eclectically modern

1GB random model pics so far

2012-02-20T21:02:00.001-08:00

Feeling guilty that I haven't posted anything architectural or any of my work this semester. More to follow someday if I get a chance.

Vinoteque on melrose

2012-02-18T22:48:00.001-08:00

It's been quite some time since I've posted a review. I'm also sorry for lack of any posts this semester. It's so hard! After my mid-review and move to little Tokyo in 10 days I promise to post a billion belated things.

Way back in November I purchased a Living Social deal for Vinoteque on Melrose. Tonight I finally used it and it was worth every penny!!

Vinoteque is a tapas place on melrose just east of fairfax, right next to The Foundry. We sat in their large open courtyard area warmed on the chilly February evening by the numerous gas heaters (love you LA). I, of course, had already cruised the menu online so I knew what I wanted. It's tapas so you order a bunch and the dishes come out when ready.

First up was the beet salad. A nice serving of fresh beets, houlami cheese, tangerine wedges, baby arugula and balsamic. Very yum. It was my first time trying houlami and I enjoyed it, though my complaint would be more cheese on this beet heavy plate

Danny had the angus beef sliders which come with two burgers cooked however you desire topped with an onion jam, blue cheese, some sort of flavored mayo and arugula. He placed this number one on his list of the night.

Next up was the tomato tart. A crispy, flaky French tart filled with tomato purée topped with halved sweet heirloom cherry tomatoes, sundried tomatoes, mixed greens, ricotta and balsamic. It was good.

The last savory dish was the best by far: warm goat cheese honey Napoleon. It was so freaking good. Two layers of crunchy honey discs with chèvre and honey in between over greens topped with a sweet onion slaw. Omg, I could eat five of these.

The food was so good I forgot to mention the wine. I had a glass, a hefty glass. I'm still coming down off my buzz. I can't recall the name of it right now. It was Spanish, $11 a glass and mild.

Now for the grande finale: stuffed churros and coffee. If you go here and don't get this for dessert we are no longer friends. This was the best dessert ever! Little 2" churros coated in sugar and cinnamon, stuffed with a variety of yummy things like caramel and cream, served with a scoop of cafe au lait ice cream and berries. So freaking delicious!

Dose of midweek cuteness

2012-02-08T11:26:00.003-08:00

A dose of midweek cuteness

2012-01-18T08:00:00.000-08:00

This week: Napoleon or anime creature? You decide.

This week in food.

2012-01-17T00:17:00.000-08:00

Homemade Mac n cheese (for Danny, though I have admittedly eaten a few servings....)
Recipe by Alton Brown, found here. The panko on top is my favorite part!

Vegan Mexican casserole recipe here
This recipe is so delicious. I'm generally not a fan of fake meats, but the soyrizo here really adds a great kick to this meal. Danny approved of the meal overall, so that means you will like it too. Everything can be bought at Trader Joe's which makes me happy, but if you don't have one near you, just use similar salsas and beans. The lavash bread makes this so unique, but I guess you could use tortillas as well if you can't find lavash.
Enjoy!

Cookies=happiness

2012-01-16T21:44:00.001-08:00

a dose of mid week cuteness

2012-01-12T12:00:00.000-08:00

Herbivore+Omnivore meal

2012-01-04T23:13:00.001-08:00

I became a vegetarian almost 4 1/2 years ago. I've been with Danny for almost 9 years now. That means I'm not allowed to pull the vegetarian card on him and refuse to cook meat like some other lucky lifetime vegetarians I know with significant others who eat meat. This also means I have to come up with ways to incorporate meat into vegetarian dishes I eat as main courses, make my vegetarian main dish a side for him, or fix things that will please him enough he won't miss the meat.

It's not always easy, but I am pretty pleased with what I came up with today.

The menu:

Spicy Panko Crusted Baked Chicken

Roasted Parsnips

Avocado "fries"

leftover asparagus

Spicy Panko Crusted Baked Chicken

What you need:

For the marinade:

8-10 fresh, free-range organic chicken strips (I recommend Trader Joe's version, very affordable)

2 T Sriracha

1/4 c rice wine vinegar

1/4 c olive oil

1 T Worcestershire

1 t garlic powder

1/2 t cayenne

1/2 t smoked salt

For the crust:

1-2 eggs, beaten

1 cup panko

1/2 cup flour

1 T cayanne

1 T garlic powder

1 t smoked salt

What you do:

1. Combine all marinade ingredients together in a shallow dish. Place chicken in the marinade and refrigerate, turning occasionally. Marinate all day, or as long as possible for best flavor (I think...) :)

2. When ready to cook the chicken, preheat oven to 425.

3. Set up a breading station from left to right as follows: chicken, beaten egg in a shallow dish, crust mixture in a shallow dish, pan that breaded chicken will be cooked in. (see picture below for similar set up with the avocado fries)

4. Take chicken, one at a time and dip in egg mix, removing excess before dipping and coating in the panko mix and then placing in the final dish. Do this to all pieces of chicken.

5. Drizzle a little olive oil on all the pieces for extra crunch and color.

5. Bake for around 30 minutes, checking occasionally for doneness, as all chicken will have different thickness.

Baked Avocado "fries"

What you need:

2 ripe avocados

3 T ground flax seed

1/2 t baking powder

1/2 c water

1 c panko

1/2 c flour

1 T cayenne

1 T garlic powder

1 t smoked salt

What you do:

1. Cut avocados in half, remove pit and cut each half into 4 sections.

2. Carefully remove sections with a spoon.

3. Set up your breading station in the same manner as the chicken.

4. Mix together the flaxseed, water and baking powder.*

5. Dip avocado pieces one at a time into the flax seed mixture, ensuring to get some flax on each piece before dipping into the panko breading.

6. Drizzle olive oil on each and place in pre-heated 450 degree oven for 10-15 minutes.

*You can use eggs for the coating, but to make them vegan I wanted to try this option, it worked really well!

Roasted Parsnips: (Thanks Jarrett and Dave for introducing me to this delicious veg!)

What you need:

2-3 parsnips, peeled and cut into bite sized pieces

olive oil

balsamic vinegar

rosemary

What you do:

Generously drizzle the parsnip pieces with olive oil and balsamic and sprinkle with some rosemary. Bake in 425 degree oven for about 20 minutes, or until parsnips are nice and tender, stirring occasionally so they do not burn.

For dessert, Chocolate Covered Katie's chocolate chip cookie pie, made with beans. (I halved her recipe, so it is half as thick, but equally delicious I'm sure!!!)

this picture is from yesterday...it is all gone now because I devoured it all. :(

perfect day for a family bike ride!

Love Native Foods!

2012-01-04T14:14:00.001-08:00

Rose cardamom cupcake, water with mint and lemon. Sunny SoCal January. Loving life!

a dose of midweek cuteness

2012-01-04T11:55:00.000-08:00

Oatmeal casserole: hot or cold

2012-01-03T00:53:00.001-08:00

I'm a fan of healthy, delicious breakfasts that you don't have to cook every morning.

This makes 4-6 servings for me.

I like it better cold than I do straight out of the oven.

Sweet Potato Oatmeal Casserole (adapted from Oh She Glows)

What you need:

2 small sweet potatoes peeled and chopped (approx. 2 c uncooked)

1/2 c oats

2 c almond milk

1 ripe banana

1 T ground flax seed

2 t vanilla extract

1 t cinnamon

1/4 t nutmeg

2 T maple syrup

Topping:

2/3 c chopped walnuts

2 T Earth Balance, melted

2 T flour (I use buckwheat)

3 T brown sugar

What you do:

1. Bring pot of water to boil and add chopped sweet potato. Boil until fork tender (about 5 min). Remove and set aside.

2. Whisk together oats, milk, and flax seed in pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce and simmer for about 7 minutes, or until runny oatmeal texture is achieved.

3. Add sweet potatoes and banana to pot and mash all ingredients together. I need to invest in a potato masher, my large fork took a lot of effort!

4. Mix remaining ingredients into oatmeal. Put oatmeal mixture into a casserole-like dish, or whatever you have.

5. Mix topping ingredients together and put crunchies on top of the oatmeal.

6. Bake in 350 degree pre-heated oven for 20 minutes.

7. Enjoy your first serving hot...it's good, but trust me, it will be better later, straight from the fridge!

Bon Appetit!

Cookie Dough that is intended to be eaten by the spoonful.

2012-01-02T14:32:00.001-08:00

Most intriguing on pinterest are all of the healthy desserts by Chocolate covered Katie usually using beans.

Who would fall for that, right? Danny did. If I mention healthy or vegan he immediately likes the food less, so when he was craving some unhealthy cookies yesterday, I asked "what about cookie dough?". He asked only one question: "is it real cookie dough with real sugar?". To which I replied, "yes."

I was a little nervous, even after taste testing it myself, I thought he would guess it was vegan, but maybe not care. I thought he might catch me processing the chickpeas and solve the puzzle. Instead he carefully ate the dough with a spoon, not eating too much because I'm sure he thinks it's unhealthy. That my friends, is a sure sign that this recipe is a winner.*
*Because he will eventually see this, I have to add that he did say he does not think it is as good as real cookie dough, but still very good and he will eat it again for sure.

Cookie Dough Dip (adapted from Chocolate Covered Katiehttp://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/05/23/want-to-eat-an-entire-bowl-of-cookie-dough/)

What you need:
1 can chickpeas (garbanzo beans) -rinsed thoroughly
1/8 t baking soda
2 t vanilla extract
1.5 T peanut butter
1.5 T almond butter
1/4 c brown sugar (adjust based on the sweetness you desire.
3 T oats
up to 1/4 c almond milk (add 1 T at a time, I only needed about 3 T)
1 c semi sweet chocolate chips

What you do:
1. Process everything in a food processor, except chocolate chips and milk, ensuring that you thoroughly rinsed the chickpeas before processing.
2. Add milk 1 T at a time until cookie dough density and texture is achieved.
3. Stir in chocolate chips. Eat with a spoon or dip something like graham crackers, pretzels, or cookies. Enjoy!

What I would do different next time:
-less chocolate chips, probably would process those too so they are not so chunky, or use chopped up semi sweet chunks instead, because I am a bigger fan of lots of small chocolate in my cookie dough.
-lose the oatmeal, use ground flax seeds instead.

What I did over winter vacation.

2012-01-01T18:45:00.000-08:00

Intentions for winter vacation: architecture reading and research, work out every day, catch up on blogging.

What I did on winter vacation: worked out every day (over 9 hours of cardio, go me!), became obsessed with pinterest and re-pinning recipes.

Send forth the recipes I have tried so far:

Baked Brie Bites (adapted from joy the baker)

I thought these would make a great appetizer, but people were too frightened by their large size. Damn you puff pastry for puffing up to look so big! They were actually quite delicious and my family doesn't know what they were missing.

yields 24 bites

What you need:
2 sheets puff pastry thawed but still cold
1/2 wedge of brie
1 cup dried figs, chopped
1 egg, beaten

What you do:
1. Unroll pastry sheets* and cut into thirds, then cut each strip into 4. 3x4=12x2=24. Yay math.
2. Place a small chunk of brie on the center of half of the pastry rectangles and top with a bit of dried fig. You will know what the right amount is by eye. (sorry, I don't really measure things...)
3. Beat the egg well and brush it along all four edge of each rectangle.
4. Place remaining rectangles atop of brie and fig pieces and seal edges with a fork or a nifty edge sealer.
5. Place on cookie sheet and brush tops with egg wash (you don't have to do this part, but it makes them a pretty golden brown)
6. Bake in a pre-heated 375 degree oven for 12-14 minutes, or until you are sure they are done.
7. Eat ASAP, they will be hot at first, but they are delish.
*Ensure floured side is down on the parchment, or flour it, otherwise it will stick, I learned the hard way.

Quinoa Corn Salad

Always on the prowl for new things to do to quinoa, this recipe at Just a Taste intrigued me, so I adapted it for dinner last night. It's amazing, a new favorite, though next time I will probably make 1/2 this amount.

the dressing

yields 8-10 servings

What you need:
bag of frozen corn
8-10 scallions, chopped
2 c uncooked quinoa
1 T lemon zest
the juice of 1-2 lemons (about 2-3 T)
1/4 c melted margarine (I use Earth Balance*)
1 T honey
salt and pepper to taste
*I choose Earth Balance because it is dairy free and not bad for you like many margarine's can be. It contains natural ingredients and no hidden trans fats

What you do:
1. Cook quinoa according to package directions (usually a 1:2 quinoa:water ratio, for about 15 minutes after boil has been reached)
2. Cook corn according to package directions
3. In a large bowl, combine lemon zest, juice, margarine, honey, salt and pepper. Whisk together.
4. When quinoa and corn are cooked, put them in bowl, along with chopped scallions.
5. Stir together and serve.

