nye.

new years is kind of a weird holiday for me.

last year was pretty good.

a few years ago i went to dland. that was fun.

every other year...totally forgettable.

i don't know what i'm doing for new years.

probably watching this video over and over.

(can we TALK about joseph gordon leavitt??!)

i die.

what are you doing for new years?

finally joined google+.

google+

(yes, i know i'm late in the game)

i don't really get it.

i know...so uncool of me.

one of my friends posted this.

cool.

do you google+?

my little cupcake.

tyler came to visit

("business" trip)

luuuurve him.

we went to magnolia bakery (twice)

i introduced him to the joys of roscoe's.

we had so much fun.

i wish every day was fun with tyler day.

oh hayyyyyy.

i'm a blonde now.

and yes, they do have more fun.

xo

LAdventures: food truck party!

i was out running errands downtown the other day

and came upon a food truck party on wilshire across the street from LACMA.

15 food trucks all in a row. aaaaaamazing!

my tumbly was a grumbling so naturally i stopped.

there were so much deliciousness to choose from but i couldn't

resist the food truck of my people: lidia's dominican kitchen.

roasted chicken. red beans. rice. TOSTONES?!!!

heaven.

i love LA.

a toast! to french toast.

last week, i came into a large amount of baguettes.

(left over catering from a shoot i worked on)

wanting to mix it up i decided to try making french toast.

i gathered up some eggs, cream, vanilla and cinnamon

to begin the adventure.

honestly, i didn't measure out the ingredients.

(eyeballing it is how i roll in the cooking department)

but here are some discoveries i made:

make sure to cut the baguette thin enough or let it soak long enough that the egg mixture gets soaked all the way to the middle. otherwise, you end up with an egg-y outside and a dry inside. nobody likes that.

we were low on syrup, so i combined some cinnamon and sugar in a separate bowl and dipped the french toast in it right after pulling it out of the pan. delish! you could also put it back in the pan for a sec to caramelize the sugar. worth the few extra minutes (promise).

i'm no genius in the kitchen but this was super easy. it's a great way to use bread that's a couple days old and kinda crusty. the egg mixture softens the bread right up!

genius.

i just discovered the genius playlist function.

basically, you take a song that you love on your ipod,

click genius and it uses your music library

to create a playlist for you based around that particular song.

uhhh...game changer.

example. so i'm rollin' with m'girl renee and robin thicke's "get you alone" comes on.

we both start car dancing like crazy and i say: "i need to build a playlist around this song."

and miss renee "i'm so smarty pants i passed the bar" says: "let's see what genius comes up with."

oh, only the best playlist everrrrr! including:

prince - musicology

marvin gaye - got to give it up

beyonce - get me bodied

112 - dance with me (!!!)

estelle - more than friends

GENIUS!

what song would you build a playlist around???

gratitude: day 21.

holidays alone are no fun at all.

LUCKILY, m'peanut is coming to visit.

eeeeeiiiiiii!!!

i'm headed to OC for turkey day.

i'm grateful i don't have to be alone for thanksgiving!

gobble gobble.

gratitude: day 20.

i'm grateful for rain in los angeles.

the sky is usually hazy with smog

but after it rains in LA,

the hills are so green and the sky is so clear.

it's gorg.

it rained last night and it POURED today.

love it.

gratitude: day 15-19

fail.

look, nobody's perfect.

i'm grateful for that.

WINK!

LAdventures: firefly

so technically, this isn't unique to LA

but since it's been an integral part of my LA experience thus far

we're calling it a LAdventure.

space western.

two words i'd never think to string together.

one delightful tv series.

(honestly, they had me at nathan fillion)

my roommates + some new friends gather together most every sunday

catch a couple episodes on netflix

eat some cookies

and remix the theme song

eat some more cookies

talk about how we never want the 13 eps to end.

basically, we just dork out a bit.

nbd.

LAdventures: royal donuts croissants

there's a donut shop

that is THE donut shop.

a little mom and pop place

that is positively delightful.

in the words of my lovely roommate:

"this ish is delish."**

seriously people.

best. donuts. everrrrrr.

go {there}.

**may not have been said specifically about royal donuts croissants, but prolly was. and either way, it's a fitting statement.

the hunger games.

oh man oh man oh man.

loved the books,

super excited about the movie...

are you?

gratitude: day 14

i'm grateful for the book of mormon.

i made a goal to read it from

start to finish between now

and the end of the year.

so far, so good.

i feel peace when i read it.

and i'm reminded again and again

that jesus is the christ.

the book of mormon is true.

learn more about the book of mormon {here}.

gratitude: day 13

i'm grateful for music.

sometimes i sing.

sometimes i'm sung to.

i love it all.

i sing praises to God.

i sing along to the radio.

it all makes me pretty happy.

what kind of music do you love?

gratitude: day 12

i'm grateful for creative friends.

i have friends that blog.

friends that don't.

friends that sew.

friends that decorate interiors.

friends that write

friends that sing.

each of them have worked hard

to hone their skills.

it's very inspiring

and i'm grateful.

11.11.11

i just felt like i needed to post

on 11.11

at 11:11.

that is all.

did you do anything special to celebrate?

gratitude: day 11.

i'm grateful for couples in happy, healthy relationships.

sure, i'm not currently half of such a relationship...

but i'm still grateful.

i'm grateful for the small acts of kindness

the warm looks

the kind words

the displays of affection

really, i am.

seeing people happy in relationships

gives me hope for the future.

my future.

sure it's not always rainbows and roses

i get that.

but it's something to be grateful for.

and i am.

gratitude: day 10

i'm grateful for my body.

i don't always take the best care of it.

i don't let my body sleep enough.

i feed it too many bad things and not enough good things.

i often criticize it for being a bit on the chubby side.

but through it all, my body takes me from point A to point B and back again.

it allows me to dispense hugs and high fives.

my body is a miracle.

chi-town.

took a quick trip to chicago last week.

ate pizza (twice) that knocked my socks off.

visited one of my fave OC girlies, her bun and her hubby

(thanks for puttin' me up matt + cassie!)

saw the sights

(and by sights i mean a giant statue of marilyn a la 7 year itch)

chicago is my fave.

will definitely be going back.

i need more of that pizza in my life.

have you ever been to chicago?

any fave places?