Solo on Cedros

One of my favorite things to do when I have nothing to do is to take a stroll down Cedros Design District in Solana Beach. Not only is Cedros Ave. home to my favorite music venue in San Diego, the Belly Up Tavern, it is also decked with gift-stores, nurseries, cafes, restaurants, and a beautiful store called Solo, that sells greeting cards, coffee table books, jewelry, furniture, and antique finds. Make sure to check it out if you ever find yourself in the area!

What's for Dinner: Shrimp Ceviche Salad

What to do when you have avocados in the fridge that are on the verge of becoming over-ripe? You could make guacamole I guess. Or... you could make shrimp ceviche instead! It's so easy to make, delicious, and nutritious! Here is my recipe:

This recipe yields either 2 entree-sized portions or 4 appetizer salads:

-1/2 pound of cooked, deveined shrimp
-1 lime
-1 lemon

-olive oil

-garlic salt to taste

-pepper to taste

-2 tomatoes
-1-2 avocados
-1/2 yellow onion
-1 small jalapeno (optional)
-cilantro

-mixed greens

-tortilla chips

Cut the tails off of the shrimp and cut into bite-sized pieces. Transfer to a small bowl. Squeeze the juice of one lime and 1/2 of a lemon over the shrimp. Season with salt, pepper, and garlic salt. Cover tightly and put in the fridge for at least half an hour. (Real ceviche is cured in lime juice, but you can fake it... I won't tell if you won't tell) In the meantime, dice up the onion, avocado, tomato, cilantro, and jalapeno. Mix it in with the shrimp. Scoop out ceviche onto a bed of baby greens. Squeeze half of a lemon and a drizzle of olive oil on top. Garnish with tortilla chips. Happy scooping!

The week (or so) in pictures

I apologize (to my 2 followers) for my lack of posts lately... Basically what happened is I got an iPhone and between Angry Birds, Words with Friends, PhotoSwap, Doodle Truck, Moron Test, Instagram, and NinjaCat, there hasn't really been much time to blog...let alone to do anything really. However, I did spend a good chunk of time cleaning the house today (if that's any consolation).

This weekend was pretty mellow. On Friday night, we had my parents over for our first official dinner party. I made salad, followed by stuffed chicken breast (stuffed with spinach, mushrooms, onions, almonds, and goat cheese) accompanied by rosemary roasted potatoes and brown sugar brussel sprouts. It was unanimously delicious.

On Saturday night, we had a few people over and had a Catchphrase and Apples to Apples marathon. I like having people over once in awhile. You can drink all you'd like and don't have to worry about driving anywhere. The party comes to you essentially :p

Last night, Noel cooked for me for the VERY FIRST TIME EVER. He followed a recipe and everything. It was pretty cute. He made coconut curry with chicken, cauliflower, and bell pepper. I was very proud of him!

Anyway, here is the week (or so) in pictures:

Beach picnic at Swamis watching some big waves and mackin' down on some Mozy's tropical burritos. Life really doesn't get much better than this picture:

Drive-in happy hour at the Lake:

A rainy Wednesday:

A bulb we planted about a week ago... it is a BEAST of a grower. Seriously, when I wake up in the morning, the first thing that pops into my head is: I WONDER HOW MUCH THE PLANT GREW. It makes me excited to get out bed...and I'm never ever that excited to get out of bed, so that's pretty big news (stay tuned for growth progress).

BEAST IN THE HOUSE. I am utterly, undeniably, unbelievably obsessed and in love with this magnificent creature. I'd venture to say she's magical. Remember when I said life doesn't get much better than the beach and burritos? It actually does. Just being in this dog's presence is absolutely joyful.

Killin' time mid-week with pom-poms and a hot-glue gun. Gosh, I love my hot-glue gun.

Oh you know, just bustin' out with some free-needlin. I drop these stitches like balls drop on bitches:

Some vintage Coca Cola trays I picked up last Wednesday. A 1978 reproduction of the original Coca Cola 1908 Calendar girls. In 1908, these ladies were dime-pieces. Think about that.

Noel's coconut curry with chicken. NOM-NOM.
It was a good week.

Tomorrow is an exciting day... It's our 5 year anniversary!

......That's a super long time. (It must mean we like each other or something.)

