Strawberry-Lavender Sorbet.

I'm not sure if any of you have been as lucky to try any of Joseph's sorbets from his Cooking With Just Four Ingredients book, but they are pretty yummy. A couple of nights ago, we wanted a little something sweet after our dinner, and thought, why not make a sorbet!


Joseph made this simple syrup over the stove, with fresh lavender. He heated it just enough to warm the water and sugar, and then threw in the lavender. He let it soak for about 45 minutes and then threw it in the refrigerator to cool down.

Meanwhile, I made the strawberry purée. I hulled a big case of fresh strawberries, and then in small batches puréed them in our food processor (which is very small, hence the small batches). Once the simple syrup was cooled and the strawberry purée was ready, I mixed them together and froze the mixture overnight.

In the morning, I scooped the frozen mixture back into the food processor and smoothed it out. In small batches once again, I added just a small amount of egg yolk into the processor with the mixture. It made it very fluffy! I was so excited because Joseph said he had never followed that part of the recipe, but it looked more like a sorbet with it. Once I had used the entire egg yolk and mixture, I placed the whole thing back into the bowl and put it back in the freezer for a few more hours.

Once it was frozen all the way through, wah-lah! I scooped it into a small white bowl and garnished it with a flower from our small front porch garden. It was smooth, slightly creamy, and tasted oh so fresh :)

As you may have noticed, I took over the project but Joseph got to enjoy the fruits of our labor. Unfortunately, we had to wait until the next day from our original craving from the night before.

Feliz Cumpleaños Olga.

As I was loading some pictures that I took from Joseph's camera for a new post, I re-discovered some pictures I had taken a couple of weeks ago from my friend Olga's birthday. She threw herself a little party at her house in Lemon Grove, and made some awesome rice, beans, and Carne Asada. We also had some really good red & green salsa, and guacamole that she bought at the store. Oh yea, and I can't forget to mention the freshly sliced cucumbers soaked in lime juice with hot chili powder sprinkled on top (the same way my sister's and I ate them as kids, yummm!)

As a gift, from one of her friends that had recently visited Africa, she got this Coconut drink called Takamaka Bay Rum. It was clear, had a very high proof, and was a bit fizzy. It was so good. You couldn't even taste the alcohol, which of course, is always dangerous. I had a small glass while she drank most of the bottle.

Even though we work at Extraordinary Desserts, nothing is as yummy as a store bought Oreo Chocolate Cake. Since Olga was a tad bit tipsy, she kept cutting slices but dropping them on herself, as you can see from her facial expression. I left shortly after this, but she continued her celebration at the local strip club. Happy Birthday Olga!

"Banker's Hill Bridge Is Falling Down..."

Ok, so obviously Banker's Hill bridge is not really falling down, but for some reason I thought of that nursery rhyme, "London bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down..." when I took this picture. Joseph discovered this really cool walking bridge that extends from Banker's Hill into the other side of Hillcrest/Mission Hills so we decided to walk over to it from our apartment on our way to dinner. You can't see it very well but there is a very steep valley underneath it. I think Joseph took some great shots, while this is the only one I got with my iPhone. I really need to invest in a camera or just steal Joseph's ;)

Hawk Sign.

Are you looking for a sign for your business, a full car wrap, or a vinyl design/wallpaper for around the house? Well, Hawk Sign is new in town. Erica's fiance, Chris Menke, has just unveiled his website for his new business. Check it out! I think it looks awesome and Joseph even helped with the copy writing & editing.

Chris & Erica, I wish you guys the best with your new business endeavour! I am positive that it will be a great success!

A Night in Balboa.

Monday night, Joseph and I went on a walk through Balboa Park. Since it's only a block away from us, it only made sense (even though I initially wanted to drive back to Coronado and walk on the beach). The walk through the park is kind of scary but once you get to El Prado Street, everything is all lit up and beautiful.

While walking on El Prado, we stumbled upon a beautiful willow tree. I love willow trees. They are so serene and peaceful, they just inspire me. I just stared at it, and tried to get pictures of its intricate trunk, but since all I had was my iPhone, this is what it looked like.


