~Bella Vita~

Moving!!!

2010-10-31T20:38:00.000-07:00

I promise, I didn't fall off the planet. Big changes have happened and you can read all about it at my new blog address - http://thisbellavita.wordpress.com

My first scrapbook

2010-03-29T13:20:00.000-07:00

Wow. This weekend I unearthed a craft subculture that I had only vaguely been aware of before. Scrappers. They sound like streetfighters but the reality is much less pugilistic. These are people obsessed with scrapbooking. You'd think that since the whole world has gone digital, no one would be making photo albums anymore with physical photo prints. And you'd be wrong. These aren't just photo albums. Each page is a stylized collage. I have to say, I've drank the Kool-Aid. It's addicting! Some of the products are really country-kitch looking (blah) but I think as the scrapper set is trending younger nowadays, there's more modern designs to be had. Here is my favorite cardstock set I found recently. Now I have to starting taking the pics I want to put in my book!

(www.joannfabrics.com)

Big Changes

2010-03-24T11:44:00.000-07:00

Back from the dead! Its been many moons since I've posted and I thought I had given this blogging thing up altogether. Just recently I decided to give it another shot because now I have big news and lots to discuss. I'm relocating to NJ!

Yes, I've lost my mind. Its weird even for me to say much less think about as a reality. Why in the name of God, you might ask? ::Sigh::, well its been a decision that I've muddled over for some time now. The bottom line is, I love CA and its my heart's true home. Sorry Jersey, but that's just how it is. BUT, my entire family is still in NJ and stubbornly refuses to leave. So what can I do? For alot of people my age, living far from family actually preferred. The thing is, we actually like spending time together. 99.9% of the time. And, not that I'm planning on settling down in the immediate future, but I do want to e-v-e-n-t-u-a-l-l-y and hey childcare is ridiculously expensive nowadays. That's what Mom's are for right? ;) Also, lets please note that I'm not going to Middle-of-Nowhere, NJ. My hometown is NYC-adjacent. One short trip over the bridge and I'm in the "Rome" of the modern era.

So, as you can imagine taking up stakes and moving my whole life back East is going to be quite the process. I'm going to document as much as possible on a weekly basis. One of my projects along the way is to visit a bunch of places I've never gotten around to seeing in SoCal before I leave and create a LA Scrapbook to memorialize the past six very formative years of my life in California. Stay tuned.

WTF Liz?

2009-09-22T12:43:00.000-07:00

I have been the biggest slacker lately and haven't posted anything in a few weeks now. Sorry, I blame work burnout. Does that happen to you? You get home after going full steam all day and you want nothing more than to let your brain unwind itself in front of reality TV. Its no way to live but I am almost daily a victim of it myself. That and all my free time during the workday has been spent obsessing over my Facebook Farmville life. If you haven't checked this out yet..well I hate to encourage you because once you're in it can become pretty stressful. Are my strawberries ripe yet? I have to get to my eggplants before they wilt! Like I needed another source of pressure. Time to start engaging in the real world again! My latest project is getting my own Etsy shop started up for my jewelry designs. Any by "design" I mean futzing with beads and things because usually its not anymore conceptualized than that. I struggled with whether or not to go this route. Should I keep it for my own pastime? What if nothing sells after going through all the effort of setting up a shop? Ultimately it came down to necessity. I realized it was necessary for me to continue to be able to buy myself pretty things. So some added income will be required. We'll see how it goes. For now, my shop name will be "Essential Accents" and in the next few days I'll be posting items for sale. Keeping my fingers crossed :)

Blue Shoes

2009-09-03T11:19:00.000-07:00

OK, so I couldn't decide which pair of these I liked better so I'm posting both. Whatever, its my blog! The royal blue color is so in right now. Particularly in footwear. But its not about matchy-matchy "I have to wear this with more blue". Not at all. This color is made to pop so let it. The first is the Erica shoe from Pour La Victoire and the bottom pair is called Trufle by Steve Madden. Paired with other complementary brights or basic black and white, they're really young and fun. And the structured look of these strappy sandals and the use of kid suede says sophisticated and sexy. I just love them both.

(image by www.zappos.com)

Staying cool

2009-08-31T13:21:00.000-07:00

It was deathly hot outside this weekend so I did my best to stay indoors and keep cool. This gave me a lot of time to work on some jewerly. Here's what I came up with:

Glass bead pendants

a brown and pink shell bead necklace

and a big pink stone pendant

I'm pretty happy with all of them. More to come soon....

