For Every Door That Closes…

Bonjour, bon ami!!!

head heels standards high quotes words of wisdom girl power
{my personal mantra}

We all know the ol’ adage, “For every door that closes, a new one opens.”  I can’t say how true these words are as of recent in my own personal life.  The universe works in mysterious ways, and after watching a door close, immediately a floodgate opened.

music concert rock & roll festival balloons crowd live band act
{weheartit.com}

I work in marketing and advertising in my 9-5 life, and I now have the pleasure of working for an amazing agency handling the funnest account I’ve ever had the opportunity to work on: MUSIC.

 

madonna throwback like a virgin early years jacket icon music 80s prayer
{yes, Madge…}
madonna super bowl 2012 halftime show icon jean paul gaultier queen of pop give me all your lovin{THE Madonna}

During my first day in the office, I sat in a meeting with Madonna’s staff.  Not too shabby so far…

crystal cruises ship travel sailing luxury vacation international penthouse premium best line{crystal cruises}
crystal cruises ship travel sailing luxury vacation international penthouse premium best line{crystal cruises}

And just to appease my love for all things glamorous, I also have the the great pleasure of adding to my roster of clientele the best cruise line in the world, as deemed by Travel + Leisure for the last 16 years: Crystal Cruises!!

It has been only one week, and I am just so very excited for the incredible experiences and stories to come.  I can’t wait to share them with you.

victory oscar de la renta new york fashion week 2012 glamorous glamour fashion couture runway show black gown success
{fromme-toyou}

 

Je gagne!!!

I do hope you are having a wonderful weekend!  Unfortunately all this recent running around and change has brought me a cold that I’m trying to shake off this weekend, but I know by Monday I’ll be bright eyed and bushy tailed once again.

Until then, here’s to la belle vie, bon ami!!

LBH

A Nod to Childhood + Practicality

Bonjour, bon ami!!!

It feels as though I have been running every day, and unfortunately I haven’t had a chance to update my little space here.  Fortunately, my mother is feeling much better, and so I’m very thankful for that.  And luckily, in between all the running around, I have been able to finish a couple home projects, one of which I am soooo excited about!!

face paint little girl creative bored cute kids children chalkboard wall kitchen DIY home improvement projects crafty
{ronniefein.com}

Remember being a kid and playing with your coloring books, markers and crayons, and then discovering that you had amazing blank canvases in your house where you could create your brilliant works of art?  You probably also remember the big trouble you or your siblings got into for turning those walls into your childhood art gallery.

You have probably seen recent home improvement blog posts like this one on Apartment Therapy about kid-loving chalkboard paint and chalkboard walls in homes that provide hours of entertainment and a true gallery for their masterpieces.  I decided to use the chalkboard paint to create a functional wall in my kitchen, where finding a lose clean piece of paper nearby while I’m cooking or cleaning is nearly impossible.  Now I have the best and most convenient post-it-note ever!!

Here are a few pictures of this very fun and very easy project:

creative kids children chalkboard wall kitchen DIY home improvement projects crafty postit note practical wall paint{before-during-after}

Now I never have to worry about jotting down a quick note to myself that I’m out of milk, peanut butter, olive oil, paper towels or anything else that I notice I need throughout the day of cooking, cleaning or other.  And not like when I was a kid, this girl will never get in trouble for drawing on this wall!

You can find chalkboard paint at your local home improvement store like (my personal favorite) Lowes.  Depending on the size of the wall you want to paint, it can take you a few minutes to prep the wall with sandpaper and tape the trim, and twenty minutes to paint a first coat (it will go on very streaky and thin, but that’s okay – a second or third coat will cover it beautifully).  After an hour or so, you can paint a second coat, and after another hour a third if you need it.  Then two or three days later, you can christen your chalkboard wall by writing on it with chalk and wiping it off, thereby dusting it and making it ready for your everyday scribbling, drawing and reminder note writing!

creative kids children chalkboard wall kitchen DIY home improvement projects crafty postit note practical wall paintDo you have a chalkboard wall?  Where would you paint a chalkboard wall?  And who would use it more in your home, you or your kids??

