Viva Mexico!

With today's bedtime closely approaching (ahem, 9 p.m.) my birthday vacation is over. Yes, this year I dedicated an entire 10 days to my birthday. It really wasn't all about me, but more like doing things I enjoy.

Those things included...

- Seeing family including Bon Bon and my adorable niece Abby

- Too much shopping for myself (Bon was quick to reassure its acceptable during birthday week)

- Yummy cooking with my family

- Lots of talking and laughing with family and a good friend

- Missoni for Target!

I wrapped up my birthday week by meeting my best friend Chelsea in Mexico. I haven't been on a non-work trip in a while, and just wanted pure relaxation. It was the perfect three days for Chelsea and I to have our Freinaissance!

And I discovered September 15th is Mexican Independence Day. Chels and I joined in with our resort's festivities, and to make her happy we went dancing. Being friends with Chelsea in college was a never ending effort of avoiding "going out dancing." She loves it, I hate it. If you saw us dance you would understand why. But it was great!

The whole week was fantastic, it is one of the best birthdays I've had in a long time! All of these activities definitely deserve more details and pictures, so I'll post more later (I know my audience of 2 was worried). I am so grateful to have my family and friends who bring me happiness! Tomorrow morning I'm headed to New York, which also brings me happiness, and the opportunity to see another close friend, Arielle.

Here's to a great okay 28th year!

Mums the word

I love Mums!

I'm very lucky to be home in LA for two consecutive weeks. Whenever that happens I make sure to keep fresh flowers in the house! And, like I said, I love mums.

P.S. Yes, those are Pellegrino bottles used as decoration. I have a real thing for Missoni and thought it was a fun (cheap) use of color in my bedroom. Speaking of Missoni I am counting down the seconds for this!

Yesterday I woke up feeling ridiculously lazy and a little down. Saturdays are usually just as scheduled as my workweek with appointments, yoga class, errands, etc. I decided to indulge in my hermit-like feelings and stay in all day… but with purpose! Lately I have had a seriously bad case of fruit flies (due to eating almost an entirely plant-based diet, but more on that later).

I started around 10:30 a.m. and literally didn’t stop until 7:00 p.m.! AND I didn’t even get to my bathroom! For those of you won don’t know (or really for those who do, because I’m pretty sure Mom is the only one who reads my blog) my apartment is tiny. But the kitchen is spotless and scrubbed with bleach, the wood floors were swept, disinfected, and mopped; bookshelves are dusted, and bed sheets are clean.

Here are those beautifully dusted bookshelves…

One project in my pending list is finding photo albums so my bottom shelf doesn’t look like this:

I was beyond thrilled when I found DVD storage at Ikea that hides my (sometimes embarrassing) collection of movies & TV shows.

I tried to battle the flies by making a homemade trap. After some online reasearch I used a pasta jar, some fruit scraps and dates. I threw in some honey and hot soapy water for good measure. Ughhh… look at that sludge!

(FYI the saran wrap didn’t really work as intended. It was hard to keep the seal taut. I ended up leaving it completely open on top and just hoping the flies would take a swim). Throughout the day I added more and more scraps of food I ate and this morning I’m really topping the jar off. Its getting a bit out of control. And its oddly satisfying to see flies floating and the surface.

Not wanting to end this post on a disgusting note… This week I went to Dallas for work and lounged in a hanging pod-type chair in the hotel lobby. My dream is to have one of these bad boys in wicker next to my pool. I’m aware I don’t have a pool, or a backyard, or a house; obviously this is a far off dream.

In the Air

So obviously I haven't written every day, mostly because its like I'm writing to myself. But that's fine, its been years since I've kept a journal so basically this is it. And because I'm bored most of the time (outside of work) and my half-hearted blog will be a hobby.

Anyways, I am literally half way through a fligth from LAX to JFK. I know internet on planes isn't a new thing, but it still impresses me every time. That is all.

Welcome June!

I started this morning with a “proper” Rabbit Rabbit and a resolve: to write something every day.

Today I had the good fortune of driving from LA to Palm Desert… and back. I have finished a 9-disc 10-hour book on tape in 3 days. I would’ve finished a lot sooner, but sometimes I don’t think the calm British reading voice is an appropriate companion to my road rage. I still can’t get over being 13 miles from home but still 45 minutes in the car.

But my long-distance driving is shelved for a while! Boo-yah! This was cause enough for a celebration this evening. I found an avocado “ice-cream” recipe that was heavenly and decided to try it out. I did not use an ice cream maker, just my trusty new cuisinart. And I didn't eat all of this at once... although I could have... Obvs.

The gist:

1.5 ripe avocados

1ish frozen banana in chunks

1 cup almond milk

Sweetener

Sadly I’m not a cool (lame?) food blogger with step-by-step recipe pics, but something tells me that’s not far off (the pictures, not cool blogger-ness). Instead we can pretend that this is my beautiful concoction. In real life I layered it like a parfait with blueberries and sliced almonds. I don’t mind never eating guacamole again. (This is probably a lie)

On my radar this month:

- Vegas for a day, slathering on extra moisturizer tomorrow and hitting da strip!

- Barcelona for almost a week including a much-needed day off. Plan on spending it at la playa and Zara Home

- The Sales Period (need to start stretching, hydrating, getting extra sleep)

- Practicing my Spanish more than the 10 minutes before Spanish class on Mondays

- Volunteering at Hollywood’s Farmer Market, I hope to score some kale.

I better quit now to keep my daily resolution, otherwise I'll reveal all my June gems too soon!