Caution: Do NOT Read If You Are Hungry!!

Hello everyone!

Sorry I have been non-existent lately...I have been super busy with some freelance gigs (that I just can't share yet, up in here!) and preparing for my upcoming vacation. Promise I will share more art here when I can! Hopefully I will have time to work on some personal art ideas when I return from Vegas with the fam. Next Saturday! Can't wait!

I will have a foodie-based giveaway the week that I return, so be on the lookout for that! I have been super active in the kitchen lately, trying new-to-me things like chia pudding, homemade pesto, overnight oats in a jar,

and new creations like healthy Bang-Bang Shrimp Pasta, taco pie, and a Southwestern chopped quinoa salad inspired by one in the newest Fitness magazine. Agave + apple cider vinegar + lime juice + olive oil + spices makes the BEST dressing....oh man. And for some reason, when fresh salad ingredients are chopped up into itty bitty pieces, they just taste so much better! This reminded me of a salad I would be able to get at Choice Greens in Tucson. MAN I miss that place...and their ciabatta bread. Yum.

We have also checked out some amazing local food joints...South Street Diner in Philly made my dreams come true with a Crab Cake Eggs Benedict,

and La Laconda del Ghiottone in Old City proved to be one of the best Italian joints I have ever encountered. The staff was knowledgable and fun, and oh-so-South-Philly-Italian, the setting is unique and intimate, and the menu...ohhhh the menu....

I was craving mussels, so we ordered those in a red sauce while we sipped on red wine. I planned on sticking with a relatively healthy fish dinner, but when I saw that they had gnocchi on the menu that they make with ricotta (the authentic Italian way!), I had to try! It is a signature dish of theirs and after hearing rave reviews, I went with it. The time that I made my own gnocchi, it was a ricotta gnocchi, as well! So I was pumped to try theirs. It was absolutely delicious; the gorgonzola and tomato sauce was perfectly creamy but not too much so. We all agreed it was the best dish of the night. The serving wasn't huge, so I didn't walk away feeling like a blimp...plus, we all shared a little of each dish that we got. The veal was also spectacular, and the sauce was just as good as mine. No sauce was left behind, thanks to the bread basket at the table.

Plus...BYOB always makes me happy. We came armed with plenty of Malbec! Definitely check out La Laconda if you are in the Philly area.

We also went to our friend's 30th birthday party at Clipper City Brewery in Baltimore (they make Heavy Seas beer) for a beerfest;  Black Cannon IPA was on point. Lots of good brews. We took a pitstop at Little Havana before heading home to Philly. Little Havana....best. Mojitos. Ever. I didn't take many pictures, but hopefully I can get a few from friends who did.

Pup has also gotten plenty of outdoors time, especially since the days have gotten longer (wahoo!!) and the temperature has been hovering around 60-70 degrees around these parts! Spring is in sight!!!

He's also been extra-spoiled since my dad is still at home recovering from his surgery, so Koda gets a lot more social time and extra walks.

And jelly beans. Goodness gracious, does this dog LOVE jelly beans. Even more than spinach and cheese (his two formerly-favorite foods).

Enjoy your Thursday! xoxo

Beginning to Look A Lot Like...Christmas?

....As you know, I equate cold and snow with being about as desirable as smacking your forehead on an open cabinet, resulting in a bleeding head wound (not that I did that at lunchtime yesterday, or anything...).

However, there is an exception to that. A BIG one!!! I. Love. The holidays. And everything that comes with them (although once New Year's passes, I start an agonizing countdown to Memorial Day Weekend).

In an artist's world, we have to plan ahead when it comes to getting "holiday stuff" out on time. We were working on holiday displays at my design job months ago, as the seemingly endless web of production takes quite a bit of time. And as I have been thinking about my own holiday card set to sell/send out this year, I have gotten a few requests from clients for commissioned Christmas cards of their own.

This week, I brought this commission from last year:

To this:

I actually like this one better! Details like a background and some accessories make it more interesting.

The Charlie Brown tree was my client's idea, and I LOVE it! So clever. I have a version of the tree with the traditional ornament, and I definitely can put that to use. Clearly, I love all things Peanuts.


It's Friday, and you know what that means!!!

The Friday Five

1.) What I'm Reading:

My mom had just finished this book about the persecution of Japanese Americans during WWII and she decided that I must read it.


