Top 5 Things I Miss About Maryland

5) The Seasons

I love the weather in LA. I've become quite accustomed to the nice, sunny weather. But there are times that I long for a good snow day (my husband didn't know what the term "snow day" meant until I explained it to him this year.) I also miss the Indian summer and the leaves changing color. I cannot lie though, I wouldn't trade the LA weather for Maryland weather any day. But the seasons are quite beautiful.

4) Butler's Orchard

Since I was very small (I mean just starting to walk), my family would take me to Butlers Orchard to pick strawberries. Strawberries are my favorite fruit, I always have fresh strawberries on hand even now. Sometimes when I'm in a bad mood, Jeff will get me a bowl of strawberries to cheer me up:) But the memories of picking our own strawberries are just as sweet as the fruit itself. I think it goes without saying that nothing tastes like fruit picked ripe off of the vine. But strawberries are not the only great part of Butler's Orchard. There are tons of fruits and veggies to pick or buy in their market. they also have country goods like local honey, fruit preserves, salad dressing (the Vidalia Onion is the best), and fresh fruit pies (I love the blackberry.) They also have a pumpkin patch and Christmas Trees!

3) The Redskins

No need for an explanation here. If you grew up in the DC area, you are probably a huge Redskins fan. It is just what we do there.

"Crab cakes and football! That's what Maryland does!"
-quote from Wedding Crashers

2) Maryland Blue Crabs

Oh the yumminess. I cannot really describe what it is to love eating blue crabs. It is a regional favorite. It is one of the only places in the country that people regularly get together, sit around a big, long table, and eat crabs for hours and hours. I like to eat mine with melted butter and lots of seasoning. And Old Bay and steamed, spiced shrimp. Oh gosh, why do I do this to myself? Sadly, my husband does not understand this unique cultural ritual. He won't even eat the crab unless I pick the meat out for him!

1) My Family and Friends

This is something that should go without saying. But the one reason that I wold actually love to move back home is to be close to my family and friends. I especially miss my nephew, Bradley, who is sixteen months old. I miss holidays and birthday dinners at home. I could go on and on and on with this but I'll just say that I hope to move back one day:)

Russian Roulette

New Color of Yarn


The Loop


Pulling Through the Loop


Joined!


I learned this technique on knittinghelp.com. Click HERE for the Russian Join video. You will have to scroll about halfway down the page and then under "Joining a New Color Yarn" you will find the "Russian Join." The technique is very simple and all you need is a darning needle. I love knittinghelp.com videos. I'm still a beginner and I love learning new techniques. With pretty much every new project I do I am still learning new things! Sorry the pics aren't that great. I was in the midst of doing it when I realized I would love to take pics to do a post about this useful join. I also do not have a photo to show the result of the join into the work. My favorite part of this join is that you don't have any ends to weave in.

Russian Join
Skill Level: Easy
Needed: One darning needle
Uses: Joining a new color (or same color) of yarn
Pros: Best for joining when felting isn't an option, so for cotton, synthetics, etc.
No ends to weave in!
Good for projects that don't have a no show side
Cons: Need to have a darning needle on hand

Forever 21 Outfit

Tank, Forever 21; Jeans, Forever 21; Flip Flops, Banana Republic

I love Forever 21. I haven't had a chance to post my recent F21 shopping spree acquisitions. I will do that asap. This was just a simple tank and jeggings (jeans/leggings) look. The tank has a great zipper added detail in back. I usually don't wear orange but I thought this outfit worked:) I wonder what I did before F21?

Super Size Me- Top 5 Reasons to Love McDonald's

Ronald McDonald and Friends


Grimace is my favorite:)


The Big Mac- This isn't necessarily my favorite thing on the menu. But the Big Mac is the obnoxiously big and wonderful iconic burger of the best restaurant in the world! Gotta love it:)


A Yummy, Reliable Meal, Anywhere in the World:
China

Arctic Circle in Sweden

Saudi Arabia


McDonald's Breakfast
Is There Anything Better Before 11 AM?



The Happy Meal
Nothing brings back good memories like The Happy Meal.

Bad Husbands, Sad Wives:(

I have been thinking the same thing that Joy on The View said today, "is this the year of bad husbands?" Unfortunately it was not difficult to come up with some high profile examples of recent cheating scandals. I could have added quite a few more to the list. Why do men do this? That is what I would like to know. I hate to pin this on all men, I know there are some good ones out there. I don't know these people and I really cannot judge them, but it seems that there is a pretty obvious pattern here. It isn't women that you often find in these scandals. Is it genetic? Or are men just dogs?

