what mom wore

Sweater: Zara
Shirt: Banana Republic
Belt: J. Crew
Jeans: Hudson
Shoes: Puma

passover special

In case you felt left out by not celebrating Passover, my local car wash is offering a "Passover Special." This offer is also known as the "Wednesday Special."

how to make charoset

Since moving back to Los Angeles, I've been spending a lot more time with family. Having not been to a Passover seder in thirteen years, it came as a surprise to learn that I was not only expected to cook something, I was also expected not to join in the hunt for the hidden matzo (for which there is a monetary prize - a part of the evening usually restricted to child participation). I'm old - I get it. My assignment was to make charoset, which embarrassingly enough, I had to look up online. Turns out, it's very easy and quite delicious - tasty enough that it seems a shame to only eat it once a year. I purchased nearly all the ingredients at the farmers market, and the process is exceedingly easy.

Chop apples. Try not to give yourself a blister. Toast, then chop walnuts. Mix in a bowl with golden raisins, honey, cinnamon and lemon juice. Add kosher sweet wine if you have it, but it's not necessary. That's it!

For exact proportions, follow recipe here (courtesy of Food Network).

culver city

Went for a walk through the new-ish-ly gentrified Culver City this weekend, culminating with a lobster club sandwich. Yum!

More photos here.

what i wore

Dress: Thrifted
Belt: H&M
Shoes: Max Studio
Earrings: Intuition

I just got this dress at my local Goodwill for six dollars!

ugh

Is anyone having trouble with Blogger today? All my photos are uploading in a warped House of Mirrors sort of way. Hopefully, it will be fixed soon!

bookmark

Super cute bookmark designed by Anna for 826 National. Makes me want to curl up with a good book!
Available for purchase here.

california desk

Check out this sweet California shaped desk! For when there is serious work to be done.
Available here. Via Oh Happy Day.

saga of the kitchen chairs: epilogue

With the addition of the dining table and chairs, I no longer have room to keep the yellow chairs that I spent so much time searching for. I put them up for sale on Craigslist this morning, and can only hope that they will go to a good home where they will be loved as much as they were loved by me. Goodbye old friend. You will be missed.
Craigslist posting can be found here.

v is for valentino

If you haven't seen Valentino, The Last Emperor yet, stop whatever you are doing and remedy the situation immediately. It's beautiful, fascinating and totally inspiring. If you have any interest in fashion, travel, craft, entrepreneurship, glamorous people or places, or private chateaus in France, then this movie will move and inspire you.

The movie is currently out on DVD. Watch the trailer here.

dining room table and chairs

Look! I bought a dining room table and chairs on Craigslist. This is a big improvement - previously we would combine our old table (about half the size) with one of our desks, which resulted in a somewhat disturbing phallic shape. Classy!

The chairs came with a hunter green velvet cushion which I can't wait to change due to its sheer ugliness. There is also something about this table that is making my apartment seem too adult, so I definitely want to pick a fun fabric when I recover them (project!!). I got a bunch of samples from the fabric store, but I don't know if any of them are the ONE. I've marked the ones that I like the best....what do you think?

what i wore

On location at the Disney Concert Hall!
Shirt: Thrifted
Skirt: Anthropologie
Tights: Hue
Boots: Steve Madden
Purse: Thrifted
Watch: Marc by Marc Jacobs
Sunglasses: Paul Frank

downtown adventure day: part four

The last stop of the day (well, the last stop that I took decent photos of) was the Frank Gehry designed Walt Disney Concert Hall. Its a fairly imposing structure, so its probably best to let the photos speak for themselves.

A ton more photos here.

downtown adventure day: part three

The Angels Flight funicular originally opened in 1901, and recently reopened after being closed for 9 years. It costs 25 cents to ride and travels almost 300 feet up a 33% grade. Clearly, you could take the stairs, but its fun to ride and there is a nice view at the top.

From there, we walked over to the Music Center theaters, including the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and Mark Taper Forum:

More photos here.

downtown adventure day: part two

The next stop on our walking tour of downtown was Grand Central Market, LA's oldest and largest open air market, dating from 1917. We weren't hungry during our visit, but we are definitely planning on going back to sample some of the Mexican food - it looked delicious!

More photos here.

downtown adventure day: part one

Jeff and I played tourists in your own city this weekend, visiting a bunch of historical sites in downtown Los Angeles, including the Million Dollar Theater (above) and Pershing Square (below).

We were blown away by the stunning Bradbury Building:

More photos here.

outstanding in the field

Outstanding in the Field just released their North America schedule of events and there are a couple in Southern California for this summer. They're not cheap, but a gourmet meal of only local food on the beach in Catalina (above) sounds pretty amazing. Past events has taken place at local farms, beaches and even a museum!

 

Via Tracey.