Above The Knuckle Rings

This weekend I saw my friend wearing a "above the knuckle ring". I immediately wanted one. I ended up getting 3 thin little gold rings that are very similar to the ones above. I wear two on my pinky and one above my ring finger knuckle. They look so dainty, I love them. This easy shop has a lot of cute options. 

(photo via)

10 Snacks To Avoid

I recently read this article in Shape Magazine on the worst snacks for your body. I was actually surprised  by a couple of the snacks...2 of the 10 were actually "fruit". I'll recap for you, but I highly recommend reading the article for yourself. 

1. Canned Fruit: Loaded with excess sugar and has a much lower nutrient content than frozen fruit and veggies. Also, the chemical used to preserve the canned good is actually toxic :/

2.Potato Chips: Well, yeah. I'm not even going to elaborate on this one. 

3. Rice Cakes: Low on calories and nutrients. Made from processed white rice, which is a high blood pressure spiking carb. 

4. Blueberry Muffins: Don't let the fruit fool you, a muffin is basically a cupcake without the frosting. Make muffins a treat not an everyday snack. 

5. Granola Bars: Usually filled with processed carbs and dried fruit (yup, even thats bad) and held together with some type of sugar (i.e. honey or agave). High in calories and low in filling fiber :(

6. Honey Roasted/Salted Nuts: Sugar, fat, salt and easy to overeat. 

7. Yogurt w/ fruit on the bottom: High sugar fruit mixture...defeates the purpose of being good and eating yogurt. Try greek yogurt instead :)

8. Microwave Popcorn: Processed carbs, salt, trans fat, and chemicals coating the inside of the bag. 

9. Dried Fruit: Dried fruit is just regular fruit that has the moisture taken from it and shrunken down. So eating 7 dried apricots is like eating all the sugar in 7 regular apricots. I can't believe I never thought of this before. 

10. Diet Soda: Finally one that is obvious again. Diet soda can deplete calcium from your bones and is full of artificial sweetener. Steer clear of all soda. 

Just to keep this from being too depressing for all the dried fruit popcorn lovers like myself, HERE  are 10 summer snack under 200 calories :)

(photo via)

New Obsession: Leif

I've recently fallen in love with Brooklyn based store, Leif . It's motto is basically that the little things bring you happiness so that's what they specialize in. I could honestly own everything in their store, from jewelry to kitchen ware. And all of it would make unique gifts :) 

(photos via Leif : necklaces, bracelet, mug with cozy, salt & pepper shakers)

Drunkard's Noodles

Today I am craving Thai food with every ounce of my being. I can't stop thinking about it, so in the spirit of Julia Child's would-be 100th birthday, I'm going to try making my own Pad Kee Mao aka "Drunkards Noodles". I found an awesome recipe in The New York Times and another from Use Real Butter. I'll probably combine them based off what I have in my fridge already and make my own version. I could go to one of the many Thai places by my house but that would mean no pajamas and no Ernie. Pass. Wish me luck!

(photo via use real butter)

Ernie's 1st Birthday

I have seriously been neglecting this blog. A lot of things have been going on lately, new job blah blah blah excuses excuses. I'm making a pack with myself from this day forward to never let this happen again. So I'll start with sharing some of the awesomeness thats been going on around here lately, most importantly, ERNIE'S FIRST BIRTHDAY!!!! My little piggy is one. I can't believe it. We celebrated at our building's pool with a bbq and a gifts for the bday guy. His favorite gift was his life vest. He hates the water...but really liked just wearing it around. Haha

Sunday Link Love

This photo reminds me of my best friends from home. Except one of us would have remembered beach towels (not me). I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend! So many good things were happening!!! Swimming olympic trials, eurocup finals (viva Espana), and Wimbledon. When I wasn't watching sports I was at the beach or pool, SoCal weather is unbeatable right now :) Here are some things I bookmarked on the web last week:

Good places to watch fireworks in LA

Watch my old teammate, Brittany Viola's reaction  to making the Olympic team!!!! God is good :)

Pictures of the week 

Missing Nora Ephron

Django Unchained looks awesome. Gotta love Tarantino!

Such a cute beach bag. Love the purple. 

So you don't have to register your dog w/ the AKC? Absolutely not. Please don't. 

Haha "slutty brownies" 

LOVE this dress.

And finally, Usain Bolt  should take a lesson in sportsmanship from Dara Torres. No excuses. Play like a champion. 

(photo via)  

Willy Nilly Silly Old Bear

It's been a crazy couple of weeks. Between being sick, working, writing for Global Animal Magazine, writing my cartoon, being sick again, and getting ready for school, I'm beat. I was doing some research for my cartoon (I'm in grad school for film and television writing) and I started looking at scripts from shows I loved most as a child. Winnie the Pooh was by far my favorite. I had no idea how much wisdom that silly old bear bestowed upon my 3-year-old self. I started to tear up. The words suddenly had more meaning then they did back then. The message and core values somehow streched past the hundred acre wood and into my heart again. We never stop struggling to become better people but somewhere along the way our meaning of better changes to something like more successful and remembering to be a good person gets thrown out in the pursuit. I think we'd all be better off if we thought a little less like adults and more like children every once in a while. So here are a few of my favorite lines. (for a man who created a bear of very little brain, A.A. Milne was a genius.)  


“How do you spell 'love'?" - Piglet
"You don't spell it...you feel it." - Pooh” 


“Weeds are flowers, too, once you get to know them.” 


“Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” - Christopher Robin to Pooh


“Sometimes,' said Pooh, 'the smallest things take up the most room in your heart.” 


“You can't stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.” 


“We'll be Friends Forever, won't we, Pooh?' asked Piglet.
Even longer,' Pooh answered.” 


“It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn't use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like "What about lunch?” 


“Just because an animal is large, it doesn't mean he doesn't want kindness; however big Tigger seems to be, remember that he wants as much kindness as Roo.” 


“If the person you are talking to doesn't appear to be listening, be patient. It may simply be that he has a small piece of fluff in his ear.” 


“What day is it?"
It's today," squeaked Piglet.
My favorite day," said Pooh.” 


“How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” 


PS- watching Sleepless In Seattle tonight in honor of Nora Ephron. She will be missed...

(photo from pinterest)