Addi Click Set Arrived

Addi Click set in box with extra accessories, 10.5 tips, 10.75 tips and extra cord set


Faux leather case for Addi set


Size comparisons with Saltine box and Offhand Designs Traveluxe Clutch



Case opened!


Needle tips


Heart pin


US size 9/5.5mm tips


The join


Offhand Designs Traveluxe clutch with complete Addi Click set


Offhand Designs Traveluxe clutch with complete Addi Click set PLUS two additional tips: US 10.5/6.5mm and US 10.75/7mm


I haven't used these long enough to review them but I did want to get the photos up asap! It was so exciting to receive these so quickly. I ordered them from FiberWild.com. They were on sale and they were shipped out same day, no delay! They took two days to arrive via US Priority mail from Illinois to Los Angeles. I have been using them for about a week and soon I'll post a full review for those that are interested:)

Mental Health Day

Whenever I go to the beach I consider it a mental health day. The weather in LA was perfect today, about 85 degrees in Hollywood and 80 degrees at the beach. So I headed out in a bikini and a new cover up, with my green LeSportsac beach bag, and with my white ceramic Coffee Bean tumbler. The beach is so relaxing and peaceful. I really needed a little quality time with myself and the beach was just perfect for that today:) My friend Sheri thinks it is a little ridiculous that I need mental health days because she thinks my life is relaxing on an everyday basis. But anyhow, here are my top ways to relax and destress (in no particular order):

• Going to the beach by myself
• Hiking at Runyon
• Happy hour with my girlfriends
• A successful shopping trip
• Cooking
• Cleaning
• Knitting
• Ice skating
• Tennis

ps. I love the ceramic tumbler. It was a gift from my friend Lauren, and I use it in place of a plastic water bottle.

Leprechaun in Alabama

Love the amateur sketch at 42 seconds:)

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

I love holidays! St Patty's isn't exactly one of my favorites but I still pull out my Snoopy tee once a year in honor of it. Sitting at a bar from 7am until people start passing out just isn't my thing anymore. When I used to live in DC my friends and I would do a St Patrick's Day bar crawl every year. That was pretty fun. I do love holidays though and I have a Peanuts tee to celebrate pretty much every holiday there is.

Here are my favorite holidays in order:

1) Christmas (It's totally the best holiday ever and I am notorious for trying to stretch it out from late November to mid January.)
2) Thanksgiving
3) The Fourth of July (Jeff proposed to me on the 4th, but that isn't why it is one of my favorites. I just love it. He proposed to me on it because he knows how much I love it.)
4) Valentine's Day
5) New Year's Eve

Earthquake!

A 4.4 earthquake shook the area at around 4 am this morning. The epicenter was Pico Rivera, CA, about 15 miles from Hollywood. It woke my husband and I up. Here was the conversation my husband and I had when it happened:

Jeff: That's an earthquake.

Me: (half asleep) I thought it was just the bed shaking a little.

Jeff: No, that's an earthquake honey.

Since I moved here from Maryland several years ago I haven't really experienced very much as far as earthquakes go. A 4.4 is not a very strong earthquake. A few years ago I experienced the first earthquake that ever scared me and I think it was a 4.7, which is also not a strong earthquake. I'm not sure what about that one scared me. My house shook more than I had ever felt it shaking before. My dogs definitely sensed something was wrong and freaked out for about ten minutes prior to that earthquake. When it happened I was on the phone with a friend who was driving in the car with his wife. People in cars cannot feel moderate earthquakes and I was asking him if he felt the earthquake when I heard his wife screaming that there must be an earthquake because they could see people running out into the street in fear. My friend Valerie was on the 22nd floor of a building downtown when that one happened. People from the East Coast on her floor ran out of the building and didn't come back! So I've been pretty lucky so far and I'm crossing my fingers that the Big One doesn't happen anytime soon.

Lau and Kim

Chanel Nail Color, Particulière


One of the best things about my friend Lau is that when she comes to visit me she does not act like a tourist. She acts like she lives here and goes everywhere normal Angelenos go. She gets her coffee bean, we go shopping, Runyon, beach, we eat breakfast, lunch and dinner at cool spots, we just hang out. No Disneyland and Getty Museum for her! She is so familiar with LA at this point that she can get in the car and get around just fine.

