped.

We spent the day at a bar in Santa Monica - Kings Head - to watch the Gold Cup soccer finals.

 

I'm not a huge soccer fan, but being in a room with a bunch of fans and getting into the energy of the game is always fun. And, it sure does make me excited for college football to start up again.

This week we are trying out for a tennis group - and hoping to get California licenses. Wish us luck on both accounts! Ha!

 

Friday Five

1. It's been a heavy celeb spotting week - and - I'm not quite cool enough not to share. On Saturday my girlfriend and I were hiking and along the curve came the Rancic family - Bill, Guiliana, and even Baby Duke. 

Then on Tuesday, at my 8:30am SoulCycle class.....the big whammy. 

BRADLEY COOPER. 

Yes.

He sat front row, seemed pretty nice, looked like a total fox, and I spent 45 minutes spinning with a shit eattin' grin on my face.

Best class of my friggen life.

Thursday's class included Brooke Shields, who obviously, besides sharing my new last name, didn't thrill me nearly as much.

2. Ok, I don't want to lose friends over this next confession, but I really don't care about the new Royal baby.....at all. I do understand the fascination with Kate Middleton., because she has the most fabulous hair I've ever seen and has impeccable style.  

 

Prince William literally struck gold when he found that woman, but I am not into the royal circus that surrounds them. Remember all of the royal wedding parties had around the world? Really?

3. It took 3 months of trying, but I finally broke Joel down and convinced him to go see John Mayer at the Hollywood Bowl in October. I know he is a little bizarre - and I don't like the Katy Perry thing -  but I love his music, and any concert at the Hollywood Bowl is a huge win in my book.

4. A few months back I read this article about an underground dining club in Los Angeles called Foodshop. It's an invite-only group, and every month they send out an email with the menu and dates they are hosting dinner. 

The location changes, but the two chefs always stay the same. The menu and signature cocktail reflect the season and the group is based on a first come, first serve basis. They suggest a $60/pp donation and suggest you to BYOB. We are joining in on our first dinner - and I'm not sure what to expect, but I'm really excited. Full report to come.

5.  Somehow we have been married for 5 weeks on this Saturday. The 5 weeks before the wedding moved slower than a snails pace, but these first weeks of marriage have been the polar opposite. Even though I'm only five weeks in, I'm really enjoying the relaxed comfort of being husband and wife. It still feels very weird to call "him" my "husband", but I'm trying to get used to it and not feel like I'm being caught stuffing my bra every time someone catches me in the act. I really am married!! I swear! 

Enjoy your weekend doll!

My Go-To Weeknight Salad

During the summer months any dinner that I can make that takes under 15 minutes of prep time and doesn't the oven is a win in my book.

I make this Spicy Shrimp Salad almost every week and I just can't get enough of it. 

You can add or eliminate ingredients depending on what you have, but this is my typical recipe:

1 bag chopped Romain lettuce

1 cup sliced cherry tomatoes

1 avocado

1 can black beans

1 can corn

 1/4 cup jalapenos

1 lime for juice

Cilantro 

Siracha

Olive Oil

Salt & Pepper

Marinade the thawed, cooked shrimp in a baggie with siracha, cilantro, olive oil, 1/2 the lime juice, and salt, let sit for 30 minutes.  Warm the can of corn and black beans on the oven. In a large bowl, combine lettuce, cut tomatoes, diced jalapenos, chopped avocado, and cheese. Add warm corn and beans, top with shrimp (and all the excess juice for dressing), and added cheese.

Enjoy!

I'm pretty sure Joel is anxious for a new salad to hit the rotation, so let me know if you have a favorite salad staple that you make a lot at your house. 

and....Congrats to Mel @ Northern Lights for winning 30 Bonnie Marcus Thank You Notes.  Mel, I'll be in touch!

If you fell in love with a design, Bonnie Marcus is offering a 30% discount code for readers for their entire collection, so shop around and enter WEDDING13 to take advantage.

Wedding Wednesday: Welcome Bags

Putting together the Welcome Bags for our guests staying at the hotel turned out to be one of my favorite wedding tasks. 

My family and I went up to Lake Geneva on the Thursday before the big day and decided to stuff the bags in my parents room once we arrived. We had about 100 guests staying at the hotel so their big room filled up really, really quickly. 

