i miss you

via betterlivingthroughdesign.com

the past two weeks were just super intense at work, but i promise to be back next week!

this week was a brutal little bitch, but i'm still thankful for ...

monk-e-mails from adorable friends who know exactly how to make me laugh. if you don't know what a monk-e-mail is, then click on the picture and thank me later for your new addiction. this made my day, april!

surprise visits from my brother who lives in arkansas

team lunches - we'll miss you amanda

my sweet, sweet hubster who has cooked, cleaned and done all the laundry this week

motivational speakers that come in tiny forms

i had one of the worst days yesterday. let's be honest, i've had the worst week.  sometimes trying to get pregnant just takes a toll on you.  my co-worker susana showed me this and i fell in love.  whenever i need a laugh, i watch this little guy and i just "feel happy of myself." click on the picture for some sweet motivation

i'm thankful for ...

lunches with baby violet -- thank you theresa for knowing exactly what i needed and for being such a great role model for motherhood. sometimes after trying so hard to have a baby, it's nice to be reminded of exactly why you want one

sushi dinners with girlfriends, where you can speak openly about everything -- my all time favorite leah line was when i told her that iui didn't work (again!)  and she said "f*** iui."  couldn' t have said it better myself!

salmon caviar - simply delicious

fertility bracelets -- my very good friend marcia gave me one of the most thoughtful gifts - stones that support and promote fertility.  she designed it based on certain gems (jade and agate) that rebalance and harmonize the body, while representing life & growth.  these are excellent gift ideas. check out lychee grove on etsy

good pizza (which is nearly impossible to find in l.a.)

i have to admit that i am a complete pizza snob.  it's not that i'm above all chain restaurants in the universe, but the idea of domino's or pizza hut -- well, i just can't eat it.  it just tastes too sweet, too doughy.

when i moved to los angeles ten years ago, finding a good slice of pizza was high on my list and i managed to find it within the very first month.  at the time, i was babysitting for this family and they insisted that i must go to village pizzeria in larchmont for a real pizza pie.  since then, i've almost always been disappointed with any other slices in the city.  i do think that vito's is also excellent, and tomato pie is another winner, but my heart will always belong to village.

first of all, i love that it's this small, lively worn-in restaurant in larchmont.  but more than that, i love that they have true thin crust slices with cheese that just bubbles ever-so-slightly over the tangy tomato sauce -- and it's the perfect ratio of cheese to sauce.   i go pretty old school in my order, usually just a slice of pepperoni. that's all i want a simple, delicious slice of pie.  there's just nothing like it when you've had a bad day and you want to curl up on the couch with a movie and a couple of slices.

tell me, what are your go-to pizza places?

tuesday fashion - anthropologie sales are the best

via coolspotters.com

several months ago, i was shopping with my friend leah and when she tried on this top, i knew i was going to have to single white female her for sure.  i just loved how flowy it was, the detail of the roped neckline, and those two elements paired with my favorite color sent me over the edge.  she somehow decided not to get it and since i wasn't shopping for myself that day, i didn't feel like being so obvious about copying her in that moment so i walked away, too.

however, several months later as i was scouring the sale racks at anthropologie, there it was staring at me with a reduced price tag of $19.99.  umm...done!  you know the best part about getting a new shirt, is when you always want to wear it.  i have found myself thinking "has this person seen me in it this week?" before i slip it on.  i love the look of the flowy top paired with my structured vintage old navy blazer.

savages & kate mantilini

last saturday night we went to a screening of savages with our friends jorge and jenny.  i can't say that i'd recommend the movie, as it spent half of the time showing blake lively making out and the other half with what felt like gratuitous violence.  it was as if the film didn't know what it wanted to be:  one minute they were showing you a video of the drug cartel cutting people's heads off via machete and the next blake lively was narrating the drug story, choosing words like "wargasm" that made it feel more like "sisterhood of the traveling pants" than an oliver stone thriller.  i was also disappointed with salma hayek's character. if you are going to have a female be a drug lord, make her a bad ass.  instead, elena sanchez resembled more of a neurotic mother than a cut throat killer.  the shining star in the movie was of course, benicio del toro.  in one brief moment he could arouse fear by knowing just what was going to happen when he and his "gardeners" arrived at your door, and then the next he would have you laughing while he's offering up genuinely funny lines while chewing on a ham sandwich.  all in all, the general consensus seemed to be that it gets a 6 out of 10.  we saw it for free, but if you are headed to the movies, i'd probably say pass on this one.

