Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Travel - San Francisco


Last month Nick and I went on a weekend trip to San Francisco. I had never been there before and had always wanted to go, and nick loves it there so we booked our tickets and jumped on a plane! Well it wasn't quite so spontanious but you catch my drift...

We did all the touristy stuff, plus some non touristy stuff. The first night our flight got in around 7. Once we got settled in at the hotel we went out to dinner at Bluestem Brasserie. It was super tasty! I had the most delicious tapioca pudding with a caramelized top.

The next day we went to the bridge, chinatown, shopping, and a spur of the moment Giants game. After the game we met up with a few of Nick's friends for drinks (I can't remember the name of the bar). After drinks we went into the mission and got tacos from Taqueria Pancho Villa which was very tasty. After tacos we went to a couple of bars. One was called Dr. Teeth & the Electric Mayhem. It had a bunch of weird glitterized manequin sculptures with gas masks. I didn't take any pictures there but I wish I did. We also went to a bar called Beauty Bar. It is modeled after a hair salon and has giant vintage looking blow dryers everywhere.

Day three we went to the farmers market at the ferry building. YUM!!! Miette Bakery has the most delicious treats! After that we went to Haight Ashbury and ate at a gastropub called Magnolia. I absolutely loved the atmosphere there. I left the Haight Ashbury area feeling very inspired. It's awesome that there are so many people who are able to pursue creative lifestyles and actually make it work. That night we took it easy at the hotel and went to bed early (we were both fighting colds).

Our last day we went back to the ferry building and ate at The Slanted Door. We only had a few small things but it was very delicious and I highly recommend going there. Then we went to Japan town, the park where you can see the painted ladies (i.e. full house houses), then went on a mad hunt for the crookedest street but google maps led us astray and we never made it there.

I didn't do the best job photo documenting the trip but here's what I did get.

p.s. don't judge me for wearing the same outfit the entire time I was there. I didn't pack very well and it was a little chilly so my Lulu Horse Print scarf came in handy.




Walking around the financial district



Chinatown

 

Go Giants!

Nick looking fine at the ferry building

Farmers market day at the ferry building
The Hyatt across the street from the ferry building - cool elevators!

View from the top floor of the Hyatt

Japan Town



View of the MOMA from the top of our hotel

View from our hotel - we stayed at W


Pretty view on the way home

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Naughty Treats - Oh So Perfect Pumpkin Applesauce Cookie!

 

 So I was at the store the other day when I came across a perfect little pile of pumpkins. Quickly my mind filled up with all the wonderful things I could make with them.. pumpkin pie, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin spiced lattes! Fast forward 2 weeks later and my little pumpkins were still sitting sadly in my kitchen looking neglected. I should never be allowed to go to the store when hungry, it always resorts in wishful cooking fantasies.

I decided to buck up and do something with the pumpkins before it was too late. A simple Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe didn’t seem too daunting and it certainly didn’t disappoint.

First you need to puree your pumpkin - 1 small pumpkin makes about 1 3/4 cups pureed
 
Cut your pumpkins in half top to bottom, scoop out the guts, place them cut side down in a baking dish filled with 2-3 inches of water, bake at 350 degrees for 45 min or until flesh is easily punctured, remove from over and let cool, scoop the flesh out and pop it into a blender or food processer until smooth
 


 
 


 





 


 
 
 

Pumpkin Applesauce Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yields about 30 cookies, Prep 20 Min, Cooking 12 minutes per batch

For this recipe you will need:


  • 1 cup pureed pumpkin (you’re not feeling ambitious 1 cup canned pumpkin will work just fine)
  • ½ cup of applesauce (I used blackberry applesauce but any kind would work great)
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2 ¼  cups all-purpose flour (reduce to 2 cups if using canned pumpkin)
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • Pinch of pumpkin pie spice
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Mix together your pumpkin, applesauce, sugar, vanilla, and egg.

In a separate bowl stir together your flour, baking powder, cinnamon, pie spice, salt, and baking soda

Slowly add your flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture mixing it well

Add your chocolate chips – I used the whole bag. Don’t skimp here! Good chocolate is key! Be careful not to mix to much once the chips are in or they will start to break up.

Drop by spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet and pop those babies in the over at 350°F for approximately 12 minutes or until lightly brown and firm.

Let cool for 1-2 minutes before removing from cookie sheet.

Stuff your face and enjoy!




