just a thought

seven grand and bottega louie

i love going to a new city and exploring the town's shopping and restaurants.  but something we don't do very often is go into our city and see what it has to offer.  l. a. is an exciting town with great restaurants, museums and night life, you just have to fight the traffic to get there.  we made plans with some friends to meet up for drinks and then have dinner at a cool restaurant.

we met susan and lara at seven grand located in the heart of the city.  seven grand is a whiskey bar with a cool hunter's lounge vibe. is that even a thing? it is here.
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not only do we never go to bars, but i never drink whiskey.  i'm a wine, beer and umbrella in my drink kind of girl.  this place has cool beers, an international wall of whiskey, pool tables and cigars.  out of my element but up for the challenge.

we ordered what they were having - an american trilogy.  it was fun watching the bartender work his magic; muddling the brown sugar and bitters together, stirring them with both hands, and then garnishing with the orange peel.  such a cool craft. we hung out at the bar sipping our cocktails and chatting.  this would be fun place to go with lots of people to shoot some pool.

after the drinks we went across the street to bottega louie.  i knew about this place mostly because of the macaroons but loved it the minute i walked in with it's high ceilings, open kitchen and gorgeous dessert display.  the only problem was that there was over an hour wait for a table.

not that we were in a hurry. i parked myself right by the kitchen watching the chefs prep, cook and plate the orders; beautiful salads, toasted sandwiches, and creamy pastas.  it made me hungry for sure.

luckily our friends have been here before and they knew one of the bus boys who quickly got us to the top of the list. that shortened our wait time by an hour - score!

another round of drinks and some bread to get us feeling comfortable.

these were incredible - portobello mushroom fries with a basil aioli.  i'm sure i'll be craving these again.

we ordered a pizza, a club sandwich that had an awesome surprise with a hard boiled egg, a salad - cause you have to, and a porchetta sandwich.  we tasted and shared and talked and laughed.  the place was pretty amazing and the company was spectacular.

for dessert bobby and i had the peanut butter terrine that was lovely.

and an affogato to celebrate susan's birthday.

of course we had to bring home a box of macaroons to share with the kids.

thanks to susan and lara for getting us out of the valley and into the city.  can't wait to do it again.

2015 weekly menu #7

we celebrated national fro yo day with 6 oz. of free menchie's yogurt plus some toppings.

this will be week 2 of after school sports madness.  we survived last week and made every practice, although not always on time.  just to make things fun, this week we're throwing in an evening meeting, a valentine's day celebration and a month long school project deadline.  woohoo.

i wonder how close we can manage to stick to this menu.

weekend eats
saturday: dinner at bottega louis 
sunday: señor. sol after mass

making this week
monday: lasagna soup, french bread
tuesday: rotisserie chicken, salad, garlic mashed potatoes
wednesday: won ton soup, spring rolls
thursday: bbq chicken quesadillas
friday: pizza

enjoy your week!

some things | 2.6

it is february after all.  and i am looking for things i love and make me happy - it's helping to balance the mercury retrograde we seem to be experiencing around here.

something to buy - girl scout cookies.  we bought some from a neighbor last week and have been enjoying the frozen thin mints one at a time. get your cookies people.

something to try - grass fed angus beef burgers from trader joe's.  we recently started eating red meat again and are trying to eat the best quality beef we can find.  these are pretty fantastic.

something to make - i've admired this painting and want to make one of my own.  i have an idea for a small one with a quote but the big canvas with lyrics would be so cool.

something for valentine's day snack - all of these snacks are adorable, easy to make and healthy too. winner!

something that made me laugh - if you follow me on Facebook you've seen this, but worth posting twice.

Sofia had to do push ups at softball practice today. After practice I asked her why she had to do them.

Sofia: "because I didn't run my hardest. But man, I did some awesome push ups."

Here's to a great season of really awesome push ups!

something to do - the rose bowl flea market is happening this sunday in pasadena.  jordan and i will be working the notre dame band hot dog cart all day.  come by and say hello.

something to watch - on the list this weekend is gone girl and selma.

something to feel good about - i have been running more in preparation for training for my next half marathon.  there is nothing like running for me.  completing a run is the.best.feeling.  starting over is hard but so worth it.

something to be excited for - the trailer for beyond the reach debuted yesterday on yahoo.  i can't put into words what i feel when i see this.  not the finished product but knowing the journey he took to get here - that is what matters (to me at least). and this is just the beginning.

have a lovely weekend!

olw | january

as i mentioned before i am taking ali edwards' year long one little word class.  my goal this year is to finish.  to do every assignment and complete the album.  most of the assignments are easy and they are always fun so that should keep me motivated.

i am using an 8 1/2 by 11 we r memory keepers album and page protectors for this class. and my goal is to keep it simple and not overthink the process.  just go for it.

my intro page is this quote i found at the beginning of the year.  it is so full of hope and that is how i want the year to go.

my next page is my blog post from january introducing my word.  then there are some worksheets with prompts.

-in what ways is this word already a part of your life?
-what do you want more//less of?
-what do i fear most in 2015?
-what am i most excited about in 2015?

on the back page are my intentions for my word.  one of my intentions is to fill my mind with positive thoughts so that negativity and fear cannot exist. the yoga is helping!

the next page is a 9 pocket page protector that i cut down.  ali provided some small cards to fill out and then we got to be creative for the other pockets.

i used studio calico cards, a transparency, and some old acrylic letters to fill in those spots.

i also wanted to include a picture of me, taken in new orleans last year, and a picture of my family, because that is what makes my life full.

i included the card i hand wrote.  it's double sided so on the front of the card i added some word tiles from a recent studio calico kit.

overall i am happy with how this turned out.  i think setting the intentions and clarifying why i chose the word will be a great reminder throughout the year.

i am really excited about this month's lesson as well of making a vision board.  i have my magazines and scissors ready to take that on.

just a thought

2015 weekly menu #06

what is there to say after such a crazy game. oh well? i was not rooting for one team in particular and i loved that the game was close and exciting. it's the way it goes in sports.

and speaking of sports.  5 active family members = lots of sports.  this week sofia is doing soccer and softball, andrew is doing baseball, jordan is swimming, i'm running (painfully slow), and bobby is hitting the gym and coaching. we are rooting each other on and staying healthy (not sane).

weekend eats
saturday: tacos
sunday: nachos, sausages, veggies

making this week
monday: chicken tacos, rice
tuesday: sausages, salad, potatoes
wednesday: cheeseburgers, oven fries
thursday: grilled salmon, mashed potatoes, veggies
friday: pizza

hello to feburary and the month of love.