Guilty Pleasures

Don't call me on Monday night because I'm busy. Busy watching my new favorite TV show, The Biggest Loser!

Ok sure, it's quality entertainment to see overweight people get yelled at for an hour...but it's so much more than that! Trainers Bob, Jillian and Dolvette drill awesome little nuggets of truth into every work out and I have to admit, they stick with me and help me through my own. I'm lucky enough to have my own built-in Jillian (Jackie can be scarier in her own way!) but here are some mantras from the show that I have floating around in my head when I feel like giving up...

"Give yourself a goal everyday, and just get better"  (mine is 1500 burpees this month, what's yours?)

"This is when it matters the most... in these moments when you can choose whether or not to say "I can't" or "I can." 

"At the end of the day, your health is your responsibility." 

"You have no idea of what you are capable of until you try."

AND if that's not enough...

Hearty Chicken Soup is Love.

Everyone shows and receives love in different ways. Some people show love through quality time, letters, chocolate and flowers, rides to the airport....and how about biking around the city in a heart-shaped route? I prefer food.

For me, this recipe from Chicken Recipe Box is love. It's a two-parter, so it definitely requires planning. But you (and whoever you decide to share it with...or not!) will be so happy you did. To get the base to taste just like your favorite "tong" (broth) made by your grandma, you must make the chicken stock from scratch. Sorry Swanson's! Roast a chicken and use that as meal #1. Save the chicken bones and stick them in a large pot with onions, carrots, garlic and water and let all the flavors develop by simmering the yumminess for four hours. Strain all the veggies and bones out and you have your chicken stock!

Click the link above to find the rest of the recipe! It's super easy, guilt-free, the ultimate comfort food, and doesn't require too many ingredients. Happy Valentines Day!

**Photo Credit: Chicken Recipe Box via Pinterest

Broccoli Blooms

Ah ha! I've never been so excited about broccoli before!

To be honest, I was a little skeptical about the broccoli plants. Our garden plot neighbor had a few extra so we figured, why not try it? It was really happy for a few months with lots of steady growth and humongous leaves. I didn't even know how or where the crowns were going to form until this weekend, voila!, they were there! We're going to let them form a little more before we bust out some stir fry with these. But how cool?! This whole process of "urban farming" (can we even call it that??) has been so rewarding. Just yesterday we had some chard from the garden with steak and roasted peppers. While I was kind of nervous about finding a slug in my food, it tasted delicious! To top it off, this whole experiment as totally paid itself off. We've had lettuce for weeks and it doesn't show any signs of stopping.

Local readers out there -- does anyone know of a veggie swap? It would be so fun to trade some of our butter lettuce, arugula and radishes for peas, tomatoes, peppers...

Nesting Phase 2

Oh no! I found a post that I started a few weeks ago and never finished. Over the course of the last two weeks, my parents came to visit and one of the largest work events of the year happened so I will use those two things as my excuse. More on that later...!

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The first few weekends of 2013 were a whirlwind of cleaning, re-arranging, decorating and overall nesting. My sister moved to her own apartment on January 1 and she has almost finished decorating in record time! I couldn't believe that she had hung curtains, purchased a new couch and tv, unpacked her records and books, painted walls, and assembled an entire media center/ "man cave" in days. It took us months! We've had the essentials figured out for a while but we recently purchased a few more things that make it feel more complete.

Cage pendants provide a nice warm light...the Etsy owner created a new version of the item for us so that we could hang them on a bracket (from Ikea!) and plug the lights directly into an outlet instead of from the ceiling. I opted for the red cord (obviously!) and they come with fancy edison lightbulbs. Woo!

The CB2 craigslist hunt lead me to finding this Alpine bed frame on sale from a fancy concrete home in Venice. It was a great deal that became even better when I noticed some unexpected paint marks and weaseled an even larger discount! Since it's metal, the marks came off with magic eraser and it's as good as new! Win.

Last find? This graphic Les Mis print is made out of words from the novel. If you know me well, you'll know my love for this musical goes back to the 90's. I realize this doesn't sound too long ago, but how many 8 year olds know every lyric and dress their brother up as Gavrosh?! Don't make me post a photo as proof! We still need to frame and hang this gem...don't worry, this horribly staged photo isn't our apartment!

- Cage Pendant Lights, Etsy shop EDLShop // Pendant using an Ikea Bracket idea from Remodelista

- Alpine Bed Frame from CB2

- Les Mis print by Litograph

Quote from E.M. Forster

Illustration by the ever so talented Lisa Congdon as part of her inspirational 365 days of Hand Lettering Project.

Starting a Garden

Here I go adding to my list of old-people leisure activities....

