Month: November 2013

small business shopping day

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I’m not a fan of Black Friday and do everything in my power to stay away from the malls for the sake of my safety and those who I love around me. I’m not sure when it all went bad and turned dangerous, but it has and I am going to do everything in my power each year to avoid it. Deeming the entire exercise unnecessary. What I do however find refreshing, is the small business shopping day, set the day after Black friday for all the mom and pop stores, in smaller neighborhoods throughout America, who in my opinion truly deserve more than just a day of shopping to be rewarded. Although I am out-of-town, visiting family, I plan to locate a neighborhood where I am to support a few small businesses and I hope that you do the same.  Happy Holidays!!!  

vegetarian side dishes for thanksgiving

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As we know, now that most people are trying to eat healthy or substituting the traditional recipes for gluten free ingredients and more, it’s becoming, in my opinion, fun to find new recipes to incorporate into the T-day menu. So, while I take into consideration most of the vegetarians in my family, I have searched and found some additional fun recipes to share from here: {Photo and recipe credit click here}

untraditional thanksgiving menu

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I am always looking for healthy ways to make a meal, mostly switching out the butters, fatty oils and starchy foods for the healthy alternatives. So, it’s no surprise to anyone who knows me that I came to a screeching  holt on the internet when I stumbled upon these amazing recipes  from my favorite blogger here and thanks to her, I plan to incorporate her suggestions into my untraditional Thanksgiving Day dinner party: {Click on the photo for recipes and credits}

thanksgiving menu: quinoa cauliflower patties

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This year, I plan to be a bit ‘oddballish’ in putting together my Thanksgiving dinner menu. Since I’m not a fan of turkey, I’m still trying to figure out what to replace the main course with. In the meantime, here is something I want to try instead of the typical mashed potatoes and gravy. Call me crazy, but I like to keep things interesting: For Full recipe and photo credits please click here: QUINOA CAULIFLOWER PATTIES // Makes 12 Barely adapted from Vegetarian Everyday I try to make a dressing or two on days I’m cooking so I just have them on hand when I need a quick meal. I don’t really have a recipe for the one pictured here, but it was a quick whiz in the food processor of garlic, tahini, lemon, chives, cilantro, olive oil and a teeny splash of white wine vinegar. If you’re the measurement sort, it’d be something like the dressing here but double the tahini. 1 cup quinoa 1 1/2 cups cauliflower florets 4 eggs 6 scallions, white and green parts …

the need to move

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It’s funny my hubby was right, three years ago, when we sold out house in Sacramento and moved back to San Francisco. He said, when I expressed how happy I was to downgrade, that I’d get tired of living in a small space and will soon want a bigger one. I shook my head to express my disagreement and settled into the studio apartment, happily. Fast forward three years and I am ready to move, feeling the need to have a bedroom, an office, a spare room, a dedicated eating space and a full size functional kitchen, perhaps even an in-home work-out space. Hmmm, the need to jot down my bucket list for 2014 and beyond. In the meantime, I’ll share with you where I’m going with this: {photo source: click here}

searching for holiday spirit

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This is the time of the year I frequent one mall after another to see how the stores have decorated. Don’t judge 🙂 but I do love searching for holiday spirit in public gathering places. Over the weekend, I drove to Palo Alto and walked through the outdoor Stanford Shopping Mall, just before the weather turns sour in the next few weeks. Of course, I snapped photographs along the way:

weekly inspirations – weekend preparations

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What’s inspired me over the week, set the tone for the weekend? Click on the photo to reach the information behind my inspiration: 

fashion: in between sweaters

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We’ve had strange weather, I’m sure like most other places around the world lately. So, although I’m ready for sweaters, I have in the recent weeks layered mostly to stay in tune with the hourly weather changes in San Francisco. In between sweaters, I call, light sweaters. A perfect fashion piece for us Californians with mild winters. Here are some of my favorites: