Giveaway: Sunnies!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED

This is my very first giveaway! When searching for something I'd love to give one of my wonderful blog readers, I decided on a pair of adorable sunnies from Cotton On, just in time for spring!



To enter: Leave a comment below, including your email address, letting me know you follow my little blog here!

To get one additional entry: Post a link to this giveaway either on your blog, Twitter OR Facebook (please leave a second comment with a link to the blog, tweet or status update along with your contact info again).

That's it! I will be drawing one winner at random on Tuesday, March 1st!

Foodie Friday: Sandwiches

Sorry for the day late post, last night was busy busy, but I'm here with a delicious sandwich from Submarina!



I could eat sandwiches, sammies, sammiches, hoagies, subs, toast, anything with bread and toppings, every single day.

Submarina is a San Diego original, and even though it isn't my favorite place to get a sandwich, they offer a lot of yummy options and SPROUTS; I've been looking for a deli that offers sprouts for some time now, a key ingredient.



This particular gem has pepper jack, cheddar, avocado, sprouts, tomatoes, pickles, tidbit of lettuce, yellow peppers, mustard, mayo, italian dressing, salt and pepper on sliced sourdough.

My other favorite sandwich shops include:

Which Wich (in 20 states!)






Black Bean Patty + veggies

Rubicon Deli (San Diego, CA and Reno, NV)




Rubicon Special [via]

Capriotti's (AZ, CA, NV, FL, IA, WI, DE, PA, MD, NJ, UT)






Vegetarian Cheesesteak

January Favorites

Every month I will be doing a little collage of photos that really inspired me or I truly love looking at.


[click image to make bigger!]

my snowy home, even though i'm not mormon and didn't visit the temple until i was 22 years old :: i heart anything wood :: got the six feet under box set for christmas, obsessed :: galaxy nails, give me pleeeease :: cuddle weather, just that :: gunnar, who also did my thighs :: love the shadow of blinds :: super adorable mickey mouse ring :: jon and i at a photobooth in seattle :: nyc sunrise :: black sphynx baby, one day you will (finally) be mine :: artichokes, duh :: russian nesting dolls, have yet to find my very own set that calls out my name :: my favorite room at the anniversary inn, downtown slc :: jon and i at a hotel in venice beach :: any type of pretty globes

side note: everything without a link I took myself or found via tumblr.
If they are your photos, please leave a comment, as I would love to give credit where it is due :)

Dry Shampoo

Quick update about a dry shampoo that I have been using.

I have very thin and oily hair, leaving me with gross piecey bangs by the end of the day. By morning, my roots look like I haven't showered in a week! Dry shampoo is AMAZING, somehow absorbing the oils and feeling totally refreshed.

Due to my overwhelming hatred of malls (especially within a month of any given holiday), I have picked up a $5 bottle of TRESemme Dry Shampoo from Target. I was a bit skeptical because I have heard so many good things about Ojon from Sephora (which I am still determined to try), but TRESemme actually works great! When I first sprayed TRESemme onto my hair, it came out grey, I have heard that Ojon doesn't do this, but once I combed my hair and rubbed it in a bit, it went away. This almost helped with the "seeing is believing" tactic, because once rubbed in I could truly see a difference.



Since using dry shampoo, I can actually go out on second day hair. No more planning showers around certain days, yay! I even went as far as going out on THIRD day hair. It was a stretch, but this is something I have never done, so I felt accomplished, as silly as that sounds.



Which dry shampoo(s) have you tried?

Artichoke Lemon Pesto

After work I strolled into Henry's and picked up something new to try for lunch tomorrow...



Welp, it was shortly after walking through the front door that I tore into this dip with some crackers, and now I can't put it away! This stuff is incredible with chunks of artichoke, citrus juice and black pepper, it will surely add pizzazz to whatever you put it on... pastas, sandwiches and pizza!



This picture does not do this stuff justice, so get your butt to Henry's because unfortunately the price tag on the shelf had big bold letters stating "DISCONTINUED". Just my luck.

Baked Potato

Baked potatoes are so simple to make and taste a lot better when done in the oven. Toaster ovens are perfect if you are only making one or two...



My favorite way to prepare them is by simply taking well washed russet potato(s) with a few poked holes for ventilation and placing each one on a sheet of tin foil with some olive oil and salt. Wrap it up and bake at 400 degrees for about an hour. The potato will melt in your mouth and the salty skins will leave you wanting MORE.

