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weekend

(meeting our friends beautiful baby boy Ben)

Friday

When Brian got home from work on Friday night we decided to take Frankie on a walk to get dinner. Walking to get dinner in our hood (Marina arts district) is a new thing for us. When we first moved into our place over two years ago the area felt very industrial. We both missed our old walking neighborhood in Santa Monica. Seriously, when you live in Los Angles you just want to park your car on the weekend and be done with traffic for a few days. Luckily, over the last few years our neighborhood has changed dramatically- restaurants, coffee shops & stores are popping up everywhere! We are so happy to be on foot again. We walked to get Omusubi for dinner at Sunny Blue. Omusubi are Japanese rice balls with various fillings inside and wrapped in seaweed. Supposedly people in Japan eat omusubi everyday like we eat sandwiches here in the United States. They are delicious, healthy and SO incredibly filling. I usually get the same order- a spicy salmon (cured salmon with chili seasoning), a tuna mayo (albacore tuna with mayo sauce) & a kara tuna (albacore tuna with dices cucumber and onions and spicy mayo sauce). Clearly, I have a seafood theme but they have many other options! Brian usually sticks with a meat filled theme.

When we got home we from dinner we watched the new Netflix documentary Tig. Have you seen it? I loved it! I’ve found myself thinking about it all weekend and recommending it to everyone I came into contact with. The film follows comedian Tig Notaro and focuses on the stand up routine she performed one day after finding out she had breast cancer. I’m sure it sounds like a dark film but it’s just the opposite. She is able to find humor and joy in the darkest of times and I found it incredibly inspiring. Here’s the trailer…

Saturday

After a lazy morning in bed with a stack of magazines and a few too many cups of coffee we headed to Mendocino Farms to pick up sandwiches to bring over to our dear friends Rachel and PJ’s house for lunch. They welcomed a gorgeous baby boy named Ben into the world last week. He is absolute perfection and so teeny! Every time I see a newborn I am in awe of how tiny they are. It takes my breath away. He is an especially gorgeous newborn with perfect little features and soft blonde hair. It was such a nice afternoon hanging with the new family. It’s always such a beautiful thing to see people you love become parents. The circle of life never disappoints.

On Saturday night Brian and I walked down the street (yet again!) to get Indian food for dinner. We’ve passed this Indian restaurant a million times and have never stepped foot in it despite both loving Indian food. It was oh so good. We ordered much too much food and spent our walk home talking about how full we both were.

When we got home we flipped through on demand in search of a movie to watch. We ended up settling on “Cake” with Jennifer Aniston. I had been intrigued to see her performance considering she got such rave reviews for it. While I loved her performance I wasn’t in love with the movie in general.

Sunday

On Sunday morning I met a few girlfriends for a sweaty and upbeat yoga class at Maha yoga in Brentwood. I used to frequent this studio often but I haven’t gone recently and I forgot how much I loved it there! The class we took was accompanied by loud rap music- I know, sounds weird right? But sometimes you just need a rap filled Sunday morning yoga class, you know? It was followed by a long quiet meditation and the combination was exactly what I needed. I’m really trying to get back into daily meditation. I feel such a difference in my attitude when I make it a priority. After class we brunched at Farmshop in the Brentwood Country Mart. I ordered a mushroom frittata that was honestly the most delectable egg dish I have ever had. I also saw Laura Dern at the restaurant so it was a total win.

On Sunday night we met my Dad and Pamela for Mexican at La Cabana in Venice. As I write this blog post I am realizing just just how much heavy eating we did the last few days. I can safely say that I am still full on Monday morning. Dinner with my family was the perfect way end to a perfect weekend. We always spend our time together laughing and it fills my heart.

Hope you all had a beautiful weekend! Happy Monday!