I ate a big bowl on top of some mixed greens. (good hot or cold) I served it to Danny under a chicken breast. This one is a winner for veg and non-veg alike. Bon Appetit!

so simple and so delish!

1GA Final Review...days without sleep

2011-12-22T10:16:00.000-08:00

I did not add a post for well over a month because I did nothing but work on my projects since then. A 6 page paper for Gannon's class that required 80+ pages of reading, plus we still had to do the regular weekly readings and writings; assignments for visual studies that we never do well enough for Jonah or Dwayne; major problems with our materials final project at almost the last minute = building a lot of formwork from wood and spending too much time mixing and pouring concrete... And of course the whole time all of the was going on, there was a library to design and redesign, and tweak, and figure out how to represent... Oh, did I mention I have a husband and a dog and live 35 minutes from campus?
I have done nothing but eat, sleep and breathe architecture the past month. Time for a much needed break!

a well deserved break

2011-11-04T12:55:00.000-07:00

SCI-Arc has a big Halloween party every year because it is just after mid-terms. Our midterm review went really well. We had great reviewers including Alexis Rochas, Dwayne Oyler, and Peter Zellner. Having our review on a Friday was amazing because it meant having the weekend almost all to ourselves!

Library schematics

2011-10-20T11:23:00.000-07:00

Love the beginning design phase so much. This is why I am back in school versus working. The Principal is generally the only one who gets to do all this fun stuff on a project when you work at a firm and you get stuck doing the stupid construction documents. Boring. Can I just stay in school forever please?

Drawing a cootie with geometry.

2011-10-20T04:39:00.000-07:00

Finished at 4:38 am. Now I can sleep for a minute. Yay!

Deconstructing the violin on a dry erase board.

2011-10-19T13:26:00.000-07:00

I am about to show my true inner nerd. My visual studies instructor Dwayne Oyler drew this on the board in about 20 minutes today. It is so beautiful to me.

SCI-Arc catch up

2011-10-10T14:05:00.000-07:00

M.Arch 1, 1st year, 1GA studio weeks 2-5:

Tony Smith orgy. (thanks Lucy) That pretty much sums it up.

eclectic cakes take on baby shower

2011-09-26T01:31:00.000-07:00

2-4 hours of sleep a night and a few all nighters aren't going to keep me away from my love of baking! Especially when asked to bake some of my vegan cupcakes for a friend Jessica's baby shower last Saturday. (check out her blog here) I did vanilla with blue fondant on top and my famous chocolate orange cake with orange vanilla buttercream frosting. Architecture school will never keep me from baking!!!

Schulzie's (non-traditional) bread pudding

2011-09-12T08:00:00.000-07:00

Food Network is my favorite channel. Dessert is my favorite course. Put them together and you get "Sugar High" a new show hosted by Duff Goldman. Each episode Duff goes to a different city on the hunt for their most unique and delicious desserts. Thanks Duff, for letting me know about Schulzies bread pudding on Venice Beach!

Schulzies is a place you could easily miss in the midst of pot dispensaries, rappers making you listen to their new tracks, and the typical Venice Boardwalk craziness. However, when you come upon the little stand you will feel happiness, followed by agony over trying to decide on one flavor (there are 108, though probably less than 10 on any given day). Don't expect your grandma's bread pudding, this is somewhat of a bread pudding/ice cream hybrid. It is baked traditionally but with different toppings (mine had fudge in it) and then it is put in the fridge and served in scoops. Yep, cold bread pudding. Mmmmm, yum. Makes me want to bike to Venice every weekend. I think the 12 miles there and back probably burns off any calories present in the pudding. Next time I'll probably get two scoops!

Tony Smith sculptures ::: tetrahedrons and octahedrons

2011-09-11T23:06:00.000-07:00

Week 1 of my work from SCI-Arc 1GA in pictures.

this looks like it was easy, but it wasn't. what a trick.

playing with the 10 of each shape

playing some more

using a system for symmetry

And then of course there were amazing thesis presentations and Thom Mayne spoke at commencement and now we begin week 2...

Firm Tours

2011-09-03T13:54:00.000-07:00

Friday we got to sign up for tours of different architecture firms around the city instead of having to sit through a lot more talking during orientation (totally boring.) I chose to go to Gensler and H+F.

During my undergrad I had always admired Gensler and wanted so badly to work there. I never had the opportunity and after working at a similarly ranked large internationally acclaimed firm and hating it, I figured Gensler would be the same and pushed it off my radar a bit. Yesterday all of my ideals and reasons for wanting to work at Gensler were confirmed. Gensler is awesome. That is all you need to know, oh and that they are moving downtown in November and that is really awesome!

H+F is the firm headed by Ming Fung, SCI-Arc's Academic Director and her husband Craig Hodgetts. Ming wasn't able to be there so Craig gave us the tour. He is adorable and sweet and compelling. Basically I love him! They have a lot of great looking models and are very interesting in pre-fab and got there start in exhibition design. In fact, he showed us some plans of an upcoming exhibit at LACMA that I cannot wait to go to! It's going to be fabulous!

i heart farmers markets

2011-09-01T22:08:00.000-07:00

Reasons:

1) Free samples without feeling bad about not making a purchase. After all, the guy who is shouting "free samples" obviously does not care about making every sale.

2) Produce that is local, in season, and generally pesticide free.

3) Hugemongous heirloom tomatoes.

3.1) Heirloom everything.

4) Pluots (in the summer, unfortunately the pluot season has almost passed)

5) Fresh goat cheese.

6) French crepes, Mexican tamales, and Afghan bolani all in one place!

7) Year round in LA!!!

8) Making yummy food like this mushroom ragout with crispy polenta for dinner with mostly farmers market items.

What do you love about the farmers market?

this is what we do for fun

2011-08-28T10:35:00.000-07:00

Napoleon really loves going for bike rides!

M+M catch up.

2011-08-21T15:12:00.000-07:00

Friday was our last day of M+M summer studio. I haven't written for the last two weeks for two reasons. The first week was because I absolutely hated our project and had no reason to talk about it. This week was because it was far too intense and I have only been home long enough to sleep for a few hours and shower each night.

Two weeks ago we had to use this extremely toxic blue foam to create an entrance, exit, and point of stasis. This blue foam was to become our negative space when we poured plaster into the boxes. From there we mapped out a part of the negative space that we found most interesting with museum board and this became the basis for a model that we put together with two other people that were chosen to be our group members to make the 1.5" scale model of our 6' pavilion. That's when we get to this week.

The pavilion was a bitch, but a great project for our final project. I have never made a full scale structure before and I am really happy that I had the opportunity to do that. Everyone's turned out awesome. The show was great and I got to come home and sleep after, that's really all that matters. Now we have about 2 weeks of break until orientation and the fall semester begins. I think it's safe to say everyone who did M+M who is entering the M.Arch 1 program is more than thrilled that it's over and we can begin the real studio, but I still say the whole process was really fun and I'm glad to be back in the studio environment.

wine label design

2011-08-05T22:58:00.000-07:00

I dig this. I almost always buy my wine based on the label design. Side note: brought this to a party and it wasn't opened while I was there, so I have no idea how it tastes. But it's organic, so I can only assume it is delish.

sequence that shit.

2011-08-04T22:43:00.000-07:00

SCI-Arc Making + Meaning week 3? Somebody help me out, I'm losing count.

Here you go Alexis, I hope I make you proud. Please don't yell at us all tomorrow about our terrible photographs. At least pretend that you like them. :)

I only joke, M+M is going well, some days are crazy and others I stroll in at 10:30 am after swimming laps and running errands. Today we had to map a 9"x9"x9" section of our 12 cube model with sticks. I did not like doing that, but I am happy with the end result. Tomorrow we begin cutting blue foam to fill the negative space which will become the space in our plaster 1.5" scale model pavilion. Exciting!

Also, I sort of loved doing the above photograph sequencing. I also love the "levels" and "action" tools in photoshop. How have I used photoshop for 6 years and not known about these tools? I love the chiaroscuro effect that my models evoke too. Watch out Carivaggio!

3 cubes, 9 cubes, up to 12 cubes, now cut it away!!

2011-08-02T20:08:00.000-07:00

Cubes ruled my life the for the past 5 days. Friday afternoon we were given the assignment to make a piece by intersecting 9 cubes. My concept was to focus on creating a great interior space and to rotate the cubes intentionally so that they would appear to radiate in a gradual manner. I feel this also helped to emphasize my movement from the exterior space into the interior. What do you think?

Gehry and Disney. Updated interior design required.

2011-08-01T23:24:00.000-07:00

Saturday we had a field trip to the Disney Concert Hall which is a place I have already visited due to my love affair with Frank Gehry (see earlier post). It was totally worth it though to get an actual interior tour and to learn things I didn't know. Like the acoustics and how amazing they are and the collaboration Gehry had with acoustician Yasuhisa Toyota. I also learned that there is such a thing as an acoustician. Wow, you can really be anything you want to be can't you? What is the market like for acoustician's anyway?

Ok, so the Concert Hall architecture is amazing, as are the creative ways the graphics are displayed throughout the space, not taking away from the architecture, but really adding something special to it. My favorite was the felt wall with silver letters embedded in it. Felt is so vogue right now, and this was completed 7 years ago, so forward thinking.

One thing I must say, the only negative but a rather large one: The carpet and textile on the chairs. Hideous. I don't care if it was for Mrs. Disney and that Gehry designed it by abstracting her two favorite flowers. The colors are awful and distract from the beauty of the hall around it. I get that when there is a concert, people fill the seats and one probably wouldn't notice the terrible bright floral pattern adorning the chairs throughout the space, but I will notice. The pattern would not be so bad if it were in a more neutral color, preferably tone on tone. I suggest a reupholstery party up in the concert hall. But until then, I will definitely be attending a show to check out those millions of dollars of acoustics up close and personal.

A yummy summer meal

2011-07-28T21:58:00.000-07:00

This is very late, but I came across this picture I took of our 4th of July dinner. It was amazing! Grilled Heirloom Tomato Caprese, Grilled Corn on the Cob, Grilled Watermelon, and a burger for Danny (salad and extra caprese for me!)

Volume: wood block, bandsaws, museum board cubes...

2011-07-28T21:48:00.000-07:00

I have been slightly bored the past few days, which was why I didn't blog about anything. But today we did an axonometric during drawing time (I LOVE axons!) and in the afternoon we really started playing with cubes. I'm a nerd, so I think these things are really fun!

the axon was done in pencil, I laid this on top of it so I could better understand how the planes intersect

The other days we cut different curves into three faces of a 4.5" wood cube with a bandsaw, in turn making many pieces of different shapes and sizes, then we were to shear and rotate the pieces to expand it to fit it better into a 9"x9" cube. Everyone's looks pretty cool, but I thought the process was sort of boring, and I get frightened watching some people operate the bandsaw. If I saw a finger slice open or fly off, I'm sure I would pass out!

The drawing is fun because you really have to think in 3D and it's very systematic, which is nice sometimes. The cubes were monotonous at first because we only connected them orthogonally. Today however, we began rotating the cubes against one another and the result was three cubes intersecting each other at all different angles. Doing this is not as easy as it may look. It takes a lot of skill and craftsmanship, but somehow I like it.

1st Critique

2011-07-25T22:37:00.000-07:00

This afternoon we had our first critique of our work we completed last week. I was not expecting this to happen and I am usually quite good at explaining my work, but I would say that I had an epic fail of explaining the procedure of creating my models. The instructors were not so bad to me but did make me feel like two of my three models need a lot of work, though afterwards I realized the key things I should have said which would have helped my work tremendously. Oh well, it's over now. I will work on my models a little more to make them more dense in some areas, though my overall process was to create surfaces and lines which visually interact with one another and to create special spaces within these elements.

I froze up or something. I think I felt a bit intimidated by the size of the group and the fact that I'd never spoke to the two instructors before. I think I could have explained it quite clearly to Alexis. Where were you when I needed you the most, Alexis!?! :)

Field Trip #1 - Watt's Tower

2011-07-24T22:45:00.000-07:00

Saturdays we have field trips, which ensures that we are working every day. This week they sent us into South Central with a map that was improperly marked, which I feel was a sort of initiation. We made it there alive, to Watts where these reinforced concrete towers stand. They are covered in tiles and glass from soda bottles. This little (4'11") Italian man named Simon Rodia built these in his yard over 33 years. Now that is dedication! I think that is partially why they sent us to Watts Towers, to show that a piece can take so much dedication that it is never really complete. Also it is clearly a stick figure, so that probably had something to do with the choice to go there. Or maybe they wanted to see how many of us made it back alive from South Central. In all seriousness, this is a great thing for this neighborhood. The people have respect for the art and there is a museum with work from a local artist who lives across the street. This particular neighborhood is a great example why the arts are important. Keep the arts alive!