Sometimes I like the bare necessities and only add butter.



Other times I like adding cheese, pepper and tabasco.



Potatoes are so delicious with almost any condiment... salsa, sour cream, chives, bacon bits, chili, ketchup, gravy, hot sauce. Get creative!

Meet Marty

[click image to make bigger!]

Marty was born a little over a year ago, on my moms birthday oddly enough. We adopted her last April and I am 100% sure that she was meant for me. We have the same personalities, spoon every night and love all the same foods (yeah, my cat has FOUGHT with me over an artichoke and will eat a bag of hot cheetos if you leave them open).

You'd probably think I was crazy if you heard the conversations we have, but she's like my BFF, so I tell her everything. She understands me.

Jon captured this little video of Marty playing with her favorite hamper and toy. Enjoy!

Foodie Friday: Pizzeria Luigi

Pizzeria Luigi is only a few blocks from my house and I drive past it almost daily, don't ask me how I haven't stopped in to get a slice yet!

Today my car was taken into VW to get some problems checked out (oh man, that's a-whole-nother story), so Jon and I were without car. It was a lovely 70 degrees out today so we took a walk down the street to grab a few slices.

Luigi's has an awesome deal, 2 slices and a soda for $6. Can't beat that. Their slices were out of this world; I got an artichoke heart with tomato sauce and a tomato, basil and garlic slice. I don't know what they lace their artichoke hearts with, or maybe they use marinated artichoke hearts, but they were awesome! Jon got a pesto and green olive slice (that looked totally amazing) and cheese.

Pretty sure at this point I can safely say that I am partial to thin crust pizza, so it looks like Luigi's will be seeing me again very soon!


tomato, basil, garlic // artichoke heart, tomato sauce


pesto, green olive // cheese

Location: 2121 El Cajon Blvd. San Diego, California 92104
(between Alabama St & Mississippi St)
North Park

100th Yelp!

Pretty sure I'm absolutely in love and obsessed with Yelp! I've found so many awesome places by simply searching a topic (ie: open now, sushi, coffee shop, hotels, happy hour, etc.). Every time I go to a new place, I come home excited to write about it. You can find anything from restaurants to hotels, thrift shops to salons. Almost any business, you can't find it here! They have ratings, reviews, photos, addresses, hours... it's really my go-to website.

Yesterday I wrote my 100th review, and it sounds silly, but it was thrilling!


[click photo to view my profile]

pen pal roll call

I have an immense love for snail mail and care packages. You can never have enough pen pals, so I'm here to collect MORE... and just in time for Valentines Day! ♥



side note: all entries are confidential and will not be shown publicly

Foodie Friday: Yard House

My friend who lives in Las Vegas is always rubbing this place in my face. Here I was trying to make plans for the next time I was in Vegas and there is one right here in San Diego! After driving right by this location last night, shocked that I never knew, it was apparent I would be eating here today. I woke Jon up and dragged him to Yard House with me.



Yard House offers a small lunch menu between 11am-5pm (Monday-Friday) and a happy hour menu between 3pm-6pm (Monday-Friday) and 10pm-12am (Sunday-Wednesday).

24 menu items can be substituted with Gardein™ products! So many to choose from, Jon and I settled on sharing three plates: Firecracker Wings, (Mac+Cheese)² and Veggie Béarnaise Sliders. Although a little pricey, it was totally worth it!

Firecracker Wings // crispy gardein™ chick'n tossed in a spicy sesame garlic plum glaze and garnished with green onions:



(Mac+Cheese)² // gardein™ chick'n breast, wild mushrooms, cheddar and parmesan with campanelle pasta and white truffle oil:



Béarnaise Sliders // four mini gardein™ burgers served with fried onions, béarnaise sauce, fries and a pickle:



My little sample plate:




My favorite of the three were the Firecracker Wings, the plum sauce along with the crunch and the green onions really pulled it all together.

There is only so much room in this little belly, so my other recommendation that I will definitely be trying the next time I visit, is the BBQ chick'n pizza: mozzarella, cilantro, red onion, chick'n and smoked gouda with bbq sauce.

