Friday Faves

With the very much anticipated trip to visit my friends in Florida FINALLY here, this was a very busy week.    I had lots to do at work, to prepare for my 6 day absence along with packing, errands and extra working out so I could be ready for 8 days full of eating, drinking, lounging and laughing my heart out with two of my bestest friends.  

I have known Les since we were in 4th grade and Carol, I met during my middle school years.  We weren't always really close, but over the past 8 years our friendship has grown to be truly one of the most respected, loved and cherished friendships I have.  Not only do I love them each individually, but they are also one of the strongest and most admired couples that I know.  

Our lives have been very similar over the past 8 years, which is what I attribute our friendship's growth to.  We all started our higher education in 2006, along with moving out west (from Detroit), them to Vegas, me to San Diego.  Then Carol and Les moved to Florida so Carol could complete her residency around the same time I relocated to Los Angeles for my first official full time job post grad school.  Each time we get together we somehow manage to have more fun then the time before.  This is something that I truly treasure, yet have no idea how we are consistently able to pull it off.  It's these moments that I live for and that make everyday normal life all worth it!  Here's to another awesome trip and I can't wait to leave on Saturday!        

Gorgeous table setting for book club brunch

Thanks to Lauren for hosting

Avocado, egg, tomato & cheese toast

Hazelnut coffee - my fave flavor

Beautiful daisies in jars of rice at 

The California Winemasters charity event

Enjoying some KJ 

in honor of National Chardonnay Day

National Chardonnay Day

A friend recently shared with me that May 23 is National Chardonnay Day!  I am not sure how I missed this in the past, seeing as this is the 4th annual one.  In honor of my love of wine and my particular favorite, I thought I would share my favorite Chardonnays.

Kendall Jackson Vintners Reserve
Estancia
Robert Mondavi Private Selection
Sextant
Crane Lake
Francis Coppola

Hmm, perhaps next year I should organize a Chardonnay tasting of every one's favorites in my home.  

Cheers and I hope you can all enjoy a nice cold glass of Chard this evening in honor of National Chardonnay Day!!!

  

Friday Faves

Finding the simple pleasures in life can be a challenge at times.  As much as I'd love to admit that my life is all champagne and roses, it's just not!  So this weeks Friday Faves post was a bit of a challenge for me.  But I did my best and am proud that I still found things to make me smile during a trying week.

As for the weekend, I am looking forward to volunteering at California Winemasters on Saturday evening and dinner and cocktails with friends tonight plus our book club meeting on Sunday afternoon.  Next weekend I am off to Florida, so there might be some shopping and planning for the trip ahead, yay for vacay!

Strawberries from the Santa Monica Farmer's Market

Finally getting around to reading this book

Splitting one of the best cheeseburger's I have ever had with a friend

(R & D Kitchen) 

Venti coffee - which was much needed on Thursday morning

Attending a weight watchers meeting

Sloppy Joe - Male & Female versions

I have become a pro at cooking healthy meals for myself, but when it comes to cooking for a man this can often be difficult. I try to find easy ways to make a full calorie version for him & a lighter one for myself without making two completely different meals.  

When I made Sloppy Joe's recently, I made a regular version with ground beef, onions & Manwhich sauce. And then, I took some of the meat into a separate pot & added tofu to my portion. This lowered the calories and kept the protein level high for myself. I also served my portion as an open faced sandwich to save on the calories from the white bun.  

Left: Man plate (Points Plus Value = 22)

Right: Woman plate (Points Plus Value =  10)

Up close of woman's plate

Up close of man's plate

How do you eat healthy while cooking for your boyfriend/husband or your entire family?

Friday Faves

The past weekend and week was a busy one.  I spent most of the weekend visiting with friends and during the week, I spent most of my time watching hockey.  With the Detroit Red Wings in the playoffs and playing in Anaheim it made for an exciting week!  I tried getting tickets for game 5 on Wednesday, but sadly it didn't pan out.  I did however cheer the Wings on from home.  

I am originally from Detroit and although I live in LA, I will always be a die hard Detroit sports fan, NO MATTER WHAT!  It is no secret that Detroiters are hard core, when it comes to sports.  Whether our teams are winning or losing we always support them and don't jump ship.  The Wings play game 6 tonight and they need to win it for a chance to stay in the playoffs!  Let's GO RED WINGS!!!   

