Chocolate Bowls

I haven't been doing much by way of creative baking, something I used to post frequently, but the other day I saw a chef on TV making chocolate bowls and got inspired! 

Melt chocolate and, while no hotter than 90 degrees, dip balloons into chocolate and set on wax paper. Place in freezer for ten minutes to harden. Remove from freezer, pop balloons, and fill with whatever you like! I filled mine with french vanilla custard and fresh fruit.

Tips: Use white water balloons so the dye won't transfer. I swirled in some white chocolate before dipping for a marbled look. Make sure the chocolate isn't too hot - seriously - we learned this the hard way by exploding a balloon, spraying scalding hot chocolate everywhere. Pop the balloons quickly rather than letting the air slowly ooze or the chocolate will crack.

Style crush! Nail Art

When it comes to nail art, there is a very fine line between fabulously fresh and disastrously tacky. The recent trend of paining your nails where one is a different color than the rest... Who decided that should happen? Certainly not me. And 3-D add-on's like little plastic bows and hearts? Yikes, ladies... yikes. What I do like are the more classic patterns and designs; the chevron, for example. When ladies jazz up just the thumbs it's like whispering "hey, I'm fun" without screaming "holler, I'm tacky." 

The other night I was having some me time and decided to give the leopard thumbs a go. I applied a base of gold on all of my nails, let it dry, then used light brown and black for the leopard print. I'm pretty happy with how they turned out! 

I also have to recommend this polish to you - Sinful Colors. It lasts longer and is much cheaper than my former favorite, OPI. A bottle of OPI usually runs around $8, while Sinful is only $2 and is easier to track down since it is carried in Target and most drug stores. 

Campo di Bocce

Over the weekend I soaked up some sunshine at Campo di Bocce in Livermore with friends! We reserved an outdoor court, ordered a few appetizers to share, and pretended we weren't the worst bocce players to ever set foot in the place. Joking, we weren't so awful, but we certainly weren't graceful or gifted on the court.

PS- I wore the new scarf you've all been so excited about! Love it!

Style crush! The Short Braid Scarf

How excited am I about this online store I just stumbled into?! Definitely ordering the short braid in heather gray for myself! The awesome thing about shopping small designers' websites is they're usually really willing and able to customize their products for you, and this lovely lady openly offers. The only downside is you have to pay with PayPal, and I'm not a PayPal fan, but for anyone who regularly shops Etsy or eBay I'm sure that's not an issue.

Delhi

My apologies for the lack of blogging these past few weeks! I promise, I had a very good excuse. I spent two lovely weeks on holiday in Delhi, and while I had wifi access, I couldn't bring myself to spare a moment of the trip typing away when I could be exploring the city or visiting with friends.

On my way to India, I had an 11-hour layover in London, which turned out to be one of my favorite days of the trip! I landed at Heathrow mid-morning, took the Tube to Picadilly, and walked a couple blocks to Berry Brother's and Rudd. It was incredible getting a tour of their shop, one of the oldest in London. The building and the company have such rich history and are in an ideal location, just a short walk across Green Park to Buckingham Palace. That evening, I made my way back to the airport for an overnight flight to Delhi.

From the time I arrived in Delhi my days were a whirlwind. I walked all over the city exploring ruins, temples, markets, and parks. I stayed with a college friend, Poh Si, who is a foreign correspondent based in Delhi with her Indian lawyer husband. It was exciting to see the city from the locals' perspective, getting to experience the places where they shop and dine, and hanging out with their friends, many of whom are journalists or work for NGO's. A huge highlight of the trip was spending two days with my dear friend Esther and her mother, who passed through Delhi at the tail end of their three-week India adventure.

 

 

Bedside Lamp

I have a small bedside stand that I've been looking to put a lamp on for ages but haven't been able to find anything well suited. Lamps are so boring and lamp shades take up too much space. I recently saw some lighting fixtures in an Urban Outfitters store and thought to try it out for myself. 

For years I've owned a cord for hanging a single bulb, I assume intended for paper lamps and such, but hadn't found use for it. I decided to cut the wire frame out of a lampshade I already owned and turn it into a mini version of the fixtures I'd seen at Urban. 

I started out with scissors but switched to a razor blade because it was easier to maneuver. I cut off the fabric, tossed the bottom of the frame and only used the smaller top piece, attached the bulb and frame to the cord, and ta-da! Perfect bedside lighting that I can switch on and off from bed instead of having to walk over to the switch.

Well hello there 2012

Last year I had an unofficial resolution to get myself to a better place, one where I wasn't feeling so bogged down by the people around me or the living situation I was in. As controversial as my choices seemed to some along the way, they proved to be the right ones. I managed to cut out all the drama and negativity from my life and landed a dream job in my favorite city. I live alone, which for me is ideal, and maintain a small pool of friends and family who I trust and respect. That last bit might sound simple enough, but I have learned the hard way that good people are hard to come by, and all too often the ones who should be a sure thing are the ones who hurt you the most.

I hadn't planned on making any clearly outlined resolutions for 2012, I never really do list them out. My resolutions tend to be ever evolving. This year I do have a list, and here's why. 

A childhood friend, who got engaged over the holidays, asked me to be a bridesmaid in her destination wedding this August... Of course my first thought was OMG OMG OMG or something ridiculous like that, because I'm absolutely elated that these two have finally decided to get hitched and thrilled that they want me to be a part of it. However, sheer terror followed as the realization hit me that I'm going to be in Jamaica wanting to run around in a bikini but will feel too pale and chubby to do it! Well, unless there's a considerable amount of rum involved, and surely there will be, but let's try not to hate myself when I see the photographic evidence later on, eh? I'm honestly not that far away from my college weight and it's entirely reasonable to run it off in the next few months without having to take any extreme measures.