Osteria Mozza

2009-08-27T11:18:00.000-07:00

I've died and gone to heaven. But the clouds in my heaven are made out of mozzarella cheese. The other night I had one of the top ten meals of my life at Osteria Mozza. A brain-child of co-owner Mario Batali, the fare there is fresh, simple Italian dishes with classic flavor pairings done with the ultimate care for each ingredient involved. The menu consists of antipasto, primi, and secondi courses which tips a hat at the traditional Italian menu plan of gradual flavor progression over several courses ending in your richer proteins. And they have a separate menu section for their mozzarella bar. Mozzarella bar. Was a more perfect phrase ever uttered? Its their homemade mozzarella with a selection of different sauces and toppings. For starters, I had the caprese salad which Mozza made elegant with tiny sweet tomatoes, micro basil, and garlic toast. The real winner in this dish is the olive oil which is oh so flavorful.

(image by www.flikr.com/photos/akatayama)

I could have stopped with my starter and just eaten this dish all night but there was so much more at my disposal that I had to press on. My choice for the primi course was the Fresh Egg and Ricotta Ravioli. What it is, is a very large ravioli sitting in browned butter sauce, with herbed ricotta cheese filling. So far this sounds simple I know, but in the center of the filling is a soft cooked egg yolk. For real egg-lovers this is a treat. When you cut into the ravioli, the egg yolk oozes out and all that richness mixes with the cheese and butter sauce. Its delightful trust me.

(image by crumpcrew.blogspot.com)

Next up, for the secondi course I had the cedar plank smoked sturgeon. Now this was my first crack at sturgeon but trusted Batali enough to try it and my faith was rewarded. The fish was tender - not "fishy" at all, and the smokiness made it taste like a much denser richer meat. It was served on top of some sliced fingerling potatoes and leeks in a mustard sauce that had quite a kick to it. I'm very happy I chose it and I'd have it again. At this point we were all pretty full so we split two deserts just to try them out. The bombolini with huckleberry compote and vanilla gelato and then the Torte della Nonna. Bombolini are small balls of fried dough - akin to its larger cousin the zeppoli. Honestly the huckleberry compote was the main event of this desert for me because I love berries.

(image by www.yelp.com)

The Torte della Nonna is basically a cheesecake with roasted pine nuts and honey. Mozza serves it with three varieties of honey so you really experiences the flavor differences between each flower base. I can't say more about how much I love Osteria Mozza. Their food speaks to my heart like none other. Thank you Mozza!

Sweet Lite

2009-08-24T13:35:00.000-07:00

This lamp is gorgeous, although on the girly side. But I love it anyway. A small cluster of them hung together (2 or 3) at slightly varying heights would look spectacular in a bedroom. The soft light is a result of the 100% wool felt shade. The downside is that since its from the UK, it may require an adapter of some sort so you don't blow up your wall socket. Such is the price of beauty. But a quick check-in with a home store associate should help you with that.

(image by http://mixo.co.uk/)

Cheese & Spinach Strata

2009-08-19T12:27:00.000-07:00

We had a wildly successful breakfast bake sale yesterday morning to benefit the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles. Thanks to the donations from friends and colleagues we were able to raise quite a haul. My contributions were a lemon-poppy seed cake, monkeybread, and a spinach & cheese strata. The lemon cake and monkeybread from a box and from the Pillsbury website respectively, but the strata was my own creation. I love them for brunches because you can do all of the assembly the night before and just take it out of the fridge in the morning and pop it in to bake. Here's the approx recipe - I pretty much winged it as I went along.

Ingredients
1 small loaf Italian bread
11 eggs
6 oz fresh baby spinach
1 small onion
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/3 cup melted butter
3 Roma or vine tomatoes
1 cup mozzarella cheese
2 cups milk

Take a 9 x 13 pan and coat the bottom in the melted butter. Then slice up your bread in approx 3/4" slices and line your pan with the bread. You probably won't need the whole loaf. I had some gaps in between my slices so I cut up an extra slice into chunks and stuffed the bread bits in the gaps. Once you have a nice bread base, roughly chop the baby spinach cover the bread with it. I'm sure you can use frozen chopped spinach too but, I just can't stand draining it (so gross), and I like using fresh when I can. Then take your onion and dice it up, I recommend doing it a quarter at a time. You won't need the whole onion - just about two large handfuls of it, so you can save the rest of it for another dish. The diced onion goes in the pan on top of the spinach. Then what I did is slice the tomatoes up like you would for a sandwich and layer them on top of the spinach and onion in three rows (reminded me of cookies on a cookie sheet). In a separate bowl, beat together all of your eggs, milk, and spices. Stir in the cheddar cheese and then pour your egg mixture into the pan, making sure that its evenly distributed. Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese on top and at this point, you can cover it with plastic wrap and stick it in the fridge overnight. The next morning it just needs to go in the oven at 350 degrees for 45 mins to an hour - until you get some nice browning on top and a knife comes out clean. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of it until after it was mostly demolished but I guess that means it was a hit.

