Evening's thoughts...

I'm sitting at home tonight, drinking some red wine, watching Steve cook us dinner, pondering what makes us happy in life. I'm blissfully writing these thoughts from the comfort and security of our cozy home. Foxy is laying next to our feet, like she normally does - Must be in the mix of things. It smells like mushrooms sauteed in butter, I almost want to eat the air, it smells so good. So what makes everything feel so perfect? There are so many people with beautiful homes and beautiful husbands and seemingly beautiful lives. They could be sitting at home drinking some wine, looking at their beautiful surroundings, but feeling utterly miserable, for any number of reasons. Why has this blessing been bestowed upon me, or you? And will it last forever? I figure, probably not, nothing ever does, but even on the days I feel like shit, I always feel hopeful and optimistic and I always know things will turn around. I can't say I've always felt that way. There have been times, earlier in my life, when I felt trapped and couldn't see a way out. A very dark place that seemed to get darker by the day. I'm pretty sure that is what makes me appreciate these moments, and makes me hold on to them that much tighter.

Tonight, I say a prayer for all my friends and my family. May we all be happy and feel safe and secure in our lives. And even when we feel the weight, of the pressures of life, coming down on us, may we know that there is always a way out of the shit hole and things WILL get better. And when things are wonderful, may we appreciate and hold on to those moments and make them last.

I love you all, and no, I'm not drunk...

The Joël Robuchon Experience

Ok so let me start by saying that I feel more than blessed that I get to have experiences like this in my life and I want to thank my sweetheart for always being so generous and making my every fantasy come true and for being darn right fantastic.

This is Steve in his serious face.



Ok, let's get down to business. We arrive In Vegas last weekend midday on Saturday. We lounge the day away and even take a nap in prep for our dinner at 8:30 pm, which we knew would last well into the night.

We arrive at Joël Robuchon and it's everything I expected. The restaurant looks amazing. They greet us and take us to our seat. I'm generally not a fussy restaurant person, but my seat was wobbly and so I mentioned something about it. Instead of them trying to fix it, they promptly move us to a different table and I'm happy about this.

We get a couple of cocktails, which are delicious and we take a gander at the menu. They had a 16-course tasting menu that looked amazing, but I knew my stomach wasn't ready for that much food so we decided against it and did some a la carte action. Let me show you :)

First they started us off with some delicious caviar (compliments of the house).



They brought by a lovely Bread cart with the most delicious breads I've ever tasted.



Then I moved on to my appetizer. I chose Truffled langoustine ravioli with chopped cabbage. Super delicious.



Now on to my soup. I had the Delicate tofu veloute on warm smoked eel seaweed gelee. The soup was interesting, but not my favorite dish.



On to my main course. I had the lovely Sole cooked in salted butter, capers and roasted matsutakes. Very tasty!



Now on to cheese! We had to have a cheese course. It was really yummy and the waiter knew his cheeses. I forgot to take a pic of the cheese cart, but trust me, it was quite impressive...

For dessert I had the Blueberry compote and lemon brulee finished with a violet milkshake, which Steve read as "violent milkshake" and was very curious how this dessert would be displayed. Hahaha, what a Steve...



So you might think dinner is over, Oh, but it's not my friends. They had one little surprise up their sleeves. They brought over this Fantastic dessert cart with a ton of mini desserts. They named each and every one and they let us choose as many as we wanted.



Oh wait, this actually wasn't the last surprise. After we payed the bill they brought out a little coffee cake for us to take home.

So let me give you my final thoughts on the restaurant. Definitely a great experience. The attention to detail was impeccable. The most polished restaurant I've been to in the United States. It was also the most expensive dinner we have ever had. Was it worth it? For the experience I'm going to say Yes. Have I had a better dinner? I must tell you that Melisse is still at the top of my list in that department, but Joël Robuchon is definitely in my top 5 of Awesomest(I know, it's not a word, but you get the picture) dinners.

Boot Season is here!

I've begun the hunt for the perfect boots. "In" this season? Wedge booties! I must get my grubby paws in a pair of gray suede, wedge booties.


These Belle SIGERSON MORRISON Lace-Up Wedge Booties I think are super terrific!



Also pretty hot are lace ups. I have my eyes on a pair of knee high, lace-up riding boots. I hate that I love so much. Here are a pair of really cool Frye lace-ups. They're on the military looking side (which is very stylish this season). I think they would be totally cute with skinny jeans or with over-the-knee socks and a cute dress:



What are your thoughts for the season? What will you be sporting? Let's share!