My third model and the other two all together. Do they look like they were created with the same hand? They are supposed to, so hopefully!

Planes and Intersections

2011-07-22T00:14:00.000-07:00

Ah the surfaces model. It begins in a much more difficult way than that of the sticks, but it becomes something so much more amazing and fun. At least that was my experience today.

I utilized my map very well on this one and really tried to emphasize the parallelogram without being redundant or obvious. In using the 30 and 45 degree angles from my map, a few really great spaces began to take shape. I'm assuming that is kind of the point of this exercise, to bend and intersect the planes using the map and hopefully something interesting emerges. In my case, I tend to look for those beautiful interiors such as this one:

This view reminds me of Yoshio Taniguchi's design of the MOMA. I have a thing for museums. There is just something so delicate about creating a space that should be the background to the art, but really it becomes more than just a complement to the art. Steven Holl did the same on the addition to the Nelson Atkins in Kansas City which is a tie for my favorite museum design.

Oh, and I added more than just 5-10 sticks. It's finished now, I refuse to add anything else because I'm afraid it's on the verge of becoming redundant and there is nothing that I hate more than a design that is so obvious it slaps you in the face.

Eric Owen Moss spoke to us today. He sort of laid out the idea behind SCI-Arc, I guess in case anyone didn't already know. I knew, which is why I chose to apply. Basically SCI-Arc is not a school of ideas in itself, but the idea that everyone should experiment and strive for something new, that has never been done before. There should be no labels on the work that comes out of SCI-Arc, no systems or rules of particular styles are to be followed, but instead should be questioned. I liked his example that at SCI-Arc, we wish to get into the cracks that are inherent in the differing styles of architecture and from there see what hasn't been seen. The idea in itself is incredibly abstract and I believe that is the point. Basically it goes back to my philosophy for life, which is to question everything. I think me and this school are going to work out just fine.

Sticks are lines and lines are points, let the model building begin.

2011-07-20T23:07:00.000-07:00

Today we began constructing a three dimensional representation of our drawing by using the plexi-glass box as a map. We used wooden posts (actually bamboo kebab skewers) and manipulated them in such a way as to create a relationship between the three sides and our overall drawing. The piece was then taken out of the plexi-box and more sticks were added to complete a small cubed piece that represents something much larger.

My stick model is not complete, but very close. I am thinking of only allowing myself 5-10 more sticks, carefully placed to complete this piece before I move on to using planes. I'm attempting to create spaces that hold significance and utilize the parallelogram shape that my drawing developed into. Ok, maybe there is a lot more work to do. Perhaps tomorrow night is my late night in the studio. We shall see how it goes.

P.S. Check out SCI-Arc's pictures of M+M studio on facebook. I am in a few of them, working away :)

Mayline vs. T-Square, Mechanical Pencil vs. Lead Holder

2011-07-19T22:57:00.000-07:00

Today was the second day of Making + Meaning, a summer studio at SCI-Arc (Southern California Institute of Architecture.) The studio is comprised of 80 students, half of which are beginning the M.Arch 1 program this fall (that's me!) and the other half are people wishing to gain more knowledge of architecture to: A) decide if they want to pursue architecture as a career or B) build their portfolios and resumes for grad school applications for next year.

Alexis Rochas is the director and he has a passion for drafting tools. While I agree with most of his obsession (confession: I've always been obsessed with office supplies) I HATE the fact that we had to have a Mayline on the first day of class and that they cost $220 at the supply store. Also, why don't they make 48" T-Squares? Such B.S. really. The architecture supply market has a monopoly on this stuff. And they know in today's digital age that you are only going to use that thing for like one semester an then it's gonzo. Obviously I have an issue with the price of the Mayline, but I admit that it is pretty nice thus far. I'm highly skilled at a T-Square, but this is nice for a change. Also given the fact that I absolutely love hand drafting and find it to be a lost art form, I have been quite content in my little studio space the past few days.

Our first drawing was based on a grid system we created the first day with 20 horizontal and 30 vertical lines and dots at their intersections. Today we had to experiment using other marks such as arcs, curves, dots, lines, etc... This created many intersections and I feel that the important issue at hand is how to address these intersections. Originally I used points radiating outward in one area, arcs radiating outward and getting more intense on the exterior in another area and then the 30 and 45 degree angles which later became my overall theme. The original idea, which has now became a background to the angles, was for these 4 different marks to merge in areas of high density and the question of collaboration versus conflict. I likened the page to a representation of an urban landscape with high density downtown spreading out and converging into the more suburban areas which also have areas of intensity. Instead it became more about the series of 30 degree angles moving from a few moments of intensity to moments of sparsity and 45 degree angles doing the same but in the opposite directions. This brought intersections that allowed me to create my own little "weird" shapes, as my instructor told me. Then this parallelogram shape became my theme with which I completed the drawing, making the entire page visually become one large parallelogram. When I was finished I realized how three dimensional the piece looked and how my small little weird shapes became almost planes of an axonometric of some sort.

After our drawing was complete we had to chose three 8"x8" snapshots and they were photocopied and put onto a transparent adhesive which we put onto our three sided plexi box that we made. Tomorrow we get our next step in the design process. I'm thinking we will use the designs on the plexi to create a 3D piece, though I'm not sure what materials we will utilize, but I am very excited to find out!

shattered: the coolest thing to happen to nail polish

2011-06-25T23:27:00.000-07:00

lavender under white shattered

I have no idea how I came across this last night, but I knew I had to have it ASAP. Thanks to my grandma who always gets me JcPenny gift cards for every holiday, I found myself in the JcPenny salon asking "where is your OPI shattered?!?" It was not out in plain view and the women I had spoke with on the phone a few hours before TOLD me that had it.

They had it, it was locked up. They keep this stuff locked up because it is that awesome!

There are only a few colors to choose from right now, but the possibilities are almost endless with the combinations. You just put regular nail polish on, the usual 2 coats or whatever (they say it works BEST when used with OPI color underneath, but it's probably no different with another brand. I haven't tried it, but I feel like nail polish is all the same...) Then, after the bottom color dries you brush on the shattered and watch it do its thang. You can try brushing it different directions and changing the thickness of which you apply it for different effects. I like the way it looks when applied diagonally.

I can't wait for 4th of July, it's gonna be all red, white, and blue shattered all over my nails!

hot pink under turquoise shattered

Dark Chocolate Kit Kats, the Japanese got it right!

2011-05-18T21:47:00.000-07:00

I'm completely addicted to these now. I will never eat a regular Kit Kat again, and trust me, there have been many times I have eaten more than my share of Kit Kats in a single day. This brings an interesting question: Why do brands offer different versions of their treats in different countries? I'm sure massive amounts of marketing studies go into deciding which product will succeed with particular demographics, but what about what I want?? When I was in Beijing, my friend introduced me to these amazing Oreo wafer treats, similar idea to the Kit Kat, but by Oreo. They are amazing, and I want them in the States! Until then, I will mosey over to Mitsuwa anytime I crave a delicious Kit Kat.

Incredible Design from Japan

2011-05-16T23:19:00.000-07:00

I had to share this because it is so unique and I think it is beautiful.

the organic dilemma.

2011-04-30T13:55:00.000-07:00

I always try to buy organic fruits and vegetables. I'm particular about my eggs, lettuce, tomatoes, and check labels on anything packaged making sure there are no artificial dyes, preservatives, or HFCS. I don't mind spending the few cents extra for higher quality food or the extra money for free range hormone free chicken for Danny. One thing I don't do is buy organic milk. It's just that it is 2.99 for regular, vs 5.99 for organic, I don't drink cow's milk, and Danny claims he dislikes the taste of the organic. But every weekend at Trader Joe's as I lift the regular 2% milk from the case, I get this bad feeling coming over me, like I am doing something wrong. When did I become so radical? Am I radical? I often feel I belong in Portland, but at least I am in LA where being the way I am is not looked at like such a freak, as it is my hometown of Poplar Bluff, Missouri. I know my family thinks I'm a weirdo.

What are your food purchasing dilemmas? I can't be the only one who has them :)

Living room makeover begins

2011-04-28T06:00:00.000-07:00

We are finally getting around to adding some life to our living room by painting the walls and getting a decal for the tv wall. Right now it has been a bit of hodge podge on the walls. I have art I have wanted to put up, but need a new frame. I have some art on the walls, but never really took care in placing it. Basically we have finally decided we are probably going to be living here for a long time, so we may as well make it our own. But what color to choose? Even though I was set on grey, this was one of the lightest I found on a swatch that was true grey with not blue or purple undertones and it is still too dark for me. Danny and I are both leaning toward the lightest yellow. We also thought maybe just doing the tv wall in the blue or grey and making it an accent with the other two walls being white or the yellow. Ugh, I am really not sure yet. Perhaps some more sampling is in store for next weekend.

Either way, the tv wall will have an awesome decal on it. I am leaning toward these:

from DabbleDown on Etsy

from Kinky Wall on Etsy

From PlanetWallArt on Etsy

From What is Blik?

I'm thinking if the wall is yellow, going with a deep charcoal colored decal. If the wall is blue or gray, going with a red or orange decal. Pretty excited!

Grad School

2011-04-25T06:00:00.000-07:00

I have wanted to go back to school since about 2 minutes after I graduated from undergrad. I have always wanted to be an architect, but I just let a few things get in my path and thought I would try being an interior designer for a little while first. Working at my first job, making the saddest wage a professional with a bachelor's degree should ever make, doing work that was more than often boring and not really gaining much knowledge of design or being inspired at all, I found myself looking up architecture schools in LA. I ended up applying to UCLA, USC, and SCI-Arc (Southern California Institute of Architecture.) About a month ago I found out I was accepted to SCI-Arc, but it seemed I would not be getting any financial help. Well, $36,000 a year for 3.5 years (meaning taking 52,000 in loans a year to barely cover tuition and living expenses) was not going to be possible. I was holding out for more affordable UCLA, until one Saturday at 4 am I awoke to a rejection email. That same day later in the afternoon I received a congratulations email from the Director of Admissions at SCI-Arc letting me know I was being offered a half scholarship, renewable each year upon academic success.

All of that said, I will be attending SCI-Arc to get my M.Arch 1 beginning this July. I am pretty stoked and can't really think about too much else. I told my boss and she is letting me stay until I start school. Now I am taking a distance Physics course to finish off my pre-req's and then it will be all about architecture for the next 3.5 years.

I'm hoping to make time to keep up with this blog during that time. At the very least I will post my projects on here.

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T20:27:00.000-07:00

Being the non-traditional people that we are, this was our Easter dinner. Avocado enchiladas with corn. To drink: Trader Jose's (a Trader Joe's brand of beer like Corona, only tastier and half the price.) Happy Easter everyone!

The Recipe:

Avocado Enchiladas (makes 5 servings)

Sauce:

1 tsp oil

1 small yellow onion, finely diced

1 garlic clove, minced

2 tsp sugar

2 tbs cumin

1.5 tbsp dried oregeno

6 oz beer (1/2 can/bottle)

14 oz crushed or diced tomatoes

1/2 cup water

1 tbs balsamic vinegar

Filling:

4 ripe avocados

1/2 cup cilantro leaves, roughly chopped

1/2 onion, finely diced

juice from 1 lime

10 corn tortillas

enough shredded mozzarella or monterey jack cheese to top the enchiladas.

Heat oil in saucepan. Add onion and saute for 5 minutes. Add garlic, sugar, cumin, oregano and saute another 2 minutes. Add beer, tomatoes and water. Simmer for 20 minutes. Add vinegar. Heat oven to 400 F. Chop avocados and toss with cilantro and onion and lime juice. Spread 1/2 cup of sauce on bottom of casserole. Dip tortillas in remaining sauce. Spoon 3 tablespoons filling into each. Roll up and arrange, seam side down in casserole. Pour remaining sauce over top of enchiladas and sprinkle with cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake 5 minutes longer.

Eclectic Cakes

2011-04-02T07:27:00.000-07:00

Today is the grand opening of my new bakery, Eclectic Cakes! Check out the cupcake tab up there ^ and place your orders! The first person to order cupcakes or cake balls gets there first 1/2 dozen free. That means if you order 12 cupcakes, you only pay $15 and if you order a dozen cake balls you only pay $5!! I only ask that you tell everyone you know in LA about my delicious cupcakes!

Thanks!

Belated Beijing Trip

2011-04-02T07:23:00.000-07:00

As I'm sure you all know, I took my first trip to the Orient a few weeks ago. Sorry for taking so long to really talk about it, besides posting my disturbing picture of my back a few posts ago, then another disturbing photo of a garlic clove in someone's ear.

