WEEKEND RECAP #37

Happy Monday, friends!  How was your weekend?  Mine was full of quality time with Greg, relaxation, and lots of little to-do’s around the house.  Also, I finallyyyyy got a new phone! YAY! It was really fun taking photos with it over the weekend, so I have a bunch for you today.  Take a peek below!

Friday night we lounged at home, watched Netflix, had a yummy salad for dinner, then baked cookies for dessert.  SO good!

Saturday morning was breakfast at home, followed by a nice relaxing walk (with a coffee stop, of course).  Isn’t Charlie the cutest?  I can’t get over how sweet his little face is!

Saturday night we had a special date night.  For Christmas I gave Greg tickets to a play about Groucho Marx, so we made it into a special evening!  Before the play we had the yummiest cocktails and dinner at Green Street Restaurant, followed by an evening at the Pasadena Playhouse.  It’s been so much fun exploring our new town, and trying new places!  As much as I enjoyed dinner and the play, the best part was being with Greg.  That may sound cheesy, but I just feel really grateful to have such an amazing partner.  He’s a keeper for sure.

Sunday morning was quiet time, list making with my new journal/book, coconut milk lattes, followed by several errands.  Later in the day Emma came down, and we had dinner, watched critiqued the Golden Globes (YAY Leo!!), then booked a trip in June.  We are soooo excited! More about that later…

How was your weekend?  I hope you did (or didn’t do) exactly what you wanted!

xo.  Jen

WEEKEND RECAP #34

Good morning!  How was your weekend?  Are you getting excited for Thanksgiving?  I sure am! This weekend was so fulfilling to me.  We didn’t go anywhere exciting, or do anything out of the ordinary, but it was AWESOME.  Since we’ve been gone the past few weekends, I really wanted to deep-clean, organize, cook, run errands, rearrange furniture, and do lots of home related stuff.  To me this sort of stuff is so fun and rejuvenating!  Is anyone else like that (besides my mother, HA!)?  The best part was doing it all with Greg, and taking fun meal and beverage breaks in between.  That made it much more special!  Plus, we were extra hungry this weekend with all of the running around, and deep-cleaning.  Not my standard version of exercise, but I definitely worked up a nice sweat.  😉 Take a peek!

Friday night Greg worked late, so Charlie and I had a quiet evening of rearranging items in the house, while I ate a yummy salad and sipped a nice red.  Yum!

Saturday morning we began cleaning, then headed out to run errands.  Before we started, we tried a new place for breakfast.  I ordered chilaquiles (my fave), and it was DELICIOUS.  As you can see, there was a lot of food.  I ate most of my chilaquiles and salad, and left the rest. This held me over almost all day, which was great!  We then started our errands.  Dollar store, Michaels, Target, and Trader Joe’s (for all of our Thanksgiving essentials)!  Busy day!

That evening I made a big batch of veggie enchiladas to have for the next few days (to limit as much cooking as possible pre-Thanksgiving day).  We also had a yummy kombucha cocktail made with Kevita’s Pineapple-Peach Kombucha + vodka.  So refreshing!

Sunday morning was quiet, followed by lots of organizing.  Isn’t that photo of Greg and Charlie precious?  I want to frame it!  Love my boys!

Later that day we ran a few more errands, and stopped for burgers.  Holy moly, my veggie burger was amazing.  So many veggies, and a house-made veggie patty.  Yummy!

Intuitive eating side note: I totally noticed a difference in what my body was wanting this weekend (change of weather and routine).  She wanted more protein, carbs, and fats, which is totally okay.  This held me over, gave me energy to check off my to-do list without getting burned out, and I didn’t “over do it.”   If intuitive eating is something you want to learn more about, let’s chat!

It was a great weekend, and I feel like we got so much accomplished.  I love that!  I hope you all have a great day, and I will see you Wednesday!

xo.  Jen

WEEKEND RECAP #33

Happy Monday!  How was your weekend?  Did you celebrate Halloween?  My weekend was very full, but really fun, too.  I have LOTS of photos, so I’m jumping right into it!

