Favorite Things: Montara

A few generations ago, my family bought a house on the cliffs of Montara in California. When they first acquired it, it was just a single room and a fireplace. Now it's two bedrooms, a fantastic kitchen and a dining room as well as the Big room. Most of my family holidays have been spent here and more than a few of my favorite memories took place in that kitchen or on that deck. I've made friends there and grown up there. I solidified my love for my family and discovered some of my favorite foods there.  

Basically, I love it. 

We stayed there in May and I got to snap a few photos of the place, my cousins and the newest family member, my cousins baby boy. Here's some of my favorites...

Happy Belly: Bacon Pancakes

I've had a dream for a while.


That dream was to have bacon pancakes.

Well said, Jake the Dog.


Anywho, on my May trip to California, I got to live my dream thanks to my fabulous cousin, Em.

The How is pretty simple: 

Make bacon. We did it in the oven (my favorite way- clean up is super duper easy). 

Take sip of bellini. This step is VERY important. 

After that, Mix up pancake mix. We did bisquick because, well, it has yet to let us down.

Take another sip of bellini.

Then, you chop up the bacon, and sprinkle it on the pancakes. 

Flip. 

Serve. 

Cover in butter. 

Cover in Syrup. 

EAT and be ridiculously happy. 

Road Trips and Driving

The past month and a half had been built up of three things: work, packing, and driving. I've never liked road trips much before, but now that I'm a driver, I'm becoming more and more of a fan.
To be fair, the first flush of excitement still clings to me when I drive since I'm only a few months in.

Still, I've learned to really enjoy the little things about driving; being in charge of the vehicle (which I've officially named Suzy, ps), rolling down the windows, blasting music. I've become quite adept a car dancing as well; I'm a regular Car-yshnikov (dance-pun-high-five).

Trust me, that was a really funny joke.

The point is, I love me a car trip.

It's amazing how a change of scenery can make all the difference.

Happy Belly: Wine Tasting

When I was back in California in May, I got to do one of my favorite things: drink wine. It was glorious; sunshine, rose, and some of the loveliest women I've had the pleasure to get breakfast wine with.

SO it's been a while....

Yeah. Sometimes you turn around and realize its been months since you've touched the internet outside of Facebook updates and the occasional Netflix binge. Lucky for you guys, I have a whole stack of photos and stories to share from the spring. So let it begin!!!

In May, I took a trip back to the Old Country (or, you know... San Francisco) with my cousins and some New York friends. It was amazing. Days of gorgeous drives, more than a few laughs, and our fair share of wine. 

I also got to use my new camera.

Here's a couple to wet your appetite.

Happy Friday!

Oooooh, what goes with my Giants hat???

Oh, thats right- EVERYTHING.



Happy Friday

And Game 3.

Wish List: City Prints

Theres a blank space on my wall.

It's so sad, like a duckling that just cant catch up with her siblings or the dog that legitimately can't understand why he can't catch his tail.

Naturally, I wandered over to etsy to find a little something to make my wall feel a little less sad. And I found something. A few somethings, actually:

I love them so much. I want to get one for each city I've lived in (plus Paris). Now the only question is... do I get all the same series OR do I do all different?

Quandaries...

Happy Belly: Frisée Salad

favorite!

I love food, particularly French food.

And I love eggs- remember?

home made croutons

So it makes sense that one of my favorite meals in the world combines those two things: simple and exquisite french food and poached eggs.

Papa Cravens makes a salad of frisée, bacon, croutons, AND egg.
Here's how it works: the dressing is particularly acidic and vinegary so the creaminess of the egg warms up the salad and turns it into a glowing, luscious salad.

The salt of the bacon and the crunch of the croutons make it satisfying on all fronts. I especially love it because Papa makes homemade croutons. The whole house smells warm and salty. Sometimes, he'll get the thick lardon that stays a little chewy and soft. I love the soft parts of the bacon. It's like finding the squishy fries that have soaked up the Ikea gravy.

When all of these elements come together, it turns into a cornucopia of every flavor and texture I love: crunchy, soft, warm, cool, crisp, salty, vinegary, and creamy.


Basically, it's beautiful and delicious.

Sometimes I lick the plate.

Fine; I always lick the plate.

