July 2010 Summer Report - What's In/Out

July 2010 Summer Report – 2nd Addition


The Ins/Outs

IN:

Fashion: White Jeans, a fedora, Ray Ban sunglasses (retro style), crisp white shirts (always in), really soft cotton t-shirts, solid colored bikini’s (black, white, pink, red, yellow), SPF Sunblock 45 or more, beautiful skin

Places to Go: Venice Beach, Abbott Kinney, Santa Monica, Marina Del Rey

Restaurants: Baja Cantina (Venice Beach), personal favorite of mine

Vacation Spots: Flathead Lake, Montana

OUT:

Fashion: Ed Hardy T-Shirts, t-shirts with logo’s, expressions, etc, long flowy dresses, no sunscreen, tan overkill

Places to Go: Orange County, Las Vegas, Hollywood, Echo Park

Restaurants: Any restaurant in Hollywood with a line

Vacation Spots: Vegas, Orlando Florida, Disneyland

Summer Delight in LA

Delicious Greek Salad


It’s July. Officially summer. I love summer! Summer in West LA is amazing! Giggles, girlfriends, margaritas, and the beach! Another reason to celebrate summer is the amazing abundance of fruits and vegetables that are in season. In my opinion, there is no better way to bring in the summer season than a drunken evening of friends, laughter, too much red wine and a delicious Greek salad! Enjoy.

Greek Summer Salad

Ingredients:

• 3 Persian Cucumbers, chopped

• ½ red onion, finely chopped

• ½ Red Pepper, chopped

• ½ Green Pepper, chopped

• ¾ cup feta cheese

• ¼ cup (give or take) olive oil (high quality)

• ¼ cup (give or take) vinegar (high quality)

• Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions: Mix all ingredients in a big bowl. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes – an hour and serve. It’s delish!

The Summer Report - 1st Addition

What's In/Out This Summer:

What's In:

• Optimism, Laughing, the Westside, White Jeans (No, I haven't bought one yet, but I want to), Good Hair (always in), Gossip, Falling in Love, being head over heads for your boyfriend, Family, Watermelon, raspberrys, margaritas, red wine (always in for me), chicken, homemade Greek salad, The New York Times, Flathead Lake, Montana (always in), the environment, "giving a shit," yuppies, vinyl records, classic literature, hiking, appreciating LA, The Lakers, putting down LA (if you hate it so much go home), posting your personal life on Facebook (I don't do but people who do are 1) crazy 2) have no life 3) scare me slightly; but are hugely entertaining), going for it, reconnecting, Grandma's, babies, walking dogs on the Westside.

What's Out:

• Negativity, Sarcasm (although I still use it), fast food, being self centered, being a "stick in the mud", not taking a chance, loneliness, breaking up with friends or family (can everyone just get over themselves), beer, expensive anything, expensive tequila, stupidity, The Los Angeles Times (sorry had to do it, I recently found a spelling error), judging people negatively, Trader Joes Greek Salad, dishonesty, hipsters, LA's Eastside (i.e. Echo Park, Hollywood-not really the Eastside but still lame, Silverlake, etc), gluten, black nail polish, people "too cool for school", hipsters, people who claim to be LA natives but grew up in N. Dakota, putting down the place you're from or the people you grew up with, people who root for the "Celtics" but live in LA, pit bulls.  

What to Watch: "So you think you can dance," "Re-runs of Modern Family"

The Break-up Diet

It happened. The worst of the worst. My boyfriend of eight months broke up with me. I used to be under the assumption that it began to get easier, but the truth is, it doesn't. IT GETS WORST. For women, however, the best side to the break-up is the enormous amount of weight you lose. Okay, not enormous maybe, but the weight goes off, and the skinny jeans come back on. If you really want to know why most single people are skinny, its because theres a certain amount of loneliness that occurs in single people, not sad, but slightly lonely, which is why a lot are skinny. Right after a break-up is the loneliest time. It the time that you realize, no more cozies, no more calls good night, possibly no sex for a while. So to make myself feel better, I've decided that while I'm going to be sad for a while, I will lose weight, accidentially, of course, which is the best way to lose weight. Have you ever seen someone right after a break-up with a fiancee or long time boyfriend or girlfriend, and they look very waif-ish. That's what I'm going for and more specifically, I want to fit into my size 26 black skinny jeans, which are more like 25 since they've been washed so many times. And I want to weigh 107, watch me. Here's the skinny hipsterness I'm looking to capture. Day 1.

