The recipe was easy enough. Just add butter and mix. Just look at that vanilla bean.

Press the dough into a 8 inch round pan and prick with a fork.

Sit patiently near your oven smelling the sweet shortbread goodness.

A trick with short bread is to let it cool for about 15 minutes before cutting. then after cutting, let it sit for another 10 minutes.

Serve with sweet pitted cherries. Or anything you want!

Sweet crumbly goodness.

I understand if you need to run to Target now, Godspeed my friends.

I decided last minute this morning to head over to the outlet mall since I heard rumors that they had a Pottery Barn outlet.

The rumors are true!

I tried to take some pictures from inside the store, but it just felt too awkward so I didn’t get anything good. Overall I really impressed with the store, even though I didn’t buy anything. Almost everything in the store was at least 30% off and while some things were damaged, most were in new condition. Some of the large furniture had nicks or missing handles, but nothing that couldn’t be fixed. They had rugs, beds, kids furniture, tableware, glassware, almost anything you could imagine.

However, the best deal of the day was at Gap. I went into the Gap Outlet specifically for a pair of jeans and walked out with the best deal ever.

New Jeans…$4.97

Yep you heard that right, even the cashier was shocked. They are the definition of clearance but they look and fit like brand new. There is probably something wrong with them, but for $4.97 I don’t really care.

I ran a few other errands and then have spent the rest of the day writing/procrastinating.

I also snacked on the new Coconut M&M’s. They taste like bigger M&M with a hint of coconut. Not bad, but I don’t know that I would buy them again.

I have a very early conference call tomorrow, because people conveniently forget that I’m not on East Coast Time, so I’m off to write for a bit then get some sleep.

Sorry for some duplicate posts lately, I’ve been having some trouble with my host company. Hopefully it has been fixed and hasn’t been too annoying.

I love mornings like this.

Now I’m off to explore an outlet mall that’s only about 20 minutes from my house. This could be dangerous…for my wallet!

I am so glad that Friday has finally found me again, it’s been a long week. I didn’t get anything posted yesterday because I was exhausted. At 5pm I stepped away from work long enough to feed my dog and then went back to work for another hour (I work from home, so the commute back to  my office was just up the stairs). At 6pm I called it a day and decided to read a little before dinner, where I promptly fell asleep and work up just before 9pm.

After my little catnap I played with Baxter, ate a midnight snack and did a few writing exercises. Thanks to some Advil PM I was eventually able to go back to sleep, but I woke up today tired.

I have a love-hate relationship with naps.

_________________________

Breakfast

Kashi has created some of the most addictive stuff in my breakfast cabinet, specifically Vanilla Shredded Wheat…Holy Delicious!

Vanilla Shredded Wheat

Dried Cherries

OJ

Splash of Milk

_________________________________

Lunch

Have you tried the Whole Wheat Pizza Crusts from Target? I purchased two this past weekend and have to admit they are pretty good.

I was a little bummed to find out that my Spaghetti Sauce had gone bad, so I ended up using a little bit of BBQ sauce a my base.

Toppings included Fresh Baby Spinach and sliced Mushrooms.

I was a little concerned that I was piling the veggies too high, but I couldn’t help myself. I sprinkled Mozzarella throughout the pizza and finished the top with some garlic and parsley.

After 9 minutes in the toaster oven, I had a googey cheesy veggie pizza.

A glass of milk makes everything better.

_______________________

Spring Cure 2010

A few months back Apartment Therapy hosted their Spring Cure, which follows along with the eight-step home cure in the Apartment Therapy book. My intention in participating was to deep clean my entire apartment before moving. Unfortunately things became too crazy to complete the cure before moving, so I had to put it on the back burner.

Now that I’m settled into my new place and getting ready to start school again, I thought now would be the perfect time to start back up with the Spring Cure, only this time around I’m doing the One Room Remedy. My classes start in just under 8 weeks and I need a place where I can feel creative and inspired. So for the next 8 weeks I’ll be transforming a spare bedroom into my art/writing studio.

You can check out the progress over at CherryOrchid, it’s going to be a fun few months!

Yep, that’s right, just burn over half of all the cookies you make. Instant portion control…unless you like the taste of char.

I was all prepared to share my favorite coconut chocolate chip cookie recipe with the blog world, but as you can see I still have some kinks to work out.

I recently moved into my new house and I still haven’t figured out the stove. In my old place I cooked with electric, and even though I know that gas is a superior cooking method, it’s taking a little time to get used to it. In fact you can see the difference in the cookies I made yesterday.

The burned cookies above were baked using my gas stove.

The cookies below were from the same dough, but cooked in a much smaller batch in an electric toaster oven.