Happy Belly: Cool Lime Refresher

I have a deep love of Starbucks. It started in high school, and I've never really been able to shake it. Every once in a while, in an effort to save money, I'll get a coffee maker and a vanilla or pumpkin flavored syrup and tell myself it totally tastes the same. In the inside I know that's just not true. Then I break and get a pumpkin latte and colors seem bright again. In the summer, though, it's just too stinkin hot for hot coffee so I switch to their iced teas. I'm usually a staunch trenta-green-tea-shaken-lemonaide-un-sweetened girl, but when I saw the ads for the cool lime refreshers, my ears perked up- what is this magic?

Turns out it's delicious magic. It's the best parts of lemonaide without that odd dry mouth aspect, and has a zing of lime. Its the kind of flavor you never really get sick of, you know? They also use some kind of green tea extract to add some natural caffeine (yay!). Plus it's a pretty color. Which is always a plus for me. In any case, I've definitely found my new summer drink.

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Dress Is More: On the Beach

I love the beach. I rarely take the time to actually go to the beach, but when I do, I love it.
My favorite part of the beach, besides the ocean, is the dress code. I love that wearing a draped, soft open-weave cotton sweater, ragged cutoffs, huge sunglasses and a bright green bikini is considered modest in this day and age. I also love that you can drink beer at noon. And the sand, salt, and sunscreen smell. I love that sunscreeny smell.

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Lookin' Good: Travel Kit

Traveling has been a huge part of my summer. As a result, I've gotten pretty good at piecing out the products and bits I need in my tool kit (or makeup bag- potato, potato). Let's take a peek:

 Let's start with the brushes. All I bring is my fluffy powder brush, a blush brush, eyeliner brush, and concealer brush. Basically, my blendyest brushes. Bringing your best tools really does add an element of comfort to traveling (if your'e me, that is). I also always bring tweezers for that errant eyebrow hair or that unforeseen splinter.


I find that keeping it clean on vacation is best; you never know how tan you'll get or how humid it really will be, so why risk bringing buckets of face products? At the end of the day, you're on vacation. So you win no matter what.

Face products are fairly straight forward: just the favorites. I bring my Chanel foundation, Chanel bronzer and Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick for all my facial needs.

face pretties- bronzer, foundation and shimmer brick

The foundation, Chanel's Vitalumiere Aqua Ultra-Light Skin Perfecting Makeup, is deliciously light and smells fantastic. you only need a drop or two for your entire face. Their Soleil Tan de Chanel Bronzing Powder is equally lovely. I have the lightest color,  Desert Coral, so I can use it all year around no matter how pale I get. It's finely milled, so it blends well with blushes or just into my cheeks for a glow. Blush-wise, I love my Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick in Nectar. Its the perfect parts color and shimmer, making me look awake and cheerful, not painted. I've been using my shimmer brick for six or seven years and it's always been the right choice.

eyeliners and eyeshadow

As for eye makeup, I've gotten this down to a science. I bring my two favorite eyeliners and one eyeshadow. Boom. My eyeliners are  both from the Sephora Collection. One is their Kohl Waterproof eyeliner, which is one of my all-time favorite eye pencils. It really lasts and has a creamy texture an deep, dark pigment which I love. When I wear black eyeliner, I want it to be super dark, inky black, not that sad graying black you sometimes see. My other favorite is their Smoky Cream Liner, which comes in a little pot. I use this brush from e.l.f to apply it. It goes on smooth as can be. I'm still practicing with the brush, and on good days I can get a fantastic, liquid-looking cat eye and go full-Joan Holloway.

The eyeshadow is a particularly victorious find. It's Bare Escentuals High Shine Eyecolor in Golden Sand, which comes in a little tube with a sponge applicator. I love it because it travels great with no spillage. Plus, it blends fantastically and can be made more dramatic with layering taking me from day to night in a swipe. So it becomes the best travel or commute option I've fount to date. Oh, and the color is really pretty!

Last, but far from least, perfume. I always bring a bottle. This time, Chanel No. 19 Poudre, which is fresh and fantastic and smells great with that coconut/ sunscreen smell of vacation.

So there you have it- I'm ready to go anywhere now!

chanel

California Is Really Pretty

No, seriously. Don't believe me? See for yourself...