Here is a review from Garth Stein, author of one of my very favorite books, The Art of Racing in the Rain (if you haven't read it, and especially if you are a dog lover, get on it):


"Jamie Ford has written a tender and satisfying novel that is tucked into a part of Seattle history we would rather not face.  Set in a time and a place lost forever, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet gives us a glimpse of the damage that is caused by war--not the sweeping damage of the battlefield, but the cold, cruel damage to the hearts and humanity of individual people.  Especially relevant in today's world, this is a beautifully written book that will make you think.  But, more importantly, it will make you feel." 

– Garth Stein, NY Times bestselling author of THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN



My mom would have accidentally ordered "large print" from the library. At least my eyes don't have to work overly hard after staring at a computer screen all day. Oh, Kim.

In case you wanted to read an excerpt, Large Print to the rescue.

Yes. My bookmark is a Flying Dog label. Don't judge. All hail Ralph Steadman.

2.) What I'm Listening To:

Somehow, I knew the song, but this video slipped through the cracks. Thanks, baby sister, AKA my video vixen and music finder, for showing me this fabulous video. Love Temper Trap.

3.) What I'm Watching:

How to Make It in America...

(Source)

Excited to get caught up on it this weekend. I've already seen the first episode of the new season, but have waited for the rest. We have to rewatch the finale from the first season and then the first three or four episodes from this season to catch Coop up to speed. Love this show! It's an easy watch....reminds me of Entourage's early (read: good) days. Doesn't send me into an emotional rollercoaster (cough cough new fave Breaking Bad cough). Plus amazing camera work. 

And I still love Kid Cudi (Scott Mescudi...he plays Domingo on the show)...even though when I saw him in concert I was about one of 12 in the place that was old enough to have a wristband for beer. Who knew?

(Sorry for dragging you to Tween Central, Coop. I see the pain in your face.)

I will drink my large beer and you will like it, Teenyboppers. And no, you can't pay me thirteen dollars to buy you a(n underage) Bud Light.

4.) What I'm Eating:

In keeping with the holiday theme...

I was so excited to receive a package from CLIF Bar in the mail yesterday! They had a Twitter giveaway a few weeks ago...they were giving away free samples to try their new Peppermint Stick bar.  

I wasn't exactly sure what to expect, but oh my goodness. Peppermint in an energy bar with oats and soybeans sounded a little peculiar, but I really loved this. The way that mint chocolate chip just works, so does this bar. Low in fat, and high in fiber and protein, it was great fuel before my BodyCombat class yesterday. I loved the flavor as it didn't taste "chalky" like some energy bars tend to do, and I would definitely get it again. On top of that, 1% of sales of CLIF seasonal bars will be donated to the Winter Wildlands Alliance..."With this, we hope to protect the outdoor places we play for countless seasons to come." How cool!

5.) What I'm Pinning:

I wish I could come up with costumes this cool.

Um, can you imagine having ever been small enough to fit into a pot (although...I can fit into a suitcase...#shortgirlproblems)?!


Also, these cupcakes (!!!!):

(Hey, Arizona!)


And this pink grapefruit margarita:

 I don't like overly sweet alcoholic drinks; a margarita is about as sweet as I can handle, and I am a huge fan of them (I think it runs in my blood...thanks Mom and G-Mom). Bet these add even more sour to the mix and I think I'd love 'em!




Hope you all have a fabulous weekend! 

xoxoxo




Oh yeah....and Happy 1st Birthday to this cute little critter:

My little life-changer. He will get a nice walk, lots of extra peanut butter and a new bat toy today!! :)
(And I won't make him try on his halloween costume...which his LEAST favorite part is 100% the whipped cream and cherry hat.

My little banana split.

Heh heh....I am evil.

Koda's Big Adventure

Heyoooo.

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend! I know Koda did.

Happiest.

And hope you are feeling better than me!

Sorry I have been sort of MIA lately. I have been battling an annoying cough/stuffy nose for like a month and a half now, and after "taking it easy" this weekend with minimal drinking (well except for some beer/wine at an Autumn bonfire/festival Friday night at our local farmer's market...oops, forgot to take pics) and spending time outside in the sun before falling into my East Coast winter depression, my allergies have been HAYwire. Oh my goodness. I am on the last day of antibiotics, still taking allergy pills and cough medication and nose sprays, and STILL feel like I am going to keel over.

Friday, I walked the pup for a couple miles and headed to the outdoor festival with some friends, and Saturday brought about a 5.5 mile Breast Cancer walk (my grandma and aunts are survivors!) and then my mom and I took Koda to the doggy park for his very first time. I also bought him a new collar so he didn't look like a raggamuffin. Sunday, I took an hour spin class (exercising has proven to be the best part of my day the last few weeks...it seems to open up my nasal passages and I can breathe easier and cough less, so I have stayed up on it, doing some form of a workout everyday) and then took the pup to another dog park. He made so many friends!