Bigfoot Lodge West

2009-08-18T12:47:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the westside Bigfoot! The Bigfoot Lodge in Atwater Village has long been a favorite bar of mine, but its location being so far from where I live made going there only an occasional thing. Not anymore. Just a few blocks down from its sister bar, Saints & Sinners, the new Bigfoot Lodge West has alot of the same charm as the original with a few tweaks. The West location has a large outdoor patio facing Venice Blvd to add more drinking room and the bar is offers 360 seating. The log cabin decor with taxidermied forest creatures and faux totem pole is incredibly witty and down-right charming. They also kept the signature cocktails from the first bar - my favorite being the Girl Scout Cookie (which tastes like a Thin Mint), and the ever popular Toasted Marshmallow complete with a flaming marshmallow on top. Unlike the first Bigfoot, their is no karaoke here but they do have a DJ with some atmosphere appropriate indie (which I think is better). Hallelujah! For once, a bar that doesn't try to blast you out the door with its Top 40 iPod mix. My biggest complaint is the lack of parking, but I was able to find something in the surrounding neighborhood after a circle or two. All in all it was a good time and I'm sure I'll be back.

Vegetable Quiche

2009-08-17T13:13:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday morning, some friends of mine and I had a little brunch get-together in honor of the late director John Hughes. We watched "The Breakfast Club" and everyone brought a little something. I made a simple vegetable quiche but I fancied it up a bit by making it in a hash brown crust. I think it came out rather well. Its nice because you an add in any kind of veggie you want or throw in some chopped ham or bacon bits if you like.

Ingredients:

3 c. shredded hash browns
1/3 c. melted butter
8 oz cheddar cheese
8 oz mozzarella cheese
4 oz Parmesan cheese
1 c. chopped tomato + slices for top
½ c. mushrooms
1 med green bell pepper
5 eggs
1 ½ c. chopped onion
¼ c. milk
½ tsp. basil
½ tsp. oregano
¼ tsp curry
2 tbsp butter for skillet
Pinch of cinnamon
Salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425 degrees
Line a 9 inch pie crust with shredded hash browns. Drizzle with melted butter and salt.

Bake for 20 min until beginning to brown. Remove from oven to cool slightly and back oven heat down to 350 degrees.

Meanwhile, saute veggies with 2 tbsp butter, basil, oregano, curry, and cinnamon in a skillet until veggies are tender and onions are translucent. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon mixture into crust.

Beat together eggs and milk, then mix in cheeses in a separate bowl. Pour egg mixture over veggies, making sure to evenly distribute. Top with slices of tomato and season again with salt and pepper. Bake for 40-45 mins or until knife comes out clean.

Jar

2009-08-14T12:47:00.000-07:00

Another lovely client dinner of late brought me to Jar, the Beverly Blvd oasis captained by executive chef Suzanne Tracht. You might remember Suzanne from her recent stint on Top Chef Masters. First of all, they have homemade potato chips and dip at the bar instead of nuts. Genius! I had a delightful concoction called a Sourberry which is essentially a strawberry/lemon martini while I waited for my dining companions. Once seated, we ordered an assortment of appetizers (all of us being foodies), and the one that really shone was the Calamari Salad with all of those nice fresh herbs. The entrees were mainly braised and roasted meats with different sauce options, but I chose the Soft-Shelled Crab dish. I had never tried soft-shell crabs before and I don't think they're for me - I have an issue with odd-textured food. But the side dishes were divine. Pea tendrils, mashed potatoes, and the best roasted asparagus that I've maybe ever had. It was a great meal shared with great company. And check out their wine selection - a wall of wine. Who doesn't love that?

