IT'S 40 DEGREES OUTSIDE

Can you believe all of the crazy weather we have been having? It seems like just a few weeks ago I was walking around in flip flops and a tank top while running errands. Tonight B and I were driving home from an adventure at Costco - which is an understatement considering it was the night before new years eve and EVERYONE in Southern California is at Costco buying champagne in bulk - and saw the outside temp register at 40 degrees {F}.

I logged on to facebook not a mere 20 minutes later to see my cousin Autumn post that it was snowing in Scottsdale, AZ. It got me thinking, all bundled up here in the kitchen about how wonderful the cold weather is. It's a perfect reason for me to bust out my knee high leather boots, brass button down pea-coats and beautiful pashminas wound around my neck when I brave the outdoors. Not only do I look impeccably chic - its just as effortless as my tank and flops.

But fashion aside, the cold weather brings something much more magical that most don't realize. Its a time to stay INSIDE your home and enjoy the company of those who dwell indoors with you. Its a time to play board games with your brothers, a time to watch movies with your parents, a time to sit around the table and eat warm soup with your loved ones, a time to share a blanket and a fire with the person who keeps you warm at night.

Its the little things in life that are free - such as friends and family - that we all seem to take for granted. Just last week I was near complaining myself to death about driving all over the place on Christmas day and, "why can't I just have my own Christmas that everyone ELSE can come to?" but then it dawns on me that these moments are all I have on a lot of occasions to look forward to. I had the BEST time seeing everyone I love within a 30 mile radius no matter how much time I spent alone in the car. The gifts we all give one another are 'nice' and 'fun to use or look at' but the real gift is the one we get everyday; the gift of love.

The cold weather is very easy to complain about, but complaining about too much love is ridiculous. How lucky we are.

DAY DREAMING...

Do you ever find yourself day dreaming about nothing in particular and revel at where your mind can take you? Do tap into those hidden moments alone with just yourself and actually pay attention to how crazy your train of thoughts can be? If you are anything like me, it starts with a picture just like this one: I lay in my bed in the morning devouring wedding and design blogs on my iPhone. {I'm not engaged nor married but who the heck cares, a girl can dream}. I click on each image to open it bigger so I can study the intricate details and 'find' the beauty in things others don't see. I hover my finger over the image and wait for the "SAVE IMAGE" icon to pop up and then greedily stash it away for more private enjoying later on.

A few days go by, and then I open my image library and swoon all over again. Now I'm dreaming up where to put these beautiful flowers in my "DREAM HOME" and where on earth will it be. I now head over to www.craigslist.com and start looking at Spanish Bungalows in Pasadena and Highland Park. I find one or two that tickle my fancy and then EMAIL myself the link. This little beauty is for sale... dream again.

Somehow my mind goes into furniture mode, and now I'm online looking at Elle Decor and Architectural Digest, and Ebanista and finding pieces to fit in this gorgeous imaginary 1940s Spanish Bungalow that I don't actually have.

About thirty minutes goes by and I don't quite understand how I've gotten myself from a beautiful bouquet of flowers on Green Wedding Shoes to a large carved ebony wood credenza at Hudson but it just happens! This is creativity at work. This is EXACTLY the type of thing I have TRAINED my brain to do. To get inspired is an understatement... instead I actually create a different LIFE for myself all from an image I see. What a wonderful gift I have.

Flea Markets

There are few things in life better than buying someone's trash and taking it home as your treasure. I often wonder where these beautiful pieces I find come from... and why on earth anyone would 'throw them out'.

TENNESSEE

Hey y'all! I'm just getting all packed up for a trip back to Nashville to visit my dearest friends, Lee & Page Morris, along with some other wonderful friends of mine back in TN. I am most looking forward to that quality time with my besties, but I am also ECSTATIC about the Lynchburg 'Jack Daniel's BBQ Fest' as its my first time attending such a fete.

I can't decide if I should pack my plaid and flannels or something with an elastic waistband for how much FOOD and BBQ I am going to be eating! This is sure to be a trip chalk full of fun memories and laughter.

Found out we are ALSO going to a TN Titans game while we are there at LP Field. O-M-G I am stoked!

Hope you are all doing well out there in bloggyland and I will share with you my adventure when I return. Until then, YEEEEHAWWW!!!

NEW YORK CITY

Leaving on a jet plane - a Virgin America jet plane that is - for a week long trip to New York. Visiting family and museums and restaurants and clothing stores AND everything else the big apple has to offer. CAN'T wait!!!!

Just thinking about walking around the streets of Manhattan has got me singing Alicia Keys' New York as I pack my bags.

First thing I have GOT to do is grab a hot dog from the sweatiest vendor I find, and score a sweet knock off gold Rolex. It's the little things that make me the most happy really... ahhh, a girl can dream.