He looooves car rides. This is when he is the most calm!

I was nervous about bringing him to a dog park since huskies typically have a very rough playing style and I was afraid of other owners misinterpreting his playing, but he was so good.

Husky friend!

He spent lots of time rallying the other dogs to run, meeting girlfriends (both human and canine), being infatuated with a Great Dane that was spotted like a cow, had two different colored eyes, weighed significantly more than I do and was about twice as tall as me, and exploring and sniffing around the ground and trees.

See the Great Dane Cow? 

Exploring

Proud Mama!

He was not so interested in me. He had plenty of other things to worry about than posing for a picture with his mother. The above picture was captured on the way out, after this one:

Slippery husky!

And all of this outdoor activity, while it was lovely to feel the last bits of warm sun this year, led to a more cough-ier, sneezier Sam. Not pretty.

Luckily, the dog park yesterday was close to The Promenade, a nice outdoor shopping center (more outdoorsy-ness! Reiterating my weekend here has made me realize how much I really was outside during prime allergy season!) that has Chipotle! 

My family has a thing for Chipotle, especially my little sista and her boyfriend. They were even there, chowing on burrito bowls, when the East Coast experienced that earthquake a little bit ago!

Certified Chipotle Addicts

We should make that a trademarked bumper sticker. Whatchu think, Chipotle?

I am a big fan because of their food with integrity morals. They support locally-grown produce and naturally-raised animals, and use organically-grown foods as much as possible. Oh yeah, and as a total guacamole snob, their guac is actually bangin'.

I used to get chicken salads up to a few times a week when I lived in Arizona...I could walk to a Chipotle from my house. Anything spicy/Mexican/Southwestern is totally up my alley, so I am addicted, as well, and with the closest one being about 40 minutes from me now, I don't get to indulge as often.

But you better believe I jumped on the chance of a brown rice (!!!) burrito bowl yesterday. I typically avoid processed white foods like white rice and white bread, so I was pumped that they had a brown version of their awesome signature cilantro and lime rice at this location.

So much flavah

Brown rice + black beans + fajita veggies + chicken + mild pico de gallo + hot salsa + little bitta cheese + guac + lettuce = perfect, nutritious burrito bowl.

I also love love love the handwritten type on their bags and cups. I wonder who the artist is that does this?

Handwritten Type <3

Speaking of art, hopefully this week I will start being able to bang some things out. My to-do list is piling up, but feeling so blah lately isn't the best motivator. When I have free time right now, all I want to do while I sniffle away and chug water is snuggle up to my leopard blanket and pup and catch up on TV or read (I finally finished Rant! Whoa, how did it take me so long. Book is AMAZING!). When I get out of this funk, I am going to be so ready to get back to drawing, but lately it just hasn't sounded so appealing. I want to get back to my normal self, stat!!!

I am going to enjoy my Free Iced Coffee Monday, thank you very much. Supplemented with a cocktail of green tea/honey + medicine (well, separately, not mixed together; no purple drank for me), all day long. Feel better, my fellow allergy sufferers!

Anyone have any tips? I think I have tried everything!

Have a fabulous day. Catch ya later!

xoxo

Free Is Fo' Me!

Helloooo! Happy Monday.

(Get ready for a long food-filled post!)

Normally, Mondays make me want to punch myself in the gut, but not this Monday.

Why? I woke up freezing in Philly and had to drag myself out of bed, but it was easier to do once I remembered this little guy:

Dunkin', I love you.

Free iced coffee for the next five Mondays? Oh yes. I will be there. Every week. Usually I treat myself midweek or on a Friday, but now I can look forward to Mondays, too. You best believe I will be  happily freezing to death on the first Monday in November, shivering while clutching on to my free iced cawf. As a co-worker of mine always says, "Free is fo' me!"

Still taking advantage of everything pumpkin for as long as I can; in addition to my pumpkin coffees, iced and hot, The Great Pumpkin Bread, pumpkin yogurt breakfast bowls, and pumpkin pie protein shakes at my gym, Julie's Two-Ingredient Pumpkin Spice Cookie recipe called to me and I knew I had to make them for dinner and dessert at a family friend's house on Saturday (where I also got to try some Pumpkin Liqueur!).

This is suuuper easy. Definitely click on the link to Julie's page, where her pictures are way better, but this is all that it took!

Much sampling ensued. Second row, fourth column cookie, you were delicious.

I also planned on putting some cream cheese icing on the top of some of the cookies, which are super moist and cake-y, using a sandwich bag with the corner cut off...hey, it works, albeit a little messy! But then I found this....talk about retro. This cake decorating kit is straight outta the fifties (check out that box!)...it was my great grandmother's!

