Year: 2020

Weekend Recap and Some Thoughts

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With nowhere to go – considering the relentless fires all around the bay area, I felt extremely sad when I woke up Saturday and scrolled through the local news, about the parks, the redwoods, the animals, the air, and all things in distress due to the fires we have yet to contain in northern California. Twenty-twenty has topped one of the worst for the twenty-first century and we are doing everything to stay positive, focused, upbeat, and push onward. After breakfast, we headed out to Burlingame, to the post office to ship some care packages to a loved one in the military.  The quaint village, I’d like to call it, was covered in smoke, and the air quality the most unhealthiest, making it near impossible to walk through Burlingame Avenue without gasping for air, or feeling the need to rub our eyes.  I figured since we were unable to venture out anywhere along the coast, or even through trails inland, we would instead head to the Central Park and hang out at the Japanese Garden …

What Are Your Plans This Weekend

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On Monday I knew exactly what I wanted to do on the weekend, but by Tuesday, the fires (some say due to the electrical storms we experienced in California) near Napa/Sonoma – across the Golden Gate, pretty much most of Marin county, quickly covered the skies, since then making it very difficult to breathe, let alone consider being outdoors. Sadness on all levels as this year continues to be the most challenging. But we must stay positive, focused, and aim to find some joy in our every day life to keep on going. I know most of you are busy these coming weeks prepping your kids for school – whether virtual or in an actual classroom, the concerns are the same for parents in striving to make the coming academic year a healthy and productive one for everyone. There are other concerns of course – political, economic, relationships and mental health – about those we can all discuss if you like or stay on a positive note here at Raw Silk and Saffron. Please drop …

Lifestyle: Work Life Balance

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I feel these days I work more hours and do more chores than before COVID-19. Checking work emails the second I wake up, which is four in the morning and then again at night right before bed (mind you we are a global company) But that does not excuse the fact, I find it difficult to disconnect from work after an eight hour shift.   Are you finding yourself doing the same? The other craziness I’ve noticed is how high the chores have piled up, each day with hardly any downtime during the week (I force my long walks over the weekend to help recharge) but that’s not enough, because by the end of each day, I am drained. As always, the internet reads my mind and sends reminders like these (countries with the best work-life balance in Europe) to help me adhere to some sort of normalcy. For the rest of the surprising countries, go here   – How do you work-life balance? featured image source and full credit

Decor: Finding Inspiration

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One of the benefits of lock down, after the initial adjustment period, is that we are all finding ways to finding joy. Whether its renting RVs and going camping, eating outdoors in terraces, rooftops and curbside, walking instead of the gym, and even embarking on minor or some even major renovations.   All in the name of feeling good. I am actually loving the transition into this new lifestyle and learning so much from my surroundings. So today, I just want to share a few renovations I sort of stumbled on  and felt super charged up by the eclectic creativity of the homeowners that I decided to share them here – in case you’re needing decor ideas to incorporate into your style or just something fun to watch to take off the edge:   Featured image source and full credit

Food: Dinner Tonight – Mac and Cheese

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I did an inventory this morning of all things in my kitchen pantry and otherwise for ingredients to create a variety of meals to satisfy my lovely mum’s cravings  – which is cheese, bread, cheese, more cheese and more bread and oh some jam. I found two boxes of organic mac and cheese and figured as a side dish 🙂 I’d make it with the leftover rotisserie chicken I picked up last night from the grocery store on my walk.  Then this recipe happened, and as we all know, I’ll improvise part boxed and part fresh ingredients and serve it up. Now I’m wondering if anyone will eat the chicken.  Here’s the recipe just in case you haven’t the boxed version of M&C. INGREDIENTS 6 tablespoons salted butter 1-2 cloves garlic, grated 1 cup crushed Ritz crackers 1 pound your favorite short cut pasta 2 ounces cream cheese, cubed 2 cups milk 1 cup sharp white cheddar cheese 1 cup shredded Havarti or fontina cheese 4-6 ounces Brie, rind removed and chopped 1/4 cup basil pesto, homemade or store-bought 1/4 teaspoon mustard powder 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper use more or less to taste kosher salt and black pepper 1 cup cherry tomatoes, …

Weekend Recap and A Few Lovely Things

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We had a freakishly tropical weather this weekend and normally when us locals see sun at the coast, we don’t venture far from the city. We actually pour outside and explore the coast. So that’s what happened, instead of us escaping town by driving across the Golden Gate, we actually walked it across on Saturday, all 1.7 miles in each direction and then some back to our car parked another mile from the bridge. It was invigorating, since the last time I did the walk was five years ago.  This time around with hardly any tourists but having to adapt to the social distancing criteria – which was the most challenging on a narrow walkway. But we did it, under the scorching sun, and hot wind against our skin. So it started out like this: And then thought, this would be a good day to walk across the Golden Gate We got to the car, stopped at a grocers to buy food and water, and we sat in the car under a trees by the …

What Are Your Plans This Weekend

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I’ve been dreaming of cabin living, somewhere out in the woods  – perhaps near Tahoe. Funny thing is, if I was posed with the same question a decade ago, I’d say for sure the city, in a high rise condo overlooking the bay. But lately or even before COVID, I’ve been thinking of finding my way back to nature.  Kind of like a lifestyle  in this beautiful place blended so perfectly into its environment. Because of this need to bond with nature, I’ve been aiming to find walking trails or suburbian parks where I can simply soak up all the beautiful wonders in my neck of the woods, and even the man engineered ones. So this weekend, we are once again venturing across the Golden Gate, and allowing the road to take us to places we’ve never been.  Stay tuned for a recap. Until then, here’s what I’m thinking or wondering about, after reading this article and also before. Have you become a better or worse version of yourself since the lockdown?   If you had …

A Pasta Recipe and Other Topics To Share

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While serving my mother chicken Fajita last night for dinner, she asked if there were any surprises for her to look forward to – in terms of dinner. So I told her, I was considering making this pasta and she actually grimaced at the idea of lemon in pasta. Which happens to be my favorite – ingredient – Shrimp Scampi, which I often substitute with Salmon.  Artichoke steamed in olive oil and lemon – all recipes I learned from my Mediterranean family. Anyway, back to the pasta – check out the simple ingredients making up a very flavorful meal – and will pair nicely with a glass of my favorite cab and sure, salad too. Recipe: Spaghetti With Creamy Lemon Sauce Serves 4 2 lemons 4 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil Scant 1 cup of half-and-half 1 egg yolk 3/4 pound (about 4 portions) spaghetti A small bunch of thyme Fine sea salt Freshly ground black pepper {more} I keep thinking I want to share my personal recipes with all of you – someday soon, …

Weekend Recap – Part 2 – Sausalito Trails

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Since the fog held steady over the Golden Gate Bridge, we decided to explore Sausalito – not that we haven’t been a million times. But we figured since it was sunny, warm and we did not really want to drive too far inland, we would park in the small town and walk to Baker Beach, (opposite direction) and then detour to the highest peek in Sausalito, and walk the winding roads, while taking in the views from a different elevation. So that’s what happened on Sunday.   After the wonderful walk, we sat in the park down below and simply soaked it all in – before heading back into the extreme fog and cold – and put on our winter clothes while considering turning on the heater.