Before beginning our veggie garden, we went to the farmer's market to talk to a seasoned farmer about the best ways to begin. As we suspected, he told us that we need to prep our soil before even thinking about what we want to grow. He suggested getting a few bags of EB Stone Planting Compost (no chemicals, no sir!) and mixing it into the soil so that's exactly what we did. Thankfully, the people who had this raised bed before us cleared everything out...just leaving behind a few grape tomatoes.


We got on our hands and knees and cleared out as many roots and leaves that we could!
We were told to water the soil and give it a few days to let all the nutrients seep in...hopefully this will set a good home for our veggies. Now we wait...I can already tell that this whole process will be a long lesson in patience!

In a few days, we'll probably head back to the market to get some veggie starters. Instead of starting with seeds, this will give us a few months head start. Maybe one day we'll start from seeds, but I don't mind a little cheating here and there to keep my confidence levels high.

I got a little crazy in Photoshop and I doubt that this will all fit, but here's what we'd like to do:


If anyone has any tips, I'd love to hear them! More later!

Look Around

Since our little nest will never be "done", I decided to suck it up and take some photos of a few little things that make me smile around the home: smart bike storage, extended golden hours in the kitchen (and a plant that I successfully started from a sprig of another indoor plant, wahoo!), cat toys found in my shoes, our record player, a patriotic memento, and two metal birds that we picked up in the parking lot of our old apartment in Malibu and have carted around ever since!

Five Things I'm Grateful For

It's been a while since I've done a post like this...here we go....in no particular order:

1. Friends for Life - You know those people in your life who you've known for ages and no matter how much time has passed, you can pick up from where you left off? Tatsuro's one of those friends and was in town for a quick trip last weekend. It was so fun to chow down on Thai food at Jitlada with him!

2. Podcasts - I tweaked a muscle in my back this week so I've been trying Epsom salt baths. Since it's really difficult for me to just sit still, I distracted myself with a few episodes of Strangers. These two episodes made me laugh: The Waxing Virgin & The American Mormon-International Mr. Leather

3. Electricity - I can't ignore Hurricane Sandy and the massive destruction that swept over the East Coast this week. It's heartwarming to hear stories of communities and neighbors helping each other out and it makes me thank my lucky stars for electricity (!) and a refrigerator that keeps my groceries from spoiling.

4. Red Cups, the paper kind - I walked into work this morning and my co-worker was sipping from a red Starbucks holiday cup...tis the season! I'm already scouting out new Thanksgiving recipes.

5. Athlete's Shepard's Pie (with buffalo) - a delicious "Paleo" twist on one of my favorite comfort foods. Instead of potatoes, use sweet potatoes...and use coconut oil instead of butter! Check out the recipe here!

What are you grateful for today?

(Related posts: Happy // 5 Things That Make Me Smile // 5 Things I'm Grateful For)

Photo Credit: 500px via Pinterest

Jackie Wins

In addition to winning 2 tickets to the Divine Fits this upcoming Sunday, Jackie also recently won a 1-year lease on a highly-competitive community garden plot! We can begin planting in November and we can't wait to start growing some winter leafy greens, beans, beets, carrots, zucchini and herbs. I hope that I inherited my mom's green thumb because we're going to need it! If we lived anywhere else in the world, this may not be the right season to begin a garden, but everyone keeps telling us that we shouldn't have too many issues since the climate is so mild here (80 degrees at the end of October - what?!)

Before we moved, one of our neighbors down the street had planted a few rows of vegetables in her side-yard and I've been inspired to do the same ever since. She had the most perfect looking little herb and veggie garden...it seemed like she could have had kale salads for days! If we can come close to her success, I'd be happy. All I want is to be able to harvest one home-grown meal...is that too much to ask?

Brooklyn's Annie Novak is another huge inspiration. She's an "urban farmer" and grows everything on the rooftop of building in the middle of the city. You can check out more photos of her amazing set-up right here on the Selby.

 

*Nope, not about to get a chicken...let's leave that to the professionals. 

Photos are all from the Selby.

Freshly American

Yeeeesssss.....

Nats and I became Americans with just under 4000 other people yesterday in the LA Convention Center. We took the oath, handed over our green cards, watched a video from President Obama, and endured listening to people sing along to this song. When my parents became citizens, it looked like their ceremony was in a classroom. I was expecting a courthouse, not a warehouse! It was overwhelming to think that all 4000 of us were just a small portion of people accepting citizenship that day. Goodbye resident alien status!

Many people often gripe & complain about America, especially around this crucial and politically polarizing time. But politics aside and at the risk of getting cheesy, I am so thankful that I live in a country where I don't have to worry about safety and comfort. We were also reminded yesterday that as an American citizen, we can choose our own paths and futures if we have the drive and motivation to make it happen. I'll admit that I take these concepts for granted...we think about these things on days like July 4th and September 11th, but they are freedoms and luxuries that should be acknowledged every day, or at least often!

On a less serious note, in the oath, I said that I would bear arms to protect my country if needed but let's just get it on the record that I don't think it's in anyone's best interest to give me a firearm.

Focusing on the Horizon

New expensive hobby alert (will it ever end?): stand up paddle boarding.

I've lived in the Santa Monica & Malibu area for almost six years and even though I love the ocean, it's taken me this long to try a water sport. SUP ended up being easier than I thought...much more exciting than kayaking but not as challenging or scary as surfing. Once I got past the fact that I wasn't going to go anywhere fast, I started to appreciate how slow the whole process is. Before paddling out, I was advised to focus on the horizon to help keep my balance and now that I think of it, that sounds like a line I would hear in a yoga class. Balance is key to all aspects of my life and it's true - focusing on the horizon, being aware of the bigger picture, does help me keep my head from spinning. I found myself zoning in on the sound of my paddle hitting the glassy water and all the sudden I understood how some people start every day paddling out into the sea. 

The visibility into the ocean was so clear. At one point, we were even able to see some fish swimming underneath us through the kelp beds. When we had reached our turn-around point, our guide gave us some time to jump in and cool off, or in my case, lie down. It was dangerously comforting to get rocked by the waves while being warmed by the sun. To seal the deal, a family of young dolphins swam past us only about 15 feet away...I'm hooked!

This post deserves a "#lovemylife".

*Photo credit: here

In Our Eyes

Summer into fall soundtrack: Niki & the Dove, Instinct (listen on Spotify)

Instinct is one of those albums that I have had on repeat for months. I'm not much of a music editor / critic so I'm not going to even attempt to write up something to convince you to listen to it. Just do it! Start with Tomorrow, The Fox, In our Eyes and prepare for a mini dance party (or in my case, a craving for some good 80's style Jane Fonda aerobics).

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Photo: taken by me on an iPhone and then edited in Photoshop. Filter Culture Collide Fest October 7, 2012. Please note awesome floral headdress. Lead singer, Malin Dahlström, would be the best bargain-bin elementary school art teacher if this music career doesn't pan out! She was well-equipped with pony beads, floral earrings and anklets, and feather/popsicle-stick fans. Impressive.

Simple Truths About Summer

"The cure for anything is salt water. Sweat, tears, or the sea." 

- Isak Dinesen

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Isak Dinesen must have lived by the sea because she sure knew what she was talking about. 

Another beautiful summer has come and gone. I'm thankful for all the days spent on the hot sand and in the waves. We only live a few blocks from the beach so almost every weekend, we'd walk west for a few minutes, down through the bluffs and end up in paradise! Coconut waters, veggies and hummas, an entertaining podcast, soduku and soft waves. That's what I've been doing instead of blogging! Oh, and plenty of sweating too. Now that it's almost October, I'm close to reaching my 1 year anniversary of actively and intentionally exercising and eating relatively clean! As for tears? There hasn't been too much of that - maybe a few during this summer's SYTYCD (ah hem, this gooorgeous routine).

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Side-note: Investing in art is my new favorite indulgence. Luckily, there are so many websites dedicated to bringing inspirational pieces to homes without breaking the bank. Jen Bekman's 20x200 is a great place to start but I found this calming print on Society 6 and I'm so tempted to make it mine. It is pay day after all! 

Sneak Peek: Reupholstered Dining Set

Totally slacking on posting photos of the new space. I have this unrealistic hope that it'll all come together at once (and quickly). So far it isn't happening that way!

Here's a little sneak peek of a close-to-finished nook. I love Jackie's growing collection of botanical illustrations mounted on newsprint. Also, take note of the crown molding! We're growing up!



The dining set was a labor of love. We polished the wood, saved the original labels, and recovered the retro orange seats. I'm not sure if the original seats got itchier with time or if these things were always itchy, but lets just say that they weren't the most comfortable. Not to mention the vintage smell and mysterious stains. It was a huge pain to remove all of the staples (apparently the Swedes love their staples!) and we had to work with a weird latex foam seat that was glued to the wood base. Once we got that out of the way, we covered the seats in a new fabric that was found in the Fashion District in downtown LA. I've been hoarding this amazing cut of Indonesian textile for almost a year and a half and I'm so pleased to see it go somewhere in plain view all the time! I love the vibrant colors and the tribal pattern. Best of all, it's super soft and durable.



On to the next project!