After work on Friday we jumped in the car and headed to Ventura!  My Dad’s birthday was earlier in the week, so we went out for sushi that evening to celebrate.  My rainbow roll was delicious!

Saturday morning, Greg, Charlie, and I went down to the beach.  It was a STUNNING day! The water was super glassy, and the sun was shining beautifully!  Greg decided to take a bunch of photos, and I am SO glad that he did!  He got some really great shots!  After our walk, we went and had a breakfast burrito on the pier (which ended up holding me over for the majority of the day).

Saturday afternoon I met up with some friends.  Starla and I have been best friends for 18 years (CRAZY how time flies), and I have know her cousin Jo for just as long, and we’re all great friends!

Saturday evening we went to a Halloween party.  Greg was a priest, I was a nun, and Charlie was a dinosaur.  My mom was the cutest kitten ever, and my dad was a USC coach.  🙂

Sunday was church, lunch at Spencer Makenzie’s (I got the ahi burger, and shared my fries with everyone), visiting with more friends, then heading home.  We spent the rest of the evening snuggling on the couch, and going to bed early (time change got me all mixed up, haha).

All in all, another fantastic weekend!  Tell me about yours!

xo.  Jen

WEEKEND RECAP #28

Good morning! How was your weekend?  Relaxing?  Full of excitement?  Maybe something else?  Mine was a mix of fun, and leisure time.  I ate lots of yummy food, walked around our town, relaxed at the house, and enjoyed spending quality time (primary food) with loves ones. Love that!

Friday evening we stayed in and relaxed.  We both had a busy week, so it was nice to just lounge around with no agenda.  I caught up on some reading, too!

Saturday morning we had the yummiest breakfast.  I made my version of an “Egg McMuffin” with a side of strawberries.  Sourdough English muffin, Swiss cheese, OM egg, faux sausage, avocado, sliced tomato (from our garden), and Sriracha.  Holy moly, it was delicious!

After breakfast Greg and I ran errands (TJ’s and Target) and straightened up the house before Sally and Kevin came to visit.  S & K are pretty much like family to us, so we were really excited to have them for the weekend!

When they arrived, we chatted for a bit, then headed to Old Town Pasadena for lunch at Le Pain Quotidien.  This was our first time here, and it was amazing!  I had the Salmon Tartine with avocado.  So delicious, light, and beautiful.  Perfect for Summer!  We all also shared a Watermelon-Cucumber juice, and a Banana-Fig Muffin.  Yum!

After lunch we went to my favorite place in Pasadena, Vroman’s Bookstore.  We had coffee, and wandered for quite a bit.  Don’t you just love bookstores?  I could spend hours there (and have).

Once we were done perusing the bookstore, we went home, chatted, and got ready for the evening.  We have a friend, Randy Johnson, who is an brilliant playwright, and he wrote and directed A Night With Janis Joplin.  Not only did it come to Pasadena, but it has been all over the country, and was even on Broadway.  Exciting, huh?  Anyway, we went and saw it!  It was absolutely INCREDIBLE!  I was blown away by all of the talent, and totally got all the feels!

Sunday morning, we lounged around the house, sipped coffee, and talked some more.  Such a great, cozy morning!  After breakfast we walked around town, went into some shops, and had lunch at Real Food Daily.  This is quickly becoming my favorite restaurant in Pasadena.  Think: vegan, organic, non-GMO, and lots of allergy-friendly options.  The food is DELICIOUS!  I got a breakfast burrito, which came with tempah “bacon,” and a side of fruit.  So much yumminess….Mmm.

After lunch, we wandered some more, then said our goodbyes to S & K.  For the remainder of the day we napped, did house stuff, and I colored in my new Mid-Century Modern adult coloring book (one of my favorite past times).  Do any of you love coloring as much as I do? It’s so therapeutic.

So, what did you do this weekend?  Gimme all the deets!

xo.  Jen

WEEKEND RECAP #26

Good morning!  How is everyone doing this morning?  Normally I share my Weekend Recap’s on Monday, but because of my Body Positivity article on She Arises, I decided to wait until today.  Did you check it out?  Those ladies are awesome!

Anyway, on with my recap!