Hollywood Luxe

2009-08-13T13:16:00.000-07:00

I love love love this room. Designed by Barclay Butera, its all Hollywood Regency-style and utterly glamorous. The look is luxury, rich detail, glitz, and pops of color, and a little touch of chinoiserie. Its coming back into vogue now that similar 30's retro trends in fashion are back in a big way. Obtaining this feel can get pricey, but there are plenty of cheap DIY methods available. A coat of high-gloss black lacquer on an old nightstand or the addition of some metallic-colored bed sheets and help recreate that old Hollywood feel.

(image by www.hgtv.com)

Bolero Ole!

2009-08-12T13:50:00.000-07:00

How cute is this little knit bolero from MaxShop.com?! It comes in a variety of colors and its very versatile. The ribbing around the edges and sleeves gives it a nice shape. It would be great for the office with a solid tank and slacks like the pick below, or over a summer-y dress for a night out. I love the style - its so effortless but it also can make a simple outfit look really pulled together.

(image from www.maxshop.com)

Blue Sky Pendant

2009-08-11T12:07:00.001-07:00

I made this pendant the other night from some of my recent Gem Faire loot. I didn't want to fuss it up with any other beads or findings because I think this stone standing alone is enough of a statement. I love the white and blue together because it reminds me of a foamy sea.

Baby Cake

2009-08-10T13:44:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you want cake. You just do. Or at least I do. And if you do too, this a great easy recipe for a mini cake which should be enough for just you a friend or two. This can cure your cake craving and you won't have to make (or buying) an entire normal-sized cake. First of all you need a mini cake pan. These are readily available at most home stores or cooking supply stores and come in a variety of sizes and shapes. I used a 7" Bundt cake pan. The recipe is pretty straightforward other than it will result in about half the amount of a normal cake mix. I used regular milk rather than buttermilk, because just the concept of buttermilk makes me want to yack. For the icing I made a simple water/confectioner's sugar icing and drizzled it over the top of the cake once it cooled.

Mini Chocolate Cake
- 1/4 cup plus 2 T all-purpose flour
- 3 T buttermilk (or reg. milk)
- Yolk of 1 large egg
- 1/2 t pure vanilla extract
- 3 T unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 2 T unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/8 t baking soda
- 1/8 t salt
- 1/3 cup sugar

Icing
- 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
- 4 tsp water
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- shaved coconut (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease inside of cake pan and set aside. Combine milk, egg, and vanilla in a small bowl and whisk in the melted butter. Sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder. Then whisk dry ingredients into the wet. Pour the batter into the cake pan and tap gently a few times to even it out. Bake for 25 to 30 mins until you can insert a toothpick into the cake and it comes out clean. You might want to place the pan on a cookie sheet to make it easy to take in and out of the oven. Once baked, let the cake cool completely while you mix together the ingredients for the icing. When the cake is cooled, drizzle the icing over the top of the cake (its ok that it drips down the sides - its kinda the effect you want). You can use sprinkles, mini chocolate chips, nuts..whatever you like. Enjoy!

Tattoo your walls

2009-08-07T14:15:00.000-07:00

These are genius! Removable wall stickers from Blik. They come in large designs, small designs, kid-friendly, and thought-provoking. There are so many options and colors to choose from that you can find just about anything on their site to fit your space and your lifestyle. And if you fall out of love with it, peel it off and start over! Blik had paired with the online hipster t-shirt juggernaut Threadless, so many of your favorite Threadless designs are available for your very own stickable mural. This is one of my favorites, called "Summer Wind". Check out the site at www.whatisblik.com for more.

(image provided by www.kaboodle.com)

K-Zo

2009-08-05T13:28:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite local sushi places for when I'm feeling like treating myself is K-Zo. K-Zo's emphasis is on quality ingredients in a modern, stylish setting. At K-Zo I never waste time or money on cut rolls, but go straight for the sashimi and carpaccio dishes. I feel you're better able to get the real delicate flavors of the fish when its not encased in rice or tempura batter. Not to say that I don't like a good Crunch Roll, cause I do. But that's not my focus here. Here, I'm all about the pure melt-in-your-mouth goodness of the Tuna Carpaccio, Whitefish Chinois, and Hamachi Verde which is yellowtail sashimi in a sweet herb sauce. The decor is right in tune with what the current aesthetic is in the "new" Culver City which is very minimalist/industrial. The dishes themselves are beautifully presented. Here's a shot of my baby tuna with gold flakes. I think its a must-have.

