The Final Hurrah

I sadly missed the red carpet because I was in flight and missed the end of the awards because I'm old and pseudo-narcoleptic, but I did see most of the show and all the outfit recaps. Here are some lovelies.

Halle Berry in Marchesa

Gwyneth Paltrow in Calvin Klein

Helen Mirren in Vivienne Westwood

Natalie Portman in Rodarte

Camila Alves in Kaufman Franco

Facebook Etiquette in the Eyes of R

So, we all use Facebook for various things...some to keep in touch with long distance friends, some to keep up to date with current events, and a small group of people who choose to use it to document every second of their day.  I've summed up some Facebook Dos/Don'ts in the eyes of R.

Don'ts:

• Don't post every detail about your child's sickness, including which end they are ejecting fluids out of (EWW!)
• Don't post every single caloric detail of your day (do I need to know if you've only eaten 4.5 calories today - NO)
• Don't refer to people's Facebook status in normal conversation.  Example:  When you haven't seen/talked to someone in a few weeks, don't bring up what they did last weekend from you reading their Facebook page.
• Don't post every second of your labor (including when the child has arrived) and paste pictures of the poor mom who has just delivered the child.
• Don't Facebook while intoxicated (I'm still learning this one)

Do's:

• Do take the time to post pictures so that your friends can keep up with you
• Do try to respond to people's comments on your page and answer the question

Any other rules you'd like people to abide by?

Some R&R in Palm Springs

Thie past weekend G$ adn I jetted down to Palm Springs for a long due weekend away.  We had planned this weekend back in January, and have been counting down to it like kids count down to Christmas.

G$ had to go for work, and I ended up fanagling a work meeting for Tuesday, which meant that I had an extra night to stay down there.  Our main inspiration for going there you ask....THE OUTLETS in Cabazon!  These are the best outlets in the WORLD - its a shopper's fantasyland paradise.  Gammo, Dior, Kate Spade, YSL, Gucci - you name it and it was there.  And chances are...it was also 50% off!

We stayed at the Temecula Creek Inn on Saturday night and took advantage of their date night package, which included dinner, champagne and strawberries in your room rate. I also realized that I had left my wallet at William Rast at the outlets...which meant we had to return on Sunday - OOOOOOOOPS!   Our waitress randomly was a waitress we'd had multiple times before at a restaurant in SF - small world!  Has a bottomless bloody mary/mimosa brunch and then did some wine tasting on Sunday, only to head back to the outlets.  I decided I don't like wine from this region..way too dry.

We then headed to Palm Springs, for some dinner, mellow time, hiking and recharging.  The only thing was I felt bad that I was on some meds that make me kind of moody/cranky - so poor G$ had to put up with it.

It was nice to get away and have some time to reconnect and recharge :)

R's Food Porn Inspired by the Weather

It's monsooning in the Bay Area, and a major highway is flooded.  Here is my food porn inspired by the weather:

N's Friday Food Porn

Spiced Yogurt Cheese Balls

Bow Bracelet...Bow Bracelet..Where Are You My Bow Bracelet?

I'm asking for a moment of silence for the bow bracelet I lost this weekend while sipping my mimosa and going to brunch.

R's Food Porn

My food porn was inspired by N's dinner menu tonight.  In 2010 during one of our many weddings, we spent an afternoon before the wedding with some flatbreads and sauv blanc.  Here are some of my favorite flatbreads.



Fig - Prosciotto Flatbread



Roasted Mushroom Flatbreads

N's Friday Food Porn

Caprese Salad Bruschetta

Strobe Light Disco Ball

Look at my fun nails - color is "Strone Light" by Sally Hensen.  The best thing about this color is that you won't be able to see when it chips :)  The picture does not do justice to my sparkles.  Be on the lookout for a nail polish comparison soon!

Bored?

Sometimes I need a break from working (or pretending to work) but am already caught up on all my lexulous games, blog reading, facestalking, and online shopping. What's a girl to do then? Maybe try hopping over to these sites which could even be slightly productive?

• Sharpen your fashion skillz with InStyle's Instant Stylist game.
  