 

 

For the actual bag we used a simple brown paper bag that my dad was able to get his hands on through his company and had Courtney Callahan (our stationer) make stickers to place in the middle.

Inside the bag my two "must have" items were a bag of Tyrrell's chips (my maiden name) and two Spotted Cow beers.

 

Neither were easy to come by. 

The chips are apparently a gourmet item and don't really come packaged in bulk. We ordered a few cases off of amazon that contained 6 bags, but for the most part my mom stocked up on them individually at World Market and Whole Foods.

The beer is only sold in Wisconsin so when we got to the hotel, my dad went to a grocery store and loaded up on a few dozen cases.

 

We ordered individual Advil packs off of Amazon, bought granola bars in bulk from Costco, included a resort map, and had welcome notes printed by Courtney. 

The bags were a lot of work but I think they ended up really personal, and actually useful. More than a few people after the wedding made comments about the "great beer" and "cute chips" - so I think they were a hit.

After our bag packing adventure it was nice to just hang out with my parents and sisters and lay low.

 I miss them like crazy right now.

We went to dinner that night, the 6 of us, and had such a good time. It's hard to get us all at a dinner table, and keep it just us, so it was a very cherished moment - especially during such a crazy weekend.

I really needed a few glasses of wine as my nerves were starting to kick in. We went around and told funny stories about Joel and I and just enjoyed one of the last nights of my single-ness.

 

p.s. Don't forget to follow this blog and leave a comment HERE so that you can win 30 free Thank You notes. I don't ever do giveaways, but this one is actually worth it! 

Yo, Shorty

Living in California, and working from home, my everyday uniform changed a full 180 from what it once was, working and living in downtown Chicago.

I love Loft's cotton, graphic shorts. I go up one size because there are few things I hate more than tight shorts. 

Loft is cleaning out their summer inventory, so I snagged these to add to my collection.

 

Since California's summer lasts all the way until October/November, you will probably find me on this constant wardrobe rotation.

 Are you a shorty kinda girl?

A Thank You GIVEAWAY

Last week I finally finished sending out all of my wedding Thank You's. I actually enjoyed sitting at the kitchen table, lighting a candle, listening to Frank Sinatra and writing notes to friends and family across the country. I like (trying) to use good penmanship and being creative and thoughtful with every note. I will admit though, after about 50, it got a little old.

For my wedding Thank You stationery, we continued with the custom "wedding logo" and decided to keep them simple so that I could use them for other occasions as well.

Courtney Callahan designed all of my paper products and she was amazing to work with.

For my wedding showers and bachelorette party, I used a darling Bonnie Marcus Collection design.

 

So, to celebrate the completion of finishing up my thank yous, I thought I could help you add to your stationery collection with 30 Thank You Notes by Bonnie Marcus.

It's super easy to enter:

1. Be a follower of this blog using Google Friend Connect

2. Click HERE and leave a comment that includes which Thank You note design you would choose if you won

Here are a few of my favorites...

 

Winner will be announced on Thursday!

Friday Five!

1. Yesterday I finished all of our wedding thank you notes. We had 236, very generous guests, so it took me 2 straight weeks of doing thank you notes everyday for an hour. To celebrate - I'm going to host a stationery giveaway on Monday - so make sure to come back and visit!

2. Joel has a work trip in Nashville next week, and since most of his family lives there, he is taking off early to spend some time with everyone. Even though I will miss him, the thought of being home alone always makes me excited. I'm having some girls over tonight for homemade pizza and wine, and then tomorrow after a hike I'm watching tons of chick-flicks and ordering in take out.

3. It's been really nice to be back to working out without the pressure I was putting on myself for the wedding. Now, instead feeling like I have to go SoulCycle - I'm just going because I really like it. 

4. One of my best friends, since high school, has been living and working in South Korea for the last year and a half. The last time I saw her was at my aunt's funeral last March, a week before she left. She is coming back to the United States and making a 4-day pit stop in Los Angeles - which just about made my freaking week! I can't wait to get my hands on her!



5. Since we've been home, I've tried to give our condo a facelift. The job is never done, but this week I added some new plants, (and succulents, mom) to try and spruce it up a bit. It's not big, but it's nice to have a little room outside.

The ongoing to-do list is long - but I'm determined to finally get a headboard for our master, find some new, monogrammed hand towels for the bathrooms, and update some of the"art".

Have a fabulous weekend.