Leo Carrillo

2009-08-03T13:11:00.000-07:00

This weekend's beach trip was to Leo Carrillo State Beach north of Malibu. Its a drive (approx 45mins to an hour from LA) but it was worth it. I went mainly to check out the beach in case I wanted to go camping there someday soon. The campground is to your right coming north up PCH and from there you can access the beach by a cement walkway that takes you under the highway. Day trippers like me can find plenty of parking along the side of the highway, and there's a nice set of wooden stairs that will take you down to the sand. It's a fairly rocky coastline, which when the tide is out, provides tons of opportunities to get to know your local crustaceans. Mussels, starfish, and hermit crabs had all the little kids there enthralled. And me too honestly. There was also what looked like a pelican convention happening on one of the large rocks near the north end of the beach. What was on the agenda for that morning's meeting I have no idea. All in all I was a big fan of Leo Carrillo and I think I'll definitely be back.

Retro Jacket

2009-07-31T11:14:00.000-07:00

I'm on a quest to find a nice multi-purpose light jacket. I have 20 million hoodies (ok maybe 8) but I really don't have much that says "I'm an adult and I know how to dress myself". But I did find one recently that might make its way into my closet. This vintage inspired jacket is from Tulle Clothing is black twill with 3/4 sleeves and a wide belt to cinch in your waist. I really like the retro look and I think its versatile enough to dress up with slacks and a sparkly brooch, or dress down with jeans.

(image by www.shopplasticland.com)

Oh how divine, Darling!

2009-07-30T11:16:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite movies is Breakfast at Tiffany's. You cannot deny the effortless style of Audrey Hepburn's Holly Golightly. A stand out design piece in the film, (actually one of the few pieces of furniture she had) was her love seat. A claw foot tub remade into a couch. Its whimsical but somehow also very 60's chic. Flavourdesign has created a version you can have in your own home as an homage. Called the "savon", they upholstered it in an almost white ice blue sensuede. If only I had the space in my apt, or the spare $3500.00 to spend on it. But I can dream...

(image by www.flavourdesign.com)

Faux Girl Scout Cookies

2009-07-29T13:31:00.000-07:00

I made some Samoa-style cookies last night for my fellow co-workers. If you're not familiar with the name, those are the Girl Scout cookies with the toasted coconut/caramel goodness on top. They're a bit time-consuming to make but the payoff is worth it. The cookies themselves are basically butter cookies. I don't want to scare anyone but you can see for yourself in the ingredient list below exactly how much butter we're talking about here. Once you've creamed the butter, sugar, and wet ingredients together and blended in your dry ingredients, the resulting dough should be alittle moist but not sticky. If you've got sticky dough, add a pinch more flour to even it out. I rolled the dough out in between two sheets of wax paper to about 1/4 " thickness, then used a 1 1/2 inch cookie cutter to cut out my cookies. The traditional Samoa has a hole in the center. You can use a thick straw or a knife to cut out a hole if you want to but I didn't. Why sacrifice precious cookie surface area for the sake of conformity? Bake these at 350 degrees on a parchment-lined cookie sheet for 10-12 minutes or until they get just a tinge of golden brown on them. You'll probably have to do this in batches if you have a small oven and just one cookie sheet like I do. Once you're cookies are all cooked, let them cool while you toast your coconut.

Back your oven temp down to 300 degrees and spread the 3 cups of shaved coconut out on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Preferably one with sides. Stir them every 5 mins until you get an even toasty golden brown color. While this is going on, you can get your caramel going. Melt 12oz of caramels with 3 tbsp of milk and 1/4 tsp of salt in a bowl until you get a nice even liquid consistency. Then stir the toasted coconut in to the caramel. Using a small spatula, top each cookie with about 2 tbsp of the coconut mixture. When all the cookies are topped off, put them aside to let the caramel set while you're melting chocolate for the bottoms. Melt 8oz of semi-sweet chocolate (or dark if you prefer) in a bowl, stirring every 45 secs or so until its all melted down. Then take a cookie and just sit it in the melted chocolate so the bottom of the cookie gets coated. Repeat until all the cookies are coated and pop them in the fridge to help the chocolate firm up. While that's going on, take whatever chocolate you have left (or melt a handful more if needed) so you can create some decorate lines on top of the cookies. I added alittle vegetable oil a teaspoon at a time (I ended up needing 3 tsp) until the melted chocolate was alittle more liquidy and easier to pour. Pour your chocolate into a plastic bag and snip just the tip off of one of the bottom corners to create an easy piping bag. Or by all means use a real piping bag if you have one handy. Take your cookies out of the fridge, and what I did was lay them out on parchment paper so I could quickly go from cookie to cookie, creating zig-zags of chocolate on top. If you're more linear, you can make nice straight lines but for me I like artful disorder. And voila! Homemade Samoas.

