This trip to Barcelona wasn’t my first. I had spent a few days there just after college when I was working in London. However, I only spent two nights and...
My friend and I attended this event on February 18th. We missed the march and joined the rally at City Hall in downtown LA. It was a much smaller crowd...
This is so cute. There are many variations on Pinterest. I think the original idea came from the Free People blog which is worth looking at. I had these animals...
Last fall when I heard about the Ice Bucket Challenge I claimed to have felt bullied into donating since I didn’t want to make a spectacle of myself on Facebook....
We braced ourselves for the start of kinder this year. After all, we knew how pre-school had gone two years prior. She only cried every day for 1.5 years of...
It’s getting HOT and making pasta every night is killing me. I’ve been trying to branch out to more salads now that it’s summer. This is a really tasty dish...
If you don’t know who he is, chances are you don’t like OR dislike him. So why keep filling his coffers this month? He’s Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon.com. His net worth is $23.3 billion. Dang, he doesn’t need any more of MY money!
This year I’m trying to shop local(ly) as much as possible. Lucky for us UNIQUE LA is this weekend!
WHAT: Unique LA
WHO: L.A. Artists & Designers selling their wares
WHEN: Sat. & Sun. Dec. 1 & 2 :: 11AM-6PM
WHERE: The California Market Center’s Penthouse
COST: $10 for admission, children 12 and under are free!
Kelley Hart is one of the vendors who’ll be there. I met her a few weeks ago at the Palisades High Holiday Boutique. She has the cutest handmade children & women’s clothing. If you live in Santa Monica, the style is akin to the clothes you see at Jackapotamus on Main Street. (For those of you clicking the link, the Etsy store currently has only t-shirts while the brick & mortar store has LOADS of other items – many handmade.)
Here is a pic she just posted of some of the adorable skirts (made from vintage tablecloths) that she’ll be selling:
Photo from Kelley Hart's Facebook page.
Besides the skirts, she has amazingly creative kids’ outfits, hand knit hats, and matching mama/daughter outfits. The quality & craftsmanship is impeccable!
This is my first time attending & I’m so excited. Hope to see you there!
A year or two ago I schlepped Maddie over to Westside Pavilion to the art class at Gymboree. The teacher was really good. M wasn’t so good. So we took a break. I didn’t hear great things about the art at Joslyn Park so I waited. We tried Gymboree again. New teacher and what seemed like budget cuts. “Everybody share this gram of glue!” “2 sequins per child.” It was ridiculous. If I have to be INSIDE THE MALL every single Friday afternoon, my child’s project better be spangly & shiny like the 4th of July night sky. So we stopped that after a month. M kept bringing up how much she loved art, and to quell my panic at the thought of going to the mall EVERY SINGLE WEEK, I signed her up for the class run through Santa Monica RecEnroll at Joslyn Park. Even if it’s no good, at least the kids can play outside afterwards.
Expecting the worst we trucked on over there.
We got lucky! SmART Space took over the art program. The teacher, Juliet Curry, is excellent! Organized, friendly and talented, she ALSO is the proud mother to a 2 year old girl (which doesn’t mean she’s a better teacher but it means she probably understands how I feel when my 2 year old exhibits “certain” behaviors in her class.)
I was really impressed by the structure of the class, the materials & Juliet’s skill at working with children between 2 and 4 years old. Since my kids are 2 and 4, I enrolled them both.
Her class schedule is just structured enough for these age groups:
1. Independent book time (art books in a basket on the floor)
2. Circle time to say hello, stretch, introduce everyone & discuss the project
3. Project
4. When/if-you’re-done 2nd project
5. Circle time to hand back projects, get a sticker & say goodbye
2. Printmaking
Maddie’s name was NAAAK or something like that.
3. “Action Painting”::Intro to Abstract Expressionism & Jackson Pollock
4. Halloween Collage
5. Autumn Leaf Rubbing
6. Indian Corn Printmaking & Collage
7. Free Expression (painting by running a Matchbox car through paint!)
After class we eat lunch in the playground.
It was very hot this day.
Normally the playground is pretty full but it was naptime AND I snapped it the second it was empty in case people didn’t want their kids on the internet.
Maddie is so happy with this class. Which is saying a lot since she is a real Mama’s girl who can be pretty moody. Bea? Bea loves using paint, whether she’s supposed to or not.
Next session starts in January. Look for the name “SmART Space” in the name when you are browsing the classes.
Classes are available both in Santa Monica through RecEnroll AND in Culver City. Here is a link to the SmART Space LA site to check out the prices/schedules:
Last year we passed by the Christmas tree graveyard at Clover Park. M asked what it was and when I told her, “That’s where people toss their Christmas trees after Christmas.” I swore to myself I’d never buy another perfectly good tree to decorate, water for 3 weeks, and then discard by the side of the road. That is one nutty tradition. Then, like always, I forgot all about it.
