Puppy Love

Came across this Super Bowl ad and completely fell in love.

Super Bowl Commercial Teasers

The Super Bowl is this weekend and many people are pumped. I've seen people all over my floor at work walking around with cash putting their names down in pools. Personally, I'm more into the commercials that will be out. Recently learning how much a Super Bowl ad costs, I'm intrigued on the creativity that goes behind making this million dollar + ad.

Here's some I have found intriguing:

Butterfinger

Pepsi

VW

Axe

Bud Light

M&M

Jaguar

Oikos

Go Daddy

Oreo
Sodastream... now banned from airing during the Super Bowl


Oh John Stamos... Can't get enough of the Full House throwbacks. <3
Which teasers do you enjoy?

Working Hard Has Its iMac Sized Perks

So excited to share that I'm writing this post from my new iMac! Even more exciting to share that this cost me nothing! Yep, I got this bad boy for free!

I don't know about you, but I think my work has some awesome benefits. Outside of the usual health and 401K benefits, we have a system where we can earn what's called Real Recognition points for working on special projects and whatnot. You can use these points to shop in their wide selection catalog of products. When they started the program and I first started getting points, I bought myself a Kindle Fire. I didn't think I'd earn that many points going forward, but in my last position, I accrued many many points; a thousand points plus to be exact. It was awesome. I hoarded the points with an iMac as my goal.

Wondering what I did to get that many points? Well, in my case, I dated a really horrible douchebag that basically shut me down and turned me off from dating for a bit. I used my time more strategically and focused more on my career and bettering myself. I worked hard to make a name for myself and took on more projects than ever. My work didn't go unnoticed, hence the plethora of awesome points that made its way into my account and landed me this beauty.

can you guess what I was listening to?

You may have caught that I said "my last position" above. I transitioned to a new role at work in October. It's a role that I've wanted for a long time and worked hard to get to. If I hadn't pushed myself these past two years with all those projects, I don't think I would have landed this new gig. All in all, I would say that dating that douchebag has done me a lot of good. They say with every relationship there is something to be learned. Trust me, I learned a lot from that one, but sitting and crying over spilled rotten milk will get you nowhere. I chose to hop on over to Tamarland and make it a better place. I'm happy to say that I love where I am in my life. This millennialista is about working hard and enjoying its benefits, like this iMac. How else would I get to splurge on my shopping extravaganzas, adventures in and out of LA, and all those fabulous Sunday Fundays?!

**Disclaimer: Dating douchebags does not guarantee you furthering your career nor get you an iMac. Get off your ass and do something more meaningful than dating a loser!

Keeping Resolutions Update #2

10%!!! I've reached 10% of my Route 66 Resolution Bike Challenge!!! Wahooo!!! :D

How are you doing with your Resolutions?

Sunday Funday: Getty Museum

The clouds have rolled in and I was woken up early on this Sunday morning to get our brunch on earlier than usual. One of my favorite local eateries for brunch is a place called Black Cow Cafe in Montrose. I love going on Sundays so that the long wait for seating is subsided by the farmers market. Coming out to Honolulu Street in Montrose always feels like you're traveling to a whole other place. These types of towns are incredibly rare in Southern California. It's a treat to be able to just walk through all these long standing local businesses and really see a community stick together.

I love reading/hearing the specials whenever dining out. So, of course I ventured away from my usual corn flake crusted french toast this morning and opted for a brand new added special. The waiter informed me that it was the first time they tried this dish out and let me tell you, I cleaned it up and had my friends feasting off my skillet as well.

Sweet Potato Spinach Sausage Skillet
alliteration delight

fresh squeezed orange juice and strawberry mimosa

Sunday Funday staples always include brunch. I wouldn't have it any other way.
Brunch goodness always needs a walk or adventure to treat the heavenly food coma I'm always in.

Today's venue was the Getty Museum. Personally, I love coming to the Getty just for the view alone. Admission is free everyday. My friend, Rachelle, will be moving further from LA soon and prior to that move we want to get as many of her LA bucket list activities concurred. The Getty was on her list. Although it was cloudy today, we still could see all of LA.

We found some classic Van Gogh and Monet paintings on view.

group selfie with Iris by Van Gogh

my favorite of the day: Loom with Weaver by Van Gogh

One of my favorite things to see at the Getty is the garden. It's so peaceful and rich in color. Completely understandable to want to lay out on the lawn all day out here.

pennies to capture our wishes

bougainvillea arbors

Another obsession of mine has to be succulents. I'm a notorious plant killer but succulents make me content and less guilty of neglect. Succulents are like beta fishes: easy to maintain and long living. Look at all the pretty rare succulents I came across.

Alright, enough with my succulent display of succulents.

Well, hello there!

Hope everyone had a great Sunday Funday! If you're not on the Sunday Funday bandwagon, get on it! Next weekend is Super Bowl Sunday. Even if you don't watch football like me, grab some friends and have a blast watching men run around and of course those awesome commercials and half time show. This is probably one of my favorite teasers out so far. Can't get enough of the Full House throwbacks.

