Thankful Thursday!

Getting back into the swing of things, Thankful Thursday is back!

Things I've been Thankful for This Week:

1) iGoogle

I've got about 25 balls in the air right now! Work, Junior League, Personal Life, Theta, Travel Planning.... The last time I was this busy was Senior year of college. I used Microsoft Entourage to manage everything back then. I loved that you could filter email to projects, have separate calendar's and to-dos by project and get reminders. I've been struggling to find a place that does all that, and having converted the majority of my e-mail to gmail it makes it hard to transition out. After a frustrating attempt to convert to entourage, I turned to my roommate and said "I wish there was a place that would combine all my divided e-mail labels, to-do lists and calendar events from Google into 1 page where I can see it all!!" Without looking away from the TV she casually responded with, "You mean, like iGoogle?"  How did I not know about this!? It's changing my life!

2) Long(er) Lunch Breaks

Things at work are getting a little crazy, but on the days I do have time I've been taking a little bit of a longer lunch to work out. Fortunately my office has a full gym and locker room as well so I don't have to go very far. I've also found showering mid-day to be quite refreshing! I am absolutely NOT a morning person. Showering at lunch I can sleep in a little, wash my face, touch up my hair and coast through the morning craziness at work, then start the afternoon put together and ready for battle!

3) My Bus Pass

Last month I made a large effort to stop using by charge card and start using my debit card more. I thought I was pretty successful until my bill came. There was only a very small difference between this month and last month. Shocked and saddened I opened my statement to see where the damage came from. I was semi- surprised to see that all my charges were from  Uber! I say semi because I know I resort to it quite often to avoid the time and patience I have to invest in public transportation, but I didn't realize in was 3 figures worth of resorting! I'm now starting to make a conscious effort to use both my debit card and my bus pass, which is paid for by work. 

4) {college} Football Season Starting

As if a 3 day weekend wasn't enough to look forward to the Badgers take on UMass this Saturday to kick off what is sure to be an amazing college football season! This is really the only time of year I get nostalgic about Mad-Town!!

5) Pepcid Complete

A little odd, I know, but for some reason I've been CRAZY sensitive to spicy foods lately. I had chips with mild salsa last week and woke up in the middle of the night with ridiculous heartburn. Then Monday this week I had a big bowl of tomato based soup and my tummy was not happy. I chewed all the Tums in the world, considered eating chalk...and when I finally thought I was dying, around 3AM I googled the best heartburn reliever. Pepcid Complete came highly recommended as it stops the production of stomach acid AND soothes!! Google was right, yet again and I was back to work the next day!

Monday Inspiration

I saw this a while back and thought it was a beautiful explanation of the hardest, but most meaningful kind of love: unconditional.

For love to be unconditional, by definition it must be difficult. 

The purest acts of love are the ones in which we rise above the most selfish aspects of our nature to care for someone. 

True love isn’t just something that feels good. It is a responsibility.

- Daily Kaballah

The New Selfie!?

So, if you know me, I'm very anti-selfie. There is never a good selfie. They either say "Hey, I'm all by myself at this thing." or "Hey, this is what I want you to think I look like but I really don't", which is commonly a way over sexualized version of oneself or it doesn't even beat around the bush with a "Hey, these are my boobs/abs/pecs". It's not a way to personalize anything, because they usually don't reflect reality and seem pretty vain.

In the past some people have said the same about monogramming (not the sexual part, the vain part). I'm pro-personalization of anything and being a traditionalist with classic taste the monogram is the best way to do that.

J.Crew's newest edition of 'J. Crew on Film' explores the new-selfie: the monogram and new ways to use it! I couldn't be more supportive of this!

Summer Sailing!

This past weekend my co-chair and I hosted an afternoon of sailing with our Junior League committee. My co-chair and her husband provided the stunning boat and I made the snacks and drinks! Aside from the ferry and one fleet week party well over a decade ago, I'd never been sailing on the bay. Having grown up around water and boats, I don't know why it took me this long! With the America's Cup in town everyone seems to be catching the sailing bug.

The Skyline, through the sails as we pulled out of SFYC in Tiburon

I do actually enjoy cooking. Especially when a) dishes so easily come out like the picture (aka like they're 'supposed' to be....spoken like a true Type-A) and when I can cook for people!  When I offered to provide the delicacies for our sailing trip I turned to the internet and my fabulous, food savvy friend Emily for advice.  The boat ended up having a full kitchen, but she advised staying away from dairy for temperature control reasons and suggested an adaptation of her Roasted Red Pepper and Feta Dip with white beans instead of feta. I paired it with a tray of carrots, cucumbers, snow peas and broccoli, it was an absolute hit...literally every drop gone by the end of our voyage!

 

Along with that, I wanted a fruit dish. We already had the veggie platter, so a separate fruit plate seemed plain. I found this recipe for Peaches with Serrano Ham and Basil. This was perfect because my basil plant needed some usage! I used sweet vermouth instead of sherry vinegar and marinated overnight, I assembled about 20 the next morning in less than 30 mins! Delicious and EASY PEASY!

Last Friday, the Glitter Guide appeared in my inbox and had a mouthwatering  Goat Cheese and Fig Crostini.

