2 Weeks of Dog Sitting has Begun!

I get to spend two fun filled weeks with this........

a few days with this.....

and with these.

It is going to be a long two weeks.

Midlife Crisis Handbag

So my super stylish friend Holly and I were having a conversation months ago that I am sure she has long forgotten about but I think about all the time.  We were talking about handbags and she said that she was thinking about not buying a couple of handbags every year but buying one really expensive classic, handbag and using it forever......makes sense to me. I have been spending time on the internet looking for a fantastic, classic handbag to buy for myself for the BIG number birthday coming in a few short months and I found this Louis Vuitton commercial and I was sold........

So I am buying myself a midlife crisis handbag. I have it narrowed down to three. Which would you buy?

The Neverfull

The Noe

Palermo PM

Things I missed out on in LA

On Friday morning I walked down to the California Gift Show which is held at the Los Angeles Convention Center, right next to the Staples center.  

I have not been to downtown LA for 3 or 4 years and I 

was amazed at the development that has taken place next to the Staples Center at a place called L.A. Live. There are tons of restaurants, including a NYC fav Rosa Mexicano.  

The Grammy Museum is also in this center. As I was walking in front of the museum I noticed gold records in the sidewalk that listed the artist/album who won the grammy that year.

Very cool.

The Nokia theater is also in this center and besides the Michael Jackson memorial broadcast I am not really sure what goes on here....a movie theater maybe.  

I wish I would have know all of these fun things were here I totally could have spent the whole day in this area.

Trip to Los Angeles

I spent a couple of days in Los Angeles at the LA Mart and California Gift Show.  I used to travel to the California Gift Show twice a year every year and dreaded spending time in downtown LA.  It, to me, is just not a fun city I can never find any place to eat, lots of bad shopping centers and just generally nothing fun to do. So I brought lots of books and planned to spend my free time in my room or by the pool reading.  I am happy to report I was surprised how much fun I had on this trip.  

I spent the first day at the Mart visiting the showroom where our products are displayed exploring other showrooms. 

I woke up the next morning with the plan to get out and do something fun.  I read about the Los Angeles Flower Market the night before and I knew that an adventure to the flower market would be the perfect way to spend my morning.  On my way to the flower market I passed this building and when I looked inside I was shocked at how beautiful it was esp. for downtown LA.  The name on the building was Bottega Louie.  Inside was a huge space, bright white marble floors and huge ceilings.  I walked in and discovered a combination pastry shop, gourmet grocery store, restaurant and bar.  I purchased an apple tart and a pastry I have been wanting to try for a long time, french macaroons.  

Let me just say my new favorite pastry is a Macaroon.  I tried the red (raspberry) and purple (lavender).  I went back the next morning and bought one of each color to eat at the airport while waiting for my flight. So cute and delicious.

Cupcakes in the pastry shop. I love the fancy gold cupcake cups. And I feel like I am falling in love with the white marble in the case.

The grocery store where I purchased Chai Tea Cashew brittle from this company.  Holy cow delicious! I am learning how to make brittle this weekend. 

The Restaurant

Beautiful little sandwiches in the grocery store. They also had a fantastic cheese case. I could have lunch here every day for the rest of my life and be happy.  The whole concept was so well put together with a beautiful assortment of food and so well merchandised. 

With apple tart in hand I continued on to the flower market and when I got there I was in heaven. There were two large warehouse buildings filled with flowers.  The buildings were so beautiful, bright and smelled amazing. There were rooms filled entirely with roses, rooms with orchids and areas filled with every other type and color of flower you can imagine.  I wish I had a better camera with me.  The iphone just did not capture the beauty of the flower market.  

After the flower market I went to a farmers market and bought some heirloom tomatoes and a delicious peach.  I also bought a goat cheese and roasted chili tomale and tried a vegi pupusas.
 I have never tried a pupusas, it was a cheesy flatbread with grilled vegetables with some sort of coleslaw. It was really good.
The last day I was in LA I went back to the Mart and bought a salad at a little kiosk set up by a local shop named Milk.  

I ordered the most amazing salad I think I have ever had in my life.  It was baby arugula, manchego cheese, sliced peaches or maybe nectarines, dates, caramelized walnuts, wheat berries and walnut vinaigrette.  It may have changed my life.......ok maybe not, but I must try to figure out have to recreate this  salad.  

In the end it was a nice little trip, both refreshing for my soul to get away for a few days and a productive visit to the Mart.  

Anyone want to do this with me?

It seems like a pretty simple way to do a cleanse. There are 3 levels to choose from. The level I am going to do is the least intense (the renovation) and includes green juice, pineapple,apple and mint, spicy lemonaid, and something with beets....I absolutely love, love beets. You pick a 3, 4 or 5 day program and then they overnight all of the juices to you.......or if you live in NYC you can pick them up. The 3 day program I am going to do is $255. More information can be found here. I am planning on starting the first weekend in September........email me if you want to join in on the fun.

Cookbook Challenge Update

I have been waiting for this book to come out for months so I was very happy to forget about my cookbook goal and buy this book.  

The first cupcake I made was the Smore cupcake on page 151. 

The cupcake was made with graham flour so it tasted like a graham cracker.  I made a chocolate ganache and put that on top of the cupcake.

Then I made a marshmallow frosting and put it in a pastry bag and covered the chocolate ganache with the frosting. 

 The fun really began when I pulled out my seldom used kitchen torch and toasted the marshmallow frosting......fun times. 

It was a fun baking afternoon.  I also made two things from Donna Hay cookbooks. 

From the book Flavors I made a fantastic roasted beet salad with mint (from my herb garden), feta and the best dressing made from balsamic, wholegrain mustard and pepper.  I love beets!

From the Classics book I made a potato goat cheese tart made with puff pastry and rosemary also from my garden. 

Snake Creek Grill

One night after work I drove up beautiful Provo Canyon with my friend Dannielle to Midway to try a restaurant I have never tried The Snake Creek Grill.  I loved it! 

I started out with these fantastic Onion Rings.  Holy cow they were delicious.

For Desert I had Gingersnap Ice Cream Sandwich with caramel dipping sauce.

I also had a bite of this Ice Cream Sundae with Peanut Brittle.  Oh my gosh so good.

  

Dannielle-we must go back soon!