So I guess the lesson is that I cook better using a toaster oven than a traditional stove. Odd, especially I set a bagel on fire in a toaster oven not too long ago.

But I assure you, the cookies that didn’t burn are incredible. In fact they are so good, I just stuck them in the freezer to stop myself from eating them.

___________________

Lately I’ve been feeling really drained, I think I’m fighting off a cold. Unfortunately I can’t take any sick time off of work because the rest of my team is on vacation, so I’m covering all contracts for the Western and Southern United States. Hmmm, maybe thats why I feel so tired.

On that note, I’m going to log off and write a little before going to bed.

G’night!

This weekend I came across a notebook that made me stop in my tracks. Apparently we are no longer limited to paper for notebooks, in fact there some incredibly eco options using STONE.

I found this genius composition book at Target for about $4. It’s Eco Friendly, and Tree Free. Other benefits include:

• Acid Free
• Produced without use of Water and Bleach
• Produces no Air Pollution

In terms of using the products, you won’t notice much of a different between tree based and stone based paper. So far I’ve only noticed a few differences:

• The paper is slightly heavier than traditional paper notebooks
• The paper is smoother, and cool to the touch

I officially start my UCLA classes on September 22nd, and this notebook is coming with me!

Have you found any eco options for journaling, art, and/or school supplies?

Back to Yesterday

I didn’t end up painting the bathroom, but I finished a lot of other errands.

Such as driving all the way down to San Diego to visit the house decorating gods at…

I picked up a few items for the house and then travelled over to visit the organization gods at…

I was looking for some shelves in the living room and ended up finding the perfect thing at the Container store.

View Full Album

I absolutely love these invisible shelves, and they were affordable at only $13. I’ll share more of the living room in another post, but it’s all starting to feel like home.

The drive down to San Diego took much longer than expected so I didn’t get home until late evening

Dinner

Since I was starving, I wanted something fast. I also wanted pizza. California Pizza Kitchen frozen pizza was the perfect answer.

For greens, I tried a new recipe, Grilled Hearts of Romaine.

Grilled Hearts of Romaine

Serves 4

2 Romaine Hearts

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Salt & Pepper

Parmesan Cheese

• Slice Romaine Hearts in half lengthwise. Brush with Olive Oil, Salt, and Pepper.

• Heat grill to medium heat
• Set hearts on grill, cut side down, cook 3 minutes.

• Flip and cook 2 more minutes.

• Sprinkle with cheese. ( I used Feta, but only because I was out of Parmesan Cheese).

I wasn’t expecting much, but it was pretty good. I think next time I might drizzle it with either balsamic syrup or Caesar dressing.

You should note that these do not hold well, so make sure you serve and eat them immediately.

YUM!

I also followed dinner with a few chewy chocolate chip cookies. Not nearly as good as homemade, but a guilty pleasure none the less.

See ya later!

I woke up around 8am, refreshed and relaxed. Baxter was still asleep next to me, which is a very rare thing. In fact he’s been doing a lot of sleeping today, apparently he likes lazy Sundays too. I think the beagles wore him out yesterday!

While he was napping, I had breakfast.

The new home has excellent sunlight for foodie pics; something that was lacking in my apartment.

That was a whole wheat bagel thin, 1 egg over easy, a turkey sausage patty, and a bunch of Ranier cherries.

Those cherries were amazing!

oh yeah, there was some Orange Juice too…

By the way, when Minute Maid says low pulp…they lie. I had to strain the OJ in order to drink it, ick!

________________

Yesterday I stopped past an excellent Library bookstore in Carlsbad and picked up a bunch of stuff.

5 Magazines & 4 books = $8.25

hi

You can always find the best deals at ‘Friends of the Library’ bookstores. If I had bought all those books/magazine full prices, it would have been close to $80…and instead I got them all for less that $9!

I’m still trying to figure out what to do today, I think a trip to Costco for more cherries and painting my master bathroom may be in order.

Happy Sunday!

Alas life has finally started to calm down, so I’m back!

The past few months have been dedicated to purchasing my first house, moving into the recently purchased house, turning the house into a home, working, and other various things. 

________________________________

Unfortunately I didn’t have my camera with me today, so I don’t have any pictures to share, which is a shame.

I was actually planning on going to lunch with my friend, but her daughter was sick so we had to postpone. However, that lead to some other fun things.

So I packed up the car, let Baxter hang his head out of the window, and drove down to San Diego to visit my parents.

Baxter spent the day swimming and playing with his friends, the beagles (aka my moms pups)

For lunch we went to Chick Fil-A…always a great option for quick, healthy food. They had some guy out on the corner in a Cow costume and we were cracking up. I mean, how often do you see a Cow do the running man…it was awesome!