• Sharpen your brain skillz with Lumosity. I especially like Word Bubbles.
• Burn some calories by laughing at Damn You Auto Correct.
• Do some volunteer work from the comfort of your own ergonomic desk chair at Sparked or UN Online Volunteering.
• Play games at Free Rice to send 10 grains of rice to a hungry person for each correct answer you give.
  
• Do some Googling to figure out how many correct answers it will take to provide one serving of rice.
  

Yoga-Licious

Finding the right pair of yoga pants can be quite the challenge.  You need them to fit without constant tugging, showing of every imperfection on your body, be long enough (for me), and not fade after constant washing.

I HATE faded yoga pants, so I often have to find them in that somewhat shiny material.  Here are some that I've had success with:

Old Navy Compression Legging

VSX Yoga Pant from Victoria Secret (and they come in longs!)

I have yet to try any other well known brands like Lucy, Gap, Athleta, or Lululemon.  I am leaning towards purchasing a pair of Lululemons, especially if I find them on sale.

I did buy a headbandfrom Lululemon this weekend, and I LOVE it:

Happy Valentine's Day!

Whether single or married, I think Valentine's Day can be a great reminder for each of us to let others know that we love them.

So here are some of my favorite Valentine's Day cards to let people in my life know that I love them.

Grammatically Correct

I have no idea who won Grammy awards last night. I do know that Lady Gaga was carried around in an egg for hours and that Cee Lo, Gwyneth, and some muppets sang together. The red carpet was underwhelming to me, but here are a few high notes.

Keri Hilson in Basil Soda


Selena Gomez in J. Mendel

Kelly Osbourne in Tadashi Shoji

R's Friday Food Porn

G$ and my tradition on Valentine's Day is quite simple.  A nice dinner that we prepare together at home.  Its fun - the first time we ever met was Valentine's Day weekend, and try as we must to go to a fun night out it was monsooning and we ended up in our PJs with In-n-Out. 

Our second Valentine's Day he insisted on making me dinner.  Unfortunately, it ended up being a night where we spent 4+ hours at Kaiser for some eyedrops...and dinner ended up being a disaster.

So going forward, Valentine's Day is simple and spontaneous.  But here are some yummy insprirations for your Valentine's Day meal:



Surf and Turf



Linguini with Clams

Chocolate Hazelnut Mousse

And it may not be the sexiest food, but David and Donna did celebrate their engagement by eating it in bed and I'd be happy celebrating Valentine's Day with this in bed:

N's Friday Food Porn: Valentine Edition

Blackberry Crepes

Puff Pastry Filled With Stew


Strawberry Love Bugs

Red Velvet Valentine Cakes

Say Hello to Your Friends...

I was SO obsessed back in the day, and Ree and I won't let our parents get rid of our stock of books stored in their garage. I just stumbled across a few sites that predict where the girls are now, and here is what I imagine to be true:

• Kristy Thomas: Out of the closet now, she remains in the Northeast with her partner Kim and teaches high school softball. She is a slightly less conniving version of Sue Sylvester at work and volunteers at an animal shelter on weekends.
• Mary Anne Spier: While studying early childhood eduation at NYU (because you know she was obsessed with the Big Apple), she ran into her middle school flame, Logan Bruno. The two are now married and living in Brooklyn with their daughter Laura Beth and cat Tigress.
• Claudia Kishi: Much to her parents' dismay, Claudia skipped college and moved to Miami to seize an opportunity to present her art at a gallery. After she failed to gather income that way, she started working part-time at a coffee shop where she tries to push junk food onto otherwise health-conscious customers. She also practices makeup artistry, occasionally sells paintings, and lives with her current boyfriend Maurice.
• Stacey McGill: After an internship with Nylon magazine during high school, Stacey had her foot in the door with the bigwigs in NYC. She moved into a studio apartment with her old friend Laine while starting her fashion/marketing/modeling career, studied in Paris for 2 years, and is now a stylist for the stars. She decided not to be saddled down but has a steady stream of male companions.
• Dawn Schafer: Always a California girl, she graduated from Berkeley and opened a small organic farmers market and vegan restaurant. She lives a comfortable, relaxed lifestyle and recently married her boyfriend Paul in an impromptu beach wedding.
• Mallory Pike: While studying writing at Purdue (chosen because of its high male:female ratio), Mallory received a lot of male attention due to the lack of competition. She got pregnant at 20, dropped out of school, married her next boyfriend Nick, and followed in her mom's footsteps. She's now a housewife with 8 kids in Worcester.
• Jessi Ramsey: In high school, Jessi had the same experience as the girl in Save the Last Dance (subtract the dead mom and reverse the skin colors). She went to Juilliard and now teaches ballet and racial relations while planning her wedding to the ever-supportive James.
  