Pinspiration: Burlap Banner DIY

One of my dearest college friends is getting married this June and I can't be more excited for her! Her bridal shower is just around the corner and the event planner in me is all over it. With a knack for details, DIY projects, and Pinspiration, my to do list is ever growing. One of the things I want to accomplish is this vision I have for a dessert table. So much a vision that I had to draw it out to explain to my friends what I want it to look like.

don't judge me for my doodles

With my DIY list growing, it was time to knock one off.

my kitchen table is my current work station

Mission: Love is Sweet banner for the dessert table. I could have made it easy for myself and bought one off of etsy, but decided easy is not my style nor personal. After much internal debate between using burlap, card stock, and stencils, these are the items I ended up using.

banner supplies

Who has time to cut burlap in multiple even pieces or anything for that matter? I would lose my mind. Burlap isn't the easiest thing to cut nor user friendly. Every time I use burlap, I realize why it's been so long since I had last used it... I'm pretty much allergic to it! I burst out in hives. While spending an extensive time looking for banner kits, card stocks and pre-cut banner sheets, I found Burlap paper at Jo-Ann Fabric. These were life savers. They were only $6 and the perfect size for me, 6" x 6". The only con to this item was that the sheets were not perforated, but that's nothing an exacto knife won't fix.

wish the sheets were perforated

Wondering where I found my pretty card stock? $1 bin at Jo-Ann Fabrics! They're notecards I cut in half. I love how they are embossed. It adds so much character! As for the letters, they're by Simple Surfaces found at Michaels. Each letter only cost 29¢! I liked them so much with their natural birch color that for the first time I didn't find the need to paint. After using Mod Podge to put all the pieces together, I set them out to dry.

All that remains is to punch some holes in the corners and string thru some twine. They'll soon be complete and ready to be hung! Can't wait to use it at the shower! I'll definitely post pictures from the event in a few weeks. Stay tuned for more of my DIY bridal shower decor series thanks to Pinspiration.

Sunday Funday: Los Angeles

Ahh, the city of Angels. It's the city I was born and raised in, filled with so many wonders that you can't neglect to partake.

It was such a beautiful summer's day this past weekend. I don't know what this polar vertex nonsense is considering its been in the 70s/80s all month long. Staying indoors in this weather would be a shame. To appease Mother Nature, my bestie and I decided to get to know Echo Park, Silver Lake, and Los Feliz, the neighborhoods so close by yet not nearly visited by us.

What started out as a dash to check out a vintage yard sale hosted by one of the wives from No Doubt, turned into a fun in the sun excursion.

You know that moment you see a store you've heard so much about so you have to walk in? Well that happened with Valerie Confections in Echo Park. Starting the day off with dessert... why not? We got ourselves some petite fours and a galette, which was consumed as breakfast this morning. Yummz.

that blood orange vanilla cream galette was phenomenal as my breakfast

Realizing that brunch should shortly follow suit, we drove to Silver Lake for brunch at Sqirl. Small and quaint and packs a punch. Definitely want to go back and explore the menu some more.

The Dream

Open Face Brioche Toast

Delicious food comas has one subtle cure for us: walking, getting drinks, and shopping. Taking strolls in Silver Lake and then landing ourselves in Los Feliz and grabbing drinks at the Big Bar at Alcove Cafe. Sitting on the patio, basking in the sun, watching the fellow passerbys, and just having a great relaxing afternoon. Couldn't have asked for more.

Day wouldn't really be complete til I bought something cute for myself. Love my new earrings from Meowdy!

Glossybox #Winning Update

I previously mentioned that I had won a 12 days of Christmas giveaway item from Glossybox. Honestly, I had no idea what I was receiving but I am pleasantly surprised and happy. My Glossybox #winning has arrived! Check it out! It's a collection of 5 luxury hand cremes from Nest Fragrances.

Nest Fragrances

These smell amazing! I think Dahlia & Vines may be my favorite one, which is no surprise considering I love dahlias and loved getting lost in a field of them in Oregon last October. Great, I'm going to be one of those weirdos who just sniff their hands all day long, but hey, at least my hands smell better than yours.

Oscar Buzz

I feel like the Golden Globes were just yesterday and Jared Leto's bun made its way on stage to accept a win for Best Supporting Actor.

Jared Leto

This morning the Oscar nominations were announced and I have a lot of work to do. I hear many good things about the Best Picture nominees and can only say that I've seen one so far... "Her", which was great.Who do you think will take home the Oscar?

I love the Oscars and try to throw Oscar parties every year. Themed parties are awesome and clearly a passion of mine. One of the fun things about these parties is the competition of which guest will win the Oscar for most correct winners. Last year, it was a tie between a coworker and myself but I let her take home the Oscar, as any honest host would. Another favorite of mine is the food pairings to each of the Best Picture nominees. Can't wait to watch these films and get to cookin!

Here's a throwback Thursday look to the 2013 Oscars:

poster board, spray paint & scissors

2013's Best Picture Nominees Food Pairings
Argo: Persian Ice Cream from Mashti Malones
Beasts of the Southern Wild: Bourbon Meatballs
Zero Dark Thirty: Hummus
Life of Pi: Vegetable Pakoras
Django Unchained: White Cake
Lincoln: Apple Bread Pudding
Amour: Chocolate Croissants
Silver Linings Playbook: Philly Cheese Steak Sliders 
Les Misérables: Baked Brie in Puff Pastry

Saturday Night Culture: Highland Park Art Walk

Highland Park, CA was once a rugged historic city in Los Angeles where the Avenue gangs ruled the streets and where the first Forever 21 store opened as Fashion 21. Flash forward to today and all you see is the up in coming vintage, cultural and hipster local shops. Part of the cultural urban revolution in LA, Highland Park hosts its own art walk on the second Saturday of every month with NELA Organization.

Here's a flash of their first art walk of the year:

 

 

My observations: lots of hipsters, I thought I was in Portland for a second, how do some of these shops survive, Dodger pride, Dia de los Muertos/sugar skulls all year round, Frida Kahlo lives on, art Yoda loves, art transforms communities, Johnny's for drinks and The York for grub.
See you next month.