Well, I am fully back into the daily grind, but really wishing I were still on vacation. China was a great experience, one I am glad to have a great friend who lives there and speaks the language, otherwise I don't know how we would have survived. Especially me, being vegetarian. I was a little naive going into China, thinking that most people would at least know some English. This was not the case. My friend Katie was around most of the time and her boyfriend (who is Chinese) spoke English well enough to help us as well.

My favorite things about Beijing: Nan Luoguxiang, which Katie's boyfriend calls "rocker street" and literally knows everyone and every shop and bar in the area. Tasting and buying tea at the East Market. The guy we bought it from was so passionate about tea it was inspiring. The Great Wall, especially the less touristy part that Katie took us to because after you hike up, you get to ride a tobaggon back down to the village below. Overall the whole trip was really awesome and I'm glad to have friends in many places across the globe to share these experiences with.

Is that a garlic clove in your ear?

2011-03-26T20:38:00.000-07:00

Why yes, yes it is. I hate medicine. Luckily I have a supreme immune system and rarely, if ever, get sick. When I feel anything coming on, I drink loads of herbal tea and hot water, eat fruit, and stay away from dairy. Yesterday at work I started feeling icky and I was out of tea. When I got home my ear started hurting like a full sinus infection with ear ache was brewing. I was not about to have that. After a quick google search for homeopathic way to keep an earache from developing I discovered the healing power of garlic. Seriously, I just peeled a clove, cut off the two sharp ends and stuck it in my ailing ear. Within minutes I felt relief. I left it in there for at least 30 minutes and massaged my lymphatic drainage massage for a few minutes. Voila! I wake up this morning still feeling a little stuffy, but no earache. Check out this link here for more information.

My most unusual souvenir from Beijing

2011-03-21T23:25:00.000-07:00

Yes, that is my back. No, the Chinese government did not give me lashings as I went through customs. Though it looks like something from The Passion, this is something that I paid to have done to me. It's referred to as "gua sha" or skin scraping and it is a Chinese Medicinal practice that is supposed to remove disease and sickness from your body. The red you see is not bruising, it's sub-cutaneous blemishing caused by the extravasation of blood from the peripheral capillaries.

First she oiled my back and gave me a mini massage. Then she proceeded to run her rock down the sides of my spine enough times to not really hurt, but to the point where I would tell myself, "If she does it one more time I'm saying 'ow!'" Then she moved on to my other meridians, at least I guess that what she was doing since it's pretty symmetrical.

Danny and I just didn't do this with no knowledge of it, my friend has had it done multiple times before, and for the equivalent of $5 USD each, we had to give it a try. I really felt light and mobile and awake after having it done. Though I must say that it was uncomfortable during the process and it was sore like a bruise the next day on the flight home.

Would I do it again? Only in China.

cake pops at Starbucks

2011-03-09T21:37:00.001-08:00

Cupcakes are old news, the new things are cake pops. The babies are popping up at local cupcakeries and online shops all over LA. I have made some myself with left over frosting the "muffin" top of the cake, then you coat it in chocolate. Anyways.... I am really proud of Starbucks being on top of the bakery trends by offering three flavors of cake pops. I think today must have been the first day of it because I got one of the three flavors that were on display. For you lucky people reading my blog, I will let you know that tomorrow through Saturday from 2-5 pm you get a free cake pop with any drink purchase. You know me, I couldn't wait a day so I paid for mine and just finished it right now. It was really good actually. Super moist and really flavorful. Bravo Starbucks. There are three flavors: birthday cake (yum.), rocky road, and tiramisu.

Anyway, get yourself to your local participating Starbucks over the next few days from 2-5 for a free cake pop and find out how awesome they are!!

Giveaway at S&S Express

2011-02-23T23:30:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone, check out this giveaway from my friends over at S&S Express. They are workout Queens and give great work out advice and routines with videos.

Good luck!

happy valentine's day!

2011-02-14T05:00:00.000-08:00

Some people hate Valentine's Day, stating that it is a "hallmark" holiday forcing consumers to go out and buy crap their significant other does not really need. I say these people don't have anyone on valentine's day and just want to ruin everyone's fun! But as a side note, I hate hearts and teddy bears holding them, so I do agree with some aspects of the V-day haters reasoning.

Saturday night my husband had made reservations for a super romantic spot on the edge of Santa Monica and Pacific Palisades called Caffe Delfini. I was so surprised. In the 8 years that Danny and I have been together, I have been working really hard to get him to be romantic and surprise me, this was finally it! He reserved the window seat, tucked into a corner of this tiny Italian place, owned by real Italians none-the-less! We ordered a nice bottle of Italian red wine and had a very lovely dinner just a block off the PCH. And tiramisu to finish it off, some of the best I've ever had!

I also would like to point out the fact that we celebrated V-day not on V-day...this is another thing that can be said against the date is that restaurants love to take advantage. Pre-fixe menus that cost double what they normally would. Terribly obvious foods like chocolate covered strawberries (which I love, but come on!) and pink champagne. Gag.

I am a hopeless romantic and Danny has learned how to appease my idealism. Good job Danny, best Valentine's Day ever! I love you!

I hope everyone has a pleasant day today. Cheers!

biking 101

2011-02-03T20:07:00.000-08:00

I am finally doing what I have dreamed about doing forever...Biking to work! My new office is only 2.2 miles from my home, so two weekends ago I bought this sweet Raleigh bike, fashioned it with a basket for my goodies (AKA, lunch and change of shoes) and some lights for night riding. I wanted a hybrid and this one is kind of, but it's called a comfort bike. It's perfect for me because I haven't biked since I was a kid, and I got into some pretty killer wrecks back then. I know I couldn't do a road bike because I'm too nervous to go that fast and a cruiser is out of the question for commuting on the streets. This bike, the Raleigh Venture 4.0 is super comfortable and I knew as soon as I tried it out at Chubby's Cruisers that this was the bike for me. I sit up straight but can get to work in about 15-18 minutes.

I was nervous my first few times out, but now after my 4th day of riding to and from work, I am more confident and today I stayed on the road the entire ride. Plus it is getting darker later, so that helps on my ride home. And the fact that Venice Boulevard has bike lanes helps for half of my trip.

I am a biker, and that makes me and my thighs very happy!

The grade:

Comfort: A+

Speed: B

Ease of Use: A

Look: A

Weight: B

Overall I give the Raleigh Venture 4.0 an A-

my new logo?

2011-01-31T22:33:00.000-08:00

Hi friends. I finally got to sit down at my new mac with photoshop working and come up with a few designs for my header. I would really like input from you, the reader. Which one would you rather see at the top of my blog? Leave your comment below and we will see which one goes up there by the end of the week!

#1:

#2:

#3:

Any graphic designers who may be reading this, your input is especially appreciated!

On an Etsy high!

2011-01-29T22:53:00.000-08:00

It's not that I only just discovered Etsy. Thanks to my friend Katie who lives in China, I was introduced to the great site of Etsy long ago. It was only really just tonight that I have become obsessed. After searching for a Christmas/Birthday gift for one of my besties (sorry so late Tori!) I started perusing the site, adding pages to my favorites, making tons of items my favorites, basically really hard core window shopping through really amazing jewelry, handbags and art.

In particular I have found this to be one of my favorites and I plan to buy multiple prints ASAP! (I think these are intended for nurseries and children's rooms....I will not be using them as such. I will probably put them in my den or bedroom, I just think they are so cute and profound!)

photo copyright Rebecca from barkingbirdarts on etsy

Design Inspiration

2011-01-28T17:43:00.000-08:00

http://www.archithings.com/

I'm quite glad that I stumbled upon this website at work today whilst searching for cafe inspiration images. I don't know how I got to this though, but thanks google!

A poppy, girlie, ballet-y workout

2011-01-22T16:10:00.000-08:00

Pop Physique, that is the name of this super awesome workout studio that I tried out this week, thanks again groupon! The groupon I purchased was good for any of their 4 locations, it was $20 for 3 classes (classes are normally $20 each).

courtesy of Pop Physique's website

I went Tuesday evening. The class was full, but the room wasn't overly packed. The place is super cute. It's along Venice in a tall box building, sort of warehouse style. The workout room is decked out with beautiful dark brown flooring, bright white paint, bright yellow curtains, huge white poppy pendants throughout and barres against the walls. They provide aeromats and all of the weights/balls/straps that you need. There was no easing into this workout. The instructor told us to pick up our weights and off we went. And we didn't stop for an hour. It was intense, but not in the same way that P90x is intense. I would say this is definitely a girl focused workout. A lot of squeezing, mostly focusing on triceps, shoulders, hips, butt, thighs and abs. I have no problem with that, I am happy working on all of those parts.

Right now they also have a deal for first time members, 1 month unlimited for $100. I think it's a steal. You could go everyday and be saving soooo much money and get super fit. I'm thinking of getting it, stay tuned to find out how that goes!

felt is so vogue

2011-01-19T07:00:00.000-08:00

photo courtesy of crafted systems

Who knew felt could look so beautiful? I really like the rugs too. Check out the company Crafted Systems by aurelie tu. Read the company's story in the about me section, it's pretty cool.

the modern bento box

2011-01-18T08:00:00.000-08:00

I need this for work.

PLASTICA#1- BENTO BOX from Peter J Brant on Vimeo.

Check it out at Plastica

Spaghetti (squash)

2011-01-16T08:00:00.000-08:00

I have seen spaghetti squash being made into a spaghetti dish on Food Network before, but I never thought I would have the time to do something that seemed so cool. Turns out you don't need time or fanciness. All you need is to buy a spaghetti squash (SUPER cheap, only $1.29 at Trader Joe's). Then you put it in a 400 degree oven for an hour. You don't cut it or anything, just take the sticker off and let it bake. When it is done let it cool down before cutting it in half and scooping out the seeds. Then you scrape your fork from top to bottom and get the spaghetti flesh out into a bowl. Top however you please. I used olive oil, garlic and parsley. But you could use a pesto or red sauce. Now this is a healthy spaghetti!*

*(to be read like a hefty Italian chef saying "now that is a tasty meatball.")

Finally Modern

2011-01-15T08:00:00.000-08:00

I recently began working at a new design office called Indidesign, and I could not be happier. My new position has quickly rekindled my love for great design and because of that, I feel that I can finally post some design related items (as if my blog isn't eclectic enough, right?)

Today I discovered this amazing door company, Modernus. These are my favorites:

i loooove the texture of this door, this vignette has a great contrast that I am attracted to as well.

i love the concept of this sliding door. I don't love the etching as much, but it could be whatever your heart desires!

Repost: USDA changing school lunches...finally!

2011-01-15T00:02:00.000-08:00

Check this out from a blog I follow. I am extremely passionate about food and health and I think it's about time the USDA is starting to think more responsibly about children's health. Check it out here.

thanks Val Westover...and groupon

2011-01-12T07:00:00.000-08:00

I bought a groupon months ago for a normally $450 photo class for only $50. What a steal. The class was this past Sunday at UCLA. I have this amazing Canon Rebel T2i camera, cost me a pretty penny. I have always had these aspirations to have a side photography business of some sort. Well, I took better pictures with my old point and shoot. No matter how hard I tried, I just didn't feel like I could get it. In comes Val Westover. This guy gave us 5 easy steps to taking a photo, we went through all of the important concepts behind what makes a good photo, that was the classroom portion. Then after lunch we had a hands on photo safari where we put everything we learned into action, with a little instruction from Val and his partner. Enjoy the only good photos from my safari:

crossover to the mac side.

2011-01-10T21:13:00.000-08:00

This is my new computer:

I love Mac. This is the best computer ever. A++++ You should get a Mac, seriously.

Juicing is for hippies.

2011-01-05T14:19:00.000-08:00

I am the proud owner of a Jack LaLanne juicer and I love juicing! If you don't know, Jack LaLanne is apparently this old guy who used to be a Strong Man for a long time, kind of the epitome of health. So he endorses this juicer which is shown on informercials all the time. This is just what my father-in-law told me when I said that I needed to buy a juicer and if asked him for suggestions. After hearing all that, I wasn't sure I'd be able to get anything decent in time. I had always heard that juicers were super expensive and I didn't know if Target would carry it. I was worried because this was Saturday and I needed to start juicing on Monday for my detox.

I went to Target on Sunday and there is was, not one, but two Jack LaLanne juicers to choose from. They weren't too expensive (in my opinion.) I opted for the $99 juicer. Mine is white, the other was $129 and stainless steel and probably a bit bigger, maybe more powerful.