It worked great...except for the fact that I am way too impatient and the first set I decorated ended up looking like this:

Oops.

Melty melty. But still delicious! Don't worry, I made some pretty ones, too. Sprinkled with Pumpkin Pie Spice on top. These would be great as cupcakes, too, I think. I definitely want to experiment with these on the next batch I make.

And my little pumpkin-crazed pup would not stop "speaking" for one.

Ever hear a husky talk? It is hilarious, adorable, and so, so strange. Unlike anything I have ever heard before. He is my little dinosaur. We are trying to teach him to do this:

Mishka looks so much like Koda, only Kodes has brown eyes. Such cool dogs.

Some other eats this weekend were courtesy of the Natural Products Expo East swag.

Ozery Bakery Inc.'s Apple Cinnamon Morning Rounds contributed to a weekend breakfast.

I toasted one, and added some maple syrup and vanilla yogurt. These are seriously doughy, with big chunks of apple. The back of the packaging suggests using the rounds to make french toast, and I think I will definitely have to try that. My mom toasted one and ate it plain, and said it was great by itself.

Big thumbs up! I will be adding these to my list of items to search for when I make a monthly forever-long trek trip to Whole Foods/ TJ's/Wegmans. I also really like their Whole Grain OneBuns; I have been using them for breakfast and lunch sandwiches.

Also on that list will be these guys:

While snacking on these spicy Simply 7 Hummus Chips in Spicy Chili Pepper (which I am now obsessed with) and checking out the nutritional facts on the back, I discovered this little recipe for Spicy Black Bean Dip. I had just walked the pup and was about to head over to Philly for our weekly football/veggie pizza/lounge-all-day fest, and thought that sounded like a great football-watching snack.

I made a few changes/additions. Basically, I took a half of a small red onion, chopped coarsely, and two whole garlic cloves chopped in half ( I love garlic) and pulsed them a few times in a blender (I wish I had a good food processor....like a fancy Vita-Mix, swoon!). Then added a can of black beans, rinsed and drained, and pulsed a few more times. I added a dash of cayenne pepper and also a few bits of a dried chili pepper (we like things hot), added some of my favorite Adobo with Cumin seasoning in place of the salt, and also a few spoonfuls of a salsa we picked up at our local farmer's market that reminds me a lot of the salsa I would make when I lived in Arizona (I need to make it more often!). This fresh mashup contains the bare essentials of a good, hot, salsa; tomatoes, onions, garlic, cilantro, peppers. Using this pre-made deliciousness meant less veggies for me to chop and dice, which is always a plus. Pulsed a few more times, put into a container to bring along with me, and topped with some shredded taco cheese.

I use this seasoning on everything!!!

Tastes WAY more appetizing than it looks!

A family friend grows all kinds of amazing hot peppers, and knowing my lust for them, they give me hoards of them on a regular basis. I have some fresh ones, plenty frozen ones, and have attempted to dry some of them. Look how cool they look now!

Twisty!

This dip totally got the seal of approval, and I plan on making it more often. Definitely a better option than gorging on uber-cheesy queso and other high-fat, caloric, nutritionally devoid snacks. With some super-hoppy IPA with hints of tropical punch, a billion refills of my Camelback (still trying to ward off this cough with tons of water), and these chips, it was a perfect spread for football-watchin'.

The RW Garcia Dippers were great for the black bean dip. Seasoned with just Himalayan Pink Salt & Tellicherry Cracked Pepper (fancy!), these were all-natural, gluten-free, and matched perfectly. They were a little bland on their own, but perfect with a flavorful dip like this as to not overpower the taste of the dip itself. Another to add to my list of thumbs-up products.

(As a disclaimer, these opinions are solely my own and I have not been compensated to review any of these products. I acquired them on my own and just enjoy sharing products that I love to people who also may be interested!)


On the art front, my freelance time this week will be dedicated to working on a logo for a friend who is starting a non-profit benefit, as well as doing a drawing as a gift for some friends...it will be unveiled here after it is finished and given to them! I will say that it deals with jungle animals, which are some of my favorite animals to draw.


With the exception of pup walks on Friday and Saturday, I haven't hit the gym since Friday, and I'm excited for BodyPump and some cardio today. I am totally missing yoga, but with this nagging cough I have, I know I won't be able to give it my all and will just annoy everyone around me! But I know yoges (and glorious savasana) will be there waiting for me when my cough finally leaves!

Have a fabulous week!!!

xoxo