I’ll leave you with this photo of Frank from the weekend…

Tags: babies, brentwood country mart, building a family, cake movie, documentaries, family, farmshop, friends, good food, haha yoga, la cabana, marina arts district, marriage, meditation, mexican food, Omusubi, sunny blue, tig, venice, weekends, yoga

Comments 12 Comments
Categories currently, everyday life, French Bulldog, Thoughts, weekend snapshots

travel 2015 : Zihuatanejo

14 Jan

Going into the new year there were not many travel plans on the horizon. Well, other than the road trip I am still manifesting/planning from Los Angeles to Seattle with Brian at some point this year. That was until Brian’s parents invited us on a last-minute trip with them to Zihuatanejo, Mexico (a tiny fishing village on Mexico’s Pacific coast) in February. Clearly, we said yes. Brian has never been to Mexico before! I still can’t believe this- between the surf, margaritas & food…Mexico was made for that boy. I on the other hand have been to Mexico, quite a few times. I’ve visited Cabo San Lucas, Cancun, San Miguel de Allende & Zihuatanejo. The last time I was in Zihuatanejo was many years ago and only for a short period of time. Just enough time to fall in love with the idyllic scenery and crash into a row of palm trees while trying to land on the beach after a parasailing adventure. I blame the wind and the fact that I might have pulled the wrong cord- the jury is still out. I guess it’s not fair to say that I went into the trees because that gives the impression I slammed into the trunks. I instead went through, oh I don’t know, maybe six rows of palm fronds. Let me tell you they are not as soft as they look. Not only was it a physically painful experience but it was also one of the most embarrassing moments of my life considering the row of palm trees happened to line the resort I was staying at. I can still hear the screams of the people below as I made my way through the fronds. When I came out the other side and face planted into the white sand, the screams turned to gasps. I imagine they were all surprised that I made it out the other side. I now find this story funny (it’s also great for parties) but it took me a while to get there. I’m definitely hoping for a better Zihuatanejo experience this time around. I will ensure this by keeping my tush firmly planted on the beach with a book, cocktail & my handsome husband.

Have any of you been to this part of Mexico before? I barely left the resort last time I was there so I would love any tips you may have!

Tags: 365 til, 365 til 30, adventure, Explore, goals, growth, happy, Joy, Kate McClafferty, Laughter, margarita's, marriage, mexican food, Mexico, surfing, travel, travel plans 2015, turning 30, universe, Zihuatanejo

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Categories travel

33

5 Jun

Considering I am a little over 30 days away from 30 (Duh duh duhhhhh! Geesh, I sincerely hope the world doesn’t implode on July 8th) I have decided to write love letters (or hate letters in some cases) to each of my goals as a way to reflect on this crazy year.

So here I go…

Dear Learn How To Cook,

I only put you on the list because I realized that, sadly, I couldn’t eat at the Whole Foods prepared section for the rest of my life. That, and I thought it would be nice to be able to cook dinner for my future kids- those little imaginary bundles of joy deserve a mom who makes homemade dinners, right? So for those two reasons, I put “learn how to cook” on my “365 til 30” list and tried to forget about my earlier bad experiences attempting you – hey, people can change, right?

After fearing you for so long, I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to tackle you at first. How does one learn to cook? Should I teach myself a new recipe each week? Learn a whole book of recipes a la Julie and Julia? Maybe take cooking classes? I was stuck….but then I had an idea! What if I asked people in my life to teach me their favorite dishes- they would most likely be patient with me as well!!

I have to give myself a pat on the back for this brilliant idea because not only did I learn how to cook this year, but I formed surprising new bonds and strengthened old friendships and connections in the process.

Learning how to cook brought me closer to everyone in my life.

I fell in love with the process of gathering in the kitchen to cook with friends…conversation, laughter and good wine flowing in the process. I also fell in love with that warm feeling I got in my heart when I prepared a meal for somebody else…there is something so nurturing about it. In addition to that warm feeling I got in my heart, my ego also wanted to scream with delight…I. Made. This. For. You! Aren’t you in awe as well??! Where is my applause?!

Some of my favorite memories this year happened attempting to master you. I laughed A LOT, cried once (ok maybe twice), got over my aversion to handling raw chicken, learned the famous chicken & dumplings dish my pops ate as a kid, learned the art of cooking with ski googles and almost chopped my finger off only once. I’d say this whole adventure in the kitchen was a success!
So thanks, cooking. Thanks for making my life come alive. Thanks for helping me see what I want my kitchen to look like moving into my 30’s. Now I know that I want to be the kind of woman who has her friends over for Sunday night dinners, makes breakfast in bed for Brian, whips up delicious soups on rainy afternoons and bakes pies with her kids.

You helped me become a better woman.