I think this thing is so awesome. If you have never juiced before, you will be amazed the first time you throw in an apple and watch the pink/red/white juice flow out into your cup. It's so cool, and incredibly tasty. Oh, and super good for you.

I did a vegetable juice on my detox day that was...well, not the best thing I've ever tasted. It was cucumber, celery, basil and ginger. It was a little strong. I think I will be sticking to the fruits and carrots. By the way, if you start juicing, carrot and apple juice is amazing. And pears. Oh my, I'm turning into a fruit.

Here are my grades:

Ease of use: B+ (it's not hard, but you have to pay attention to the sound it is making, the blade gets off balance and you have to release pressure or it won't juice, it just takes a time or two of doing it to get the hang of it, but it's kind of annoying.)

Cleanability: B (it's easy to take apart and clean everything except for the blade/pulp filter. That is kind of a nightmare to clean if you actually want it to be perfectly spotless. I just opt for a little pulp residue leftover on the screen, no biggie.)

Pulp catcher: C- (the pulp all hangs out on the top piece and rarely goes into the pulp catcher, you have to take of the lid and scoop it yourself)

Sound: A+ (why can't they make blenders and food processors this quiet?)

Look and Size: A+ (it looks nice and doesn't take up much room on my counter for as big as it seem to be.)

Overall: B-

If you are interested in the Jack LaLanne juicer, you can purchase it online and they have a deal right now that you get one for free, you just pay shipping. Basically you would get two for about $150, saving you $50. You could give it to someone as a gift or hey, sell it on ebay. They also have more colors that what Target does.

I am quickly becoming more and more of a hippy.

P90x

2011-01-04T07:33:00.000-08:00

New Year's Resolution #2, work out regularly to stay at my optimum fitness level. AKA: lose the flab that has accrued on my abs and ass throughout the winter.

I am a fitness freak and will be the first one to tell you how you should work out to meet your fitness goals, but due to a lack of hours in the day, I often don't practice what I preach. Danny and I bought P90x the beginning of last summer and got really into it. It's easy to work out in the summer when you go to the beach on a weekly basis, wear tiny shorts and tank tops, and just spend more time outside and around other people. In the winter though, it is hard for me to get any sort of motivation. This is why I always make one of my New Year's Resolutions to get on a fitness program and work out at least 6 days a week.

If you haven't jumped on the P90x wagon, now is the time. It really is amazing how in shape you get by never setting foot on a treadmill or in a gym at all. You just need a few hand weights and if you are a guy (or a really strong girl) you can purchase a pull up bar that goes over a door frame for pretty cheap. There are three complete plans lined out for you with all videos included. The first is the classic which is what most guys do, the next is called "lean" which is more for girls or people who don't want to build big muscles and just want to tone up everywhere (it's not easy, it just involves a little more cardio and a lot less pull ups and push ups), and there is the doubles, for hard-core athletes who apparently have nothing better to do in life than work out 2+ hours a day.

The videos are sometimes a little corny, but not in a late 80's aerobics video kind of way. The creator, Tony Horton, is REALLY into working out and motivating, but without being too pushy. And even though I've done each video many times, I still laugh at some of his corny jokes. There is enough going on in each work out that you won't get bored.

Yesterday I began the year with YogaX, which is 90 minutes long and combines some intense Vinyassa with balance poses and a lot of stretching. Another favorite of mine and Danny's is Plyometrics, which is an intense jumping workout where you leave the ground so much it really gives you the best workout.

Today I am going to make use of my YMCA membership that I really haven't been getting my money's worth for awhile and take a cycling class. Tomorrow a core class, then finish off the week with more P90x videos. I think the key to staying fit is to never get bored. Even though I love P90x, it is mostly same thing every week, so I have to throw in some running outdoors and classes at the gym so that I stick to my program. I suggest the same for you.

P90x grade: A

Detox

2011-01-03T08:00:00.000-08:00

While I was home over the holidays I used a year old gift card to this video/book/music store in my town to buy this amazing book called "You Are What You Eat" by Dr. Gillian McKeith. I swear, this book has already changed my life.

I thought as a vegetarian, locavore, and organic produce eater that I was plenty healthy. I couldn't figure out why I was still having a massive amount of digestive problems. After reading this book I now know why and I am very excited to try her suggestions and make myself healthier on the inside and out.

The gist of the book for me is a few key vitamins/supplements, drinking a lot of herbal teas (most of which I'd never heard of and couldn't even find at Whole Foods), juicing, eating 50% raw, 50% cooked, never eating proteins and carbs together, and eating a lot of sprouts. Maybe this isn't going to be the most delicious diet I have ever eaten, but my plan is to incorporate most of the things she lists in the book into my every day diet. I will still eat some things that may combine carbs and protein, on occasion, but now that I have all this new knowledge, I will be more conscious of how food digests and how to eat for my body.

I shopped for ingredients for the detox day (today) and for 4 out of the 7 days of her jumpstart diet listed in the book. $300 dollars later, my kitchen looks like the produce section of Trader Joes. ($100 at TJ's, $100 at Whole Foods, and $100 for my new Jack LaLanne Juicer!)

I can't believe I haven't juiced before!! So far I've only tried just apple by itself and it was the most amazing tasting juice I've ever had. Bright red from a gala apple, Danny thinks the same. And I really don't like apples and never eat them, well, now I will be juicing them frequently!!! I can't wait until later in the day to try her cucumber medley detox veggie juice. I doubt it will be as yummy as the apple, but I think it will really make me feel good!

I normally won't be spending $300 dollars for the week and definitely won't have time once I start my new job (yay!) to be juicing all the time, taking 5 tea breaks a day and eating so well, but my intention is to do it at least 3 days a week. This is my New Year's Resolution #1. Happy New Year everybody!!

Christmas Gifting

2010-12-22T04:00:00.000-08:00

some gifts I will be giving

I always try to get innovative with my wrapping paper. Being as environmental as I try to be, I can't stand the idea of buying tons of wrapping paper like we did when I was growing up. Sure, it's cute and looks fancy, but I think there are a lot of other things you can do to save money and recycle what you already have.

In the past I have used magazine pages taped together, comics pages from the Sunday paper, brown paper bags from the grocery store, and my blue lines from my drafting final project in undergrad. One thing I do every year is keep the bags which I receive gifts in and use them the following year for presents I give to others. I also keep paper bags from every store and restaurant I get them from and store them for gifts. You can dress it up with a little tissue paper or newspaper, depending on the holiday and the route you wish to go with the gift.

This year I did something which I used to spend a lot of time doing as a teenager, decorating shoe boxes. For my work party I decorated a shoe box with pages from design magazines. It sounds so simple, but it can be tricky getting the pages just where you want them and overlapping them in the right way. It can really become an art piece if you let it. For a few other boxes which I am giving to family members I did buy a small roll of Christmas wrap from Target (it was $1). I wrapped the box tops separately from the bottoms, that way they can be held together with ribbon and reused for years to come. This is a very economical way to wrap and obviously environmental, just as long as you give them to people who you know will save them and reuse them in the future. Also, it is great for those of us that have to travel by plane for the holidays, because if you have typically wrapped gifts and your bag is chosen for screening, TSA will open your presents. Who wants to have to rewrap frantically after reaching their destination?

I love wrapping presents and I hope that I have given you last minute gifters an idea or two on how to be environmental and savvy when giving gifts.

The Den: Before and After

2010-12-20T23:29:00.000-08:00

I know I'm lucky to have an extra room in my apartment. We call it "the den" and the people we rent from left a huge ugly desk in it that we can't get rid of. The room is relatively small (approx. 8'x11') and it also houses our closet on one end. When we moved in, we added a few more book shelves to what the previous owners left behind and it quickly became a storage room for us, despite Danny being a grad student and me preferring to work at a desk. This room was not being used, and the further the semester went on, the deeper the clutter got.

before

after

You can see from the before plan that the desk was wasting the corner of the room and blocking easy access to the window. One of the biggest issues was that your back would be to the door whenever working at the desk. This is not conducive to working at home. I finally had a minute to sit down and realize that this den could work with a little innovation and came up with the second plan. I measured everything and drew it out to make sure there would be enough clearance for walking through and that everything would fit. It works perfect, I'm totally in love with my new den! I plan to work in there all the time and I even have a great amount of space to work out in there too!

before

after

before

after

before

after

it's obvious no one can do work here!

I love doing work here!!!

I heart my "new" den!

The Best Hotel beauty products

2010-12-18T15:15:00.000-08:00

And the winner is...

Bliss products in W Hotels. Of course. How can anyone not love this stuff? I know that as soon as I walk into my room I go straight for the lotion and put it on my nightstand, so that housekeeping will keep refilling. Do this everyday and you should have enough lemon+sage lotions to last awhile. I use them on the go so I always have one in my purse and one at my desk at work.
Smells so good!!!
Thanks again W Hotel's for another reason for me to love you!

Whenever, Whatever San Fransisco

2010-12-17T22:30:00.000-08:00

First let me start by saying that W Hotels are my favorite and if I am visiting a city with a W, I will most likely stay there. I love the funky modern design and attention to detail throughout the entirety of the hotel. I love that they are all sort of specific to the city which they are located. I love the service and the fact that they are super dog friendly.

My recent stay was at the W San Francisco. Located in the heart of the SoMa district, on third street right beside the MoMA, this hotel could not be in a better location. The Living Room (W's version of a lobby) is really cool, with a fireplace and a Pac-Man/asteroid sit down two player machine. The bar is really cool and spills into the living room, allowing guests to hang out in comfy sofas by the fire place and still order drinks and food. Thanksgiving night they already had the Christmas decorations up, super modern tree with a city scene and contemporary light up interpretations of snowflakes all over.

window seat is my fave

One of the best things about the W are their complementary drinks and snacks in the lobby throughout the day. In the morning is coffee, boring. But in the afternoon was some of the best hot chocolate I've ever had with little bites of salted brownies. Delish. I think I put on a few pounds from so many cups of hot chocolate every day during my stay. It was too good.

The rooms were ok, could have been a little better but cute and we had a great view of the bay bridge and part of the city. But of course, the most important thing is the bed, and W signature beds are the most comfortable beds in the world. The pillows, down comforter, pillowtop mattress, oh my.

view from our window

Most important is that Napoleon liked it here. Though I don't think he appreciated it when we left him alone in a strange room for most of the day while we toured the city, but he got over it when we gave him the many W dog treats the front desk provided for him. He really liked the bed too. No, not the adorable and comfortable doggy bed the hotel provided, our bed. You think this guy would sleep on a dog bed? You must be crazy.

you crazy if you tink ima sleep on dis

Tourista Takes San Francisco

2010-12-14T20:53:00.000-08:00

Just a few pics from our Thanksgiving weekend in San Francisco.

Coit Tower view from North Beach

Danny and I at Coit Tower, GG Bridge behind us

Lombard Street (the crookedest street in the world)

a nice architectural detail on Nob Hill

we brought our baby along :)

my favorite view of the city

SFMoMA's design of wine exhibit

Thanksgiving (almost a month later...)

2010-12-14T20:33:00.000-08:00

Sorry I have been in hiatus for awhile, but I'm back, just in time for the Holidays. But what happened to Thanksgiving? Well, Danny and I had our first Thanksgiving in a restaurant and it was a splendid experience! I made the mistake of waiting too long to make a reservation and we found ourselves with only one option (after an extensive search on yelp.) Luckily it was close to our hotel, not too expensive, had vegetarian options, and was super yum.

The place: Zare at Flytrap.
The food: 4 course pre fixe Thanksgiving menu.
First course: me-squash soup, Danny-sweet potato bacon soup
Second course: me-this amazing eggplant that was covered in sauces and, omg, I don't love eggplant, but I loved this!, Danny- trout with cucumber/pasta salad thing. meh.
Main Course: me-a sort of vegetarian meatball thing, breaded and fried with beans, potatoes and veggies inside served with a side of guac, Danny- turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, stuffing.
Dessert- we shared them both. A pumpkin cake with some sort of scrumptious sorbet and pumpkin churros.

We both got yummy drinks too. Mine was something I can't remember the name of, but it was basically a more sophisticated version of the margarita. Danny got about the girliest drink on the menu, but it was super good. To put it in perspective, it had a pistachio crusted rim. Mmmm, I would go back just for that drink.. I wish I remembered the name of it.

vegetarian kufteh tabrizi (veggie meatballs)

pumpkin cake with candied orange and pecans

nice ambiance, great Thanksgiving!

instant cheer up

2010-11-26T01:00:00.000-08:00

www.cuteoverload.com

One of my favorite websites. This always cheers me up no matter what kind of a day I am having. What can I say? I love cute animals!