I hope you have a wonderful holiday weekend, bon ami!!

LBH

A Sure Bet In Santa Monica

Bonjour, bon ami!!!

The last week has been quite crazy and chaotic, and it has kept me away from my blog.  So much has happened, both good, bad and other.  The GREAT news is my mom is feeling better, and we’re hopeful that the doctors can find the cause and best treatment for her blood pressure.  But I’m so very excited about some incredible recent developments!!  My career path has taken a most amazing slight shift towards another one of my biggest passions: music.  So get ready for some fab blog posts about my passion for awesome music, which goes so well with my fashion, design and art loves.

During my week of absence, the boy and I dined at Jiraffe (yes, with a “J”), a fabulous Santa Monica restaurant that should definitely be added to your go-to list for LA dining.

jiraffe restaurant los angeles DineLA california french fusion santa monica giraffe
{jiraffe}

**Apologies for the low quality images – I only had my camera phone with me while dining, but I can assure you the quality of the food was exponentially better than it looks!! :)

Jiraffe has been a Santa Monica sure bet for dining since 1996.  Offering a delicious and inspired menu of French dishes with local Californian influence, Jiraffe manages to pleasantly surprise diners with unexpected and unpretentious flavor combinations.  Here are the mouth-watering DineLA play-by-plays:

crispy potato wrapped big eye tuna appetizer prix fixe dineLA restaurant week jiraffe french california fusion cuisine santa monica
{crispy potato wrapped big eye tuna}

~ delicious with some great unexpected flavor combinations.  Great start to the meal.

stuffed vermont quail mashed potatoes appetizer prix fixe dineLA restaurant week jiraffe french california fusion cuisine santa monica
{stuffed vermont quail over mashed potatoes}

~ perfectly cooked, tender and tantalizing… should have been called an appe-teaser!

wild mushroom and aged gouda ravioli entree prix fixe dineLA restaurant week jiraffe french california fusion cuisine santa monica
{wild mushroom & aged gouda ravioli}

~ although the raviolis are hard to see in my poor photo, I can tell you they were wonderful.  The earthy combination of the mushroom and gouda in a blanket of creamy sauce was delectable.

scottish salmon caponatta entree prix fixe dineLA restaurant week jiraffe french california fusion cuisine santa monica
{scottish salmon caponatta}

~ the salmon was light and moist, and the caponatta sauce was an explosion of fresh basil, parsley, garlic and lemon.  I wanted to lick the plate clean.

choolate truffle cake mousse dessert prix fixe dineLA restaurant week jiraffe french california fusion cuisine santa monica
{chocolate truffle cake}

~ it was like warm molten lava cake, but lighter and not as overpoweringly sweet. Heaven.

fresh baked chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches dessert prix fixe dineLA restaurant week jiraffe french california fusion cuisine santa monica
{fresh baked chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches}

~ moist cookies and creamy ice cream.  We were just missing the cold milk!

caramelized banana cream pie dessert prix fixe dineLA restaurant week jiraffe french california fusion cuisine santa monica
{caramelized banana cream pie}

~ this was by far one of the best desserts I’ve had in a long time.  And this is coming from a proud chocola-holic.  I could eat this dessert everyday.  The bananas weren’t overly ripe or sweet, the cream filling light, and the crust was flaky and perfect.  It was all just perfect!

In case you wondered, the waiter brought the one dessert we didn’t order on the prix fixe menu, but said it was ours to enjoy anyway.  We certainly didn’t NEED the extra dessert, but we definitely didn’t turn it away either!  Not to be forgotten or overlooked was the excellent service we also received.  Our waiter was pleasant and warm, and made our wonderful evening all the more wonderful.

On your next trip to LA, be sure to swing by Jiraffe for a guaranteed fabulous meal.  I can’t wait to get back there soon.  And as a matter of fact, my new career path has brought me within blocks of Jiraffe – this could be a bad great thing!!

See you there for dinner, bon ami!!

LBH

Eighth Time’s A Charm…

Bonjour, bon ami!!!  Happy February!!!