I have decided that I will be keeping you on my goal list for next year because I plan on doing lots and lots more of you during my 30th year. This is only the beginning for us.
Love, Kate

A trip down memory lane…

-learning Aunt Paule’s famous Kugle recipe–

– Learning Mary’s Peach Pie–

– Learning Pamela and my Dad’s lemon squares–

– the night I handled raw chicken and almost killed people by serving a raw bird-

– learning how to make pizza from scratch–

– Moroccan chicken with Alex-

– the night I realized I was comfortable in the kitchen-

– The night I tried to go all Julia Child-

-the night I wore ski goggles to cook-

– learning my grandma’s chicken & dumplings–

– learning Aunt Michelle’s apple cake-

Many more to come….

“Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all.”

Harriet Van Horne

365til30: instagram @kate365, twitter, facebook

Tags: 365, 365 til, 365 til 30, chicken & dumplings, Chicken Teriyaki, Cooking, dinner parties, family, goals, happy, Inspiration, inspirations, Kate McClafferty, Kitchen, Kugel, Laughter, learning how to cook, Love, meals, mexican food, nurturing, Peach Pie, turning 30, universe

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Categories Learn How To Cook...in the process!!

130

29 Feb

LEARN HOW TO COOK : MEXICAN FEAST

Teacher : My lovely friend Taline

Dish: Mexican Feast

Location: Taline’s Casa

When I started 365 til 30 I thought learning how to cook was going to be the most challenging goal to accomplish this year but boy, was I wrong because I am really starting to LOVE cooking. This is coming from a woman who couldn’t scramble eggs 7 months ago (true story). I also thought that the tango was going to be my easiest goal to master and boy, was I wrong again because, simply put, the tango and I have issues.

My last cooking lesson was such a treat! Learning how to make a Mexican Feast from one of my best girlfriends proved to be a hysterical, fun and delicious experience….so what it took us 3 hours, a bottle of champagne and ski goggles to finish cooking the meal!!! On the menu : roasted pepper salsa, guacamole, skirt steak, refried beans and queso fundito with chorizo. Queso fundito with chorizo literally translates into melted cheese with spicy sausage…I mean, how can you go wrong with that??

The minute I arrived at Taline’s house she handed me that special pink apron with ruffles you see in the picture above and asked me if I was ready to cook. In that moment, I knew she meant business and I decided not to put up a fight about the pink apron. She then proceeded to tell me that she was teaching five dishes. In that moment, I knew that I shouldn’t have come hungry because it was going to be a while before my belly was seeing that Mexican food. Then she told me that she had done a menu test run the night before with her mother (who is from Mexico) to make sure she was on her game and in that moment I knew the wait was going to be worth it.

It was a hysterical three hours spent in the kitchen that culminated in us wearing ski goggles to cut the onions. We both happen to be terribly sensitive to those little bastards so Taline came up with the idea of cutting them with ski goggles on. Brilliant, huh??? I mean truly brilliant. Bravo Taline…bravo. She also happens to be the most gracious teacher…even sending me this text after I left-

“It was so nice having you over and you cooked quite the feast tonight with the coolest calm…you are super zen in the kitchen. xoxo”

She let me take all the credit but I could not have done it without her!

When we finally sat down to eat our Mexican feast, I wasn’t even sure I was hungry anymore. That was until I took my first bite of queso fundido with chorizo and almost died- it tasted like heaven.

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Recipe’s coming!

Tags: 365, 365 til, 365 til 30, Cooking, dinner parties, fun, goals, happy, humor, Inspiration, Kate McClafferty, Kitchen, Laughter, Learn how to cook, mexican food, recipes, skirt steak, turning 30

Comments 11 Comments
Categories Learn How To Cook...in the process!!

I am a writer, blogger and host living in Los Angeles, CA with my husband Brian and French Bulldog Frank.

I started this blog in 2011 on the eve of my 29th birthday because I was feeling frustrated with the state of my life. In an inspired moment I compiled a list of 10 goals to accomplish in the 365 days leading up to my 30th birthday. Goals that I thought would bring me closer to the life I wanted-- and with that, 365 til 30 was born. That year was an incredible journey and truly changed my life. Since then, the blog has grown to include everything that happens after turning 30.

My professional website can be found here.