This was definitely the hardest item to make. Not because of time, or prep or difficulty putting together, but because creating the perfect crostini is very hard....especially when you're making 2 other dishes at the same time. I went through 2 baguettes, burned to a crisp and finally the 3rd one came out a dark brown. Far from perfect, but it worked. The goat cheese was so easy to whip together! I added the honey to the mixture instead of drizzling on the top, this turned out to be great because I used the left overs as a dip! The fig and thyme sprigs complemented each other perfectly! These were the first to be gobbled up...primarily by the boys. and elegant recipe for

  With 2 main courses, I needed 1 'snack' type food. This was easy for me to pick: popcorn. One of my absolute favorites and so few people use it that it came as a nice surprise to our guests! I classed it up a bit with truffle oil, parmesean and fresh rosemary.

For beverages I kept it simple: the ever classic Pimm's Cup with a fresh cuke slice and a lemon!

Pimm's and Boat Shoes of course!

I'm happy to say it was everything I could have wanted! The day was gorgeous, the food was delicious and the company was perfect! Definitely one of my San Francisco-life highlights!

Style Crush: Reese Witherspoon

Whether it's shopping, red carpet walking, working out or watching her kids soccer games Reese Witherspoon always looks ADORABLE.  So much so, I'm not sure if I love her or hate her :)
I really do hate to say this, but one of my favorite thing about her is that her body is no where near "hollywood perfect". She's real and she dresses herself simply  stylishly and elegantly. I wish I could put myself together as effortlessly as she makes it look!

Recent Obessions

While I was away I  discovered some new/ re-discovered some old things lately and can't get enough of them!

Cosabella - Never Say Never Thong
Does anyone else have the problem of finding a panty that they really like, buying a bunch and then a year later when you go back to re-stock they're discontinuted or "re-styled"?  Needless to say that just happened to me with my favorite Honeydo style. Holding back a minor emotional breakdown in the Bloomingdales intimates section I wandered over to the Cosabella table. I'd seen and heard about them before by the One-Size-Fits-All thing kind of weirded me out. I decided to see what the hype is all about and it's official. I LOVE THEM! I'm going back for more tonight!

Schick Hydro Silk
I got this razor as a free sample with one of the purses I bought to take to Europe. I had made it my travel razor, and I remember thinking it was great on vacation because I only had to shave my legs twice a week as opposed to everyday normally. I kind of forgot about it, but I rediscovered it when I was home for Christmas. Even after spending 6 months packed away under my bed it still worked amazingly! I've officially made my Venus my "travel razor" and this lady has a permanent place in my shower!

LaLine Vanilla Patchouli Room Spray
A couple of years ago I stumbled upon the Laline store on Chestnut and their amazing vanilla patchouli scented jar candles. Unfortunately,  for some reason, they no longer make the candles but they do still have the scent in room spray. I had bought a couple a while ago, but they got lost in the mess that is my nightstand drawer. I was organizing this weekend and found them! I like to spray a little on my sheets after I make my bed and then scent seems to last a little longer.


Fresh Popped Popcorn
There is just something satisfying about popcorn made on the stove. I don't know if it is because its lighter or crunchier but it is so much better than bagged. I made my first batch of kettle korn last weekend and it was a success, but my favorite toppings have to be truffle oil and parmesan!

Origins Check and Balances Face Wash
I used this all through college and into 'real life', but I switched last year when I started to get acne, which I'd never had in my life. I immediately assumed I needed something tougher to tackle that job. After several dermatologist visits, 2 prescriptions and every face wash that contained some sort of salicylic acid I've come back to Checks and Balances. Everything I tried either left my face dry and peeling, turned my sensitive skin into a plump red cherry or, oddly enough, made my face super shiny.
Checks and Balances leaves it clean feeling and moisturized without all the irritation! I did start using their Out of Trouble mask and have been very pleased at how well it controls my breakouts (and smells good too!)!

26 down and ....? to go

Work has been IN. SANE. since the holiday. I worked 63 hours last week and I've already hit 50 for this week! Makes for little time for blogging, but luckily I made some time for my Birthday party!!

I had a bar in the Haight, that I had never been too but walked by a few times and it looked fun, hold a table for us and asked everyone to join me there for some delicious drinks, followed by dancing.  One of my worst fears. Seriously, worst fears is throwing a party that no one comes to. I know it's crazy irrational, but it's what I have to deal with. Needless to say lots of people came out and we had a great time! I have to say this bar was AMAZING. Their drink menu had to be one of my favorites in the city. San Francisco has a lot of "snobby" drinkers (and eaters, and 'fashionistas' and generally snobby people) and most of the nicer bars don't have 'bartenders' they have 'mixologists'. They make great drinks, but mostly all of them have something to do with bourbon and an orange slice. They're delicious, but they get old.  This place and drinks with Bourbon, Tequila, Rum AND Vodka!! I don't mean to sound like a lush, but the variety was appreciated.  Afterwards a few of us headed over to a different bar to shake our booties until it was time to go home! Had so, so much fun. One of my best birthdays by far!

Although, I ended up having to suck it up and make a facebook event, I still sent out these, more personal,  invites from Paperless Post. So. Cute.

Since I don't live anywhere near where the bar was, I invited people who lived near by over before for cupcakes and champagne! Then we all got cabs over to the party spot! When I make cupcake's I usually make Paula Deen's Red Velvet with cream cheese frosting, but since I had to work Saturday Funfetti from the box had to work. It was still DELICIOUS! {funfetti may or may not be one of my guilty pleasures}

Myself and my former roomies at the bar. We've known eachother almost 4 years, 1 of which we lived together and NEVER had a picture together so I had to post this!

Finally, my birthday gift to myself! Monogrammed 2013 datebook in orange. The day it came in the mail I looked down at my desk and almost everything I had on there was orange. Never knew I liked it that much!