I could almost tell how old it was and how "wise" it was. If I had to come back as something, I think it would be a willow tree. I may have been influenced by Grandmother Willow in Disney's Pocahontas :) I love how they are so rooted to the Earth. When I have some free time, I want to sit under it and draw/paint its beauty.

We crossed the bridge that overlooks Highway 163 and leads you further into Balboa Park. As we came up on the Old Globe Theater, we walked into the courtyard and found this rock sculpture. I thought it was very symbolic of "man" building the Old Globe, but also God or a "higher being" building Earth. Maybe a bit controversial, but it's just what I saw and caught my attention.

Still walking around the Old Globe, we stumbled upon this semi-eerie patio which as you can see was lit up blue. Everything being so still and quiet, is what made it eerie but calm, and inspired Joseph to have me take this picture. I think it really captured the essence of the moment.

After walking out of the Old Globe's courtyard, we kept walking and stopped at this Koi pond. The buildings in front of it are various museums, and behind it is the Botanical Garden, which houses hundreds of Orchids. I kind of felt like I was in another world.

The last stop within Balboa Park was this little Spanish Artist Village. Joseph had walked through it one late afternoon while everything was shutting down, so we knew where we were. We looked in some of the ateliers, and saw you could take pottery classes, painting classes, or just peruse their spaces and shop.

Of course, a small adventure wouldn't be complete without a reminder of our beloved friends back home. Joseph noticed that Katie may have a relative in San Diego! I guess she might have to just get her butt out here and find out :)

As we started heading back, I noticed it was getting quite late. We had been so enthralled in everything that we had been out for almost two hours! It was a wonderful night. We even saw the oldest ficus tree in San Diego, which is enormous. I couldn't get a decent picture of it, so you'll just have to come out and see it yourself. The last picture I captured of the night was this one of the Museum of Man's side. The architecture of all of the museums is so intricate but this one is probably the most famous. It was simply an inspiring night. I have a sudden urge to paint, draw, or just design anything and everything!

Dinner for Two.

Yesterday after Joseph got off of work, he had a quick lunch and we got ready to go to the beach since it was such a nice day. We drove to Coronado and laid out for a little over an hour before the sun started setting. It was so relaxing. For some reason, we were talking about dinner and both thought about having some kind of grilled fish. I did a little search on my iPhone and found this fish market called Point Loma Seafoods. According to the reviews on Yelp! it had been featured on Rachel Ray's $40 A Day. (I looked it up and you can view the video here, under San Diego Seafoods) We thought, if Rachel Ray featured it, it must have pretty fresh fish.

After making a few wrong turns, we did end up finding it! They had great looking fish, although some types were really pricey. They were running a special on locally caught Halibut. It looked pretty and since we both like Halibut, we got a pound for only $12.95 (a very affordable price). We brought it home and Joseph started up the grill while I prepared the fish.

I drizzled both sides with olive oil, lightly seasoned it with William-Sonoma's Potlatch Seasoning found here, and covered it with freshly squeezed lemon juice. While Joseph grilled, I cut up and steamed some carrots, broccoli, and yellow pepper.
Presto! Dinner was done within a matter of 20 minutes. It was a quick, easy & healthy meal. The fish was just right. A job well done on Joseph's part, he's becoming a master griller!

Fun-Day Monday.

After a short weekend, which consisted of mostly working.... I had all of yesterday off! It was a much needed break. For brunch, my friend Olga & I went to this little cafe in North Park, called The Mission. It was delicious. Of course, we both selected something from the "Latino Breakfast Plates" section of the menu. I had the Pappas Loco which consisted of: rosemary potatoes, grilled jalapeños, black beans, cheese, avocado, and sour cream and two over-medium eggs, with fresh chile verde on the side. I literally scraped the plate clean. :)

After brunch, and taking some time to walk around, we stumbled upon this totally cute boutique called material. The boutique itself is really cute and the clothes are even cuter and so unique. I am going to have to keep it in mind for gifts and myself, of course!

The last little discorvery that we made was this little but bold mexican restaurant called, Ranchos Mexican & Vegetarian Cuisine. The outside was covered in all sorts of flowers, vines, and hanging plants. I have never seen anything like it. We decided to walk in to see what it was like on the inside. So incredibly cool. I didn't want to include many pictures of it yet, since I haven't eaten there (which I totally will very soon). But here is just a snipit of what an outdoor patio table looks like:

Featured Blog.

