Author: MS

Vacation So Far…Rain and More Rain

Published by

I’ve never been on vacation in October. Well, maybe a destination wedding. But really that doesn’t count like a genuine two week planned trip to a far away destination. This is truly the first. And it seems the world is going to hell in a hand basket as far as the weather is concerned, and naturally it is all going down while I am travelling through Italy this week. First stop was Rome, landing through the blackened clouds and touching ground to a stormy day in the eternal city. But the hubs and I persevered as we had a schedule to follow. Walking leisurely through a town we love so much. Snapping photographs and then touching them up over an espresso at an outdoor cafe, sitting under heat lamps. Day two was Vatican City, and more rain, and day three some sort of shopping, which is what I planned but ended up just sitting on the Spanish steps for most of the day and enjoyed the freshly cleaned work of art while people watching. It rained …

Mind Set – Vacation, vacation, vacation

Published by

The last month has been the most stressful. Well, since a few months back for me that is. It seems stress is all we have these days, worrying so much about the faith of our nation, our children’s safety, health, financial stability, and even all things reshaping our planet earth – all while trying to keep a positive front so not to be judged by anyone. Who are we kidding. Everyone is looking for an outlet – to escape the madness even if for a few minutes. Who knew all fantasized films made about doomsday and corruption is becoming more real every day. Sorry, if I’ve brought you down this Friday. But occasionally it’s important for me to stay real. Last night, I sat on my bed and breathed out – for that instance – I felt a sense of temporary relief. The kind of relief where my body was not as tense at it normally is –  because I realized in a few days I would be on vacation – even if it’s just for …

Food: Honey Roasted Squash, Chicken and Pomegranate

Published by

This past few days I’ve been too busy to cook or even think about eating right – spending too many hours worrying about our upcoming vacation, our dog and the sitter we’ve arranged and all other things I need to take care of before we fly out in a few days. Pause that thought…because I did –  when I found this recipe – and decided that tonight I needed a good wholesome meal, and a bottle of wine of course 🙂  After all,  when life throws you nothing, you regroup by doing something you love – in my case cooking.  Happy Thursday everyone!  

Lifestyle: Turning Fifty or Staying forty-something?

Published by

This topic  came to me a few weeks ago, when I got an email-invite for my cousin’s 50th birthday party that his wife decided to throw for him.  She sent me a text afterward  asking if we could make it considering the one hour drive to the venue. I immediately told her we would, thinking since they were one of the couples moving away, it would probably be the last time I see them for a while. Unless of course they came back to the city or I went down to Los Angeles with the sole intend to visit family – which I hate to admit – I am not good at. The visiting family part. Note to self here, I need to work on that. The moral of this blog post is that after I turned 30, I decided I would never have a birthday party again nor a celebration of it. Instead I would simply go away for a weekend or a few weeks somewhere far away and deal with getting older. Even …

Fashion: Dusty Rose Is My Classic Color Pick

Published by

Love the color rose or a variation of dusty pink. In fact, so much I declared 2016 to be the pink year in color.  At least for me.  And now, three months left to the year, October being breast cancer awareness month, I have to say I have gone mostly pink by adding  these to my pink collection:

Fashion: Fall Casual Picks

Published by

Yes we are officially in fall – at least based on the calendar here in San Francisco, where we are FINALLY experiencing some HOT weather – our Indian Summer has arrived FINALLY.  Sorry if the caps are irritating, but I am excited to be wearing summer clothes in the fall, like we usually do here. But, over the weekend, I walked through an outdoor mall, and although it was too hot to try on anything warm and fuzzy, I fell for: This sweater in the three colors from Madewell This dress from Anthropologie Plaid Jacquard dress from my favorite Kate Spade Shoes in abundance from Nordstrom – and I mean that – I can buy a pair of everything in sight if I had the wallet of the Kardashians. In the meantime here’s my favorite   Happy Monday!!! And if you happen to be in San Francisco – please drink lots of water – 🙂

Lifestyle: Why Do We Really Move From Place to Place

Published by

Strange title or a very long one I suppose. But I wanted to make sure I get my point across in 50 words or less. This topic kept me up the other night because a few of my co-workers have decided to move away from the city.  One person all the way to the UK, the other to Colorado, one to Houston, Texas, another to Pleasant Hill, California and one to  Hawaii. With this new chapter in my life – yes I do take everything personally – I also discovered two blogger I follow also made that move from the bay area all the way to Charleston, South Carolina and the other to Los Angeles. Let’s not even mention my extended family from Sacramento to Omaha, and another from San Jose to Los Angeles. I can’t help but think about how it is someone decides it’s time to make that move. Meaning to say. I moved away to Sacramento for eight years a few years back and then came right back to San Francisco, realizing …

Interesting Finds Online – Vol 12

Published by

My mind is all over the place lately, trying to juggle too much while pretending I am not thinking too much about them.  This morning, after a grueling telephone conversation with a friend in desperate need of some advise, I decided to go straight to the internet for some good old-fashioned distraction, and here’s what put a smile on my face. On fairy doors: I bought Veda a fairy door as a gift. It doesn’t open, but sometimes at night a fairy (I named her Ivy Oakbrier!) will “come through” the door and leave behind handwritten notes, trinkets or tiny glitter footprints. In return, Veda will put out pictures, notes and elaborate set-ups for the fairy to play in. It’s fun to see her sense of wonderment, and it’s also a great learning tool. If her room hasn’t been cleaned up for days in a row, the fairy will gently mention that she would have liked to have visited but couldn’t get past the mess!