Immediately I thought, “I’m renting a potted tree!”
The trees range in size from 2′-12′ and in price from $25 all the way up to $345. (Gulp!) Not including the delivery fee.
The idea is appealing. After discussing though, we won’t be renting one this year. We do something even worse – we buy one for our house & one for our Christmas rental. If we end up staying home for the holiday, we will definitely try this.
This year we stayed home for Thanksgiving for the first time since we started dating. That meant we cooked this year. Which meant a lot of planning. One thing I’ve come to realize about myself: I LOVE planning & hate execution!
Here was my menu list:
1. Turkey – G was in charge of deep-frying this since fowl is not my thang these days.
2. Creamy Roasted Garlic Mashed potatoes
3. Cranberry Sauce (for looks)
4. Wild Rice & Crimini Mushroom casserole
5. Roasted Brussel Sprouts with a balsamic reduction & cranberries
6. Corn Bread Stuffing
7. Gravy
8. Arugula & Mixed Greens Salad with Pomegranate Seeds, Mango & a Dijon vinaigrette
9. Cranberry Mojitos
10. Classic Pecan Pie
11. Paula Deen’s Pumpkin Pie
12. Apple Pie Cookies
I started with a simple Homemade Herbed Ranch with crudite appetizer because I didn’t want everyone losing their appetites before dinner. Kids got their own plate.
It looks like it’s about to fall off the counter. It was.
This was the first time I cooked some of these items (including pie crusts which I just started making last week) and not everything came out the way Martha Stewart’s would have (including the pie crusts)! Also, I dropped the Apple Pie Cookies off the menu at the last minute because I ran out of time. I also made a simpler pan-fried brussel sprout dish for the same reason. Cranberries were already representing plenty.
Phew. I’m tired. I will be posting the successful recipes in the coming days.
The highlight of the menu? The Cranberry Mojitos! Yum. So festive, pretty & tasty.
Make these for your holiday parties!
You’ll need:
INGREDIENTS:
8 oz fresh cranberries (+ extra for garnish)
1 c sugar
1 c water
20 mint leaves
2 TBSP lime juice
ice
4 oz (light colored) rum
4-6 oz sparkling mineral water
First, make the cranberry simple syrup. Pour the cranberries, water & sugar into a saucepan.
Stir gently to combine. Turn heat to medium. When it starts boiling, turn to medium-low for about 10 minutes.
Remove from heat & cool. You can even leave it in the fridge overnight. The next day or a few hours later, pour it into a strainer over a large bowl. The strained bright red syrup is what you need! [Btw: I DID save the fruit in my fridge. Will be looking for a baking recipe that can use it as I hate to throw it away after all that went into growing, transporting, storing, boiling & refrigerating it. Please comment if you have any ideas!]
Now assemble your drink. I used the measurements more as a guide than anything else.
Add about 10 mint leaves and 1T lime juice to each glass. With a spoon, mash the mint along the side of the glass. Add ice, 2 oz of syrup and 2 oz of rum.
Fill with sparkling mineral or soda water. Garnish with a few cranberries!
First, make the cranberry simple syrup. Pour the cranberries, water & sugar into a saucepan.
Stir gently to combine. Turn heat to medium. When it starts boiling, turn to medium-low for about 10 minutes.
Remove from heat & cool. You can even leave it in the fridge overnight. The next day, pour it into a strainer over a large bowl. The strained bright red syrup is what you need.
Now assemble your drink! I used the measurements more as a guide than anything else.
Add about 10 mint leaves and 1T lime juice to each glass. With a spoon, mash the mint along the side of the glass. Add ice, 2 oz of syrup and 2 oz of rum.
Fill with sparkling mineral or soda water. Garnish with a few cranberries!
Notes
These can easily be made non-acoholic – just skip the rum for the kids and designated drivers!
Here’s a healthier potato for the holidays. It’s still soooooo tasty!! Even if you can’t bring yourself to forgo mashed potatoes (I can’t) - try these this winter. They’re a cinch!
You’ll need:
INGREDIENTS:
12 small round potatoes
olive oil
salt to taste
black pepper to taste
rosemary (yes, you guessed it – to taste)
These are VERY simple.
Preheat oven to 450.
Set a medium-large pot of water to boil.
Add 2 generous pinches of salt to the water.
Ok, now add the potatoes carefully, carefully so nobody gets hurt. Boil them till the potatoes JUST get tender. You should be able to stick a fork in them without too much trouble. Immediately drain them at that point.
Drizzle olive oil across a cookie sheet (make sure it has sides!) & brush to cover. Place the potatoes down as you would cookie dough – with plenty of spreadin’ space around them. Using a potato masher, gently push down on them, flattening them somewhat.
They need to still be in one piece when you are done. Drizzle or spray olive oil over the tops of them. Sprinkle salt & pepper to taste as well as the rosemary.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until they are browned and slightly crispy at the edges.