So she went to get a mani pedi at Beverly Hills Nail Design on Bedford and got to meet my gurl Kim Kardashian! Kim was also getting her nails done there. I am a huge Kardashian fan. Yes, I know the show is very fake but what isn't fake about it is the strong family bond that they have. The Kardashians are very close, and I don't think that can be faked for tv. I especially love the relationship between the three Kardashian sisters. Sisters are so much fun! Kisses to my sister!

Woman Caught Shaving Bikini Area While Driving

You heard it.

Trooper Gary Dunick, describing what Ms. Barnes was thinking, explained, "She said she was meeting her boyfriend in Key West and wanted to be ready for the visit."

Traditions, a Very Personal Post

One unique thing about me is my devotion to traditions. I think it comes from growing up in a very close family that values traditions. I could write an entire book about my family’s traditions so I’m just going to write about the traditions that Jeff and I have developed over the years. I think that it is important to have traditions because they can be the glue that keeps families together. And even though we don’t have children yet, it is very important to cultivate traditions just for us. It keep us close. Of course I’ve taken many of them straight from my family. And let’s not talk about Christmas traditions now because I could write a whole book about that too. I’ll wait until December to bore everyone with that!

Our Traditions:

Everyday when Jeff gets home from work we ask each other what we ate that day

Dinner together, at the table, pretty much every night

Going to every LA Kings game together, wearing something that is Kings colors, getting there early, and rooting for our team

Saying grace before dinner

During dinner we ask each other what the best and worst parts of the day were

A big breakfast on Saturday



Going to the zoo

Date night once a week

Fondue at home on Valentine’s Day

Anniversary dinners at Pane e Vino, where we had our first date

Backpacking trips with our two dogs

Naps, often

Visiting a national park that we have never been to every year

Praying before road trips



Jeff buying bagels and muffins on Saturday mornings

Visiting a water park once a year, staying until closing time, running around to the rides that stay open the latest, and begging to be the last person in line for our favorite rides

Whenever Jeff plays a late night hockey game, we get McDonald’s on the way home

Pizza Party Friday

Chips and dip while playing board games

Falling asleep to The Golden Girls

The funny part about this post is that when I was making a list of our traditions I asked Jeff to help. I brought it up while we were eating McDonald’s late one night after his hockey game. I’m not sure if that influenced his answer but his thoughts were, “guacamole and chips, hot dogs and burgers, and avocado salad!” I was like, “what about those things are traditions?” Jeff said, “We eat those a lot, and they’re delicious!”

What are some of your traditions with your spouse or significant other?

Taco Tuesday!

Picking up Valerie for Taco Tuesday. Doesn't she look so cute in that outfit? I have the exact same top but I dont look like that in it.


Valerie loves Cabo Cantina. Can you see how excited she is?


Lauren and her drinks, she didn't realize you get two for one on Taco Tuesday. And what a classy joint, they bring them both out at once! Woo hoo!


Me and Val. I swear my hair had the Kardashian thing going on before I left the house.


Anyhow, my friend Valerie introduced me to this Cabo Cantina at the beach in Marina. We have Cabos here in Hollywood but this one is much better. Happy Hour is always better at the beach! In the winter when it is chilly we try to sit upstairs near the fire. Valerie and Cabo remind me of a Friends reference. It is from the episode where Monica and Rachel lose their apartment to Chandler and Joey in a bet during a trivia game contest.

Ross: Rachel claims this is her favorite movie.
Chandler: Dangerous Liaisons.
Ross: Correct. Her actual favorite movie is?
Joey: Weekend at Bernie's.

The same could be said of Valerie and Cabo. If you ask Valerie what her favorite drinks spot is, she'll probably name a posh place in Santa Monica. The truth is, it is actually Cabo Cantina! And who could blame her? It is so much fun. About a month ago we tried to go wine tasting with some out of town friends and the wine tasting place was closed:( So we drove down the PCH and stopped at every bar, Duke's, Moonshadows, they were all dead. So we drove back south and ended up at Cabo, which was totally full of people! We had the best time too!

Sprinkles

Mmmmmmm. We really have it good here in LA. Lau also saw Nicky Hilton outside of Sprinkles so the trip was a double success. My favorite cupcakes are still red velvet from Toast but what do I know? Everyone in town agrees Sprinkles cupcakes are the best!