Location: 1023 4th Avenue San Diego, California 92101
Downtown

Other locations include: AZ, CA, CO, FL, HI, IL, KS, MA, NV and TX

LA mini vaca

Jon and I drove to Pasadena on Sunday for the Rose Bowl Flea Market, an amazingly large swap meet held on the second Sunday of every month. A plethora of wondrous vendors that sell everything from handmade items to vintage treasures, excellent pieces of furniture, knick-knacks and clothing.



We bought a few books and I got this really awesome canvas tote bag:



For those of you interested, admission is $8 per person and regular hours are from 9am-3pm.



There are some food booths as well (duh!), so make sure to come with an empty belly! We got some garlic fries with BIG chunks of garlic and a mixed berry lemonade. I ended up eating the chunks of garlic with ketchup when all the fries were gone, oops!


[garlic + ketchup]

We wanted a snack after the flea market and opted to drive to Melrose and get veggie dogs from Astro Burger. This fast food establishment offers a lot of vegetarian options, as well as greek, pizza, burgers, mexican, breakfast foods and sandwiches.


[also seen on Californication]

It was time to head to our hotel in Venice Beach. Since a friend suggested we try Seed, Jon booked us a hotel room on the boardwalk within walking distance. We met some friends for dinner and had a fabulous time. Seed only serves vegan, macrobiotic organic cuisine, which is fine by me! It was pretty flavorful and healthy to boot!



I had the Seitan Sirloin Burger on ciabatta bun with caramelized onions, red pepper aioli and soy blue cheese and of course the pomme frittes!



Jon had the BBQ Tempeh Burger on ciabatta bun with tomatoes and vegenaise and a side of the sweet potato fries.

I've never cared for Venice, it's a dump with sketchy, dirty weirdos everywhere. I suppose it's a good place to people watch, but after this trip I have no desire to go back.


[welcome to the future home of Planet Earth]

Our hotel, The Cadillac, was sleazy and nothing like the pictures. Neither of us were very impressed when we got there. And as the night progressed, it got worse. From about 1am-6am there was a couple in the room next to ours yelling at each other and throwing things. Luckily (if you want to call it that) they stopped for about an hour somewhere in that time after I had to call the front desk thinking someone was legitimately going to get shot. At least I took away memories that I can laugh about now.


[view from our hotel room]

After a long night, we got up and ready. One last stop in Echo Park to Brite Spot. This place is TOO CUTE. The menu, the decor, every piece of art, the tableware... I absolutely loved it all!







I had the vegetarian chicken n gravy with mashed potatoes and some raw broccoli. Yum!



Jon had the vegetarian chicken and waffles. Gotta love it!

Once we were all finished up at my new favorite breakfast spot, we took off to Disneyland!




[courtesy of Jon]

We actually only rode Space Mountain, Astro Blasters and Pirates of the Caribbean then hopped back on the train to the car so we could travel down to Cafe Rio!



I introduced Jon to Cafe Rio in Salt Lake City last year; somewhere I ate on a regular basis and now desire all of the time. Since then it's a household craving and sometimes we have to drive an hour plus north to indulge.



It's always a toss up between the veggie salad or bean, rice and cheese burrito smothered in mild sauce.



Well there you have it, what one of our mini vacations consists of!

Foodie Friday: Jen's best dip

My best friend Jen (also known as Blonde Jen if you ever hear me talking about her) is one of the most sincere and talented people I have ever met. She's amazing at everything she does, on top of willingness to cook me fantastic meals. Since we're 800 miles apart right now, I especially like to make this snack when she can't be here to share it with me.



With that said, I would LOVE to share with you the most amazing dip to grace these lips! It's super easy to make and good for a movie night with your best friend and an even bigger hit at a party!

We like to make this dish vegan, but you could easily replace the tofutti with real cream cheese and veggie protein meat crumbles with ground meat! Even if you don't have seasonings to add to this dish, you can grab some taco seasoning that's lying around the house!

You will need:

1 cup of veggie meat crumbles (we used smart ground)
1 tub of cream cheese (we used tofutti cream cheese)
1/2 cup salsa
chili powder to taste



This recipe should be doubled if you are serving more than two people.

1. In a saucepan, add half of the tub of Tofutti cream cheese and turn on heat to medium high.



2. Stir in cup of meat crumbles and half cup of salsa (you can obviously use more or less to your preference).



3. Add chili powder and any other seasonings you'd like to taste. Stir in some cayenne pepper if you are feeling spicy.



Voila!