I came across this out-of-this world embroidery project a few weeks ago (before I found out that I can embroider). Scored some embroidery hoops in assorted sizes today... I feel a DIY project looming in the air...

Shopper of the Week

The Amvets Shopper of the Week Award goes to the ever-so-fashionable Claire. Claire loves turbans, leopard print, Lady Gaga, stickers, and her signature novelty sunglasses (which she always wears indoors). She is the epitome of a thrift-store junkie. "You never know what you're gonna find here!" she exclaimed. See ya next week, Claire!

It's Valentine's Day, not Venereal Disease

Happy Valentine's Day! I apologize to my friends and family because I did not make Valentine's Day cards this year. I just didn't know how I could top last year's bunch.

To console you, take a look at these vintage VD cards:

No plans (at least that I know of) for the big day of love... Our 5 year anniversary is a week from tomorrow, so we'll celebrate then.

Whether your Valentine this year is your significant other, your spouse, your mom, your dad, your kid, or your cat, I hope you have a wonderful day!

How to Wear Lingerie in Public (and not look like a slut)

The other day, I stumbled upon this slip at a thrift store and had to rescue it. The butterfly and lace detailing was just too damn pretty to go unnoticed (or worn underneath something). The problem was, it was a little long (it hit right at the knee). What was a girl supposed to do?

I went back and forth for awhile on whether I wanted it to be a skirt or a crop-top. I finally decided on the skirt idea. I got out some scissors, some elastic, and my sewing machine and this is what happened:

Then I played dress-up:

Here are some of my tips for getting away with wearing lingerie in public and not looking like a skank:

1. Stay away from anything red or hot pink. The keyword of this whole wearing-underwear-as-outerwear thing is subtlety. Red and hot pink are just a dead giveaway, not to mention, tacky.

2. Layer, layer, layer. Sheer and lace material can be demure if paired with contrasting colors and textures.

3. Leave a little up to the imagination. When you are throwing negligee into the mix, it already insinuates sexy-time. As nice as your titties might be, you don't have to wear a push-up bra in this circumstance.

Got it? Now get it ;)

Sneak-Peek!

Just posted a big batch of steez in my online shop! Come one, come all!

Artsy Fartsy

The other day, I was at Home Goods browsing the art department when a fellow shopper (who also happened to be an older, middle-aged man), asked me if I knew anything about art. "I see people picking things up and putting them in their basket, but how do they go about picking it?" I'm pretty sure he was just trying to pick me up and put me in his basket, so I was pretty standoffish and said, "Whatever catches your eye I guess." I then realized that he could have easily come up with a cheese remark to that, so I swooped out of the aisle real quick so that he wouldn't have the chance. It kind of reminded me of the time this guy tried to pick me up at the market by asking me what I was making for dinner that night and then asking if he could come over and bring the wine...

Anyway, the older, middle-aged man at Home Goods had a valid point. And to expand on that, how do you find unique art at an affordable price?

Here are some options:

1.Look for picture books at your thrift-store of choice. If you don't have the patience to sift through cook-books and self-help books, make a trip to your local library and do the Dewey (decimal system that is).

I found this book at Rancho Coastal Humane Society's thrift store:

It has hundreds of pictures of every animal you could possibly think of (although it doesn't have a panda bear, strangely enough). If you opted for the thrift-store route, you can literally rip out the spine (carefully) and voila! A plethora of art at your disposal!

If you went to the library, you probably shouldn't tear those books up. Head to Kinkos and do some photocopying instead.

I chose an illustration of some lovely octopi to frame and hang in our bedroom:

2. Refrain from custom framing. Fuck custom framing. It's expensive. If you want a finished look, but only want to spend a tenth of the price it would cost to get a piece custom framed, order custom mattes instead. I found this African butterfly-wing art at Salvation Army for .99 cents. When I brought it to Michael's, I was quoted $99 to get it custom framed. "Do I have any other options? I'm just a kid!" I justified. It ended up costing me $10 instead.

3. Hit the drawing-board. Get out your sharpies, colored pencils, and crayons and go to town! I made this the other night (a parody of the "Keep Calm and Carry On" poster that I frankly, just don't get).

Shortly after I made this, I found out about a website called Keep Calm-o-matic . If I had known about it beforehand, I could have avoided the Sharpie-high. I think this looks much better:

Then I started getting a little creative:

And my personal favorite (which I'm also thinking about getting copyrighted):