But seriously, I am thrilled to be going back to the city; its been over ten years since I was there and I just get so giddy about the smells and the people! Can't wait to tell you all about my trip and show you the treasures I find when I return.

THE CIRCUS CATCH

I wanted to give a short and sweet shout out to one very amazing Author, Andrew Baslow, of The Circus Catch. He has just recently joined the wonderful world of blogging, and is an aspiring broadcast journalist. His (first ever) blog is already gaining lots of interest in the blogsphere which centers around the wonderful world of baseball.

A recent college graduate who had hoped to be picked up professionally, has in a sheer chance of luck - whether he wants to believe it or not - is currently on the path to finding his true passion... and I happen to believe it to be a sports writer. His writing is blunt and to the point which could potentially offend some people, but his genuine love for the game is glaringly obvious that you can't help but smile.

Please pop on over there and take a looksie around and enjoy!

AN OFFICIAL COLLEGE GRADUATE

I GRADUATED COLLEGE!

What a silly wonderful ridiculous feeling to be done with my college career. Of course everyone wants to know, "What are you going to do with yourself now? Do you have a job yet? Are you moving out of your parent's house???" My answer has strategically been, "I'm traveling!" which pretty much means... I DON'T HAVE IT ALL FIGURED OUT YET!

While I have been doing my fair share of travel (Bullhead City, Nashville, Don Pedro) I have also been searching for the 'dream job', and have come to realize I don't know if my 'dream job' is out there. I want to make enough money to be comfortable but also have enough free time for my expanding social calendar. It seems like the interior design world is fully saturated with FILLED positions and my options are slim.

So while I continue on with my travels, I am keeping my eyes and ears open for a new adventure of what will happen next!

THE TOP CHEF PROJECT

As I have said before, I believe design goes hand in hand with all the other creative fields (architecture, fashion design, etc.) in the world, but the one thing I think a lot of people forget is the creative genius behind food. Not only do chef's have to research, plan and taste what they want to make, they also have to visualize it and how it's colors, textures and smells will blend together. Planning a dinner is very much the same as planning a room. You have to take into consideration WHO is going to be eating/living in the space, what they like, what turns them on and off, and how they are going to interpret what you have created.

I think that because I am such a visual learner, and I grew up eating really good food (thanks to my stepfather Harry) I have become some what of a 'foodie'. I appreciate spending time in the grocery store, shopping for produce at Grower's Direct, watching endless amounts of cooking shows on the Food Network - preferably back to back - and shopping at Williams Sonoma, Sur la Table, and Whole Foods.

Last year for 2009, my new year's resolution was to teach myself how to be a better cook, by cooking ALL the recipes in the Top Chef Cookbook. I was going to go in order of publication and write a blog about it. I bought the rights to http://www.thetopchefproject.com/ and immediately started. I was initially inspired by reading the book, Julie & Julia which has since been turned into a movie starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. Anyways, I got all excited and dove head first into cooking... and it was so much fun! However, within a matter of weeks I stopped. JLID had slowly started to take off and I was concentrating more on school and work than I ever had before in my life. My free time, and my passion for food was put on the back burner, which I know happens to a lot of people, and I totally stopped the project.

Thankfully, one of my friends pointed out to me yesterday, that it had been a year since I stopped the project... and asked why had I stopped? Nothing changed in my life that would make me stop cooking. I still cooked dinner nearly every night of the week, making recipes in my head that were good, sometimes great, often not so great, and my love for Top Chef was still ever present. So I got to thinking, and even though I am INSANELY busy right now taking 6 classes for my last semester at Dominguez Hills, I am going to start again. There is no excuse to loose your passion for something you are passionate about!

So I invite you to join me in my re-start of The Top Chef Project and see what happens next.

ROCHESTER

I just got home from a very cold yet beautiful trip out east to visit my family in Rochester, NY. My wonderful cousin Emily invited me to baptize her son, Jacob and I jumped at the opportunity to be a Nouna (Godmother in Greek) and take a much needed vacation.



While I am a California girl at heart, I like to think I did pretty good in the FREEZING cold winter weather out there. I have never experienced 'wind chill' outside of Mammoth and dealing with it for five days was enlightening.



My godson Jake did amazingly well at his baptism, even managing to spit out 'blah blah blahh' as the Father was denouncing Satan from his little body. It was quite hilarious!!! He only cried for a few moments, and was pleasant even after getting dunked in holy water and rubbed down in oil.



All in all, a wonderful trip that was obviously too short. I miss my family dearly, and I can't believe it had been 10 (YES, 10) years since we had all seen one another. Emily and I made a pact to see each other at least every other year now, alternating between California and New York.