Friday night Greg and I had the BEST date!  So great, that I forgot to take photos.  Isn’t that awesome?  We walked to Sushi of Naples, a local spot here in Pasadena, and we are SOOOOO glad we found this little gem!  Holy moly!  Dare I say the best sushi I’ve ever had?!  At least in the top three!  It was fresh, flavorful, and freakin’ amazing.  We sipped on sake, talked, laughed, and talked some more.  We were there several hours, and it was great.  I love that after all this time, we still have stuff to talk about and enjoy each other’s company.  I love you, Greg!

Okay, enough with the love fest.  Ha!  Pretty much all week I was craving pancakes.  I decided that I would make them on Saturday (if I still wanted them, which I did), when I really had time to make them.  I ended up making GF Protein Pancakes with Nuts, a la Bananas Foster.  All I can say is YUM!  They were just what I wanted.  Normally I’m not much of a sweets person, but this was naturally sweet (no syrup), and hit the spot.  Let me know if you want my recipe!

The pancakes filled us up, so our lunch was more like an early dinner.  I’ve had random nostalgia cravings lately (since we moved away from Ventura), and I’m loving it!  It’s really bringing back things that I grew up eating (especially with my Gram), and I’m throwing my own spin on it.  When I was a child I was pretty much vegetarian, but occasionally at my Grandparent’s house my Gram would make me a “Chicago Dog.”  My Mom’s family is from Chicago, so this was a tradition.  Have you ever had a Chicago Dog?  In a bun (mine is Udi’s GF) you put a beef dog (I used a faux sausage), yellow mustard, diced white onion, sweet relish, diced tomato, pickled chile peppers, and the game changer is you top it with celery salt.  It’s so friggin’ good!  I hadn’t had one in yearsssss, and it was delicious.  Mmmm!

Perfect Sunday morning quote.  🙂

I made a super simple brekkie of OM eggs, and a frozen waffle (TJ’s GF) topped with a little ricotta and strawberries.  So perfect!  P.S. TJ’s organic strawberries are amazinggggg right now!

Sunday afternoon we hung out with family and went to the Norton-Simon Museum.  Talk about bringing up creativity!  It was stunning!  I especially loved the Matisse paintings.

Last but not least, I updated a bunch of stuff on the site, including my services page.  Please take a peek, and let me know your thoughts!

Have a great day!

xo. Jen

 

WEEKEND RECAP #25

Happy Monday!  A little later than usual, but the post is here!  How was your weekend? Holy moly, mine was busy!  Such a filling weekend, though.  Full of family, friends, good food, yummy treats, and lots of outdoor time.  Yay!  Let’s jump into it!

I didn’t take any photos of Friday evening, because I made it a point to turn my phone completely off (something I’m going to do more often).  Anyway, Greg and I had happy hour (cocktail for her, beer for him) at Roy’s, followed by a stroll downtown.  We made it back near where we started, and shared a gourmet pizza at Settebello.  SOOO good!  Highly recommend it!

Saturday morning we grabbed coffee, and hit the road to Ventura for the weekend.  These pretty flowers caught my eye outside of Pete’s, so of course I snapped a photo.

Once we got to Ventura, I met my bestie Emma at Cafe Nouveau for lunch.  We hadn’t seen each other in a month, and even though it felt like an eternity, we picked up right where we left off.  Don’t you love friendships like that?  I am so blessed to have a few as special as that!  🙂  I digress…we each has a super refreshing strawberry hibiscus mimosa, and I had the Thai Chile Chicken Wrap, sans chicken, with a side salad.  I was really craving greens, and I got it!  So delish!

The photos above are from Saturday night.  My parents had a small gathering to celebrate their 30th anniversary, and I officiated a vow renewal for them.  It was very impromptu, but I thought it would be a fun surprise for the guests, and my parents agreed.  It was very sweet, and I am so glad to be in the presence of such love.