Native Foods

2010-11-25T01:00:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving!!! Let me tell you what I am thankful for: A vegan place just opened in my town of Culver City, right at my bus stop (which I take at least once a week). Native Foods Cafe is a UCLA staple that I heard about just days before I realized they closed the macrobiotic place and were putting in Native Foods. I was psyched. Days later I got to try it for the first time. Not only is their food amazing, they make multiple varieties of their own seitan, have a huge menu and appeal to meat eater's as well, but they also have an awesome customer loyalty program.

You get a card and they swipe it every time you make a purchase. You can log on to the website and check your points. When you reach 200 points, $10 is automatically loaded on your card. You also get a tip from Chef Tanya every time you make a purchase. Sometimes you will get something better than a tip, such as 10% off or a free drink, something awesome like that.

New favorite place in Culver City. Can't wait for my next meal here!!!

The best cure for a hangover?

2010-11-24T00:03:00.000-08:00

Zico Coconut Water. Now sold in Trader Joe's. A hangover is not required in order to benefit from drinking coconut water. This is great to drink before or after a workout, massage, or whenever you are parched and in need of extreme hydration. I get a jolt of lasting energy after drinking a bottle. I have tried other brands in the past and never enjoyed them as I do Zico. It's bottled in Hermosa Beach and it's new bottle is made from recycled material and can be fully recycled after use. Zico has more potassium than a banana and it's the perfect natural way to hydrate. They have three flavors, so if you just can't acquire the taste for pure coconut water, give the lima citron, pomberry, or piña tropicale a try. So throw out those awful energy drinks full of high fructose corn syrup (America's #1 source of gmo's, by the way) and grab a few bottles of this magical juice.

I'm totally addicted. Thank you Trader Joe's for carrying it now! If you don't have TJ's near you, click here to see where else Zico is sold.

The grade:
Packaging: A
Taste: (it is kind of acquired, you might not love it at first, but try try again) A
Environmentability: (not a word...yet) A+
Overall Score: A

discover money back

2010-11-23T19:54:00.000-08:00

I love my discover card. I get sooo much money back I kinda feel like I'm stealing. The best part is that I usually use my money back to buy gift cards for people for birthdays/holidays. You can get gift cards to major stores at a discount. Example: you pay $20 for a $25 gift card, $40 for a $50 or sometimes they have $80 for $100 (I have bought this one from Sephora for myself in the past!) Besides gift cards or money back, you can also give your cash back rewards to charity. The only downside to Discover is that most local and/or small businesses don't accept Discover because they charge a lot of fees to the business. But hey, you the consumer reaps the rewards of these high fees. As said consumer, I give Discover card an A.

sephora booty

2010-11-18T20:54:00.000-08:00

My newest sephora purchase arrived in the mail. I LOVE sephora! They are obsessed with giving free samples of amazing products. Plus, I make my purchase through ebates and get money back. I am really feeling the deals lately.

LA's best cupcakes.

2010-11-16T09:05:00.000-08:00

If you go back to some of my posts from the beginning of the year and you check my yelp page, you will see that I am a cupcake connoisseur. I have made it my goal to try all of the supposed best cupcake bakeries in LA. A large task, but one I am willing to commit to. Until now I have compared them all to Sprinkles and hadn't found any that were better overall. Now I can compare every cupcake I taste to Frosted Cupcakery's cupcakes. O-M-G! I could not believe how incredibly delicious their cupcakes are. I was lucky to purchase a groupon for 6 cupcakes for $9 (score!).

The original location is on the Belmont shore, but that is much to far for me (even for cupcakes). Luckily they have a newer locations in Hollywood! The store is cute with everything detailed nicely, all one of a kind. The workers were super nice and patient in my decisions. I mean, I could only get 6, so it took a minute to decide!!! Here are the flavors I got (I shared with my husband so don't think I'm such a fatty)

1) Royal White with nutella buttercream: first one I tried. The most moist cake I've ever had in a cupcake. The frosting was amazing, with half of a ferrero rocher in the the center (my favorite candy!) A+++
2) Red Velvet: not the best red velvet I've ever had. Not as moist cake as the others. B-
3) Chocolate with vanilla buttercream: Good. Not as moist as the white cake, but I think that is common in chocolate cake. I would say it is on par with Sprinkle's black and white. A
4) Pumpkin: OMG, don't even get me started. I am a pumpkin flavored anything fanatic. This was an A+++
5) Carrot: Danny ate this one, I tried it and it was good, very spicy, but I've had better carrot cake. B+
6) Lemon with cream cheese frosting: equally as moist. Amazingly scrumptious. A+

Overall Grade: A+, this is my new fave cupcake bakery in LA. Sorry Sprinkle's.

Green Wine?

2010-11-14T17:18:00.000-08:00

I don't like white wine. At all. But recently at a baby shower I was handed a glass of Vinho Verde, a Portuguese white wine with just a little bit of effervescence. I don't turn down drinks that are handed to me, so I gave it a try. It was so good!!! I heard from another friend that they sell said green wine at Trader Joe's. On my next weekend shopping trip I found it, and at only $3.99 a bottle, this stuff is one of my newest fave TJ's finds.

The Grade:
Taste: A
Price: A+
Packaging: A-
Overall: A

The new Blue

2010-11-10T22:44:00.000-08:00

Remember Crispy M&M's, in the blue bag? Well the blue bag is back and they call them pretzel M&M's, but it's basically the same thing.

If you are thinking of trying these because you absolutely LOVE chocolate covered pretzels, don't bother. These taste nothing close to a chocolate covered pretzel. If you were uber sad when the crispy M&M's went away (I think there were about 5 of us in the world...) then you will probably really like these because to me, the crunch, texture, and pretzel to chocolate ratio is the same as the crispies were.

The Grade:
Taste: B-
Packaging: B
Texture: A
Overall: B+

kindle your imagination

2010-11-07T19:30:00.000-08:00

I love my kindle. My mom got it for my husband for graduation, but it was really for me since he doesn't read books as often! This thing answers my prayers about how to be green but still read books.

I always hated the fact that I would buy a book and then what? It sits on my shelf for years and years, or I give it away. But still, the waste of paper! Also the cost of books is a lot, and I'm sorry I have tried, but I am just not a fan of library books (they smell!)

So along comes the Kindle. It's small, it's cute, it's electronic. What's not to love? The price has gone down significantly since my mom purchased it almost 2 years ago. The book prices are so cheap and sometimes free (in the case of classics like Shakespeare). And, best of all, no trees are harmed when you read your book.

I'm not anti-book, and this thing is not meant to replace coffee table books or textbooks. This is for the pleasure readers, those of us who read novels and biographies for fun. It also allows you to read newspapers, magazines, and blogs on it. Another neat thing is you can highlight and make notes if you are reading for a book club or school or something. I used these on my Kindle when I was reading for a book discussion. It is easy to use and easy to find a page you have marked.

Another great thing about the Kindle is the no glare screen. I have been reading at a pool in Vegas on a super sunny day with absolutely no problem. It's perfect for planes and any kind of travel. Most recently I have read The Fountainhead on my Kindle. Overall, my Kindle really made me start reading more and I absolutely love it!

The Grade:
usability: A
aesthetics: A
price: A-
Overall Score: A

Wurstküche: a sausage kitchen

2010-11-05T22:37:00.000-07:00

As I write this, I'm still a little buzzed from my latest restaurant adventure. A couple of friends invited my husband and I to this great little place on the edge of Little Tokyo and the Arts District called Wurstküche. I have been looking for an excuse to go to this sausage and beer joint for awhile, so I couldn't turn it down! "Wait Taryn, sausage...aren't you vegetarian????" Well thanks for remembering, yes I am. And don't worry, I did not need to waiver in my diet because Wurstküche offers three vegetarian sausages!! It's so cool to be able to go to a German sausage and beer place and eat more than just fries.

check out the awesome barn doors, this place is an architect's delight.

This place is a great mix of hipsters and intellectuals, and least we forget the intellectual hipsters. Seriously, everyone in this place is young and cool, but so not "LA." I really felt like I was in a somewhat upscale dive bar in my alma mater of Columbia, Mo.

We took the bus over after work and knew we were there when we saw a line emerging from a brick wall. It's set up so you stand in line and order your food and libations, then you walk to the back where all of the seating is located. We were there at a decent time so almost immediately found a table for four. Most of the tables are community style too, or small coffin shaped metal tables. So cool. The place is really an eclectically modern architect's dream, with the partially brick, partially frosted glass walls, long custom tables and overall innovative layout.

We had plenty of time to drink our beers and chat while waiting for our food to come, but not so long that we were like "ok, where the hell is our food?" Our food came, oh, it looked amazing. My friend Emily and I both had the Vegetarian Smoked Apple Sage with caramelized onions and sweet peppers, and our male counterparts had bratwurst and chicken/turkey sun dried tomato and mozzarella. And of course the groot double dipped fries with curry ketchup. Mmmmmm.....

The veggie sausage was really good, not sure if I would bother trying the others because I really enjoyed this one so much. Don't even get me started on the curry ketchup. Ketchup and Curry are two of my most favorite things. Put them together and OMG!

The Grade:
Food: A
Drinks: A
Price: A-
Ambiance: A
People: A
Overall Score: A

the youth as we know it

2010-11-05T08:29:00.000-07:00

That is the name of a great line of products by Bliss, which is one of my favorite brands. I have tried a lot of Bliss products in the past, but this one takes the cake.

It is an age-defying face lotion which does everything it claims to do. I know, I'm only 25, why am I worried about wrinkles and aging? Well, as someone who will never go under the knife or needle for beauty, I want to keep the wrinkles at bay for as long as I can. So as soon as I started noticing tiny fine lines on my forehead and eyes, I went to Sephora and scoured the aisles. I ended up in the Bliss section as usual and despite the price tag ($79 for 1.7 oz) I made the purchase. It was worth every penny.

Even though it is a small amount of product, it lasted me for nearly 4 months. I only used it at night and used another cheaper Bliss day lotion during the day. I regret that I have not purchased anymore, which is only due to lack of funds, but I intend to soon because of the dramatic results.

Not only did my fine lines disappear, but my occasional acne subsided, my skin had a beautiful dewy look and I always felt like it was glowing. My makeup went on smoother and my skin felt flawless. I really feel like this stuff is magic!

The product also smells great, which is important in a moisturizer. It is super thick, which helps it last because you only need a tiny bit to cover your whole face and neck.

The Grade:
Does what it claims: A+
Scent: A+
Price: C-
Packaging: A+
Overall Grade: A-

Vegans unite!!!

2010-11-02T00:02:00.000-07:00

Veg News is a great magazine which I highly recommend. A girl from my high school is an editor, check out her blog Saavy Abby. Anyway, I have checked out their website frequently since I found out about it from her working there, but I had yet to see the actual magazine (in fact, I actually thought it was only an online mag...) But alas, I was in Sprout's checking out and there it was. I had to pick it up, and I am glad I did, it is great! There is just something so different from reading articles online and holding the actual magazine. I am a big magazine fan. I may just have to subscribe to this one!

I am not vegan, but as a vegetarian I appreciate vegan food and if I had the patience in the kitchen and at the grocery stores I would love to cook only vegan. That is where Veg News comes in. They offer great articles and recipes to help you kick-start your vegan diet, or keep it going for long time vegans. I am of the sort who likes to be a part time vegan, and I suggest everyone try to eat vegan at least once a week, it's so much better for the environment and your health. Plus it can be really delicious if you make it right or go to the right restaurant. Forget fake meat and salads, there is so much more to being vegan and Veg News tells us all about it.

P.S. If you are in LA, you have to try Real Food Daily. Their sea cakes are to die for!

Veg News, you get an A+!

Yes! Yes! Yes!

2010-11-01T00:14:00.000-07:00

To cucumbers and carrots!

This brand is absolutely amazing, so glad I finally decided to give it a try. You can usually find the brand in Target, but check out their website to find out where to find the products closest to you. I have been using the Yes to Carrots conditioner for a few months now and it seems to never run out. It is great, makes my hair smooth and does what conditioner should. The best find though, is definitely the Yes to Cucumbers Shampoo. I picked it up because it is green (I'm strangely attracted to anything green) and it is labeled to protect color treated hair. Hey, my hair is color treated!!! I was on the market for a new shampoo anyway, and at only about $8 for 16.9 oz I thought, why not? After only 4 days of using this deliciously scented shampoo, my hair is completely manageable. Prior to using it, I couldn't just blow dry and go. In order for my hair to look half way decent I had to do a blow out with a round brush and sometimes use the flat iron. But now I can take about 2 minutes to run the blow dryer over my hair and voila, it's gorgeous. It is soft and smooth, but not weighed down. It definitely has body that lasts throughout the day, and hopefully my expensive highlights and lowlights are being protected as it claims.