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MORE DETAILS:

Table: Craigslisted off of a really sweet couple in Westchester. The husband found this beauty in a Goodwill and he restored it with Howard's Feed & Wax. We lucked out when it ended up being too large for their new apartment!

Chairs: Found at the legendary Pasadena Rosebowl Flea Market after scouring through dozens of over-priced mid-century dining sets! We got a deal when I noticed that some of the caning was damaged...doesn't bother us, but got us a nice fat discount. We can always restore the caning when we are feeling rich. Or not!

Apartment Crush: Dabito's Los Angeles Home

Apartment Crush alert! Dabito posted photos of a dreamy Santa Monica apartment rental a few months ago, but he also has a beautiful home of his own! In his interview on Apartment Therapy, he explains the details of his creative process. The space looks comfy, colorful and modern and best of all, he created all this on a strict budget! Dabito is a self-proclaimed "vintage vulture" and found most of these items at thrift stores, Craigslist, and flea markets. Talk about an inspiration. He advises, "be patient" when it comes to putting together your home, a tip that I have taken to heart!

We finally got Jackie's beautiful collection of botanical drawings up on the wall this weekend but we still have a box full of art and decor sitting on the floor, waiting to find a home. After filling up millions of holes in the walls of my last apartment, I'm hesitant to start putting holes in my pretty new, blank walls. I've been scouring Pinterest, watching lots of HGTV, and reading my favorite blogs for inspiration, but haven't taken the leap quite yet! Will keep you posted.

Last but not least: For all you Craigslisters out there - ever want a tool that would let you browse CL by image instead of by title? Guess what? That exists!! Check out picclick.com and it'll save you tons of time. Yes, no more clicking through coffee table posts and being disappointed with this.

Sail.

Six words: So You Think You Can Dance. Who else is obsessed?! I'll be the first to admit that I know absolutely nothing about dance (probably just as much as guest judge, Zooey Deschanel!) but I can't stop thinking about this edgy and modern routine to "Sail" by AWOLNATION. These two women are teensy but when they start dancing, they demand attention. Just watch those limbs!

New Goal: Pincha Mayurasana

Time: Last Sunday, 10:30am
Place: Power Yoga, East Studio

Instead of focusing on my breathing and being "in my own space", my gaze was set on watching the girl behind me pop up to forearm stand from dolphin pose. She did it so easily! So much control and openness in her shoulders. Thus, the new goal: get to Pincha Mayurasana by the the end of 2012. Want to try? TGF-Youtube tutorials!

...I should probably add "stop looking at other people in yoga classes" to that goal list as well...:)

Photo Credit: kasuma.yoga on flickr

5 things that currently make me smile

1. Musk scented incense before bed
2. So You Think You Can Dance
3. A new sewing pattern to try this weekend
4. Beach House's latest album (and tickets to see them in September!)
5. It's officially SUMMER!

Every Morning.

1 Sambazon Açai smoothie pack
1 cup of cold almond milk
3 sliced strawberries
1/2 banana
Your favorite crunchy granola

Breakfast of champions! This is what gets me out of bed in the morning. This and coffee.

My Weird Snacks

I don't want this blog to turn into a weird record of my latest fitness and dieting endeavors, but lately, it's all I can think to write about since life has been pretty consumed with work. In my limited free time, I am trying my best to be active! Today, I thought I'd share with you some of my new favorite snack discoveries ever since I've been trying to cut out extra carbs, fats and sugars. If this whole experience has taught me one thing, it's that what you put into your body is just as important as exercise (if not more!) if you want to see a change. So here's my list of saving grace's:

PB2 -- a powered peanut butter that doesn't compromise on taste but leaves out all the extra oils and fats of regular peanut butter! I haven't tried the chocolate peanut butter flavor but that's next! A few scoops of this + vanilla whey + chilled almond milk = a refreshing post-sweat treat.

Quest Bars -- recommended by our yoga teacher, these protein bars have 20g of protein, tons of fiber and only 1-2g of sugar. Best of all, they have the consistency of a Snicker's bar. Delicious!

Miracle Noodles -- again, recommended by our yoga teacher, these are an easy way to fill your noodle craving with 0 carbs. Warning, these smell really gross and fishy out of the bag because it's some sort of sea plant, but give it a good rinse and they take on the flavors of your dish.

Buffalo Jerkey (from Trader Joes) -- mmmm! Good protein, low-fat, spicy, soft and not dry...

Edamame -- I'm a muncher so whenever I want a good, healthy, hearty (and, lets be real, salty!) snack, this is what I turn to!

Case in point: Eating healthy does not equal suffering! 


**Side note: I promise I'll be back to the normal "programming" with some cat photos soon! With the summer heat rolling in, Moby is going to get a shave this weekend...wish us luck :)