A Twentysomething Foodies Guide to Gearing Up For Summer

It that time of year again...March. March is a foreshadowing of April, which is almost May, which is a foreshadowing of the most feared season by women,. i.e 'Bathing Suit Season.' March is like a Sunday afternoon for me. You're glad you got to sleep in but you know Monday is right around the corner. This year, as a devoted Foodie I have implemented my own guide to gearing up for summer void of all negative aspects correlating to 'Bathing Suit Season.' And to me there is no better way to start off the summer festivities than with an ice cold margarita, chips and guacamole.

The Perfect Margarita
Ingredients
1. 1 1/2 ounces tequila (blanco, 100% agave)
2. 1 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
3. 1/2 ounce Cointreau
Optional: Salt for rimming
Directions: Combine tequila, lime juice, and Cointreau, stir together. Serve on the rocks.

Fabulous Guacamole
Ingredients
1. 2 ripe avocados
2. 1/2 cup onion, chopped
3. 1-2 serrano Chile, stems & seed removed, minced (use accordingly to level of hot)
4. 1/3 cup cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
5. 1/3 cup fresh lime juice
6. 1 teaspoon coarse salt
7. A dash of freshly grated black pepper
8. 1/2 ripe tomato, seeds and pulp removed, chopped

Directions: Cut avocados in half. Remove seed. Scoop out avocado from the peel, put in a mixing bowl. Using a fork, mash each avocado. Add chopped onion, cilantro, lime juice, and salt and pepper to taste.
2. Add Chili peppers accordingly. Then add tomatoes when guacamole is ready to serve.

Serve with tortilla chips.

Twenty-Something Foodie Intro

I’ve always been into food. I don’t really know where it started. Maybe it was because there was a huge avocado tree that branched over into my parent’s backyard when I was a kid. (A number of my baby pictures are me sitting in a high chair with avocado all over my face.) It could’ve been the homemade strawberry ice cream I ate when my family would visit my grandparents in Montana every summer. But somewhere, and somehow, I became obsessed with food. This obsession continued through Middle School, I was the ‘fat’ kid. Then in High School, I randomly decided to bake a Chocolate Cake for a party my mom was having. And guess what, it was delicious. That started a turning point in my life, where I realized I was actually good at something. I always knew I could eat, but when I made that delicious chocolate cake, I realized I could cook as well.

Straight out of college, I was living in South Orange County. It was lonely. I felt isolated with no friend's except my ex and a little dog, Harry. I was a three hour drive from my loving parent’s home, and a 5 minute drive from where my ex's icy cold mother lived. Once again, food and cooking entered into my life. I couldn’t change my ex's icy cold mother's disappointed glances at me, I couldn’t change my ex’s temper and his tragic childhood, but I could make a chocolate chip muffin that was too die for. And I could make bacon and cheese quiche that even the ice queen herself said was, “tasty.”

I became obsessed with the Food Network channel. My favorite moments in South Orange County were spent sitting on the couch with a little dog named Harry, an open bottle of wine, Mario Batali on the tube. While in South Orange County, I created my alter ego, the “20-Something Foodie.” The “20-Something Foodie,” was on top of it. Her food was delicious, the plating was stylish, and she could make everything disappear by whipping up the absolute perfect guacamole.

The relationship fell part, and I left the condo and South Orange County. Good Rid dins! And I found my way back to where I grew up in West Los Angeles. I’m a couple years older, a little less trusting, but still sweet and optimistic of what lies ahead. I came to realize in life that certain things don’t change. I live 12 blocks away from Santa Monica hospital where I was born, I still believe everything is better after a spoonful of guacamole, my plating still has style, one day I will have a little dog just as like Harry, and there’s nothing that I’d rather do than lay on the couch & watch the food network channel. So here I am, the 20-something foodie, I hope you enjoy my blog.