Tag Archives: weekends

weekend

10 Aug

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(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…

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weekend

12 Jan

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This weekend was one of the most relaxing weekends I can remember in a long time. We pretty much did a whole lot of nothing for two days straight. The fact that it was grey and rainy in LA most of the weekend definitely helped. We stayed in Friday night with take-out food and watched the last few episodes of our new favorite show on Netflix “Marco Polo”. Have you seen it? It’s soooo good. This coming from a girl who isn’t normally a fan of historical television shows. We watched the entire first season in a few days- it’s safe to say that we are addicted.

Saturday we made an attempt to get out of the house and took a drive down to El Segundo to hit up a warehouse sale that Restoration Hardware was having. We are on a hunt for new lighting fixtures as well as counter stools for our kitchen island. Sadly, the sale was a total bust. They mostly had leather couches and canopy beds for sale- neither of which we are in need of. When we got home from our El Segundo adventure it was decided that we wouldn’t be leaving the house again, other than to pick up Thai food for dinner. We spent the afternoon doing stuff around the house…Brian researched how to build a desk for our office (a project that he will hopefully complete next weekend!) while I organized our kitchen cabinets and laundry room. I’m on a serious organizing kick at the moment. Maybe it’s because I’ve cut out sugar, gluten and alcohol for the month of January and need a distraction but I am an unstoppable organizing machine at the moment. Need anything organized at your house??? I’m available.

On Sunday we kept the weekend nesting theme going and spent the whole day in again. Well, other than a trip to the market to grab a few things I needed to tackle a chicken recipe for dinner that evening.  I decided it would be nice to cook dinner for Brian since I would be forcing him to sit through five hours of Golden Globe coverage.

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a friendly golden globe bet... I won.

a friendly golden globe bet… I won.

Every time I make him sit through an award show I think of the first time I made him watch the Golden Globes with me and recorded some of the things he said…

“Oh look it’s Brad and Angie! Yay!” said with total disdain

“If Ryan Gosling didn’t open his mouth I think I would like him much better”

“she’s hot”

“That’s a really stupid headband” said about Michelle William’s headband

“How many other boyfriends and husbands do you think there are in the world that are being forced to watch the Golden Globes? Id love to know the number- I bet it’s big”

“Did you finish your cookie?”

“Stupid show”

“That’s a horrible dress”

“Don’t worry I’ll take a nap in a few minutes and stop talking”

Me…”Really?”

Brian…”No”

“Like Steven Spielberg needed another award”

“He looks tan!”

“That’s her husband?!”

As he grabs the controller from me he says “If we have to watch this then it should at least be on HD”

“We are watching the A team at 8 o’clock”

me….”I didn’t know you wanted to see that”

Brian…”I don’t really…I just know you don’t want to see it”

Keeping with tradition I jotted down a few things Brian could be heard muttering during this years Golden Globe awards…

“She looks super pretty!” – regarding Naomi Watts

“Wait! They’re married????” – regarding Naomi Watts & Liev Schreiber

“Yes and they have two kids.” – me

“I bet they have really attractive kids” said Brian thoughtfully

“Like he needed another way to make money.” – said with disgust in response to Ryan Seacrest wearing a suit made by his own fashion label

“He’s aged quite well.” – regarding Ethan Hawke

“My crush looks terrible.” said with shock in regards to Kate Mara

“I have no idea who he is.” – while shaking his head

“I mean, how can you not love her, right?” – regarding Emily Blunt

“You’re a woman without chardonnay, sugar or carbs…trust me I won’t take watching the Golden Globes away from you.” – said to me

“Jude law cheated on her???”

no words…just whistling…upon seeing Kate Hudson

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LA eats – phorage

6 Nov

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Brian and I fell in love with the dish pho when traveling through Vietnam this past spring. There is just something so satisfying about a big bowl of noodles with slices of tender meat and fresh herbs, especially when you add hot sauce to the mix! We have both been craving it ever since we returned, so we did some research and found a restaurant in Los Angeles, called Phorage that had great reviews. It was decided that we would go there for lunch rather than dinner because really is there anything worse than going to bed with a belly full of noodles? I think not.