Sunday we spent the day at the beach with family.  We barbecued, laid in the sun, went sea glass hunting, and had so much fun together.  Isn’t the rainbow cloud beautiful?  #lovealwayswins

Alright my friends, have a great rest of your day!

xo.  Jen

P.S. Have you signed up for my FREE giveaway with SunBasket yet?  Enter HERE.  🙂

 

WEEKEND RECAP #24

Good morning!  Wow, I have missed blogging!  I’ve missed my readers, too!  Hope you are all having a beautiful day!  We are fully moved in, unpacked (that happened in 2 days, ha!), and adjusting to our new adventure in Pasadena.  I will talk more about that in upcoming posts, but we are doing well! As for today, I have a simple Weekend Recap to ease back into the swing of things.  Stay tuned, because later this week I have some fun posts, including an AWESOME giveaway!

Here’s a peek into my weekend…

Friday evening Greg and I walked around Pasadena, where I ended up getting this refreshing, light, and absolutely delicious cocktail.  It had fresh watermelon juice, jalapeño, sparkling water, and gin.  It was soooo good!

Saturday morning we packed up the car, and headed to Ventura.  I had mock panels for my upcoming Practitioner license, and we were also visiting for Father’s Day.  We stopped at Urth Caffe in Pasadena on our way out, where I got a yummy juice (beet, ginger, carrot, celery) and the most delicious bread-pudding muffin.  I ate about 1/2 of it in the car, and saved the rest.

Saturday evening after my panels, we had family over (at my ‘rents house), where we chatted, ate tapas, and sipped light cocktails.  I made this yummy, light, and refreshing grapefruit (fresh) and vodka drink.  It has been so warm lately, that this was perfect!

Sunday morning I made a special Father’s Day breakfast for my Dad and Greg (and everyone else).  I made two type of egg dishes (one vegetarian, and one with sausage), a big platter of fruit, and some foccacia bread (thank you TJ’s).  The roses are from my parents’ garden.  So pretty!  It was a delicious breakfast, filled with love.

In honor of Father’s Day, my dad and I.  I was about three.  🙂

After breakfast, we went to church, then out to lunch with Greg’s son.  I didn’t take any pictures, but I always love being around the two of them.  So much love!

Sunday afternoon before we left, mom and I planted a bunch of herbs (basil, peppermint, dill, cilantro, and chives), tomatoes, and re-planted a ficus tree that she and my dad bought Greg and I.  We also bought a hanging strawberry plant.  So excited!  Here is a peek at our patio after I put everything out there.  Minus the AstroTurf, isn’t it cute?  Ha!

Really glad to be back at it!  Thanks so much for reading, and stay tuned this week for more fun/new stuff!

xo.  Jen

 

 

NYC EATS

Good morning!  Yesterday I shared part of my trip in NYC with photos, and today I am going to share lots of the yummy eats we had in NYC, and WHERE we had them.

I believe in intuitive eating.  I have written about this in the past, but basically what that means to me, is that I eat what my body is wanting (whether that is a kale salad or a popsicle).  What it also means to me, is that I listen to my body when she is full, know there is always enough if I want more in the future.  I will definitely be sharing more about intuitive eating, as well as my own personal journey in the future.  For now, follow along to see my intuitive NYC eats below…

On Thursday evening we had dinner plans, but wanted a small bite to hold us over before hand. We headed to The Little Prince where we shared a delicious avocado tartine, and a crispy kale, butternut squash & quinoa salad.  So good!  You can also see my cocktail (called The French Intervention) which had jalapeño tequila, pineapple and cilantro.  Mmm…

After our appetizers, we met up with friends at Hundred Acres for dinner.  I didn’t take any photos, but had cornmeal crusted catfish for dinner.  It was delicious, and had a great southern flare.

On Friday morning we headed to Hu Kitchen for an amazing paleo breakfast.  I had a coconut matcha latte and a mash bowl, which had grain-free granola, cashew cream, almond butter, and kiwi.  This is definitely something that I want to recreate!  Also, I brought that divine salty chocolate bar home for Greg myself, and am sharing with Greg.  Ha!

Lunch that day was at a delicious vegetarian restaurant called Quantum Leap.  Paige and I both had a quesadilla (which we should have split).  Yum!

