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...

Birthday Bonanza

This weekend I celebrated two of my friend's birthdays. I feel such an overwhelming sense of gratitude towards God for allowing me to have such wonderful people in my life. Man, now I wanna cry. Ok enough of that.

First up to get super old is my friend Monica Harmonica. She is a way cool girl with great hair and a great personality and I love her even if she doesn't appreciate anything involving seafood. We went to Jr. High together, lost touch for ages and now we communicate pretty much everyday. She makes my days at work go by faster with her funny stories and her obsession for old furniture shopping.


To celebrate we went to a really cute place in Pasadena called La Grande Orange. They have the best White Sangria in town, so of course we had to have a pitcher, or two, or three :) What's better on a Friday night, than a little celebrating and gossiping with good friends? I can't really think of much...

Second up? My friend O'ryan. This birthday was quite monumental for her. She was turning the Big 3-0!


O'ryan and I IM all day long about everything from fashion, to what's for lunch, to weird or funny video links she sends me. Once I told her about this video that shows some political dude blowing his brains out on live tv. After that, I stopped suggesting links. She pretty much does all the link sending. And I'm ok with that :)

Saturday night we went out to Silverlake (hipster paradise I like to call it), to this cool bar called Barbarella. I like hanging out in Silverlake. I hang out there every now and then, as to keep my coolness meter in a high range, but sometimes I think Sliverlake just doesn't get me. I can't really put my finger on it, but when I do, I'll elaborate further...Wait, it maybe that I haven't been able to get into beer, I wear too much lipstick, and actually enjoy watching stuff like "Say yes to the Dress". Hmm, that might be it, but I think there's more.

Ok so back to my friend O'ryan. We had the best time celebrating her birthday with about 100 of her closest friends. No joke, I'm positive she knew pretty much everyone that showed up, on a personal level. That's just the kind of gal she is, knows A LOT of people (but not in an obnoxious way). So when she has a birthday, everyone comes out to celebrate with her. She's super terrific, I love her and I'm glad she's my friend and doesn't judge me when I eat King Taco for lunch 3 times in a row...

Screw you Summer!

A couple days ago a few friends and I decided it would be a great idea to go to the beach and layout, read, people watch, actually get in the water...None of this happened.

We get to Newport and it's overcast, and a little cool. We say no biggie, it's only noon, Im sure it will clear up. We stop by Trader Joes and also make a trip to the Shake Shack, before we put our toes in the sand.


I had the best chocolate banana shake. Mmmm...











My friends Julie and Rahnia take us to their super secret spot of Newport that nobody goes to. Well, it was jammed packed. There were like 6 school buses parked near by and it took us 10 minutes to find a spot. We finally find one and make our trek down to the beach. We find a place amongst all the kiddies and the large umbrellas and park our butts. First thing on the agenda? Eat! We were all starving. We eat and talk and then everyone decides to lay down and get some sun, only the sun still wasn't out. I tried reading my magazine, but I was too busy wondering if the sun would ever come out. My friend Karen asks if anyone wants to get in the water - Juju, Karen and I walk over. I get one foot in the water and i'm OUT. It was freezing! I decide I'm heading back to lay out and this little, snot head, 3 year old, splashes me with freezing water. And then she laughs about it! Grrr, I walk away super bitter. Not too long after, Karen and Juju are in tow. And apparently Juju had a similar story to tell about that little girl. The rest of the time we were there, we were keeping an eye on that trouble maker with her polka dot bathing suit and matching headband. Her cuteness wasn't fooling any of us. We were on to her.

So we're all back on our towels, trying to get some rays (they were nowhere to be found), all of a sudden we notice this:



Hmm, it doesn't seem super funny now, but trust me, it was hilarious. That pigeon was hanging out there forever. And the people didn't notice it at all. We were waiting for them to notice and it never happened, the pigeon just walked away...But I swear it was really funny!

After that hilarious incident, we kind of all looked at each other and decided that the sun wasn't going to come out and we better start heading home.

Overall it was a great day of hanging out with friends, but Summer didn't cooperate one bit. I think Summer forgot we're Southern California. I think we're going to take another crack at a beach day next month. Hopefully Summer doesn't disappoint, again. But if it does, at least I'll have a chocolate banana shake in my hand, that won't melt right away :)