the best part about the evening was that we ended up walking over to kate mantilini for a very late dinner where i had a mac and cheese that put all others to shame.  apparently, that is a classic dish to order at the 25-year old restaurant, which was started by harry and marilyn lewis, the original hamburger hamlet owners.  our waiter said the secret to their award-winning mac & cheese was the addition of tabasco sauce.  it pulls it all together, offering just enough heat for the melted cheddar to saturate the noodles and topping it off with breadcrumbs is simply perfection.  jeff got the chicken pot pie, which was as delicious - buttery, crispy crust with chicken and veggies simmering in a nice bechamel sauce.  jorge got my favorite dish for the name alone "the little hollywood." it was a petite filet served on a crispy garlic bun with battered fries.  jenny went with a pear & stilton salad, but spiced things up with their "those potatoes" which are essentially crispy hash brown goodness layered with warm sour cream and spring onion.  delish!

i'm thankful for ...

my new lemon suede flats that i bought on sale at j crew for $49.99

late afternoon drives in the datsun

ben harper at the hollywood bowl

neighborhood peacocks who just come up in your yard

cherries that arrive at your door from a local farm

sunday brunch at mike & anne's in south pasadena

green tea and rose buds from my acupuncturist

making new friends

one of the things i admire most about my friend tita, is her ability to talk to anyone, anywhere.  when we were single it made being out at the bars a lot more bearable (and productive).  now that we are both coupled off, it offers spontaneous moments of laughter. 

last night we were at the grove/farmer's market and we walked by these two grandpas.  she saw they had a stack of crossword puzzles and immediately said "ooh, i love crosswords!"  one of the men said "oh, great, honey.  you can help.  i do the new york times every week and i've been working on this one for three weeks!" 

we proceeded to stand their with our pinkberry yogurts melting while tita shouted out "x games, rolex, one pm." 

as we walked off we were both wondering "were they homeless or just old?"  i like to think that the man's stack of puzzles he "found" and plastic bag wrapped in tape meant that he was just frugal.  either way, our little encounter made my day.

happy 4th of july!

*photo via 20x200*

we'll be lounging by the pool and grilling out!  what are you doing?

paying it forward

last week i was standing in line at starbucks, when i heard these two 12-year-old boys discussing what they were going to order.  i started laughing, because i found it comical that they were at starbucks getting caffeinated and they were 12!  they asked me what was so funny and before i knew it, i was having a full-blown conversation with them.  their dad was over at sears and they decided to come get a snack and their drink of choice was a caramel frappuccino. so when i got up to the counter, i said that i wanted to buy their drinks.  they looked at their rolled up dollars and then at me and asked "can we get a large?"

i can't describe how happy it made me to do that for them.  in all reality, the $10 to them was a hard-earned allowance, but to me it was just a tiny dint on my starbucks card (of which i am totally out of control, btw).  of course, then i took a picture of them with their drinks and jeff said that was a little creepy. hence, the generic pic above.

it just feels so good to do something for someone who owes you nothing.  i was thinking about a story my sister had told me about when she was volunteering at her church and was helping out a family who had been homeless for quite some time.  she asked the son how long it had been since he had a home and he said four years.  four years.  no kid should have to live like that.  it just breaks my heart.

ever since she told me that i've been trying to make more of an effort in showing thanks for the things i do have and i think sharing that with others is a pretty good way to do so.

so maybe the next time you're out and you see someone, buy them a coffee, open their door, or treat them to a burrito at chipotle.  i promise it will make you feel a little bit better about life.