Food & Entertaining

Photo from RealSimpleGood.com As I finally sat down to write this post last night, aka known as my favorite night of the year, Julia Roberts was walking out on stage and she looked so gorgeous, I literally gasped out loud. How ironic, I think to myself… here I am in in the middle of writing a post, sharing a recent paleo recipe I discovered and I’m drooling over both her stunning pink gown and the raspberry peanut butter cup Humphrey’s yogurt that I’m pretty sure will tip the scales (literally and figuratively) on my macros for the day (because what would my life be like if I wasn’t actually dieting at some ...Read More
At Nana’s house, 1981. Age 5. Say hello to the most delicious Albondigas Soup Recipe…  When I get sick, the only thing I can think about is Phil Donahue and soup.  It’s true. As a child, when I would get sick, my mom (who was a working, single parent), would take me to my Nana and Papa’s house, where I would rest and be treated like a royal queen. (It paid to be the only grandchild). On these days, I can vividly remember getting wheat thins from this ginormous pantry that always smelled like red wine vinegar, the uber 70’s wallpaper in the kitchen, watching Phil Donahue in the afternoons, and Nana making me ...Read More
Let it Snow at the Four Seasons Westlake! Last weekend my cute crew and I headed to the Four Seasons Westlake for their annual ‘Let it Snow’ holiday event. A family favorite year after year, the ‘Let it Sow’ event features a holiday wonderland with festive bounce houses, train rides, professional photos with Santa, cookie decorating and more. Oliver went completely nuts for the “More” portion: ELMO and COOKIE MONSTER. Need I say more? (Literally). No seriously, brilliant move on the event team’s part— nothing says holiday happiness more than those two characters. They don’t even need to be dressed in an ugly holiday sweater. That’s how loved they are. When you ...Read More
Oliver’s Brown Bear, Brown Bear Birthday Party What Oliver wants, Oliver gets. Since day UNO. When he was a newborn…You want my boob at 1am, 4am and 6 times between 5:45 and 8:45pm? Here you go, baby. (Insert cartoon of a woman – hi, that’s me- throwing hoisting her boob over a nursing bra like a large net in the Bering sea). When he started to crawl… You want to push mommy’s new sunglasses around on the floor? Have at it. (They’re knock-offs anyway. Because, you.) When he started eating… You want to eat your weight in puffs and cheerios? Fine. Just, fine. (At least they are loaded with spinach and kale anti-oxidant chia flax omega 3 DHA super green beet juice. Who needs ...Read More
OLLY Smoothies: Everyday and On-the-Go! Now that Jonah is back to school, Fall Ball baseball is starting back up, and Mr. Ollie Blue is a 1 year old on the move, (and did I mention I like a crazy person signed up to be a room parent), life is busier than ever. On top of it, I’m still incredibly intent on losing the last bit (if you can call 20 lbs “a bit”) of baby weight. Believe it or not, it seems that the busier I get, and the more stressed out I am, the more hyper-focused I am on what I’m eating. I suppose this is a good thing—like, I ...Read More
Food Loves Milk: Awesome After School Snacks You know those kids who only eat basic foods… You know the ones that will happily eat a PB&J sandwich for lunch every day and macaroni and cheese for dinner every night? Yeah, that’s not my kid. MY kid is a foodie. There’s no such thing as basic! This is a kid who will try anything– there’s no such thing as too spicy, too saucy, or too sweet. He’s got an adventurous appetite and it’s awesome! But… it’s also hard. How does one please a child who’s palette is on par with Anthony Bourdain but is only 8! and needs wholesome, healthy, food to help him ...Read More
Don’t stress about dinner this week! Head to GrubHub.com and use this code for $15 off an order of $25+! CODE: perfect15 If you know me, then you know I’m all about a quality home-cooked meal. If you know me, then you also know that life as of late has been a little chaotic, so turning on the stove is sort of last on my list. Thankfully, I live in a city with a gazillion and one options for take out and delivery. From sushi to pizza, to a the kind of chopped salads I dream about (and yes, I do dream about food. So what?), we turn to GrubHub.com for those ...Read More
For my family, Christmas day is all about food and movies, movies and food. Traditionally, we gather at someone’s house in the morning, drink endless amounts of coffee and mimosas and eat my mom’s famous egg and cheese soufflé. Oh, and bagels too. Because you can never have enough carbs after you’ve had Chinese food on Christmas Eve. After we stuff ourselves (again), we head off to the movies (You don’t think we go empty handed do you? Please, we stuff candy and cookies into our purses like little old ladies who save Sugar packets). Tradition, people! Tradition! One year, for a holiday celebration, I had to bring Star of David-shaped  cheese sandwiches to Jonah’s preschool ...Read More
My Top Holiday Hosting Tips In just a few days, my house will be filled with 26 adults and 3 children (and 1 baby!) for Thanksgiving. While it may be totally nuts to take such a big hosting “gig” on with a newborn, I love this holiday and am excited to open our home to our favorite family and friends. Luckily (and I say this with lots of love in my heart, dear family), we do not have any out-of-towners. This means that no one is spending the night(s)… hence, the arduous task of laundry loads, changing out sheets, and a fridge stocked morning, noon, and night. However, with 29 people, ...Read More
Gender Reveal Party: It’s A…. When my doctor called and said she had the results from the DNA Test– a test that is done at 10 weeks that detects chromosomal abnormalities like trisomies 21, 13, 18; and various micro deletions, I had to brace myself. We had experienced a loss in August at j13 1/2 weeks, (a loss that frankly, I don’t know when or if I will be able to write about) and the thought of going through it again, was just… unbearable. But thankfully, luckily, beautifully, the doctor called with news that I could cry happy tears to: “Everything is normal!” After 7 months of heartbreak, I took my first breath. “Do ...Read More