Also, it is worth noting that this is a paraben free product, all natural of course. Also, the company has a non-profit organization the "Yes to Carrots Seed Fund" which helps make a difference through sustainable agriculture. I will continue to support that by buying more Yes To products! Check them out!

The Grade:
Scent: A+
Does what it claims: A
Packaging: A-
Usability: A+
Overall: A

FIG Santa Monica

2010-10-31T19:43:00.000-07:00

I said I wouldn't be reviewing restaurants, since that is what I use my yelp account for, but I will make the exception for superb restaurants that require a double review.

FIG is located in the Fairmont Miramar Hotel and Bungalows on Wilshire and Ocean. But FIG is not a hotel restaurant. Though it is actually in the hotel, it totally stands up for itself. First there is the gorgeous interior, with marble table tops and big comfortable armed dining chairs, the epitome of California Style. The bar houses many wines, knowledgeable bartenders, and a delicious looking tray of cheese. The menu changes faster than the seasons with a careful selection of sustainable local ingredients made into innovative contemporary dishes. The bottom of the menu informs you as to what is currently in season, what ingredients they will be getting soon, and what is going out of season, that way you can imagine what you might try the next time you return!

My favorite was the scarlet quinoa salad with chard, apple, and heirloom carrots. I also had a yummy drink with tequila, pineapple, and strawberry, but I can't recall the name of it. My husband enjoyed the three onion soup which was suuuuuuper cheesy (he loved that part of it) The soup was huge, enough for a meal for some people. We also tried the buffalo mozzarella with hand mashed pesto, tasty, but nothing special, not worth the price. And finally we shared the pastaless lasagna. I highly recommend it. It is also very cheesy (the chef loves his cheese!) and the sweet potatoes, zucchini, and eggplant mixed with the sauce did not make me miss the noodles at all!

Oh, and the bread and butter they bring at the beginning of the meal, don't get me started! It's the most crispy outside with super soft and warm inside served in a cute little FIG paper bag and a big tub of arugula butter. Mmmmm, I HAVE to have more arugula butter!!!

Of course I had dessert. The chocolate pot au creme with fresh berries and little butter cookies on the side. It was good, but next time I will try the churros!

We will be back.

The Grade:
Interior: A-
Wait Staff: A+
Flavor: A
Look of Food: A
Price: B
Overall Score: A-

I heart cookbooks

2010-10-31T19:02:00.000-07:00

Being a vegetarian and my husband not, sometimes it is hard to please the both of us without me slaving over multiple meals in the kitchen all day. In walks this cookbook. Almost every recipe that I have made from this 200+ page book has been a crowd pleaser to the veg and the non-veg. It's something about the simplicity of the ingredients and the flavors which meld together perfectly in each recipe that make them so tasty. As a vegetarian for over 3 years now, I have learned a lot of ingredients that are out of the ordinary to most American omnivores. These ingredients are often hard to find and expensive, but this book keeps it simple with things like sweet potatoes, chickpeas, green beans, you know, the usual.

Tonight I cooked one of our faves, Moroccan-Spiced Sweet Potato Medley, which is a one pan meal that consists of onion, sweet potato, tomatoes, bulgar wheat, chickpeas, raisins, cilantro, and spices. Along with the ingredients being relatively easy to find and inexpensive, most recipes, such as this one, are super quick and easy.

The Grade:
Readability: A+ (most recipes have a clear image of what they should look like)
Design: B-
Ease of Recipes: A
Taste of Recipes: A+
Price: A ($14.95)
Overall Grade: A

If you can't find the book yourself, check out Good Housekeeping Recipes. The book is published by Hearst/Sterling.

click here for savings

2010-10-23T19:52:00.000-07:00

no, click here. What is it? Imagine: You are shopping online and right before you check out you have to search all over the internet for a coupon code to plug in so you can get free shipping and maybe 10% off. Well this site does most of the work for you. With tons of stores to choose from, Ebates lets you shop a store or brand through their website and you get anywhere from 3-20% (or so) cash back after your purchase. I'll admit, I haven't actually made any purchases yet, but my friend Jessica at The Eagle's Nest has, and she received a cold hard check in the mail. It almost sounds too good to be true, but it's not. I can't wait to start shopping. I think some new boots are in store for me. And maybe some new makeup and lotions to review. If you are cool, you will join ebates. Do it!

The Grade:
Usability: A
Does what it claims: A

Overall: A

Update: I have now earned $8 just from signing up and one small order from DSW...I will never shop in stores again!!!

Whole Foods sells Shampoo??

2010-10-22T21:19:00.000-07:00

Always on the quest for something to take my thin and limp hair to big and sexy without a lot of harsh chemicals, I stumbled upon ctonics, thanks to YDT. Ctonics is totally natural, vegan, sold only at select Whole Foods Markets, yada yada yada... There are different formulas with intriguing names like "tranquility," "tantra," and "passion." Each is formulated with different natural ingredient meant to help different hair types.

Being the adventurer reviewer that I am, I went to Whole Foods and searched the whole body section for the concoction with the name "pulse." Pulse promises to "cleanse, awaken and energize the scalp, delivering nutrients to promote and stimulate growth and strengthen hair; making it a perfect tonic for both men and women with fine, thinning or receding hairlines." How could I not give it a try?

It has been almost two months and I just finished the 8 oz bottle this morning. (I wash my hair 6-7 times a week) Have I noticed thicker hair? No, but my hair is definitely looks and feels healthier, though seems even flatter (which I find to be the case any time my hair is healthy, like the time when I went au natural for a year) It's a little different to use the first few times, but it quickly becomes second nature. You have to shake it to ensure the ingredients are well mixed. Then you massage a quarter sized amount into the crown of your head. You wet your hair a little bit to help mix it around easier then add another quarter sized dollop to the rest of your head. Leave it on for at least two minutes before rinsing. (NOTE: it is natural, so it doesn't lather like regular shampoos, which makes it a bit tricky to know if you are cleaning your whole head) Also, as I'm sure is obvious since this is sold only online and at Whole Foods, it is pricey. $25 for 8oz. Ouch.

Here's my grade:
Packaging: A-
Ease of Use: C
Price: D-
Does as it claims: B- (because it did make my hair healthier, but not thicker)
Environmental Friendliness: A-

Overall Grade for Ctonics Pulse shampoo: C+

I'm baaaaaaaack...for now.

2010-10-22T19:29:00.000-07:00

Ok, so here's the skinny: I read my friend's blogs daily, and am made to feel bad whenever I don't EVER update...but the thing is that I have been brainstorming for a while now a sort of blog resurrection, focusing a bit more specifically on one particular area. I realized that one thing I love doing is trying anything that is new and interesting and telling everyone I know about it, good or bad. So I plan to be a savvy reviewer of many products and a few places. I yelp, and eat out quite a lot, so I don't want to make this a repetition of my yelps. Not to mention that I'm incredibly busy: 1)working a full time job 2)going to school at night 3)inspiring to be a yoga/aerobics instructor/personal trainer in my spare time 4)taking care of a husband who is in the midst of studying for an exam which will determine his future and 5)a little pup who is my world, but very demanding....among other things... So bear with me as I take time from my demanding schedule a few times a week to bring you products and places that you have always wanted to try but weren't quite sure of. I will tell you my honest opinion of how things work, look, taste, and/or feel.

Welcome to the new Eclectically Modern, still eclectic and modern, yet so much more.

the buying of the chair

2010-05-22T17:19:00.000-07:00

this post is looooooooong overdue. my friends tina and jannae helped me navigate the streets of 3rd and melrose to find the perfect chair one saturday nearly a month ago. i know what i like and i know what is quality and what is a good price (i'm not a designer for nothing you know!) the first place that we went to was enough, it is called floorplan and i really wish they had a website because you just have to see how great this place is! for now just check out the yelp reviews, or better yet, get your ass over to 3rd street between the bev center and the grove, where you will find this quaint little store with a super friendly artist owner (who claims to be straight. straight eye for the straight women?) anyway, he was super nice and knocked a lot off the price, telling me he had a lot of new inventory coming in the following week and needed to make room (it is a bit crowded in there, but crowded with amazing furniture, so it's ok.)

the chair is perfect. i am happy with my first "real furniture" purchase (i don't consider ikea to be real furniture because nobody keeps that stuff for longer than they have to.) but really, the only thing that matters is that napoleon approves.

these are my confessions...

2010-04-26T20:42:00.000-07:00

i love earrings. i could do without rings, bracelets, and necklaces...but when i leave the house without earrings in, i feel naked. during college there were many days that i stumbled out of bed, tucked my sweatpants that i slept in into my fake uggs (i know, i know, but they were sooooo comfy!!!) and began walking to my morning class only to realize halfway that i forgot to put on earrings. egad! i would then turn around to go back to my apartment, up the three flights of stairs, open up my finicky door, storm into my bedroom to grab a pair and dash out again, hopefully to make it to class on time (my approximate walking commute time to my classes was 7 minutes, as long as they were in the architecture building, 1 minute if in the fine arts building.)

so earrings are important to me, and boy was i excited to see a great variety of my favorite accessory at unique LA this past weekend (see previous post.) i did a good job at being frugal, purchasing only two pair. i had to tell myself that i already owned plenty of earrings (truth) and that there will be other unique LA's or other shows in which i can buy amazing one of a kind jewelry.

from gambetta beads are these one of a kind earrings made of ceramic and glazed in some beautiful glazes that make this great color and texture on the baked clay. i took a ceramic class and made a sculpture in a similar glaze.

And these babies are from osec.

unique LA

2010-04-24T20:13:00.000-07:00

this was definitely the place to be on this beautiful saturday. unique LA is a great event held at the California Market on the corner of 9th and main in downtown LA. it is the largest independent design show in the country where attendees get the chance to meet and shop directly from over 300 designers and artists. it is all about buying local, supporting LA's economy and supporting amazing artists and designers. there were a few free workshops that popped up throughout the day. there was free water from function water and honest tea was there with free bottles of tea (yummers!) there were some local gourmet foods such as platine bakery (the best cookies i've ever had, ever....will probably have to be a future post solely on this bakery) and burlesque bakery (cute and amazingly delicious mini cupcakes with cutesy names like brigitte bardot, temptest storm, and bettie page---i tried this one which is chocolate cake, marshmallow fluff filling, bourbon buttercream, garnished with potato chips.)

anywho. my friend tina and i went this expo today and it was the best way to spend our day for sure. the set up on the top floor of the california market center was the perfect place. our $10 entry got us this awesome bag from keith scharwath as well as the aforementioned free drinks and all sorts of other free loot from various booths. also, i am now officially going to join etsy.com and add the majority of the designers that i saw today to my favorites list, and shop away! i did come home with a few items, which i will blog about throughout the week.

i heart frank gehry

2010-04-12T22:16:00.000-07:00

i'm having an affair with a famous architect. his name is frank gehry, and he is a genius.
i'm not really having an affair, this is him:

the first gehry structure that i was able to witness up close is his work in millennium park in chicago. the jay pritzker pavillion, the great lawn, the bridge, the titanium clad everything!!! love to go here and dance around the great lawn and walk across the bridge. and hug gehry's titanium, of course (do what?!?!)

the pritzker pavillion:

What brings me to the topic of gehry and his work is not this first experience a few years ago, but my newest experience here in la: the walt disney concert hall. this place is beautiful and decadent. it completely inspires me to be everything that i know i can be. frank gehry, will you teach me? i will be your protege. you could be like batman and i, robin. ok, these metaphors are getting a bit creepy, but seriously, frank o gehry is one of my fave architects and the disney concert hall is a must see, so go check it out, and hop over to the moca too, it's pretty cool.