 

Inspiration - Lovely Sunbeams

If you're at all like me you grew up on Roald Dohl. Huddled unter your blankets late at night with a flash light reading the BFG cover to cover. Ahhh man I miss being a kid.

I just love this happy little poster by Kensie Kate. All of her posters are lovely but I love this one especially! Quote is from The Twits.

 

Monday, October 15, 2012

Pinned - Made For Eachother Edition 2

This might just be a phase but these past few weeks I've been really into chic street style. I've got a pair of  black motorcycle boots that I've been wearing with leggings and a baggy tee to no end and I even impulse bought one of those cut out skull shirts (I wasn't feeling ambitious enough to DIY it but if you do HERE is a good one). This is a compilation of my favorite made for eachother items geared more towards the street end of the style spectrum. 

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8




Friday, October 12, 2012

Inspiration for a Happy Friday

I've always loved this quote by Lewis Carrol. Isn't this cut out print lovely? Happy Friday!
Can't find the source for this image anywhere - anyone know?

 

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Snazzy Tunes - The Jezabels

Last night Nick and I went to go see The Jezabels play at Kilby Court. I first heard her on a biking video a couple years ago (cool video, check it out HERE - the other song in the video is by Loch Lomond). She has one of the most beautiful voices I've ever heard, and she sounded just as gorgeous live! They put on a really good show and were very friendly with awesome Aussie accents.

I predict these guys will make it pretty big someday.


Mace Spray - By The Jezabels



 

A Little Piece - By The Jezabels

 

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

The Weekend Time is the Best Time

This weekend was pretty chill. I got to babysit my handsome nephew on friday morning which was lots of fun. He's growing so fast I can hardly believe it! He will steal a spoon right out of your hand when you are feeding him and man that kid has a grip!







































Friday night we went out to dinner for Nick's brother's birthday at El Chihuahua (known for their over the top sized deathstars). If you don't love a giant bucket of cheap alcohol in the beginning, you will love it by the end. Needless to say I was just the right amount of tipsy when I got home to want to go to bed. We called it a night pretty early.

Saturday  I worked on craft projects all day (photos to come). Then around 5 Nick and I went out for an early dinner to ekamai Thai Curry. It is a cute little place right across from pioneer park downtown. They also recently built a new one in the Sugarhouse area right by my work (woohoo!).


 
 
I like ekamai because it is a good option for a fast lunch or dinner without eating greasy fast food. I had the yellow curry which was delicious, I don't remember what Nick had but it was insanely hot and apparantly they only serve it on saturdays.


That night we met up with a few friends at Maxwells downtown. It is their second location (first being up in Park City). While it's not exactly my cup of tea I still had a fun time dancing the night away and drinking lots of girly drinks. Nick happened to know the code to a downtown building from a party he attended this past summer so we went in the building and climbed to the top. Gorgeous views of Salt Lake! Shhhh don't tell anyone we were up there.





































Then I got to wake up to this.... so cute!

 

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Snazzy Tunes - Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti

I think I found Ariel Pink when browsing reviews on Pitchfork -their newest album got really good reviews. I like his music because it sounds old and dreamy but still original.

Last week Amanda, Nick and I went to go see him play at Urban Lounge. He walked down into the audience a lot and overall seemed like a pretty cool guy. I was secretly hoping for him to have a freakout like he did at coachella a while back (sat down on the stage refusing to sing - out of his mind on something) but it was a pretty standard show. What can I say? I Guess I'm a bit of a drama queen.

This is one of my favorite song's..

 

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - "Round and Round"

Picture from the show

 

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Good Eats - Pig and a Jelly Jar














 
Nick has most Fridays off, and I have every other friday off. On the ones that I am working we usually try and meet up for lunch. This last Friday we checked out the new Pig and a Jelly Jar restaurant near Liberty Park. It is by the same people who did Meditrina which holds a special place in my heart because it was where Nick and I had our first reunited date (we dated about 7 years ago for a couple months).















I had the chicken apricot rosemary sausage grinder with brie, caramelized onions and lemon aioli. Nick had the Friday special of fish and chips.

Though the fries were a bit undercooked, the food overall was pretty tasty and affordable. The restaurant is very cute and intimate and I dig those paintings.














While I still think I like Meditrina better, I'd go back to Pig. The Liberty Park area was going through some promising up and comingness prior to the recession. I think now that things are starting to turn a bit we'll start seeing even more cute little restaurants like this pop up, and some hip slc people flocking to the area (like me! I've been thinking about moving into a triplex nearby).

Oh hey there stud.