Layering bracelets & enjoying my newest Stella & Dot piece from my consultant and fellow blogger

Labatt Blue, White Castle sliders & homemade wings for Monday's Red Wings game

Enjoying my new Ralph Lauren rain boots

Food I purchased for the Stamp Out Hunger Campaign

Mixing stripes & prints (again)

Stamp Out Hunger Campaign

(photo source)

When I first volunteered at the Los Angeles Food Bank I was shocked to hear that 1 in 6 Americans suffer from hunger.  That includes 17 million children, who aren't always sure if they will be able to eat 3 meals daily.  We live in a country that produces more food then our population can eat, yet we still have people go without food.  

(photo source)

This Saturday, May 11, 2013, Feeding America is sponsoring a Nationwide food campaign called Stamp Out Hunger.  The National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC)  aka your mail man or woman will pick up any non-perishable items that are left by your mail box and donate them to a local food bank.  Take a look at the link above to learn more about the campaign, and please leave some food out by your mail box.  I am sure we can all find a canned good or two that we can spare from our pantry to help feed others that are in need.  I stopped at my local grocery store and picked up 2 bags full of groceries to donate!    

(photo source)

Weekend Egg Scramble

On weekdays I tend to eat pretty simple breakfast meals, a hard boiled egg, Greek yogurt or oatmeal accompanied by some fruit.  So when the weekend comes around I love splurging on a larger more wholesome breakfast.  I am not patient or detail oriented enough to poach eggs or even make omelette's for that matter (I somehow always mess these up).  So I love a good egg scramble!  

The best thing about this recipe (and most of my recipes) is that you can change ingredients out for what you like or what you have at home.  I always have eggs and cheese, so in addition I just add whatever veggies and/or protein I have and Voila! 

For this recipe here are the ingredients I used:

2 eggs

2 slices of turkey

1/4 cup of shredded Mexican blend cheese

1/8 of a red onion

1/4 red and green bell pepper

1/2 a tomato

1 handful of spinach    

First, saute the onion and turkey slices (or meat of your choice).

Add the bell peppers.

Add eggs, cheese, tomatoes and spinach.  Another lazy trick, is that I never scramble the eggs before putting them in the pan.  I just crack them directly into the pan and scramble them with all of the vegetables.  I am not sure if this is a Polish thing, European thing or what, but my mom always did it this way so that's how I learned.  And to me, it makes perfect sense, why dirty yet another bowl.

Cover so the cheese melts and spinach wilts nicely.

Add a side of fruit, piece of toast and a cup of coffee and you have a perfect egg scramble.  Or if you are feeling festive or have guests over make a larger batch and add some mimosas for a wonderful weekend brunch!

Mixing prints & patterns

One of the newest fashion trends, is to incorporate multiple patterns into one look.  This has been difficult for me to try, because I have a hard time when things aren't balanced or don't match.  What can I say?  I am a true Libra.  When I was visiting Napa Valley a few weeks back, I figured it would be a great time to go out of my comfort zone try this new trend.  I always seem to feel more adventurous in my outfit choices when traveling.  

I paired a blue and white striped dress (also seen here - Banana Republic) with a leopard print scarf (H&M) and flats (Cathy Jean).  I added a chunky jeweled cuff (Banana Republic) for the perfect accent.  Clearly, I still had the need for balance by wearing the leopard print twice.  Maybe one day I will break this (bad?) habit.

How do you mix prints and patterns into your everyday looks?
  

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger

A friend said this to me years ago and it really stuck.  I have been blessed to have lived a life with not too many "real" struggles and this I am truly grateful for.  However, we all face some level of adversity in our lives from time to time.  When I do go through things and feel like things are getting hard, I remember my friend saying this to me and try to feel empowered.  As life throws difficulties our way, we must remember that we are becoming stronger because of them and these strengths are building, to help us get through whatever is coming next.  Feeling defeated and beaten down will get us no where, feeling strong will help us overcome anything that is thrown our way.        

(photo source)

Great Strides

The Great Strides walk was a HUGE success this year!  I raised $415 and my team donated a total of $795.  All of our fundraising efforts paid off and with only 4 total team members (one could not attend the walk), I am pretty impressed with our efforts.  I am proud to show how just a little bit of effort can make a fairly large contribution to a great cause.  