Ingredients (adapted from www.bakingbites.com)

- 1 cup butter, soften

- 1/2 cup sugar

- 2 cups all purpose flour

- 1/4 tsp baking powder

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

- 1 tbsp milk

Topping

- 3 cups shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)

- 12oz good quality chewy caramels

- 1/4 tsp salt

- 3 tbsp milk

- 8oz dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips

Makes about 3 1/2 to 4 dozen cookies

La Piedra Beach..well really Will Rogers

2009-07-27T12:58:00.000-07:00

Off on another beach adventure this Sunday, I visited La Piedra Beach which is just up PCH from El Matador. I thought, hey I had such a good experience at El Matador - let me check out its neighbor. Well, it was not exactly what I wanted. The trail to the beach was long and steep. The rock stairs at the bottom had me feeling like I was going to pitch right over the cliff but I made it to the bottom unscathed. Or at least as close to the bottom as I could. The stairs end with about a 3ft drop down to the beach right into a large kelp bed. Not wanting to wade through slimy-looking kelp in my flip flops, I reassessed just how much I wanted to stay. Taking a look up and down the beach I realized that more than half of it was rocks. I would be the only sunbather out there which was a plus in my book, but I was by no means alone. The water was dotted with about 30 or so surfer dudes sitting on their boards waiting for waves. I'm sure this was all in my head, but I felt like I was somewhat of an intruder on their turf. I decided this beach was just not for me and I hiked back up to my car. The cliffs were pretty with a little morning fog on them so I took this last parting shot.

Several miles down the road, back "over the border" in Los Angeles, I pulled into Will Rogers State beach. Will Rogers has always been my go-to beach. A popular beach for families, its not annoyingly wide, and it has lots of volleyball nets if that's your game. A word of caution - pay attention to the tide. I put my blanket too far down and around noon when I was half-asleep the tide came in and soaked me to my waist. Not fun. But on the whole it was a nice peaceful morning. Just me and the seagulls.

As you get to the middle of the day the beach will fill up. My little corner of it was finally invaded by a couple and four of their teenage kids. Time for me to go. Note: If you're a grown man with long braided hair, you had better be riding a Harley or leading guided meditation classes in a ashram. If not, you should rethink yourself. I'm just sayin.

Yellow is the new black

2009-07-23T12:06:00.000-07:00

For me, this summer is all about bright colors. And when I say bright I mean BRIGHT. Time to love primary colors again. They're cheerful and fun and they make a statement. The biggest trend I like right now is the return of yellow. Its been a while since I've seen yellow emphasized in such a way. Usually you think of it in terms of an accent color or a hue most often used in color palettes for kids. SpongeBob anyone? But yellow can be chic too. Think all-over color and go bold. Little yellow dresses are replacing the stead-fast old LBG in all of the major fashion rags right now. Live it up in lemon!

(image by www.polyvore.com)

Pearls

2009-07-22T12:52:00.000-07:00

As promised, here is a pearl necklace that I recently made with supplies from my trip to the bead fair in Santa Monica. Apologizes for the lack of focus. I like the oddly shaped natural freshwater pearls sometimes better than the perfectly round ones. They have a little more edge and personality to them. The color is a fun iridescent green-yellow which I like for summer. More to come soon...

Kurv it!

2009-07-21T16:01:00.000-07:00

Everyday I wage a small war against the kitty litter that is tracked across my bathroom floor. I can't think of anything more annoying than stepping out of a nice hot shower and planting your wet feet on little rocks of litter. Ugh! My normal vacuum is kinda cumbersome to drag out for daily use like this. I do have a small dust-pan that works ok but, I have long hair and especially after I finish blow-drying it, there are stray hairs that hit the floor and need to be taken care of as well. The dust-pan brush can't handle that part so well. Enter my new Dirt Devil Kurv. I love the slim design of this handy little vac. Its stylish enough to be kept out in the open for easy access and it picks up everything I need it to.