For other or more info, click here, here, and here.

Things that Make R Happy Today

I have decided that instead of spending time focusing on things that could be better, I'm going to focus on the things that are making me happy today :)  So here are the top few things:

1.  Having time to sit down and have breakfast today.  This may seem silly, but it made my day.

2.  Dinner with GravyTrain and Miss D tonight to catch up

3.  Wearing this sequin bracelet that Miss N gave me

R's Friday Food Porn

To follow in N's footsteps, my food porn is also inspired by the SuperBowl:

Chimichurri Sliders

Yumm...Pigs in a Blanket

G$'s personal fave:  NACHOS...but with cheese sauce



And last but not least...I may be a foodie, but I still love some foods that may be considered "trashy"

Now, the perfect thing to wash this down with:

R's Life in Terms of Perfume

I've been obsessed with perfume for as long as I can remember.  And for that, we can blame my dad.  My dad being in the retail industry would always buy us perfume when he went on his trips.  His strategy for buying perfumes :  not the scent, but the shape of the bottle.  The cooler the bottle looked, the louder it called his name.

Its funny that I bought my first perfume for myself at the age of 29. heee heee.

So let's start from the early 90's, why don't we:

This was the best thing in the world, back in the early 90's.  When I was 10. :)





 Then, as I entered my teen years, my favorite bottle in the world was.  The only thing missing in this picture is the silver mirrored bottle.


I loved the triangles, and I loved wearing a different "color" each day.

 Then, fastforward to the end of high school / beginning of college, we are looking at some H20 that is a bit cold ;)

Oh man, I thought I was super cool with this water!

Now, as I was midway into college, I started to realize which brands I liked and that I prefered simpler square bottles.  Enter, the perfume I wore from graduation of college into my young adulthood :)  I believe I even wore this the first time I met G$.

Enter, Gucci:

Ahh...Gucci2, I believe that you are the best thing to attract boys :)

Then in 2006, G$ for Valentine's Day bought me a perfume that he loved the smell of:

But too many people had it, and I didn't like that.  My dad then picked this up in a duty free shop:

Ooooh, hello lover! 

Then, fastforward to wedding day.  I forgot to pack perfume, but an Uncle had picked up some at a duty-free shop (we indians love duty free) on his jaunt over to the US.  Luckily, he picked up a bottle that reminds me of my mom in the 80's:

And, now to fast forward to present day...I've picked out and purchased my first signature scent...I hope to be like this scent:  "classic, elegant, timeless"

N's Friday Food Porn: Super Bowl Edition

Mac and Cheese Cupcakes

Chips, Salsa, and Guacamole

Tater Tots with Truffle Oil and Chipotle Dipping Sauce

Hey, It's OK!

I think the "Hey, It's OK!" section of Glamour magazine is genius. It really makes a girl feel like she's not alone in her quirkiness. :)

So according to little ole me, it's ok to...

• ...plan your life around your meals.
• ...judge the big athletic guys when they can't keep up with your class at the gym.
• ...keep people you barely know as your Facebook friends just because they post entertaining things.
• ...refrain from overtipping.
  
• ...believe in girl power but still prefer that guys open doors and make the first move.
• ...run around frantically hiding things in the closets when an unexpected guest is arriving.
• ...say that you "talked" to someone when you actually just gchatted or texted them.
• ...make sure you know who will be at a social gathering before confirming that you'll attend.
• ...be that person who makes a bunch of requests with their coffee or dinner order.
• ...not feel unproductive after sitting on the couch watching tv and surfing the internet all day.
• ...know what advice you want to hear before you ask for it and to give someone the advice you know he/she wants to hear.
  
• ...let people think your dessert is homemade when it's actually semi-homemade.
• ...count on your fingers.
• ...circle around a couple of times in hopes of getting the parking space closest to the building.
• ...Google something you're asked at work and act like you knew the answer all along.

What else do you think it's OK to do?