Author: MS

Lifestyle: Type A Personality I Laugh About

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I am a type A in denial. Well mostly to my hubs, when I live by perfection and push him to be the same, and he calls me out on it and I shake my head as if I was being accused of something worse. To my defense, being type A is a means to surviving  the hectic lifestyle that has become the norm now. It is the only way I manage my time effectively. But I did  laugh pretty loud when I saw this article in photos, show telling something that – yes – only we type A folk understand and the rest of the world couldn’t care less. And does my pencil have to be perfectly sharpened – indeed. 🙂  Enjoy your day everyone

Travel: Past The Season

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I love traveling off-season, and have been planning my trips abroad around the crazy madness of summer travel.  Where instead of relaxing and enjoying yourself on vacation, you are more stressed out by the overwhelming crowds, packed restaurants, museums and whatnot. To me that’s not vacation. So if you happen to be those considering a trip right about now somewhere – say Europe – and thrive on too-much-good-information of sorts, then…. {Greece photo credit}

Food: Chicken and Cauliflower Rice

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I bought a package of cauliflower Rice at Trader Joe’s over the weekend, determined  to make a spectacular dish out of it. Because the last time I bought the rice variation, it didn’t turn out so well when I sautéed it with a bit of olive oil. So naturally, I turned to my favorite foody site here, and found the best recipe imaginable for Apricot (my favorite) chicken and cauliflower rice dish…and folks, I am on it. In the meantime, I figured I better share it with all of you, just in case we are all on the same page about the apricots, chicken, and cauliflower rice, and wine of course 🙂 {photo and recipe credit click here}

Fashion: Fall 2016 Trends Which Got Me Thinking

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I took this photo from my bedroom window last night. It’s nothing fancy, just capturing the simple signs of Fall just around the corner. Although in San Francisco, this is a reminder that we are heading into our Indian Summer, with crispy mornings, and hot days and even nights for the next few weeks or months depending on what mother nature has in store for us this year. I love this time of the year for so many reasons. From the kids slowly returning to school, to the abundance of clearance sales in most any store of all things summer, to the start of the holiday season decor slowly popping up here and there. Not to forget mentioning, talks about the holidays among family members and friends, and restaurants changing up their menus to include an array of hearty meals and fall-winter desserts and baked goods – oh how I love the smell of pumpkin-spiced anything.  This is the time of year, I settle into a writing-routine, cozied up at home with my dog by …

Lifestyle: What’s Been Keeping Me…Busy

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I feel like I’ve been away forever, but some things had to fall through the crack, namely my blog, and workout, while I worked through my fullest of plates of late. First and foremost, the living space revamp that’s tortured me to no end,  forcing me to rethink the plan, hence delaying the timeframe – so HGTV like. Here’s how it all went down. I planned to install hardwood floors. I dreamt about it for years, talked about it endlessly, shopped various flooring stores, picked out the best option, signed up for the measure only to find out, the space required too much sub-flooring prep work to consider the hardwood. Back to square one, we went shopping for wall-to-wall carpeting, something I’ve always hated, but apparently have no choice in the particular part of the city I live in, with the damp and mold issues.  I shopped until the cow’s came home online and in the stores, and I have to tell you I have learned enough  carpets and flooring that I could actually become …

Lifestyle: Photography Colors To Set The Mood

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I took the train from Sacramento to San Francisco on Sunday, after I went up to the area for a small break from the freezing cold temps in my neck of the neighborhood – by the ocean, where its been foggy and ugly, and pretty down depressing with all-time grays. I tend to forget how the weather plays on my mood, and during the summer months in the city,  I find myself not at all inspired. So, I escape once in while in search of sun, green, and colorful flowers. In this case  up to the Sacramento-Roseville area, well technically further into the country, for some sun and to hang out with my favorite dogs – dogsitting. Normally I drive up, but this time I shared a ride with someone going up there, and then took the train back.  Along the way,  I snapped a few photographs. which I enhanced to more dramatic hues and sharpness, again craving colors. I figured these photos would keep me going through the foggy nonsense in San Francisco until early …

Food: Lavender, Blackberries, and White Chocolate In Scones

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The first time I tasted lavender was near Aix Provence, France. There was a shortbread cookies infused with slivers of lavender. At first I didn’t really like it, but after a few days of eating a cookie or two a day with a great cup of coffee, I grew accustomed to the taste. The next experience with Lavender was – at Zero Zero Restaurant in San Francisco, where they have this amazing dessert bar that you can pick and make your own ice cream sundae and more. I chose the lavender ice cream special they were having that day. And since then, I indulge in what I considered to be something that is an acquired taste. Not everyone is fond of lavender in cooking. Anyway,  here we are now and I have to say, I am yet again intrigued by this recipe, and will surely make it for the Sunday morning breakfast with the hubs – yes – in the middle of my renovation, I do plan to bake 🙂 – minus the white chocolate …

Fashion: My Fashion Sense

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Living in San Francisco and working for a techy company, you can pretty much go to work wearing jeans and a T-shirt everyday and no one cares. Which is a refreshing option from the suit and stocking days when I worked for a financial institution. I’ve been asked why I don’t model my fashion here on RawSilk&Saffron, and I have to say it’s mostly because I am completely camera-shy – so I figured I should show you what my fashion sense is in other ways: {photo source here and here}