Bead-topia

2009-07-20T17:42:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday was my first experience with the jewelry-making world up close and personal. I just learned how to make my own jewelry about 6 months or so ago and I absolutely fell in love with it. It's a great craft to learn although if you make it a hobby, the supplies do get expensive. That's why many people end up going 'professional' and selling their crafty incarnations online or at boutique stores. I haven't gotten that far yet but its something I'm considering, so I though it would be a good idea to get to know all the ins and outs before I go whole-hog. The Santa Monica Civic Center hosts a "Gem Faire" where exhibitors from all over come to sell supplies, host demos, and basically dish with other jewelers. Just walking in there is overwhelming, especially for a newbie such as myself. Tables upon tables of beads in every conceivable color and shape.I went with a specific list of what supplies I needed but of course all that went out the window pretty quickly. There is no denying, I am a girl who likes shiny things. The sellers there were very nice and patient with my questions. Most provided a card with a website which is great especially for those coming in from out of state. I'll send updates on what I've created from my fancy new supplies soon. If you're interested in jewelry, I suggest you google up any local conventions or exhibitions happening near you because that's where to stock up. Sellers who frequent these shows tend to bust out the deepest discounts for the occasion and you can get some great stuff for a fraction of what it would have cost you at your local boutique store.

El Matador

2009-07-17T12:39:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my cat who was doing some acrobatic routines around 6-ish last Sunday morning, I was up extremely early and got the sudden motivation to head to the beach. I have a love/hate relationship with LA area beaches I must admit. The cost to park, the huge crowds...ick. This was my impression of them up until now, since I had been spending most of my beach hours at Santa Monica or Zuma Beach in Malibu. I really haven't been exploring all my options and there are plenty out there. So in the spirit of exploration, gathered my beach gear, gassed up the car, and just started driving up the coast. I had heard of the Robert H Meyer "pocket beaches" just north of Malibu but I had never been, so I decided to try one of them out. The drive up was gorgeous and since it was about 7am there was no one really on the road except the local surfers. I pulled into the little gravel/dirt parking lot and thanked my 20 year-old self of yesteryear for choosing to buy a car with four wheel drive. The hike down to the beach was more than I had anticipated but even in flip flops, I managed not to go hurtling down the 100ft cliffs. Once on the sand, I meandered around and reveled in the fact that I was completely alone. I dipped my feet in the chilly water and explored some of the rocks and hideaways that make this beach a favorite for photographers and film shoots. It was like having my own private island.

As it turns out, I was not alone. As I got farther down the beach. I found this little friend.

And some of his little friends.

Not wanting to interrupt the party, I moved on. Its a great beach to hang-out on, but there was quite a lot of seaweed to contend with and the beach itself is just a bit too narrow for proper sun-bathing. I'll continue my search for the perfect seaside oasis, but now I know that there is more out there, I'm very much encouraged. Thanks El Matador!

Homemade Sushi

2009-07-16T12:34:00.000-07:00

I heart Sushi! If anyone is having a sushi contest or sushi cook-off (roll off?) and needs a judge to taste test, sign me up. I promise to be nice. The "Paula Abdul" of sushi judges with less Crazy. The problem is that going out to sushi bars all the time does get a little pricey. I'm fine with paying for a professional chef's quality and expertise in most sushi arenas. But something like a California Roll? Come on. I figured I'd give it a shot. I got myself some sushi rice and followed the cooking instructions on the bag. For filler I used some canned lump crab meat (not the greatest stuff but I'm not getting toro for my first attempt here), a few thin slices of avocado, and julienned yellow bell pepper for color. I'm not a huge fan of mayo in sushi but if you'd prefer something closer to crabmeat 'salad' for the stuffing, that's your prerogative. The tricky bit is rolling it. I set it up with plastic wrap on my sushi rolling mat to prevent stickage since I decided to go rice-side out. The color of that avocado was awesome.Another key point to avoid ending up with a sticky clumpy mess on your hands is moisture. Keep a little bowl or cup of extra rice vinegar next to your sushi makin' station and dip your fingers in repeatedly to keep them moist as you're laying out a thin layer of your rice and smooth out the surface. You can use water but I happen to like vinegar and it just adds to the flavor of the rice. Put a nori sheet over the rice and build a line up of your sushi stuffing near the edge. Don't go too heavy on the filling or else you're going to have overflow out the sides when you start to roll. Gingerly lift the end of the rice/nori/stuffing sheet of goodness and flip just the end with the stuffing over onto itself. So the filling is now folded in and ready to roll. Keep the start of the roll you've just created packed in and tight as you roll it forward. Same principle as rolling up a sleeping bag but the result is more tasty. Keep it tight as you roll and when you're done, take the mat out from underneath and use it to really press the roll together and form a solid uniform log. To cut it, again use moisture to prevent disaster. Take a sharp knife and wet it with water in between each cut to get clean edges. Here's what I ended up with.

