My Name is Elle, and I am addicted to espresso.....

Last night I concluded a frenzied evening of Valentine's Day prep/laundry/dusting and vaccuuming/consuming every leftover in my fridge/cleaning out my desperately unorganized and crammed Kate Spade and organizing my craft corner with a 10:30 pm indoor soccer game in Rocklin....You heard it right folks, little miss 'in bed by 9:30 to catch up on Bravo and E' was out in the midst of the night super super super late! 
While I had a ton of fun taking my aggressions out on the pitch, let's just say I was less than perky this morning...fast forward past the rolling out of bed at 8:10, throwing my hair in a messy bun and being significantly late for work, and I was more than ready for a pick me up by lunch time...
Enter, Cafe Roma, one of downtown Sacramento's newest little gems....from pizza, pasta and soup, to the most decadent gelato this side of the Atlantic, you have to check this place out on L street! Beyond the food and friendliness of staff, this little self professed coffee fiend finds them to have the BEST doppio espresso!
Don't let this mini 'tazo' (that's italian for cup or mug) fool you, if it is strong enough for my coffee snob tastebuds, this bambino of flavor explosion will surely blow your socks off...don't say I didn't warn you!
A little tip of advice.... nothing makes an Italian cringe more than having American's come into their bar in the afternoon or evening and order a cappuccino, these drinks are reserved for breakfast and breakfast only! So the next time you randomly find yourself at a Roman bar in the late afternoon, any cafe between here and there would do of course, order yourself a nice strong shot of love, because a doppio espresso always makes life a little more va bene.

                                                                                              

PS- it also didn't help that I got to enjoy such an amazing lunch with Claire, sitting outside in the 60 degree weather in February!

PPS- Cafe Roma's Friday special is a $1 doppio, my dreams have come true!


Ciao

Mishaps and Miracles

From chipped nail polish after a freshly paid for manicure or frizzy hair in the morning to backing into a dumpster on my way to work or losing a prized piece of costume jewelry, sometimes it seems that my life is cursed and nothing can and ever will go right. With frustration in my heart and anger in my mind I forget about life’s little graces and trample through my day like an escaped elephant from the circus, stampeding over anything and anyone, demanding my needs be met because I am cranky.

It is my hope that I can continue to use this space to creatively express my thoughts but also share with the world in my little miraculous realizations about what and who life is all about to me. So forgive me if next week you are reading a post about how the copy machine is mindfully and purposefully working to sabotage my on deadline project, and have faith that in the end I will work to find the meaning in such a ‘serious’ workplace debacle.

This being said I am so excited to start a new phase, or label if you will, for this space, sharing with you what lights up my life, makes me giggle, and helps me get through those nuisance filled days with a smile on my face, a cute pair of shoes on my feet and a song (preferably of the boy band genre) in my heart.

Whether it’s a picture, a phrase, a cute new clothing acquisition or something special someone has done, I hope you enjoy these blessed posts and encourage you to share your very own moments!

Without further adieu, meet the 3 little angels in my life that tug my heartstrings back to the bay area every weekend (no offense boyfriend or entire family). 

I can only wait until I get to snuggle them again!

Ciao

These are a few of my favorite things: Winter Edition

I come bearing a peace offering. I understand that it has been nearly two months since we last engaged in witty (or non-witty, whichever you prefer) banter, so I come to you today with a list of gifts. While I am no Oprah and cannot obviously afford to personally bequeath you with all of this splendid little luxuries, I hope that you will take my recommendations to heart and treat yourself to one or all of ‘my winter favorites’. After all, with a dab of nailpolish and the warming scent of an apple cinnamon candle you will be sure to remember that it’s all va bene.

Winter Favorites



Check out this awesome line at http://www.pureology.com/



5.       Pureology hair care
With my naturally messy lion’s mane, winter’s moisture often has me resembling the love child of Mufasa and Don King. I am obsessed with the Pureology Hydrate System line of shampoo and conditioner, the amazing peppermint scent and super hydrating formula makes me look forward to taming the inner beast. 

4.       Insta Dry nail polish
If you know me, you know that I am a bit OCD about painting my nails. I haven’t met a chipped or nude nail that a quick squat and 30 seconds with this amazing product, Insta Dry Nail Polish by Sally Hansen, hasn’t taken care of. When I say 30 seconds, I mean it, this amazing formula dries before your eyes and will have you polished and out the door in minutes! Cheers to top coats!

3.       Johnson  baby lotion
I am a sucker for nostalgia, and to me there is nothing like the soft sweet scent of Johnson & Johnson baby lotion to throw me right back to the day. You can almost always find the huge classic pink bottle right on my bedstand, it is amazing for that icky dry wintery skin, I slather it on right after a shower and love falling asleep to the wistful scent of babyhood. PS- it also doesn’t help that this product is ridiculously cheap and comes in all sorts of other soothing scents, my second favorite being the super calming lavender.

