shop: summer sandals

If you are anything like me then you have to have all sorts of sandal options to pair with your spring/summer wardrobe. They must range from simple and dainty to bulky and complex. Sandals are the one item in my closet that I must have a wide color variety of. I want to have a pair for all my different skirts and dresses, but also I feel that shoes are a way to lighten up my dark color palette. This seasons selection of sandals are hardly simple and I am loving it. I tend to veer towards big and gaudy when it comes to my shoes. These sandals below are on my "to get" list and I will be checking them off one pair at a time.


Rag + Bone Farringdon Sandal $298


Rag + Bone Farringdon II Sandal $235


Matt Benson The Sherpa Buttermilk $168


Promised Strappy Sandal $132


Sophie Sandal $98


Just wondering... when did sandals get to be so darn expensive. I don't consider myself to be cheap when it comes to shoes, but geese. It's crazy what people pay to be fabulous. I am one of them though.

Shop: The Rose Bowl Flea Market

This past Sunday was the Rose Bowl flea market. As most know, it is the one thing I always look forward to each month. I woke up Sunday morning to a grey sky and a large smile appeared on my face. Hot sunny days are never ideal conditions for the Rose Bowl because of the black top that reflects the heat and the sun. I picked up my Coffee Bean on the way and arrived at 8:30am. I usually go over to the clothing section first because I like feeling that I am getting early glances at the selections of clothing. I have a method when shopping at the Rose Bowl:
* I never go to the vendors that also have stores (i.e. American Vintage). I will just go to their store another day.
* Depending on my mood, I tend to avoid any vendors that just have rows and rows of compacted clothing racks. I definitely have to be in the mood to dig through them.
* I stay far away from the vendors that have piles of clothes on the ground. Gives me anxiety.
* My ideal vendors are the ones that have accessible racks that I can actually see the pieces and is manageable to browse around.

I have my favorite vendors. The girls whose tent this is are among my favorites. They always have great pieces, but early in the morning they don't bargain and are overpriced for vintage. This is something first time flea marketers need to be careful of especially at the Rose Bowl. For some reason vendors think it's okay to overcharge for their vintage because it's the Rose Bowl flea market; well it's not. For example, I found a pair of vintage Cole Haan leather Oxfords that I needed to have. (I use "needed" loosely). Now, seeing as Oxfords are very in right now I could find a brand new pair for anywhere between $40 to $200 depending on the make. These girls were trying to sell them to me for $35; crazy! I told them I'd give them $25 and they refused me and so I walked away. Bargaining skills are key at the flea market. EVERYTHING is negotiable. I went back at the end of the day when I was done perusing the furniture section and offered them $25 again and went home with my new vintage oxfords!

I also scored a great summer skirt, another army jacket, two vintage tees for the boyfriend and an entertainment table for our spare bedroom. I don't always come home with this much stuff. There are times when I come home with just a shirt and sometimes even empty handed, but I never come home a sad girl. I love walking around and just observing all the different people, chatting with different friends that join me, running into people, and even "window" shopping. It is so therapeutic for me.
Flea marketing is definitely a skill though and lucky for me I have had great teachers. It's funny to think back and remember how overwhelmed I was on my first trip. I got so disappointed when I didn't find anything. Now I embrace the abundance and love the experience (even if I come home empty handed).

Eat: Dinah's Fried Chicken

I look forward to the second Sunday of every month all month long. It is like a monthly holiday for me. It is the perfect day for two reasons: 1. the Rose Bowl flea market and 2. going to a new delicious restaurant with my foodie guru. Yesterday we veered from our usual brunch and went for fried chicken. Now, I am not a huge fried chicken fan. The grease freaks me out and there is no hiding that it in no way is it good for you, but I figured I'd branch out and give it a whirl. When the guru tells you it's amazing, you don't ask questions you just go. And so we went to Dinah's Chicken in Glendale. It is a little restaurant that probably seats 25 at most. It is very old school as you can tell by the sign above. They do a lot of take out and from what the guru says, the line can be wrapped around the restaurant.

We had no problem getting a seat and so we ordered fried chicken of course. I decided to go with mashed potatoes and macaroni salad for my sides. You get a roll as well that you spread their homemade apple butter over. The chicken batter was so flavorful and perfectly seasoned. I will say that it was better than any fried chicken I had when I was in the South. The sides were good (definitely not great), but the chicken was well worth it. My chicken was perfectly fried and so crispy. When all the meat was gone I was just picking at the skin.

The service was great and our server friendly. The decor of the small restaurant was country and warm. One would easily be able to spot that they have kept much of the original look. There was a small pie fridge on display filled with fruit and cream pies that are made in house. Dinah's reminded me of being young and going to old diners with my Mom. If ever you are craving fried chicken and don't mind the adventure, I recommend giving Dinah's Chicken a go. It is well worth it.

(My server didn't understand why I wanted to take a picture of the chicken bucket. She laughed at me actually. I just had to capture that Dinah's still has it's original charm somehow).

