Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree!

 

 

Black Friday

I love great deals, but not at the expense of ruining a holiday. That's just me though. Instead of waiting in line for 2 days, I'd much rather spend time indoors preferably with the heater on and surrounded by Thanksgiving dinner. Every year I am amazed at the amount of people that camp out to get the best of the best deals. Don't get me wrong, I give it to these folks because they do get amazing deals ie) TVs & laptops at half price.

At about 1am on Black Friday, a few of us decided to head out to check out the scene (not so much get in line). We drove past lines at Best Buy and Target to chat with a few people about how long they've been in line and what they intend to buy. One man was there since Wednesday and was first in line and does it every year. People had their tents up, grills going and heaters running. They were definitely professionals. After scoping out the scene we decided to run into Walmart since they're 24 hours. Well, upon arrival we were greeted with a line outside the door. Turns out it was taking people at least 45 minutes just to get in and another hour to pay for their merchandise. We didn't end up going in. We went right back home. Black Friday just isn't for me. Cyber Monday on the other hand, that's more my cup of tea.

Mini Provolone Popovers

 

 These delicious cheesy popovers are unbelievably easy to make. After trying a few my friend Caroline made, I begged for the recipe. I was expecting a complicated recipe, but to my surprise it was as simple as combining a few ingredients and throwing them in the oven. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup whole milk

2 large eggs

1 cup all purpose flour

2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and divided

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp black pepper

1/3 cup finely chopped provolone

2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese

1 1/2 tbsp chopped chives

EQUIPMENT:

mini muffin pan (24) or you can use a regular muffin pan (12)

Whisk together milk, eggs, flour, 1 tbsp butter, salt and pepper until smooth. Then stir in cheeses and chives. Chill 1 hour to allow batter to rest. 

Preheat oven 425 degrees. Butter the muffin pan with remaining tbsp butter, then heat in oven until butter sizzles, about 2 minutes.

Gently stir batter then divide among muffin cups. Bake until puffed and golden brown. 18-20 minutes.

Best when served immediately.

T H A N K F U L

In the spirit of tomorrow's holiday, here are a few of the things I'm thankful for this year...

1. FAMILY - They are everything to me

2.  MY OWN PLACE - Because having your own space and freedom to do as you please is unlike        anything else. It also helps that we have a beautiful view.

3. MY JOB - Just because I work in beauty, it isn't always pretty. Though I have to say, working here has been such a pleasure and at the same time a great learning experience. With the unemployment rate up so high, I'm just thankful to be working.

4. FRIENDS (not all are pictured) - After all these years, it's nice to have the same friends by your side through good times and bad.

5. THE BF - If you read my previous post, you know that he's a keeper.

6. Being HEALTHY - It's one of those things that people take for granted. I want to embrace it. The older I get, the more scared I become. We're not invincible and I want to take my health as far as I can. Without it, I wouldn't be able to live my dream of traveling, play music, be crafty, hang with the kids and more.

What are you thankful for?

Sephora Photo Booth

Sephora has put photo booths in select locations and guess who's face graces the sides of these photobooths? Mine! Right now, you can go into the Powell Street store in SF and the Venetian store in Las Vegas (and 2 other store locations I'm not sure of), take fun photos (with or without a Sephora makeover) and upload them directly to Facebook or email them to yourself/ friends. If you're near one of these stores, check it out :)

Lucky Me

Gio's birthday celebration last night left me in a lazy hangover status all day today. Luckily, the amazing bf pulled out all the stops today by doing laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping and cooking dinner all while I sat on my bum/ napped/ watched tv. All on his own :) After all this and a forced Advil by him, I realized that I am one lucky lady and this man is a keeper.

Girl Time!

As the years have passed our schedules have been overloaded with work, boyfriends, family and more - we just don't get together as frequently as we used to. We also don't reside in the same city any longer. To put things into perspective, in our "college days" we would see eachother as much as 3-4 times a week. So nowadays, when we do get together, it's always nothing but fun and laughs. Can't wait for the next one...

This night, Ariel and I head to watch Talib Kweli perform at Yoshi's Fillmore with our sig figs (i love this intimate venue). Following the show, we meet up with some of the girls at Harlot, we have a drink then head over to a place we used to go to all the time in the past, Fluid. Wow, 2 clubs in one night! It's unheard of for me these days.

SF Brings in the Crowds & the Crazies

Today was the parade for the Giant's and the start of the parade was just about a block away from my building. They took the same historic route from when the Giants first arrived in SF from NY about 50 years ago or so which was really cool - gotta love history and traditions. Since it was a block away and many of my coworkers headed out to experience it, I figured, I might as well too. The city (fans) have waited 50 years for this (obviously they've never won a World Series title here) and you can tell by the craziness. People were actin' a fool out there and I did my best to capture a few of the many...

 Btw, the guy standing on the newstand, he fell through the glass moments later - right on top of another man shattering glass everywhere. Classic.

 I couldn't believe this man (at least 60) had the strength and energy to climb up this light post. I was worried about how he was going to get down, but he made it safely.

World Series Madness

I've been surrounded by craziness these last few weeks as the Giant's have made their way to the World Series and have finally won it all tonight. Although I'm not a Giant's fan, they were the better team in this series and deserved the win. Watching baseball has been a ton of fun, but I'm ready for all of this hype to come to an end. They can enjoy their first title since coming to SF. There's still only 1 champion in the Bay in my eyes and that's the Oakland A's. I won't be jumping on the orange and black bandwagon because my heart belongs to the Athletics. 4 world series titles since they've been in Oakland and counting...