I hope your first month of 2012 was a great start to a great new year!  January was definitely eventful – lots of home improvement and organization projects, and even though I still have some work to finish, I am extremely happy about what I’ve accomplished thus far.  After Super Bowl Sunday, I’ll have my Sundays back to finish up more of the projects on the list!

Meanwhile, here in LA we’ve been celebrating DineLA Restaurant Week for the last week, something I’m always looking forward to.  Last night’s treat was an exclusive dinner at one of LA’s hottest nomadic eateries, LudoBites 8.  Although not a participant in DineLA, this is the eighth iteration of the pop-up restaurant.  For any who aren’t familiar with the name Ludo Lefebvre, he was a featured Top Chef Master during its second season, and locally in LA he has been known as a French culinary genius-slash-down to earth rockstar for over ten years.

Thus, until this eighth round of pop-ups, getting a seat or two meant being ready at your computer on the day and minute that reservations opened, and refreshing your page over and over again, hoping you could be a lucky winner (a la Ticketmaster!!).  But FINALLY… my number was called and I was fortunate enough to be one of the 5% who successfully snagged a reservation via raffle (BEST and most fair idea thus far).  LB8 definitely proved to me why this reservation was SOOO difficult to come by.  And the wait was worth it: check out the mouth-watering pictures below!!!

ludobites ludo bites 8 chef ludo lefebvre pop up restaurant los angeles lemon moon dineLA restaurant week menu
{delectable menu}
ludobites ludo bites 8 chef ludo lefebvre pop up restaurant los angeles lemon moon dineLA restaurant week scallops truffles
{bay scallops with truffle}
ludobites ludo bites 8 chef ludo lefebvre pop up restaurant los angeles lemon moon dineLA restaurant week monkfish liver cucumber pickled mustard seeds
{monkfish, cornichons, mustard seeds}
ludobites ludo bites 8 chef ludo lefebvre pop up restaurant los angeles lemon moon dineLA restaurant week big eye tuna somen noodles delicious
{my favorite: big eye tuna over somen noodles with Tahitian vanilla}
ludobites ludo bites 8 chef ludo lefebvre pop up restaurant los angeles lemon moon dineLA restaurant week wagyu beef carpaccio raw pickled radish snow sliced red white beets eel
{wagyu beef carpaccio with radish snow}
ludobites ludo bites 8 chef ludo lefebvre pop up restaurant los angeles lemon moon dineLA restaurant week brioche sweet yuzu butter delicious
{brioche with yuzu butter}
ludobites ludo bites 8 chef ludo lefebvre pop up restaurant los angeles lemon moon dineLA restaurant week jidori chicken parmesan foam walnut sauce tender juicy delicious
{jidori half chicken with parmesan foam}
ludobites ludo bites 8 chef ludo lefebvre pop up restaurant los angeles lemon moon dineLA restaurant week
{pop-up kitchen & great staff}
ludobites ludo bites 8 chef ludo lefebvre pop up restaurant los angeles lemon moon dineLA restaurant week
{lemon moon, host of LudoBites 8}
ludobites ludo bites 8 chef ludo lefebvre pop up restaurant los angeles lemon moon dineLA restaurant week light fixtures
{moon-like light fixtures, appropriately so…}

ludobites ludo bites 8 chef ludo lefebvre pop up restaurant los angeles lemon moon dineLA restaurant week kitchenludobites ludo bites 8 chef ludo lefebvre pop up restaurant los angeles lemon moon dineLA restaurant week kitchen

ludobites ludo bites 8 chef ludo lefebvre pop up restaurant los angeles lemon moon dineLA restaurant week
{executive chef and gracious host Ludo Lefebvre}

 If you happen to get an opportunity to try Ludo Bites during a future iteration, you will thoroughly enjoy it.  The flavor profiles were delightful and very unexpected, a combination of classic with new, all on a platter free from pretentiousness.  AND for those in or around LA, you can always chase down Ludo’s food truck for a taste of his talent.

I have a couple more restaurants on my DineLA list this week, and I can’t wait to share more delicious greatness with you!!

Until then, bon ami, have a wonderful week!!!

LBH