Bake: Oreo Cheesecake

I've been taking all of the leftover goodies to work with me lately and letting everyone else enjoy them so they don't tempt me at home. Because of this the pressure is on and I get requests for specifics. This week the request was for Oreo Cheesecake. I used to make cheesecake all the time because it was my favorite. Now I can't eat dairy, so it's only made around the holidays or when someone requests it because the temptation is too much for me. That being said, today I made my first oreo cheesecake and I am hoping it turns out well. The only bad thing about me making cheesecake is that I can't taste it anymore to see what is lacking or what is too much and so I don't get the chance to perfect the recipe and have to rely on others. The hardest part of making this cheesecake is the oreo cookie crust cause I had to crush them enough to make an even crust. Oreos are a lot harder to crush than one would think.

Here is the recipe I followed:

Ingredients

Crust
1 1/2 cup Oreo cookie crumbs (about 25 Oreo cookies finely chopped)
2 tablespoon melted butter
9″ spring form pan (buttered on bottom and sides)

Mix melted butter with Oreo crumbs and press in the bottom of the spring pan and 1 1/2″ up the sides, set aside.


FILLING:

1 1/2 pound cream cheese
1 cup sugar
5 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup flour
8 ounces sour cream
5 Oreo cookies (coarsely chopped for the batter)
10 coarsely chopped Oreo cookies for the topping

All Ingredients must be at room temperature before beginning. Beat cream cheese with a mixer on low until fluffy. Slowly add sugar and continue beating cream cheese until mixed well. Add eggs one at a time and continue to beat until blended. Measure the vanilla, salt and flour, pour into cream cheese and egg mixture and beat until smooth. Add the sour cream and beat. Stir in the coarsely chopped oreo cookies with a spoon. Pour cream cheese into the spring pan and place the nine coarsely chopped Oreo Cookies on to of the cream mixture. Place pan on the top rack and in the middle of a preheated oven at 325 degrees F and bake for one hour and 15 minutes. After that time, keep oven door open and let the cheese cake stay in the oven for one hour. Remove from oven and let cool enough to place in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

Since I cannot eat dairy, I took this to work and everybody absolutely loved it and now the requests for different goodies are coming in. Enjoy!

Shop: Flirty Floral Summer Dresses

Summer is quickly approaching and it is time to pull out all my lightweight dresses and shop for new additions. I am really loving all of the floral prints that are in stores right now. I am not big into patterns, but I feel that floral prints are so versatile and you can either dress them up or down and wear them day or night no matter the cut. I am also loving the floral patterns because they put a girlie touch on my current style mood that consists of flannels, army jackets, army boots, and oxford flats and heels. Pairing shoes with these dresses will be easy because you could wear anything from Tom's, simple sandals, wooden heels, oxfords, platforms and even army boots. Here are some that I want in my closet:

Kissaria Ruffled Dress $118


Yumi Kim Camila Dress $182


Mcginn 'Adriana' One Shoulder Chiffon Dress $270


Dolce Vita Hope Dress $176

Eat: Langer's Deli

I went and met my food guru yesterday for lunch downtown. He had been telling me about Langer's for the longest time, but for some reason we just never made it there until yesterday. Langer's is a Los Angeles landmark and has been around since 1947. On their website they claim "the world's best pastrami" and so of course I had to order the famous # 19.

It was so full of flavor from top to bottom. The pastrami was tender and mouthwatering, the coleslaw was ideally dressed and crunchy and the rye bread had the perfect thickness and the flavor matched the rest of the sandwich. It was definitely the best pastrami I have ever had.

The restaurant itself still has it's original charm. It has counter seating and of course had a wait. The booths are the same as they were when it opened and the waitresses are adorable older women who, I would guess, have been there for a while. If you haven't been to Langer's yet or on your next trip to LA, this landmark is a must. I promise it will not disappoint.

Bake: Key Lime Pie

Friday night I had my best friend and her fiance' over for dinner. I made soda chicken and some other delectable side dishes. For dessert I baked a Key Lime pie. A bit of back story... I used to spend quite a bit of time in the Florida Keys a couple of years ago. Every time I was there I'd always be on the search for the best key lime pie. I'd always find tasty ones, but it wasn't until one Thanksgiving I spent there that I decided to give it a whirl and see if I could bake a better one. To my delight the recipe I found was absolutely delicious and the best key lime pie I have had to date. Since it is Spring I decided to dust off the old recipe and bake it again. My boyfriend says that it's the best thing I have baked to date and my best friend's fiance' had a second helping. It is easy to make, so even the beginning bakers can make a perfect key lime pie. You can find the original recipe here, but I added a couple of ingredients to the whip cream topping.

For crust
1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs from 9 (2 1/4-inch by 4 3/4-inch) crackers
2 tablespoons sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted


For filling
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
4 large egg yolks
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons fresh or bottled Key lime juice (if using bottled, preferably Manhattan brand)



For topping
3/4 cup chilled heavy cream
1/2 tsp real vanilla extract
2 tbsp confectioners sugar


Make crust:
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Stir together graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter in a bowl with a fork until combined well, then press mixture evenly onto bottom and up side of a 9-inch (4-cup) glass pie plate.
Bake crust in middle of oven 10 minutes and cool in pie plate on a rack. Leave oven on.

Make filling and bake pie:
Whisk together condensed milk and yolks in a bowl until combined well. Add juice and whisk until combined well (mixture will thicken slightly).
Pour filling into crust and bake in middle of oven 15 minutes.



Cool pie completely on rack (filling will set as it cools), then chill, covered, at least 8 hours.

Make topping:
Just before serving, beat cream in a bowl with an electric mixer until it just holds stiff peaks. Serve pie topped with cream.