 

Last Lunches

With the new year quickly approaching and fitness plans in the works, my coworkers and I decided to celebrate our last week of 2011 by gorging ourselves with all of our favorite lunches before they become forbidden. Here's our hit list, in case you're not starting a diet and want to check these spots out for yourself. Oh, and, make sure you order an Anchor Steam with your food at any of these places!

MONDAY - The brewery was closed, but I'm sure we all ate a ton of leftover Christmas goodies

TUESDAY - Goat Hill Pizza in Potrero Hill, half Meat Lover's and half Hilda's Favorite

WEDNESDAY - Jerry's Crispy Tacos at Dos Pinas in Potrero Hill

THURSDAY - Pupusas at a Salvadorian joint in the Mission called Balompie

FRIDAY - Umami Burger on Union, I'm leaning toward the shiitake one but we'll see! 

 Happy eating!

Christmas Weekend

I hope you all had a delicious, sparkly, cozy holiday weekend! Besides having my worst allergy attack of the year, mine was quite delightful. I spent time with family and friends, attended the Christmas program at church, and did a bit of shopping. I'm back at work today, but it hardly feels like a normal workday since the roads were nearly empty on my way in, there was no line at Starbucks, and my office is a ghost town. This evening I'll take down my Christmas decorations, and if I can get a friend to help, I'll take the tree out. I'm less sentimental about my Christmas tree now that I'm sure it is the culprit of this latest wave of awful allergies. How can such a pretty thing bring so much joy and so much ickiness at the same time? It is a mystery, a mystery that requires a lot of tea and inhalers.

 The hometown holiday bar hop is something my friends and I look forward to every Thanksgiving and Christmas. It started in college when all the kids we grew up with would flock home for break and congregate at local dive bars to catch up. Even though we're all in our late 20's/ early 30's now, the tradition has carried on. For those of us who don't spend much time in our hometown anymore, it's still the easiest way to track down old classmates and friends and find out what everyone's been up to the last year (off of Facebook, that is).

Bucket List: Learn to Shoot

I noticed that I hadn't checked anything off of my bucket list in a while, so I took a friend up on an offer to teach me how to shoot handguns at a range in South San Francisco. To be honest, firing a gun for the first time was absolutely terrifying! Everything about it was different than I expected. The gun was heavier than I thought it would be, and it was difficult to keep the gun from kicking up after each shot. The flash, the smell, the shell bouncing off the wall to my right, it caught me off guard with every shot. I feel like I did pretty well though, I mean, at least I hit the target every time! It's definitely something I want to try again.

 

Happy Holidays!

Every year I try to have all of my Christmas gifts purchased and wrapped by Thanksgiving so that during the long weekend I can buy a tree and decorate the house. This year was no exception! While everyone else was braving the black Friday madness, I was cozy on my couch sipping cocoa and watching old movies. Okay well, I'm not going to lie, I did venture over to Cost Plus World Market for the 50% off sale on the below faux fur throw I've been eying. Can you blame me?

Grand View Park

Between the time change and the heavy fog in my neighborhood, it's usually too dark and gloomy to safely jog after work, which is a bummer, because good luck getting me to do exercise videos in my living room instead. Yesterday I left work early because I had to turn in the paperwork for my Indian visa (hurray!), so I managed to squeeze in a good 30 minutes of outdoorsing before dusk. I discovered Grand View Park, also known as Turtle Hill, just blocks from my house! It is a peak in the middle of my neighborhood, Golden Gate Heights, with stairs on either side and room to walk around on top. It is currently being renovated so there is a lot of tree debris, but not enough to shut the place down. I ran up and down the stairs a few times and then stood on top to watch the fog bank creep toward downtown. Amazing.

 

Favorite Things

I always love Oprah's favorite things holiday episode, top picks blog entries and the like, so I figured I'd share some of the products I enjoy, and maybe you'll get some good gift ideas out of it for your Christmas shopping! Have you started? With the exception of two gifts that are currently in lost in the USPS system thanks to either a glitch with Amazon or my slightly senile landlord, I'm already done and wrapped!

Elbow patch blazer by H&M, Suede round-toe pump by BCBGeneration, Chance by Chanel, Bangle by Hermes, Infinity scarf by Steve Madden, The Diana lomography camera, Moisture Surge moisturizer by Clinique, wooden colored pencils by Anthropologie, Fedora by Jessica Simpson, Wall hangs by Urban Outfitters, OPI nail polish, "K" wall hang by Urban Outfitters

Flat hair be gone

Kim Kardashian does it... I realize that's not saying much these days, but when it comes to hair, girl gots it! The secret? Clip-in hair extensions. I have several friends who swear by them, but I've never jumped on the band wagon because I already have really long hair. Little did I know, extensions aren't just for regrettably short chops, they also add a ton of volume and can hold styling better than your own hair.

Last Saturday, I stopped by Sally Beauty Supply on my way to Tracy for a trim with the fabulous Kari Potter at Versailles, and picked up some 18-inch dark brown extensions. Kari didn't have to dye them because they're already so close to my color, she just trimmed them into my hair so the layers would match. She made it look so easy! Clipping them in by myself has been a little tricky, but I'm sure it's one of those things that just takes practice.