You would never know that the restaurant was there unless you were looking for it. It’s a teeny tiny place located in the corner of a strip mall. This immediately tells me I’m in for a horrible or fabulous meal- there really isn’t a middle ground in such a situation. Luckily, the meal was fabulous. The menu is small but that doesn’t matter because they do each dish right. We had three options when ordering our pho…washugyu beef and brisket, free range chicken or natural oxtail. Brian and I both settled on the beef and brisket combo. Brian also ordered a Jidori chicken Banh Mi (Vietnamese sandwich) & a Cafe Sua Da (Vietnamese ice coffee). Clearly, there were going to be leftovers.

The meal was so damn good. I felt like I was transported back to the streets of Vietnam!

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Phorage LA

3300 Overland Ave

Los Angeles, CA 90034

inspiration, gratitude & surprises

8 Aug

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week 5

I’ve rather enjoyed this week. Actually, that’s an understatement…I loved this week. You know when you just feel “on”…you feel positive, creative, happy, healthy & connected to the flow of life and those around you? Rather then annoyed, frustrated, anxious & “off”? Well, I felt “on” this week and believe me, I am not gloating because my head space has been a bit touch and go recently. It’s just been a good week and I am always grateful for a good week. With all that said I’m looking forward to taking this energy into the weekend.

this weekend…

After a morning client today I am meeting my girlfriend Crystal for lunch at you guessed it…a vegetarian restaurant! Luckily she’s a “real” vegetarian, not just some “30 day challenge” pretend vegetarian, so picking the lunch spot was easy. After lunch I am visiting my girlfriend Sophie and her adorable little boys at their new home to help unpack a few boxes and take a dip in their new pool. Then I meeting Brian and a few of our friends at The Hollywood Forever Cemetery for a Spoon concert.

Saturday we have a million and one things to do around the house in the morning. We’ve. Been. Lazy. LAZZZZY. Luckily after what I am sure will be a boring morning we are yet again heading to a pool for the afternoon. This time with my mama, Loni & the lovely baby Margot. I am looking forward to seeing baby Margot float around in a pool. Really, is there anything cuter than a baby in a bathing suit? I think not.

Sunday morning Brian will probably surf and I will probably go to yoga (it’s the Sunday morning routine around here) then we are meeting his parents for get this…the annual Rib Fest at Lucques. Clearly, I agreed to this before I decided to go vegetarian for a month. I’m thinking I just eat the sides and cheer Brian on in what I am sure will be an epic display of rib consumption?

What do you have planned for the weekend??

What inspired me this week?

This weeks project 30! I just loved this line…“And the older I get the more I realize that there is no place to fall- believing there is a “place” is a very immature point of view in my estimation.” 

without my career, who will I be?

“The secret of change is to focus all your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new”- Socrates 

What am I grateful for this week?

The photographer, Jennifer Harr for gifting Brian and I with a one of her beautiful photographs (that I have been drooling over) It’s amazing how lovely and generous people can be.

All the amazing project 30 submissions I am getting. Seriously, I am blown away by how incredible these ladies are!

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Thai Vegan for getting me through my first week as a vegetarian

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long lunches with my aunt Maggie

What surprised me this week?

That Frank isn’t bald. Seriously, the amount of hair he sheds on a daily basis is astounding. It’s also beyond annoying having to sweep the house every night. I’m rethinking our suede couch…BIG time.

 Frank and I found ourselves in the middle of police standoff on our walk this week. We certainly know how to time it don’t we?

That I not only like but love the show Scandal (I know, I am very late to the game). Last week I watched my first episode on netflix and it has since become an every night activity. Sometimes two episodes a night…ok and once it was three.

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