Then we hit up The Forum Shopping in Carlsbad, CA. I just found this shopping center about 2 months ago, and I love it. It’s an outdoor shopping center that has all the stores you typically find in a traditional enclosed mall.

I picked up my Mom’s Birthday gifts, which I really hopes she likes next weekend.

Later we tried out a new restaurant, Studio Diner. I purchased a Groupon for the diner last week and this was the perfect opportunity to try something new.

Guy Fieri visited the Studio Diner a while back and it was featured on Diners, Dives, and Drive Ins. Let me say, if you have the chance to eat here, you will not be disappointed!

This is where I really wish I had my camera, just so you could drool over the amazing food.

I had a Steak Ceasar Salad with Gorgonzola…it was INCREDIBLE!!! I will be recreating this at home. The Caesar wasn’t overpowering and the tang from the Gorgonzola went perfectly with the steak.

The following also got rave reviews.

The ambiance was pretty cool too, since it’s located next to the only active film studio in San Diego. I know Veronica Mars was filmed there as well as quite a few other shows you’d probably recognize. The inside felt like a local diner, with comfortable booth seating, relaxing patio, excellent servers, and big screen TVs throughout. The crowd was huge when we arrived and they were still able to seat us within 15 mintues, of course you also had the option to sit at the diner’s counter.

I promise drool worthy pictures next time I visit.

Lastly, I’ve started using the Bodybugg again. I’ll share more about that in a seperate post. However, I will leave you with today’s data.

Oh yeah, it’s good to be back!!

So what exactly have I been up to?

Just to give you an idea, in the past 2 weeks I’ve been doing the following…

• Worked 60+ hour weeks and am typically calling it a night around 2am…Ugh! Terrible,  I know. My sleep schedule is totally screwed up right now.
• Spent 24 hours with a dog that expelled everything he’s ever eaten, or even considered eating. (it’s a toss up on which one of us is more exhausted/disgusted)

• Due to the above item,  I spent an incredible amount of time scrubbing a carpet that they are clearly going to replace when I move out of my apartment
• Bought both spackle and caulking…you know, to spackle and caulk things.
• Turned in my 30 day notice at my apartment (it was a great moment, and not just because the guy working in the leasing office is a total cutie. I’ve lived here for 4 years dude, where have you been hiding???).
• Finished script frenzy with a 105 page script!!!! (Holy Crap, I just wrote an entire script!!!!)

• Packed over 80% of my house for moving day

• Took down all curtains in my house and replaced with verticals (it feels so not homey here now)
• Redesigned and Re-launched the Eco Stella website
• Finished 2 week green monster challenge (Amazing!)

• Lost 5 lbs (Awesome!)
• Became a master napper (which inevitably threw off my sleep schedule even more)
• Realized that I write better between the hours of 9pm and 4am than any other part of the day.
• I also write better when I’m listening to instrumental music, Legend of the Seeker or Moonlight reruns in the background…weird
• Cascadian Farms rocks with organic versions of my favorite ‘bad’ kids food cereals. Seriously, organic Cinnamon Toast Crunch…yes please!

• Dropped off donations at goodwill
• Cleaned the toilet (I hate this chore, so it’s gets it’s own line)
• Purchased a few select decorations for the house that I do not yet own.
• Made plans to decorate several rooms in the house that I do not yet own (Below are just a few of my inspiration pictures)

View Full Album

• Scheduled moving day with professional movers
• Cursed out my dog when he ate my ‘Design A Bag’ sketches, now I have to do them over. I expect he would have eaten my homework in high school too.
• Made peace with my dog when he laid down next to me and fell asleep on my arm (he never does that)

• Took down all pictures throughout the apartment
• Realized that I have disconnected from my current apartment, it’s no longer a home, just a place where I’m staying.
• Did financial things to make sure I can still afford the new house that I do not yet own (don’t worry, it’s all good!)
• Started HAHD (Hundred Articles in Hundred days challenge)
• Found out that I did not get chosen for spot in the Nike Women’s Half Marathon this year (tear, tear). It’s okay, I’m sure something better will be happening then anyways.
• Created an initial plan to get out of my dead end job within the next year
• Started writing out plans on how I will make a living after I get out of said dead end job
• Started a plan to have 2 credit cards paid off by the end of the year, and possibly buy a car next year
• Brainstorming how to start my own business. I’ve realized that I really need to be my own boss and set my own hours, especially if I want to write between the hours of 9pm and 4am.
• Celebrated my 28th birthday
• Started the Journey to My First Home series over at CherryOrchid
• Made the most amazing Chocolate Chip & Vanilla Coconut Nirvana Cookies.

And since I can’t really top those cookies, I’ll end this list here. I’m beyond exhausted and am off to take a nap…again. I will post the cookie recipe soon.