When I started this blog, I never thought anyone would read it other and close friends and family, but I guess more people are reading it then I thought! After my South Coast Plaza post which you can read here. I was asked by a woman named Debbie from the official Travel Costa Mesa website, if she could feature my post about my trip to Orange County. I thought, of course! So, after waiting to hear from her again after a couple of weeks, she emailed me again and told me that she had featured my post & personal blog on the website. You can check it out here. Crazy, isn't it? I thought it was really cool.

Mission Viejo.

Since I am now the new Visual Merchandiser at work, I needed to get some training. My Store Director said I didn't truly need it, but it would help to perfect my skill and would also help me familiarize myself with some of the J.Crew detailing. I couldn't agree more. So, on Tuesday morning at 5:30 a.m. I made the drive up to Mission Viejo by Laguna Beach/Hills. It took a little over an hour to get there, and since I was a little early, I walked the mall a bit. They didn't have as many high-end store as my post about South Coast Plaza, but I still could have done some damage to my credit card :)

I met with the Visual Merchandiser there, and he kind of just gave me a refresher course on what it means to be a V.M. as well as the proper sizing of the "forms" (no longer referred to as mannequins), and proper pinning techniques. All in all, I did learn some valuable information and it made me more confident with my new position.

It's As Easy As 1,2,3...

Erica called me to ask if I could help her with a home improvement project. The selling point was take-out & a bottle of wine :) I thought we would probably need two! She picked me up and we went to West Elm (one of my favorite places)to pick out some curtain rods for which she had already picked out curtains for at IKEA, found here. She also thought she need a new rug to match the curtains. Here were our selections:

We got two curtain rods since she has one small window behind the TV, and one double window behind the bed. Erica really liked the polished nickel versus the brushed metal, so that's what we got.

The rug that she picked out was soooo incredibly soft, I wanted it for myself! We went back and forth for a couple of minutes but ultimately picked out the one on top because the natural looking one would probably turn dirty brown over time. We loaded the car, picked up some wine and we were off!

This is what her window behind the TV looked like before. I didn't get a chance to take a picture of the double windows behind the bed, but at least this gives you can idea of what they looked like.









After struggling with trying to figure out how to take the panels down for the double windows, and Erica almost falling to her death (she would have landed on the bed), taking down the single window panels was a breeze! We were even able to put the new curtain rod hardware into the exact same place the old ones were in.

After a hard work's night, this was the end product:

The whole project probably took a couple hours, and it looks so elegant. We took a few wine breaks of course and ordered take-out from Extraordinary Desserts, which was awesome because (a) I got my discount and (b) the salad, chips & dip, and cheese plate were amazing! Overall it was a really fun and productive night :)

The Waterfront.

After finishing our lovely dinner at The Turf Club, we scurried over to The Waterfront in Little Italy.(It is one of Chris & Erica's favorite hang-outs)

***Want a little bit of background of The Waterfront?!***

The Waterfront Bar has been preserved as a historical landmark. It’s the long-time aficionados of the antiquated dive breathing a sigh of relief. The bar, legendary owner of San Diego’s oldest liquor license, is an artifact of a sleepier time, when the bustling metropolis was little more than a fishing port.

All I have to say is, "Thank goodness for The Waterfront, because they came up with a Swine Flu Vaccine!" :) With all the talk about the danger of Swine Flu, it's a relief that a bar would be able to save us all!

Since Erica & I didn't dine at the Turf Club, we enjoyed a wholesome meal at here. Erica had a grilled cheese, while I devoured a cheeseburger. Pure deliciousness. After all sharing two pitchers of beer, Erica convinced me that getting a Swine Flue vaccine was a good idea. They mostly tasted like a shot of Margarita. This probably marked the end of the night, as I thought that I might be able to drive home. Luckily, Joseph was there to make sure I arrived home safely :)

The Turf Club

Friday night, Joseph, Erica, Chris & I went to The Turf Club for Chris' Birthday celebration. From the outside, it seemed like a total hole in the wall, but inside it was pretty cool. We got there in time to not have to wait over an hour for a table. The concept of the restaurant/bar is that you select your steak choice and you get to grill it yourself. Joseph and Chris both ordered steaks so they had the job of grilling their own meats while Erica and I sat and chatted. (We eat at the next stop...)