Dinner was at Cafe Clover, which happens to be super adorable!  I wasn’t too hungry, so I had two small sides.  One was a kale salad with blood oranges, and the other was olive oil potato puree.  Can we say OMG?!  My mouth is watering just thinking about them.

Saturday morning was a simple brekkie of a soy latte and a almond croissant at Stumptown Coffee.  Not only do they make beautiful lattes, but they make a mean cuppa’ joe.  My kind of coffee!

Lunch on Saturday was a Mexican salad bowl at Dos Toros (similar style to Chipotle), with amazing habenero salsa.

…followed up by Popbar.  I am so excited that I finally got to try this place!  I had a pistachio gelato popsicle dipped in dark chocolate, covered in pistachios.  It was like a you-know-what in your mouth.  Just sayin’… 😉

For dinner, Simi met up with a friend, and Paige and I went to Whole Foods for dinner.  Side note: this was a three story Whole Foods, which to me is heaven.  Okay, I digress…I had an amazing dinner of dirty rice, vegan meatballs, and collard greens, per the suggestion of two employees.  I am SO glad I did, because it was freaking amazing.

Sunday morning we met up with a friend at The Butcher’s Daughter for brunch.  We got to sit outside and people watch (a favorite past time of mine), as well as enjoy delicious yumminess.  I had smashed curried avocado with poached eggs on grain bread, with potato hash.  How good does that sound?  We all shared a mixed berry vegan-GF muffin, too.

Paige and I had Italian (me a spinach stromboli, her a caprese slice of pizza, and a salad to share) at the airport on the way home.  Even THAT was amazing!

If you haven’t noticed, I love food.  Food is love, but it’s not all there is.  I have such an appreciation for the conversations, walks, laughs, and good times I had with my girlfriends. That, is love.

What restaurants or special spots do YOU love in NYC?  I’d love to hear!

More this week!

xo.  Jen

 

 

 

WEEKEND RECAP #22

Happy Monday!  Did everyone have a nice weekend?  Mine was fun, relaxing, and full of organizing, prepping, and cleaning (which I LOVE)!  Do you love cleaning as much as I do?

Friday was National Sibling Day, so I posted this silly photo of my brothers and I, circa 1994. My parents would play some fun dance music (think C+C Music factory), and we would put on some “stylish” clothes, dance, and pose for the camera.  I have so many fun memories of those times.  Love my family!

Friday evening was a friends birthday at Yard House.  Em met me early, and we had a celebratory drink (she got some really exciting news!!!), then we met up with our friends.  It was so much fun!

P.S.  I was really proud of myself for styling my hair on Friday.  I even sent the photo to my stylist!  Ha!

Saturday was spent organizing, with an impromptu lunch at Mai’s. We had our usual (shared fresh shrimp spring rolls, and veggie phở).  So amazing, as always!  Also, they give you so much, that the leftovers are even better.  Of course mine is extra spicy!  🙂

Sunday we really did a lot of organizing, planning, and cleaning.  I spent two hours meal prepping, too. I made egg muffins, hard boiled eggs, a few types of Mason jar salads, as well Greek GF pasta salad (the two latter will be on the blog this week).  I even cooked a whole chicken for Greg to eat throughout the week (which this vegetarian will most likely will not do again).

It was a great weekend!  Tell me about yours!

xo.  Jen

 

 

 

WEEKEND RECAP #21 + EASTER

Happy Monday!  How was your weekend?  Mine was spent in the sun, while spending time with family celebrating Easter.  I am loving the weather, and am enjoying it as much as possible! Here is a quick recap:

A few friends and I at the Good Friday service at our center.

Saturday afternoon my parents, aunt, grandpa, Greg, and I went to Brophy Bros. for sunshine and lunch.

On Easter we ate brunch al fresco!  We had quiche (and crust-less quiche), strawberry scones, Dijon veggies, fruit, and mimosas!  Yum!  My Mom makes the veggies on top (an old Martha recipe), and have been a favorite of mine for as long as I can remember.  My crust less spinach quiche will be on the blog tomorrow!  🙂

My sweet dog nephew Calvin!  Some-bunny wanted a treat!  Haha!

See you tomorrow!

xo.  Jen