I think I might try some other fish options now that I have the roll method down. On the whole I would call my little experiment a success but I felt like the rice didn't meet my expectations. I recommend going by a sushi rice recipe rather than relying on how the bag tells you to cook it. My bag led me astray. Here's a recipe I found which seemed to be the consensus as far as I could find on how to do sushi rice properly.

Sushi Rice

1-1/2 cups sushi rice

2 cups water

2 Tbsp rice vinegar

2 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp – sea salt

Shell Magnetism

2009-07-15T14:45:00.000-07:00

I have a huge metal cabinet in my bathroom that was just all beige blah and screaming out for decoration. I thought I'd take advantage of the metal surface to use some magnets but I couldn't find anything I liked that fit the bill. My bathroom decor is beach inspired so I wanted to continue on that theme. I grabbed some extra seashells out of a jar that I had them so artfully arranged in, which looked like they would be perfect. I loved the outside color and texture of the shell but I noticed that the inside contour of the shell was just alittle too deep to set a magnet in and be able to have it stick to the metal surface properly. I got some glass pebbles from a craft store and used them like little booster seats for the magnets. I superglued the glass pebbles to the inside of the shells and then glued the magnet on top of the glass. This brought the magnet up high enough so it was flush with the edge of the shell, allowing the magnet to get close enough to the metal of the cabinet door to create a hold. I think they turned out pretty great and its a really easy project you can use for almost any small trinket you want to use.

To top it off

2009-07-15T14:10:00.000-07:00

With summer in full swing, I'm searching for some fun ways to spruce up old standby outfits and make them more current and seasonal. This fedora I found on ModCloth.com is so in right now and since its straw, its still lightweight enough to go with lighter summer looks. I love the style and attitude it adds to even just a simple pair of jeans and a basic tank. Don't be afraid of hats, they can be your friends.

Get Backstage

2009-07-14T17:52:00.000-07:00

Tonight I'm headed for the Backstage Bar & Grill. Its a great spot for watching a game since the prices are cheap and its some of the greasy best bar food in town. Word to the wise - if you think that you might be brave enough to try out the karaoke nights (Thursday, Friday, Saturday), be sure that you got the stuff because this bar's proximity to Sony Studios brings in not-so amateur vocalists. Get there early to score fireside seating.

(image by www.lataco.com)

Italian tarts off La Brea

2009-06-30T14:23:00.000-07:00

Whenever I walk into Susina Bakery, I can't help but smirk alittle at the poor souls outside the Starbucks next door. They've made a huge mistake. Just steps away is the real deal. Any concoction of espresso/mocha/latte heaven that you can think of, Susina can deliver. But the baked goods are the stars here. They have bite-sized Italian cookies in a plethora of flavors, colors, and shapes that are damn adorable.

(image by www.susinabakery.com)

I haven't found many spots in LA that come as close to my favorite, the legendary Artuso's Pastry in the Bronx. Bring a pound of these little cookies to work for your friends and you're sure to be a hero. Cakes, tarts, pies, & scones occupy the rest of their vast pastry counter. The panini's are big enough to share. My favorite is the roasted veggie. And they offer picnic boxes which are perfect if you're heading up to the Hollywood Bowl.

Dipping my toes in with La Luz De Jesus

2009-06-24T17:00:00.000-07:00

The hardest part for me about starting a blog has been the first post. The conception of a blog is usually the result of a storm of ideas that need a place to go. But which one gets first dibs? Which post would be the most interesting to start in with? How do you set the tone? I'm the type of person that inches in to the swimming pool, so I'm going to apply that method here and start simply.

I want to tell you about the junction of coolness that is La Luz De Jesus gallery in Los Feliz. In keeping with the zeitgeist of a city where nearly everyone's identity is a hyphenate (ie: model-actress, director-producer, writer-bartender) this is an art gallery that is definitely multi-tasking. If you love 'lowbrow' art this is the spot. I'm not so ok with the term lowbrow because I think belittles the truly unique, edgy stuff coming out of this community of artists. I would call it 'accessible', but whatever. Its freaky awesome. The "artitorium" itself is located inside a bookstore-kitsch market which is choc full o' Betti Page posters, photo diaries of famous tattoo artists, Jesus nighlights, collectible toys, and t-shirts. You really have to see it because I'm not doing their inventory justice. The building itself is at least worth a drive-by.

(image by loudmouthpublicity)