Lately...

Last weekend I had a Groupon for a new pair of eyeglasses from a little boutique in San Francisco. My parents are always up for a Saturday morning adventure so they accompanied me to Union Street where the store is located.
After about 45 minutes, I, along with the assistance of one of their fantastic employees, found the perfect pair of nerdy glasses for me. I'm so excited! They should arrive in about two weeks so prepare for a very vain post of me modeling them (Just kidding! Sort of...) because I'm sure I will never wear contacts again.
When we were done at the eyeglasses store, my parents and I wandered up and down Union Street which is always fun. So many cute little boutiques, cafes and restaurants.

There was an interesting house just off of Union Street that had a very clever way of adding a green element to their home which was located directly next too a beauty salon. Don't you just love this vertical garden filled with succulents??  My dad had me take photos of it because he is in the process of xeriscaping the yard and thought something like this would add a nice element to it.

A cute cat soaking up some February sun in the front window of this store.

So many outdoor cafes on Union Street...great place for people watching.

 This flower shop brought a nice bit of color to the city.

And finally, we can never call it a trip to the city complete without stopping at our favorite ice cream shop. Swensen's has the best Swiss Orange Chip and Green Tea ice cream!

Pink

Job searching really messes with your self-worth. I've been feeling unprepared, unworthy, and just down. What I've concluded is: you can't get a job without experience but you can't get experience without a job.
Luckily, I've been seeing a lot of motivational things on the web saying things along the lines of, "Nothing worthwhile comes easy" and "She said she could so she did."
I'm not giving up.
I've also been seeing a lot of pink. I don't know why but it just makes me happy.
So hey, if you're feeling down maybe this montage of pink will make you happy too. What's not to love about cake, ice cream, random pink walls and a pink Pepsi machine?
See, now your smiling too...

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Bits of My (Birthday!) Weekend

This past weekend my very best group of friends from college came to my house to celebrate my birthday weekend. We have known each other for at least 6-7 years and although we do not get to see each other as much as we use to, we manage to get together a couple of times a year to catch up and hang out. 

We spent the last three days partying, playing Quelf, having adventures on Pier 39, eating LOTS of good food (see the lobster bisque above), and watching the sun set on Baker Beach. Not a bad way to celebrate a birthday if you ask me...

Unemployment To Do List Item 2: Healthy Chocolate Cake

I do not know what this obsession with bad-food-done-right kick is about but I'm going with it. I love cake... and chocolate, but I also like to eat healthy. Someday I will indulge in making the most chocolatey of chocolate cakes but I found this really interesting recipe over on Healthy Indulgences. It is interesting because it is made without flour, sugar or dairy and has a secret ingredient. What is the secret ingredient, you ask?
Black beans!
What?? Yes!
Sounds weird, right? ...I'm in.

Photo Credit

Looks yummy, right? We will see if it tastes just as good as it looks.

Unemployment To Do List Item 1 - Raw Brownies: Done!

About a week ago I wrote about a little to-do list that I'm making up of things I'd like to accomplish while I'm in between jobs. The first item on my list was to make raw brownies which I completed this past weekend!
I found a simple recipe for the brownies from The Rawtarian that I used as more of a guide...'cuz nobody tells me what to do! Just kidding! I had to improvise because things never seem to go according to plan when I get involved in the kitchen (I'm learning though!)

1. This recipe for raw brownies only required 6 ingredients! From left to right we have shredded coconut, raw cacao nibs (the recipe actually called for powder but this was cheaper), organic raw blue agave sweetener, sea salt, crushed pecans, and organic dates.
2. Since I purchased cacao nibs and not powder, I had to pulverize the nibs to powder using the Cuisinart. I pulsed the nibs for about five seconds at a time until they were down to the right size.

 3. Once the cacao was processed, I mixed in 1 cup of dates and then added in the shredded coconut, agave and sea salt and processed everything until it was one homogenous glob.
4. The original recipe called for the pecans to be mixed with the dates first, but since I was winging it on my own, I mixed the pecans in last. It was too hard to mix them in using the Cuisinart, so I hand-mixed them in (that's my dad demonstrating in the above picture!)

5. When the pecans were all in the glob, the brownies were technically done. I could have starting munching right then, but since it looked a bit too globular and not enough like actual brownies, I flattened the mix out into a brownie pan and had them sit in the refrigerator for about an hour.
6. The cooling time in the refrigerator really solidified everything and made it easier to cut into more "brownie-looking" bites later on.

7. Here are the brownies ready to be served!
8. They tasted pretty good...sweet and salty. The weird part was the cacao added a smell and taste that was a bit like alcohol. I don't know enough (or anything at all) about cacao to know if it's normal but it was tolerable. I will probably have to experiment with the recipe a few more times to actually perfect it, but it was a fun little project to do during the weekend!

Adventures in Cooking

I mean, I can cook. I am a twenty-something after all. However, I'm more of a stir-fry kind of girl...as in, I find things in the fridge that might taste good and stir fry them together. One of my on-going goals in life is to master the art of cooking. I don't mind eating the same thing over and over again, but I'd rather mix it up a little every now and then while still eating relatively healthy.
The other night on tumblr or pinterest I saw a picture (I wish I reblogged and/or repinned it!) of some delicious looking baked acorn squash, hollowed out and filled with cooked quinoa mixed with vegetables. It looked SO good! So I decided that I'd try to recreate it for dinner tonight. I pretty much had everything needed on hand except for the acorn squash, which thankfully came with a sticker explaining how to cook it.

Here are the ingredients (quinoa not shown because I was already cooking it):
-onions
-acorn squash
-garlic

-lime (I know it looks like a lemon... my mom blames the weather for it not turning green)

-red bell pepper

First, I chopped the bell peppers and put them into a bowl.

  Then, I chopped up the onions and garlic and sauteed them together in some extra virgin olive oil.

 I then mixed the sauteed onions and garlic with the fresh red bell peppers.

 I added the cooked quinoa in with the vegetables...

  ...and squeezed the lime into the mix for flavor. That completed the quinoa filling.

 I halved and scooped out all the gooey insides of the acorn squash and then put them on a casserole dish face down with a quarter cup of water and baked them for half an hour at 375 degrees fahrenheit.

The squash smelled so good after they were done baking and were nice and soft. 

To finish, I scooped the quinoa mix into the acorn squash and added some sides: more quinoa (the squash doesn't hold that much) and some teriyaki chicken.  

It's been four and a half hours since eating dinner and my boyfriend and I are still alive... I would consider that a success! Just kidding, I really enjoyed it and Alex said it was good too, so hurray for adventures in cooking!

Questions? Comments? Wanna tell me that it looks gross?? Feel free to add a comment!

Aqua, Black and Tangerine

I was noticing a trend on one of my Pinterest pinboards called "For the Home". I think I have a thing for the aqua, black and tangerine combo. 
Did you know that tangerine is Pantone's color of the year for 2012? Guess I'm just trendy like that! 

Photo Source:
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