       2.  Febreez Cinnamon Apple Candle
I enjoy curling up in bed to this cozy quasi-holiday scent almost year round. I light this candle and let it coz-ify my entire apartment, since it is Febreeze the scent is super concentrated and literally permeates every room of my apartment. My advice? Stock up on these babies right after the holidays, they are super cheap and 3 or 4 will last you an entire year!

1.       AquaphorWithout a shadow of a doubt, Aquaphor is the one and only product that I could not live without! I slather this incredibly affordable product all over, from my lips and cuticles to the roughness around my nose after I’ve had a cold. Much to my boyfriend’s disdain, I also love to add this to my evening moisturizing routine, it locks in my night cream and has me waking up to super fresh skin.

   

Happy shopping!

Ciao

I don't have a Dad, I have a Papa

When I started this blog a few months ago, one of my very first posts was an homage to my mother and the quirky traits that I have reluctantly and at the same time happily inherited from her. A post that I thought would be well received amongst my family and even revered as being sweet and touching has somehow manifested into a constant source of tension for one family member in particular. The sweet prose and belief that my mother had somehow been placed on a pedestal, has driven this one family member into a constant state of frenzied anticipation for the opportunity to also appear in my itty bitty space in this grand ole blogosphere.

So I thought it was about darn time to put the family quarreling behind us and craft a post dedicated to said family member…Ladies and gentleman, I give you a post in honor of my father, Nick, also known as Tony (an homage to Tony Soprano) or the magic man, but just plain old Papa to me.

1.    One of my very favorite traditions that my father and I still share is our ‘first rain of the fall’ phone call in which I can count on him to call me the instant it starts drizzling to tell me to slow down and avoid being on the road if I can. It is a call that I can count on, regardless of whether or not it actually makes my driving situation more distracted.

2.    My Pop still yells at me when I lick leftover goodness from the precarious blade of the knife I am using. I’m not quite sure where I picked up this sloppy habit that really freaks him out, I’m guessing it came along sometime in the age range of learning to make Nutella sandwiches and refusing to let any of the choclately goodness go to waste.

3.    If my mom is away on vacation or sick in bed, it is a known fact in my family that my father will collect the mail and systematically open every piece of it, no matter the name on the envelope or explicit instructions to cease and desist this obnoxious habit, you can count on Pop to tear through your credit card bills and pen pal letters as voraciously as though they were that month’s edition of the Reagan Library newsletter.

4.    I am pretty sure that the Hostess Bakery Company owes me some sort of lifetime supply of products by now. I may be 23 and much more conscious of my eating habits, but if my father knows that I am going to be home for the weekend, he WILL show up with a box of Hostess cupcakes (my favorite childhood treats) and he WILL help me polish off the box before Sunday evening.

5.    My father may be a master craftsman in his field, he may be awesome with cars, and he may be able to build anything you ask him to, but a techie he his most definitely not! While we have recently, and very reluctantly I might add, introduced him to the wonderful world of Craigslist, my father still insists that he cannot figure out how to turn on the computer or navigate webpages and therefore subjects us to hours of assisted ‘booting up’ comments and assisted craigslist piloting.

When it comes down to it, the five traits above might sound trivial and lame to any outsider, and probably to anyone not within my immediate family. It might sound like I am complaining or being facetious about some pretty standard run of the mill parental obligations, but these ‘standard’ actions mean the world to me. The fact that my father still tucks me in at night when I am home and still plays the ‘I love you times infinity million’ game with me says a lot about him, even if he still eats my sharpie marked leftovers and subjects me to hours upon hours of ‘This Old House’ and ‘Bonanza’ marathons. While he may drive me crazy with his little quirks, it’s these expressions that let me know that it is all va bene because I am still his little girl.

Ciao

Buon Apetito- Parmigiana di Melanzane

Last night I got suckered into cooking a completely vegetarian meal for a date night with my friend Anneka, and I have to admit, I was weary that I might be lost without a nice piece of steak or chicken breast to jazz up my meal, but in the end I was pleasantly surprised by how a vegetarian meal, if done with lots of cheese and sauce, can really be satisfying.

Seeing as we pretty much eat tacos or spaghetti every time we cook together, Anneka and I decided to venture out of our comfort zone and let the produce section at SAFEWAY do the menu planning for us. What we created was delicious and mentally appeasing, as we were really proud of ourselves for being so much healthier than our days of living together when all we ate was frozen chicken wings and rice-a-roni (which I still love!).

I hope that you enjoy this creation as much as we did, it’s a mild twist on one of my favorite Eggplant Parmesan dishes, we added tons of veggies and really had a great time chopping, chatting and of course finishing our bottle of pinot grigio.

Parmigiana di Melanzane Primavera

Time- 40 minutes

Serving- 4-5 people

Ingredients

One large eggplant

3 eggs

Italian breadcrumbs

4 cloves of garlic

1 can whole tomatoes

¼ large white onion

1 package baby portabello mushrooms

1 large red bell pepper

4 tbs extra virgin olive oil

5 leaves of fresh basil

1 bag of shredded mozzarella or provolone cheese

Fresh grated parmesan or pecorino romano cheese

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Slice eggplant into quarter inch slices, you should get about 15-20 slices from one large eggplant. Whisk together eggs, in separate bowl pour in breadcrumbs and prepare non-stick baking sheet. Bake eggplant for 20 minutes or until soft, if you want them more crispy, you can then broil for 5 minutes or until breadcrumbs are browned.