P.s. I got most my images from Bloomies. They have been very inspiring for this Fall/Winter.

Funktafied (just a rant)

I'm in a mood today. I have no reason for it, I just am. It's my first day of work after a 4-day weekend. You think I'd be refreshed and ready to face the work day. Instead, I'm in a major funk. What's wrong with me, you might ask? Simple, I'm a girl. There really isn't any other way to explain it. It's that time of the month soon and as much as I try not to get moody, emotional and depressed around this time, nothing works. Every month I just roll with the punches and wait til it passes, but boy is it a drag.

This morning I woke up for work early but I didn't bother showering. I wasn't feeling it. So, I brushed my teeth(thank God, for my co-workers sake), washed my face, put my hair up and put on the clothes I had worn to dinner the night before. I couldn't be bothered to look for something to wear and I felt like a cow this morning so leggings and a large shirt, with a sweater over it, suited me perfectly.

As I'm writing this it's 1:37pm, I'm at my desk, willing the clock to move faster so that I can head home and get under the covers. I'm thinking tomorrow will be a better day. I'm a very optimistic person and this is what I'm telling myself until the day is through.

Oh, another thing bugging me? I'm trying to read, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. I can't get into it. Mind you I'm only on page 15, but I'm having a hard time and so I feel like the only person that doesn't get it. Everyone else likes and raves about this book. WHAT IS MY PROBLEM? Ok, well, I'll try to read some more tonight. I hear it start getting good soon and that is what I'm hoping soes I don't start feeling like a loser about this too. Lame...

Falling Whistles

I've been meaning to write about this for a week, I just get side-tracked very easily. A few weeks ago I was looking online for a cool whistle. I walk my dog late sometimes and I thought it would be a good idea to get one since I never carry mace and It's a known fact that a whistle will render a psycho maniac paralyzed (true story). I ended up finding this website, Falling Whistles. Falling Whistles is a campaign for peace in Congo. 100% of the proceeds from the purchase of a whistle will go to restoring the lives of war-affected kids through rehabilitation programs and stateside advocacy.
If you get a chance, check out the website and read more about it. It's a really great cause and the whistles are pretty spiffy.

Vegan Shoes = Cool Julia

Yay! I received a new pair of shoes in the mail today, and they're vegan! I'm so cool. So this is my very first pair of vegan shoes ever, and so far, I like! My friend Julie turned me on to Cri De Couer. It is an ethical footwear company. She is a designer for the brand which, "provides stylish, contemporary women’s footwear that is ethically produced from start to finish." And yes, they are quite stylish.



I tried them on already and they feel great. I can't wait to get home and check them out in the mirror and try them on with a few outfits. This purchase really made me feel good about myself. It's a win-win situation. I get to indulge in my shoe fascination (I was going to use the word obsession but it just has a bad connotation now in days) AND, I get to help the Vegan cause. See, win-win...


Check out the website when yo get a chance and buy something. You'll feel like a better person for it :)

Look at this!

For most people that know me, know one very important thing about me. I love food. There's no way around it. Food is definitely one of my passions. I enjoy food in a very intense way. And I'm not discriminating, I enjoy all types of foods from all parts of the world. Go ahead, name some part of the world and trust me, I like something from there. And if by chance I haven't tasted something from that part of the world, believe me, I will some day. I'll bet you one dollar.

Now that we've placed our bets, let me tell you about my trip to Fairfax in Los Angeles, aka, Little Ethiopia. This is the second time I've been to this particular restaurant and let me tell you something.....I like it!

The place is called Meals by Genet and the name couldn't be more literal. Genet is the chef and owner and she,with the help of maybe 2 assistants, prepares every single meal. I had been craving it since the last time I went and I finally got the chance to go again with some friends and this is what we got:

I can't even begin to tell you about all the little things around the tray, but they're all yummy, just trust me. What I can tell you about is that thing on the top. It's Dorowot - spicy chicken stewed in red pepper sauce with ethiopian butter. It comes with hard boiled eggs and it's absolutely, fantastic! So we ordered the vegetarian combination tray with some steak that you see off to the left side (it was super yummy too) and the Dorowot. I could eat Dorowot every day. I might even name my first and only child Dorowot. Sorry Ludovic, you're out...

So, we ate our Ethiopian food with a giant, spongy tortilla that comes like this:

When we first went to Ethiopian, we thought it was our napkin. Then we realized it was a delicious spoon!

We had a wonderful experience. I left the place stuffed. And as we walked out the door, I already wanted to go back...