tight jeans are totally worth it!

i am a food lover.
my jeans know this!
i am also a dessert lover and write about it my adventures is dessert tastings over at sugar loco. 
again, my jeans know this!

whenever i am out to dinner or try a new dessert i am guaranteed to photograph it.
my husband knows this!
annoying on a whole new level i am sure but food is just so pretty! i can't help it!

today i took my mom to brunch at bodega louie, my new favorite eatery in los angeles and we had some girl time and some yummy food. seriously i could have stayed there all day! this place is amazing!

of course, i photographed lunch and dessert so you can live vicariously through me and you don't have to suffer the tight jeans syndrome!

meatball sliders topped with mozzarella. 

zomg! 

macarons for miles. 

hands down, the best ones i have ever had and i have eaten a lot of them! 

if you are ever in la, head downtown and try out this gorgeous restaurant! 

A Small Pre 2nd Birthday Post....

This little boy of mine celebrated his second birthday with family and friends on Saturday with a Goldfish / Under the Sea themed birthday party! 

Everyone has such a great time, but most of all Declan enjoyed the day more than I could have ever hoped! So much love went into planning this party for him (and ME!) and his excitement was over the top and made my heart melt! Nothing better than seeing your child happy. 

Wednesday is the BIG TWO so until then I am holding on to the fact that he is still ONE! 


Lots more pics to come in an epic birthday post! 
Until then, here is a picture of the birthday boy's cake made by one of our friends!

New Year. New Blog Design. And hopefully some blogging.

happy 2012!!!
so hard to believe another year has come and gone. cliche, i know.
i spent the last part of 2011, packing, moving, unpacking, trying to find things after said move, and trying to get an apartment put together all whilst taking care of a toddler. hard stuff, people! hence the last post being about a summer salad! which is really good by the way.


we had a wonderful year though. lots of new opportunities for our family. new jobs, a new home, and new friends. all things that we are truly blessed with.


christmas was spent in la. we had a warm, sunny so cal christmas and it was perfect. we are texans by birth and spend every holiday there but this year we decided to hunker down at home and have a little christmas just the 3 of us. it was great! my husband made a turkey and all the fixings, we spent lots of time in jammies all day, played outside for hours soaking up the cali sun, and drank lots of cider and roasted marshmallows after the tot went to bed.


christmas morning brought lots of fun gifts and smiles for "d" and this is the best part of christmas in my opinion! he still doesn't get it, but it was so fun to see this kid get excited about a shark! a plastic shark! if only everyone was so easy to please.


my hope for the new year is to bring back this blog in some way. i am not a good mommy blogger. i don't really have lots to dish out and give advice on. i kind of wing it and go with works for me!


but, expect a big post soon dishing out party deets as we celebrate my almost 2 year old's birthday on saturday with an under the sea / goldfish theme! martha stewart ain't got nothing on me!

Summertime Couscous Salad.

Last week I ran across a recipe for a Quinoa Salad from the Picky Palate that sounded really tasty.

I got excited to make this because one, it looked super easy, and two I wanted something light for dinner.

Then I remembered that last time I made Quinoa it was a disaster and no one ate it! So instead of having a repeat dinner moment, I came up with this version.

A super easy, yummy, summertime Couscous salad for all to enjoy!

Ingredients :

1 box of Couscous, any flavor. I used the regular.

2 cups broccoli florets uncooked

Instead of using the 2 cups cooked chicken the original recipe calls for, I bought a rotisserie chicken that I cut up. Much easier and tastier, plus I used it for a salad later that week.

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice from fresh lemon

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 avocado, diced

*The recipe doesn't call for the almonds but I added them because it needed some crunch since I omitted the peppers. The next time I ate it, I added dried cranberries which was really good and gave it a nice, sweet flavor!*

1. Cook couscous according to package directions.

2. Place broccoli and chicken into a large bowl. Add couscous and stir together.

3. Place olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper into a medium bowl, whisking to combine. Pour over couscous and stir in cubed avocado.

4. Refrigerate until ready to eat. *I added the sliced almonds to the individual servings because I found that almonds tend to get soggy when combined with a little bit of liquid.*

Makes 8 servings

The Plane! The Plane!

This summer is flying by! The sun is shining brighter, hotter, and longer. The daylight runs into 8 pm making afternoons and evenings longer and more fun. More time to spend outside running in the park, taking long walks, and playing on the rooftop deck. B has been on hiatus from work for about a month and a half and I love every minute of him being home with us. I love my time with D alone, but life is much more fun with him around! We are doing a lot right now to prep for our move, as well and pack boxes and just soak up the summertime with D. I hate to see summer go and want to take full advantage of the time together as a family.

This morning we packed up some toys, a blanket, and some snacks and headed to LAX to watch the planes come in.

Free, easy, and hours of entertainment!

And we had SO MUCH FUN!

There is a small park across from In N Out (where we were going to grab lunch for a picnic) and the airport and it is designed for just this. Grab a blanket, lay back and watch the planes fly overhead! D ran around, watched the planes come in, said 'Doup-a-day' (his word for airplane) a million times over and had a perma smile on his face! This kid was in heaven.

This truly was a fun morning with him and B and one of my favorites. It was easy. Not a lot of fuss. Not a ton of stuff required to keep him busy, and most of all it was something we did as a family.

For a little boy who loves planes this was a great day! And for a mom who loves to see her little boy smile, an even better day.

oh yeah...

we also found a puddle and splashed for a good 15 minutes!

boys will be boys!