This may be the most delicious thing I’ve ever seen out of all the food blogs I read–and of course it’s from Kelly at Just A Taste. Looks all kinds of ooey gooey amazingness. The recipe does require a good amount of prep time, but can you just imagine pulling apart a soft, cheesy piece of this straight from the oven? Oh, my goodness. You can customize it with any of your favorite pizza toppings, too.

I’m bookmarking this for a weekend cooking adventure.

Have a great weekend, guys! xx

{via The Jealous Curator}

I’m head over heels for the gorgeous home of Caitlin Wilson over on Design*Sponge–part chic, part artsy, and part quirky, the mix of colors and patterns all combine to make for one crazy beautiful space.

How amazing was that chalkboard wall with the framed art?? Such a dream house.

p.s. sorry for the lack of posts on my part up until now, guys! Let’s just say my 5-year-old laptop needed some fine-tuning these past few weeks…but all is well now and it’s good to be back. : )

Despite the fact that I’ve made it abundantly easy for me to have a healthy breakfast at work (tasty low-fat granola and coconut milk at both of my two desks) cinnamon rolls keep calling my name. At this point, I’m starting to worry that I truly am addicted. No matter; I’ve now found 10 more  reasons to indulge — even on the weekend! — thanks to LA Weekly’s list of the 10 best cinnamon rolls in Los Angeles. Uh oh …

Is it possible that my hair could look remotely similar to Karla’s here if I were to cut it short? Dangerous. Maybe I’ll just obsess over the adorable vintage-inspired frocks on her blog — like this to-die-for number from my favorite, Shareen Vintage — before I get ahead of myself.

{Photo via Karla’s Closet}

I was starting to think I might give in to this whole, “it’s technically fall now” idea, but it seems at least in Southern California, Mother Nature isn’t quite ready to accept that idea either. Summer is still here, my friends – and so is my Summer Bucket List.

My latest adventure (Summer Bucket List item No. 2) took me for the first time to the shores of Catalina Island. While I’ve spent many a lazy beach day staring at the island from afar and even taken several SCUBA diving trips to waters just off of its coastline, in my 10 years as a SoCal resident, I’d never actually set foot on shore.

Being that it was the boy’s and my anniversary, we opted for the quieter Two Harbors side of the island and spent the day kayaking (which I’m happy to report went swimmingly despite my tendency to be overbearing in kayaks), checking out the scenery and eating at the only restaurant in the town.

At dusk, we hiked up to a viewpoint above the back side of Two Harbors’ two harbors. The sun began setting over the mountains and I whipped out every camera in my possession while the boy tried to usher me up another hill to a second lookout area. After two dozen photos and many more urgings from the boy that we climb to the higher lookout, I relented. We climbed to the top – me singing “How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria” the whole way (this isn’t as weird as it sounds if you consider that the epic scenery pretty much forces you to go straight to “Sound of Music” references) — and then this happened :)

I said yes.

The last time I went to Disneyland, I was 16. I was on a trip with my high school orchestra and justifiably (I think) confused about why we weren’t visiting the beach during our short reprieve from the Arizona desert.

I’ve never really been Disneyland’s No. 1 fan. I think it’s an amazing place full of fun rides and inventive lands, but when the cost easily competes with what I’d pay to go on a trip to one of the real places depicted in “small world,” I have to draw the line.

But despite my ambivalence toward “The happiest place on Earth,” my interest was recently piqued when I remembered I still had this on my Summer Bucket List: “23. Indulge in a local tourist trap.” Even more enticing, my best friend and favorite theme-park companion was in town and my fabulous “cast member” roommate was able to get us in for free! Sold.

Arriving late (for Disneyland standards), we were thrilled to discover it was actually a pretty quiet day at the park and quickly bebopped around from the new Cars Land in California Adventure to Disneyland classics like Splash Mountain and Pirates of the Caribbean. We also discovered, after seeing several people dressed in swanky retro attire, that it was “Dapper Day” at the park and spent a good amount of time drooling over the various ensembles. (I was smarting a bit about that one since I love to take any excuse to dawn a retro outfit.) We ended the day with a bang, first watching the fireworks display and then the spectacular World of Color show.

While I don’t think I’ll ever become an annual-pass-holder, I was completely and utterly smitten with my day at the park. I didn’t realize what a treat it would be to experience Disneyland as an adult. Taking moments to consider all the amazing ingenuity and creativity that has gone into the place, I appreciated it that much more. In its own small way, Disneyland may have made a No. 1 fan out of me after all.

Last weekend, for one of the first times in my life, I threw myself a proper birthday party. Generally, I have some grand idea for a party that after a couple failed attempts at organizing turns into a quiet dinner with the boy or something similar. Last year, I pawned off the planning on the boy and I must say he did a bang-up job – with a Twitter account and everything! But this year, given the theme I had in mind, I knew I had to make things happen for myself.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved the beach. And I’ve loved vintage clothing for just about as long as that. I can still remember pining for one of those silly retro swim caps adorned with brightly colored daisies throughout most of my childhood. So when I started to see retro swimwear popping up, even at pretty mainstream stores, I knew it was time. I had to throw a retro beach party.

As usual, I had grander plans in mind that what panned out (i.e., renting a beach house in Malibu with a semi-private beach), but plan B just out front of Crystal Cove’s Beachcomber Café turned out to be a good one. Equipped with some games, towels, umbrellas and, of course, vintage swimsuits, the boy, me, and some amazing friends – including our very own Celeste — frolicked on the sand all day long. We got lots of compliments on our suits and the party theme. But the best part was all the great photos we got to take (highlights above).

So that does it for Summer Bucket List item No. 5 – but not for retro beach parties altogether. I’ve still got my eye on one of those Malibu beach rentals for next summer ;)

A new fashion blog about friends mixing up similar clothing pieces in different, awesome ways? We love it! And we love it even more because the adorable Eyvette, one of the co-founders of One Thing Two Ways, is a dear friend of mine and Kim’s. She always looks chic and cute when we see her, so it’s only fitting the rest of the world gets to see her outfits, too! Yay.

My workplace is all about packing lunches and eating around a big table together. It’s such a money-saving alternative–and a great way to hang out together–except I’m usually not that I excited about what I have to bring. If I’m lucky, I’ll have restaurant leftovers from the night before, but most of the time I’m either eating a typical salad or making either turkey or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for five days straight. 

Then I saw this Whole Living feature on 50 sandwich recipes and was totally inspired by all of the simple, healthy ideas that I actually don’t feel too lazy to try. From Artichoke and White Bean to Tuna and Quinoa, they also look genuinely delicious.

And there’s also always the Spring Sandwich pictured above, with boiled egg, seared asparagus, and pickled onion.

Do you guys bring your lunch to work or go out for food? What do you normally eat? I’d love to hear any easy recipe suggestions you’ve got!