Chop garlic, onion, mushrooms and red bell pepper into like size pieces.  In a blender, puree tomatoes until sauce like. In large skillet heat oil over medium high and brown garlic and onion. Add mushrooms and bell peppers and cook until soft. Add tomato sauce, fresh basil, salt and pepper to taste (at this point  I also add some crushed red pepper flakes for spice), simmer sauce for 10 minutes.

In a non-stick or prepared pyrex dish, begin layering ingredients. One layer of eggplant slices, cover with sauce and smother with mozzarella/provolone and grated parmesan. Repeat steps until you run out of eggplant. Top off with additional cheese and bake for 20 minutes or until cheese is brown and bubbling.

I would serve this with a fresh mixed green salad with a balsamic vinegarette to cut through the heaviness of the sauce and cheese.

Buon Apetito!

**This post is in no way meant to convince anyone that I will be adopting the vegetarian lifestyle, I am a cheeseburger, chicken fried steak, carne asada burrito kind of girl and don’t intend on changing my lifestyle anytime soon. I’m just saying, I am starting to see that vegetarians aren’t necessarily nuts-o, they actually have some pretty cool and delicious options out there that I am now more willing to experiment with….just don’t bring me any tofu (yuck!)

Ciao

Happy Friday!

This was posted to my great co-worker, Kate's blog. If you are looking for some inspiration, check her out at Ordinary Girl, Extraordinary Journey!

Ciao

Tried and True: Traveling Tips for the Young Professional

As a PR associate, I have had the fun privilege of traveling fairly often for my job and clients. I have also had the unfortunate opportunity to experience some of the serious drawbacks to traveling for business. From the flying in a skirt and heels to the eager-beaver traveler who never quite understands that they are A-21 and you are A-19, hence they should be behind you and not demonstrating the Shaq blockout to ensure that they board the plane first, business travel will always test your patience as it delivers you a constant supply of ‘awww crap’ moments.

So, from one busy young professional to another, take it from me, these are tried and true tips that will hopefully help you avoid some of my very own traveling mishaps:

1.     Never under any circumstances wear a white blouse or kahakis whilst traveling, if you are a caffeine addict like me or just enjoy a simple cheeseburger- hold the tomato-extra special sauce, you can almost be certain that you will hit a bump in the road or a bit of turbulence that will send your cursed affliction flying out of its container and plopping most unfortunately on your freshly pressed chinos.

 2.       Check your gas tank, print off your boarding ticket, and re-confirm your ride to the airport at least 24 hours in advance of your departure. In fact, print two copies of your boarding pass and put one in each of your favorite purses, just in case you decide a switcheroo is in order at the last minute. You may be questioning the gas tank mention, but if infuriate your boyfriend as much as I do by putting in only 5 bucks everytime you stop at Arco, there is a good chance that you are going to run out of gas somewhere between here and your destination, and trust me it takes FORVER for AAA to get to you when you are anywhere on I-5 in the middle of the state.

3.       It’s all about the benjamins! Make sure to stop by your ATM the night before and have plenty of cash to get you through the cab rides and hotel doorman/ bell boys, there is nothing more awkward than having a guy lug your 500lb purple paisley suitcase up to rm #316 and slowly meander out waiting for you to slip him a Lincoln….even a couple Washington’s are better than the linty pack of tums and swift kick out the door you’re going to have to offer him if you don’t take me up on this scrap of knowledge.

4.       Here comes the bride! Go out to Claires and buy yourself the flashiest blingiest fakey diamond ring you can! We’ve all been there, you’ve given the stinkeye to every passenger shuffling past your prime real estate aisle seat, you think your’e safe, and then it happens….Somewhere in the mid-life crisis parallel universe, Mr. 50 something-my kids are probably older than you, mistakes your death glare for a, ‘please sit your way to forward-Ed Hardy t-shirt and jeans- self’ right next to me. You can ignore him all you want, but you know that as soon as the flight attendant comes around to offer you a drink, he’s going to jump on his opportunity to try to get you liquored up and stop you from hanging out of your seat into the aisle in an effort to get away from him.

5.    For your sake and the sake of all others that come in contact with you during the duration of your trip, pack all of your toiletries, including deodorant, toothbrush and makeup (especially your under eye dark circles corrector concealer) in your carry on. There is nothing worse than having to make due with the rudimentary hotel supply of cheapy shampoo, rigid toothbrushes, and overly smelly (really just stinky) lotions and soaps, all because the mouthbreathers at your airline of choice were incapable of transferring your bag onto a 1 hour non-stop flight from SFO to LAX (trust me, been there and it’s all bad)



Ciao