• Your body isn’t the problem

    I don’t think I realized how disproportionate I am, by clothing standards, until my friends started getting married. I was pretty thin when I tried on my first bridesmaid dress, and I had to gather a fistful of satin in the back of the sample so it wouldn’t fall right off my body. But when […]

  • Pumpkin-gingerbread trifle

    pumpkin trifle

    Despite the unseasonably warm temperatures in southern California, it’s October and therefore pumpkin season. I do like a pumpkin spice latte on occasion, but I prefer pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread and other things that actually contain pumpkin. So when Toby suggested I make a trifle, my mind immediately went to pumpkin. I thought about doing […]

  • Macaroni and cheese (no béchamel required)

    macaroni and cheese with cheez its

    I think we can all agree that homemade macaroni and cheese is awesome. But it can be a bit of a pain (and a mess) to make. This recipe gives you the deliciousness of homemade mac and cheese, with significantly less work, less mess and less stress than a version that involves making a huge […]

  • Tea at the Aubrey Rose Tea Room

    tea pots

    I’m sure you’ve noticed that I am a certified tea fanatic, and going somewhere for afternoon tea is my favorite. Thank goodness I have friends and family who will indulge my tea and scone addiction, or I would just be stuck drinking a pot of tea by myself in my house every day (like usual). […]

  • Carlsbad J. Crew opening

    carlsbad forum j crew

    As much as I like going to actual stores and trying things on before I buy them, I’ve been ordering most of my stuff online since we moved here. The problems is that unlike in DC, when I could just stop at the Pentagon City metro stop on my way home from work, many of my […]

  • Red, white and blue

    navy bag and shoes

    My first job, other than babysitting, was at Express during the holidays. At first we were allowed to wear whatever we wanted, but as it got closer to Christmas, we were required to buy four specific articles of clothing from the store — black courdroy pants, a white long-sleeved T-shirt, a dark gray v-neck wool […]

  • Banana bread oatmeal

    banana bread oatmeal

    Breakfast may be the most important meal of the day, but I have never been very good at eating it. Besides the fact that I am rarely hungry in the morning, I also disliked nearly every breakfast food you can imagine when I was growing up. I was a pleasure to deal with, I’m sure. […]

  • In defense of the treadmill

    treadmill

    In every running magazine and running blog I’ve ever read (not to mention the Facebook updates of my family and friends), the treadmill seems to be universally acknowledged as a necessary evil: Yes, people use it, but they curse it the entire time. But, um… I actually like the treadmill. This is not to say that running […]

  • Fab Fave Friday: Tailgating must-haves

    grilling

    Jen’s note: Fab Fave Friday is a recurring feature in which I highlight some of my favorite things — in all sorts of categories. Today’s category is tailgating. As someone who had never “tailgated” until college, I was under the impression that tailgating meant hanging around in the back of a truck in a parking […]

  • Tiny pecan pies

    teeny tiny pecan pies

    Miniature food isn’t always tastier than regular-sized food, but it’s almost always cuter. Evidence? Tiny hamsters eating tiny burritos. But this post isn’t about adorableness. This is about pecan pie. In my experience, pecan pie is frequently relegated to Thanksgiving or Christmas, and not enjoyed year-round. That is a travesty, really, because the combination of pecans, […]