At this time there is an FDA approved medication that cures CF for about 4% of the population with the disease.  This medication can be taken be children 6 years and older and is taken twice daily.  It has been said to cure or significantly reduce symptoms of CF, allowing these individuals to live longer and fuller lives.  It took about $75 million in outside research to discover this drug in previous years.  With that being said, there is much more work to be done and more money to be raised, in order to find a cure for everyone who lives with CF.     

Special thanks to my team for walking with me and helping me raise funds!  

Special thanks to everyone who donated this year and in previous years!

Special thanks to Rubio's and GanoLife for helping us fundraise!  

Friday Faves

After a lazy weekend, I woke up on Monday feeling ready to take on the world!  Okay, maybe not the world, but I was feeling strangely positive and productive.  I spent a good amount of time tackling things on my to do list along with meal prepping throughout the week.  Going along with that lazy weekend I have been having a hard time making healthy choices and hitting the gym consistently.  So this week I committed to tracking weight watchers points again.  For those of you that have ever tried weight watchers, know that means measuring, portioning, tracking and lots of math!  But it's felt good and already after just a week I have lost 3.4 lbs.  I am currently a lifetime member, so I need to stay with in plus or minus 2 lbs of my goal weight.  Lately I have put on some weight so I knew I needed to track again to keep myself in line.  Let's hope I don't derail my progress with margarita's and tortilla chips this Cinco de Mayo weekend!  

Quality blogging time at Starbucks

Hand picked lilies 

Receiving photos of my friend's daughter who is wearing a gift from me

Perfect leopard (reversible) Michael Kors belt added to an all black ensemble

Afternoon snack, green tea (in my fave mug) & Parmesan garlic pop chips, 

portioned to prevent mindless eating  

(3 points plus for 22 chips)

Black & Blue

I use to be weary of combining black and blue.  They are both such dark colors and I didn't find them to work well together, until recently.  Pairing this flow-y cobalt top with black skinnies and a black blazer gave the whole look a chic feel.  It's a simple outfit that is classy, versatile and comfortable all in one.

Cobalt top (also seen here) & Blazer - Macy's
Skinnies - Adriano Goldschmied
Booties - Nine West
Clutch - Michael Kors
Sunglasses - Target
Jewelry - Tiffanys, Lia Sopia & gifted 

San Francisco Part I

As a child and adolescent, I use to dread my parents taking me on touristy attractions.  As I grow up, I actually enjoy going on tours and learning from guides about the city's history and what it has to offer.  Did you know that the Martini originated in a city near San Francisco called Martinez?  Well I didn't, but I learned this on our double decker bus tour.    

One of the touristy things my mom and I did while in San Francisco was took a double decker bus tour.  It was a quick way to see most of the cities main attractions and get familiar with the various neighborhoods.  I now know, that when I go back to San Francisco, I want to spend more time in Nob Hill, North Beach, Pacific Heights and on Chestnut Street.  

The best part about these bus tours is you can hop off and hop back on at any location, allowing for a day mixed with walking to nearby sights and taking the bus to further areas.  We stopped off at Fisherman's Wharf, Pier 39, Ghirardelli Square, The Golden Gate Bridge and Chinatown.  I love being near the water so Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39 were perfect for strolling around and taking in the sites.  The seals that lounge are always fun to watch and the view of Alcatraz on a clear day, is picture perfect.    

Ghirardelli Square is a must,  if you like little shops and of course chocolate.  You can watch how the chocolate is made, shop in their gift shop, sample free chocolates and eat your weight in ice cream, which we of course did! 

We took the San Francisco Cable Car from Powell & Hyde back up to Union Square at one point, purely for the experience.  I took a few nice photos as the sun was setting and enjoyed the ride after a long day of walking.  

The Golden Gate Bridge, as expected, has amazing views and photo opportunities no matter what the weather is like.  Although it was windy, it was beautiful the day we were there.  I have been on cloudy days though and have still managed some amazing shots.  There are many parks near The Golden Gate, and in my future trips to San Francisco, I'd like to lounge in the grass, absorbing the view with a blanket, picnic and good bottle of wine.     

 Finally, Chinatown is great for cheesy souvenirs, nic-nacs, and unique finds.  Like these hand made perfume bottles and cute little fruit inspired mini tea sets.  They also have some delicious greasy Chinese food spots.    

Stay tuned for parts 2 & 3 of my trip, which will include food and wine!