The setting was pretty cool. The lighting set the mood and this awesome lamp above us really fascinated me. You can't see it very well in the picture but the detailing was pretty cool. Joseph got a Ribeye so it took quite some time to cook as it was really thick. Once it was between Medium-Rare & Medium, he took it off the grill and we sat to eat.

Joseph's steak, I thought, was actually pretty good and juicy. Obviously, it wasn't Iowa grade, but it was satusfying! It may have been a little red for him, but I thought it was yummy. I could only take a few bites since I "wasn't hungry" and didn't order one for myself.

Judging from Joseph's face, you can probably guess that we didn't end the night here! :)

Visual Merchandiser.

I got it!

I found out today that I got the position of Visual Merchandiser. I am going to meet our Regional Director on Thursday and then I am going up to Mission Viejo in Orange County on Tueday of next week, for training. I can't wait. I will keep you all updated, for now, it's time to open a bottle of my favorite champagne and celebrate!

Jr. Phils Fashion Show.

We woke up bright and early Sunday to get ready for the fashion show at Meadowlark Golf Course for the Junior Philharmonics Fundraiser Luncheon. The show was set to start at 12:30 so we had to setup all of the rolling racks, clothing, and dressing area. Once everything was set and all the models arrived, we were set to go!

We showcased Cleobella (The founder is a Huntington Beach native and went to high school with Allison. You can find her stuff at shopbob.com) RVCA, Rip Curl, and lines from Diane's (Billabong, Juicy, Roxy, & Elan). They also modeled the Kreed & Crush sunglasses, and got to keep a pair as well. Once the fashion show gets going, it is such an adrenaline rush to get them from one look to another, and in this instance they had about 4-5 looks! The Junior Phils Board was very happy with everything, so that was awesome.

Huntington Beach.

After leaving Costa Mesa/South Coast Plaza, we made our way to Huntington Beach to meet Allison & Rachel. We stopped at the house to drop off our stuff and freshen up before meeting up with them downtown for lunch and to pull looks for the fashion show.

After lunch and pulling clothes from Diane's, Rip Curl, & RVCA, we headed back to the house to relax for the rest of the day.

Allison's parents came over and we had a BBQ. We ate BBQ chicken, grilled sweet corn, and salad. Everything was delicious, as you can see me devouring my food. Her family was really sweet.
A few of Allison's childhood friends came to visit. We took a group shot.


After a great dinner, and several glasses of wine, we just hung out, talked, and took silly pictures. For helping with the fashion show, Allison had all of us pick out a pair of sunglasses from a local label called Kreed & Crush. We're all sporting our new shades! We went to bed semi-early, knowing we had to get up bright and early to get everything ready for the show.

South Coast Plaza - Orange County

Saturday, Joseph and I drove up to Orange County to stay with Allison, and help her with her fashion show on Sunday. On the way, we stopped at South Coast Plaza. It is the premiere shopping center in Southern California & Orange County.

Since the mall wasn't open yet, we parked and decided to walk around a bit.

Luckily, there was a walking bridge that extended from the mall into the city!

Everything was so cool & artistic, but interestingly strange. As you can see, I got "lost" in all of these bush shrubs.

There was something about this building that I really liked. Perhaps it was the overall design, or the fact that there was a strange eagle-like art piece in the middle of it.

I really liked this shot. In the back is an amazing concert hall called the Renee & Henry Segerstrom Concert Halland. In the front on the left is an art sculpture. We walked around it and realized you could do inside of it. Once inside, everything was echoed to such an extreme.

I took this picture looking up into the art sculpture. It didn't turn out quite as I wanted but you can get an idea!

After our mid-day adventure, we headed to the mall. It was AMAZING. It seriously had any store you could possibly think of like Christian Louboutin, Oscar de la Renta, Yves Saint Laurent, Zara, Louis Vuitton, D&G, Dior, Fendi, Chanel, Valentino, Michael Kors, Tory Burch, Jimmy Choo, Stuart Weitzman, Carolina Herrera, & Burberry. It's was like a fashion mecca, I was in heaven :)