Oh the places you will go.

did you know that frank gehry graduated from the usc school of architecture? i am applying there next year, i hope to get in. he is also a studio instructor this coming year. how cool is that??

santa barbara

2010-04-04T19:41:00.000-07:00

ok la, i've had enough of you, and now that i've discovered santa barbara, i think i'll be moving there. oh, wait...i guess maybe i should wait until danny is finished with school...so give me 5-6 years.

seriously, why do more people not live here? this has got to be one of the most beautiful, laid back places on earth, no? ok, there are probably some places in italy and southern france which beat it out, but for socal, i think this is the place. it may have beat out san diego for me as my favorite city. hmmm...maybe not, but one thing is for sure, it is the one place that after having only been there for a day, my husband and i can both agree that we want to live there...someday.

santa barbara just has that laid back college town vibe. it is sandwiched between the beautiful blue pacific and the gloriously green mountains. what's not to love?

my husband and i went on a whale watching tour where we saw hundreds of common dolphin, sea lions, and at least 4 humpback whales. sweet.

ucsb is literally right on the water. i want to go to there. why don't they have an architecture school? arg.

there is a cute cafe just off of state street called crushcafe. part of it is also crushcakes, supposedly the best cupcakes ever. i'll be the judge...next time, this time we ate far too much cheese at a wine bar on state street. don't worry, there will probably be much more to come in my blog regarding santa barbara as the husband and i intend to spend a lot of our summer there. yay.

check out santa barbara car free for great things to see and do in santa barbara county sans vehicle.

more cupcakes

2010-02-21T18:05:00.000-08:00

another day in la, another cupcake bakery. wow, i probably could have a blog solely devoted to desserts. i seriously have a problem. but at least i work out and eat healthy, other than my sweets habit.

yesterday was a beautiful day in la. i know you are asking, "isn't everyday beautiful there?" well, no actually. it has been cool and rainy all winter, especially on the weekends. so yesterday's high 60's and super sunny sky was a pleasant surprise (especially since they were calling for rain all weekend). in light of this wondrous day, my husband and i decided to hit up 3rd street in santa monica for a lovely stroll with our puppy, a quick lunch at buddha's belly, and of course, hitting up the cupcake bakery in santa monica that i was dieing to try, vanilla bake shop.

the store is tiny and you drive past it unknowingly, but upon walking into it you know that this is the real deal. There are large cupcakes and baby cupcakes, along with an assortment of cold desserts in shot type glasses which looked really cute, but come on, i was there for the cupcakes. i'm making it my (long-term) goal to try every cupcake shop in la. (there are hundreds) ok, so maybe i will just try the noteworthy ones, or the ones that have great yelp reviews.

vanilla bake shop is great because of the variety of their flavors, the fact that they have baby cupcakes, and their stuffed cupcakes cost the same as the non-stuffed ones. their everyday flavors are vanilla bean, southern red velvet, mom's birthday cake, black & white, bittersweet dark chocolate, and chocolate vanilla bean. Then everyday of the week there are 5-6 different flavors added on top of the daily flavors. they don't make all of them in the small and large sizes (i don't think so anyway), but there are so many to choose from. looking back, i wish i'd tried more, but here's what we got.

-large black & white for myself- not as good as sprinkle's black & white, but the cake was very dense and moist, the buttercream frosting is totally different from sprinkles, but both are equally delicious.
-large red velvet for my husband- he didn't like it nearly as much as sprinkles version of the same thing, but he still devoured it, so it wasn't bad, just not as good as sprinkles.
-baby key lime- yummy and very cute. i'm not a big fan of key lime, but had a teeny lick of it. my husband enjoyed it

-baby mom's birthday cake- eh. not impressive. it is just a yellow butter cake with milk chocolate frosting and a cute little purple sugar flower on top. cute, and tasty to an extent, but not that great really...

-baby meyer lemon raspberry- yum!!! 5 stars. it is a stuffed cupcake, so the baby version basically has the meyer lemon custard on the top and then it's topped with vanilla buttercream and a cute little raspberry atop that. so tasty.

i like vanilla bake shop and depending on how long i live in la, will possibly come back. it's not that i didn't like it, it's that i want to try all the cupcakes in la!!! all of them!!!!!

crack. a.k.a sprinkles cupcakes

2010-02-15T22:00:00.000-08:00

i swore i wouldn't give in to all the madness of the cupcake craze that seems to envelope all angeleno's (i'm more of a cookie kind of girl), but about two weeks ago, one of the vendors at work brought in sprinkles cupcakes and of course i devoured one (and a half) of those amazingly delicious, yet oh-so-sinful cups of butter, sugar, more butter, cream cheese icing....ohhhhh, the cream cheese icing.....

so yes, holly and kendra and the other girls next door are correct, sprinkles is amazing. though sprinkles seems like it should be overrated and only hyped up because of the likes of hollywood stars, oprah, and food network, i am here to tell you that sprinkles definitely lives up to the hype.

the icing makes these little babies worth every last penny of the $3.50 you pay. honestly, i don't understand all of the negativity surrounding sprinkles prices on yelp. they use quality ingredients, it's on santa monica just a block from rodeo drive...$3.50 for something this scrumptious is a small price to pay. the cake itself is also quality, super soft and moist, yet still holding a nice light fluffiness that i find desirable in a cupcake.

i have tried the two most popular cupcakes, not because they are the most popular, but because they are mine and my husband's favorites. the black and white. how could this not be perfect? a deep belgian chocolate cake topped with the most amazing vanilla cream cheese frosting. so thick. so delicious. not too much either. i have a problem with cupcakes that are over-frosted. sprinkles knows when to say when.

the most popular is the red velvet. on valentines day my husband devoured his red velvet so fast i'm not quite sure he tasted it, unfortunately it was also too fast for me to think quickly enough and grab a taste for myself. luckily, i picked up a vegan red velvet for us to split that evening. it. was. incredible. you can slightly taste a little bit of coconut oil they use for the frosting, but this was a freaking amazing vegan cupcake!! (personally, i like the hint of coconut. i like knowing that i am eating healthy-ish) my husband even liked it, big surprise there. i don't think sprinkles is trying to out-do babycakes...but i haven't tried babycakes yet. the one in la just opened up, so look out for a review from me on there soon enough.

The store itself is actually quite beautiful. wood adorns everything along the walls and a glass partition separates you from the cupcakes. The cupcakes have there own little wooden holders and everything is perfect architecturally speaking. sprinkles thought of it all, even down to the packaging. your cupcakes come packed in simply pretty boxes and a sticker is placed over the top to seal it. the bags are brown paper with the sprinkles logo subtlety gracing its simple structure. you are offered wooden forks to eat your cupcakes with. i ate mine with the wooden fork, it helped to slow me down. my husband didn't, and well, you see what happened.

i can't stop thinking about those amazing little cupcakes. i want to try them all. i want to eat 2 or 3 right now. i told my husband that if i didn't mind being fat and dieing young, then i would eat only sprinkles cupcakes. i think they put crack in their batter.

so the big thing with sprinkles is that they were the first bakery to make only cupcakes. they started the los angeles cupcake craze which spread to new york as well as other various cities. (this is where the los angeles/new york socialite would ask, "there are other cities besides ny and la?!") however, throughout my yelping i have found there to be another cupcake bakery just down the street from sprinkles. it is called crumbs. stay tuned for an upcoming sprinkles v. crumbs review. i am so excited. i will probably try out crumbs this weekend.

cupcakes is good.

remember that resolution...

2010-01-30T18:38:00.000-08:00

yep, i went to whole foods again. definitely can't make it a weekly thing, since my total was $110 and i feel like i have nothing to show for it. ok, i got two bottles of wine. but they were only about $9 a pop. oh yeah, i forgot about california's crv, and tax, ugh. i also bought my husband a stainless steel water bottle. so that was like $12. oh, and that tea i just had to have, says it will help your skin be clear and beautiful.

am i a sucker for advertisement or what?

anyway, what i want to talk about is raw food. there are a lot of local raw food makers and their products are in whole foods. the only one i actually purchased was very intriguing to me: a raw cookie. ok, i'll bite. what is in this raw cookie, how does it hold together, how is its texture, will it taste good? here are the answers.

it was in one of the refrigerated sections in multiple flavors, it is kookie karma, holistic carob chip. it is vegan, hand made, gluten free, soy free. it is made of almond meal (one of my faves to bake with), xylitol, organic coconut, psyllium, organic brown rice protein, organic brown rice, almond butter, organic agave nectar, carob chips, chia seeds, and sea salt. it is held together thanks to the almond butter and probably some of those other things, but im not a chef, i just steal other peoples recipes. its texture is chewy, not too crumbly, similar to any good vegan cookie i've ever tasted. and the taste is good too. the first taste threw me and i was a little confused, but then you have to remember that this is not a regular cookie, so once you put it in your mind that this is in a whole other category from typical white flour, butter and egg cookies, the next taste was fabulous, and i almost ate the whole thing on my ride home from whole foods. luckily i saved just enough to take a picture.

i highly recommend checking out the kookie karma site. i just did and the story of the creator is really cool. makes me want to open a bakery with some of my creations, though mine are not as exciting as hers, i wish i could sell a cookie for about $3 a pop.

oh whole foods, you sure know how to find the most expensive food items that i just have to have.

health tip of the day: stop baking with white flour and refined sugar. in fact stop buying white flour and refined sugar. buy at least whole wheat flour, but also try out others like buckwheat (my personal fave) and brown rice flour, just to name a few. you just have to experiment when you are making your cookies to get the right consistency with new flours and sugars. i have found that using canola oil or something similar and liquidy helps make a denser, chewier cookie when working with whole flours and unrefined sugars.

happy eating.

french+japanese+modern art=coolest restaurant ever!

2010-01-30T17:56:00.000-08:00

so what is this ambiguous place that i speak of? royal t cafe, of course. its website does it no justice, so allow me to blog about it.

first of all is the exterior. it is a building covered in greenery (fake i think) with a pretty neon pink crown as it's only marking. anyone who wouldn't know any better (i.e.: me until a few months ago) would believe this place to be a store, or an art gallery. oh, but it is so much more.

upon entering, you see the barista behind the bar to the back left making teas and all sorts of other yummy concoctions . walk through the "hallway" which is glass walls showing the store on the left and the current art displays on the right. we were greeted at the hostess stand by the barista who was wearing all black and at first i was a little sad, since i knew already that the servers were supposed to wear french maid costumes. within a few minutes though, we saw the server dressed in a cute brown french maid outfit. they serve brunch from 10-3 everyday, and this time that is what we decided to order. but first the tea!

The barista took our tea order, we went with a large pot of their special milk tea which is made with black tea, vanilla, rose petals and soy milk, among other things i'm sure. my husband and i split it and afterward really wished we'd gone with the small pot. not because it didn't taste good, au contraire! it was soooooo good and i am particular about my "milk tea" (i usually sip on authentic chai when i go for black tea). the reason was that the large pot is extremely large for two people to share, so we ended up getting full on just tea.

then our food arrived. i went with the spinach and mushroom quiche. it was alright. honestly, i was more impressed with the dressing they tossed the organic greens in. but in defense of the quiche, that dressing was really really good. my husband ordered the brioche french toast and loved it. i tried it and yes, some of the best french toast i've ever tasted. it was covered in berries, and not just strawberries which is pretty typical, but raspberries, blackberries and blueberries (oh my!) it was also dusted very lightly with powdered sugar and had the syrup on the side. there is just something so much better about brioche french toast than any other style bread.

after our meal we had to look around the store. it. was. awesome. i love japanese culture and tea cups and books about art and architecture. guess what? the store in royal t has all of that. plus a little plastic toy dinosaur that was the only thing my husband was remotely interested in which was marked at $100. not everything was that expensive though, so i look forward to going back soon to make some gift purchases for a few friends!

all in all, royal t cafe is a great modern space that is incredibly eclectic, so it fits my personality and style to a t. :) i will go back here, and it is definitely a place i will bring friends when they come to visit!

drunk'n goat in paris

2010-01-10T12:13:00.000-08:00

drunk'n goat in paris...that was the name of the delicious artisan sandwich that i consumed friday during my lunch break. it was perhaps the best sandwich i ever had, which is why i am blogging about it. buckwheat was my bread of choice, though the sandwich is recommended on sourdough wheat, i couldn't pass on the rarity of a slice of buckwheaty deliciousness. first they slathered on a generous helping of chevre goat cheese infused with herbes de provence. next came the granny smith apple slices, sliced ever so thin, ever so perfect. then was the layer of onions with a balsamic reduction.

stop there, please! no way this sandwich could get better?!...

well my friends, it did.

next was an extremely generous layer of cranberry chutney. this is what makes the sandwich. i have never had anything like it before (a sandwich with cranberry chutney that is, not the cranberry chutney. i actually have a jar in my fridge, i eat it with naan, both from trader joes.)
but, we are still not finished. the last part is what truely makes the goat drunk in paris: the brie. i like brie. ok, i love brie. it was a few large slices of brie too. no skimping here.

all in all, like i already said, best sandwich ever. better than the turkey apple and brie's i used to eat at the artisan in college before i became a veggie. i think this made up for the fact that i walked 8 blocks (city blocks mind you) 3 of them where up a very steep hill, which i didn't know existed in downtown l.a. (guess i need to get away from the office a bit more.) only to discover when i got back that there was a new location only 3 blocks from my office, no hills. at least i know that i will be frequenting medicino farms in the future.

did i mention that mendocino farms is a green certified restaurant and that their menus change seasonally to utilize fresh, local ingredients? green tip of the day: support businesses that take the initiative to go green. also, buy organic and locally whenever you can. going to your local farmers market is the easiest and most fun way to do this.