Vegetated & Vegetarian

We're here!  We are officially residents of Berkeley, CA!  Today officially marks one week since we piled all of our belongings in a U Haul and made the trek up to Nor Cal.  So far, so good!

Scott and I absolutely love our apartment.  It's charming, cozy, and newly renovated with laminate flooring...something I've always wanted! (HGTV nerd).  AND it is QUIET!  In El Segundo, we lived off of a busy street and right next to LAX.  Due to the warm weather and no AC in unit, we had no choice but to keep our windows open...needless to say, it was VERY loud.  We are happy to report that our new place is off the street, and no airports are nearby, yay!  Finally, peace and quiet.  We have a couple more boxes to unpack, but once we are fully moved in I will post photos of our place.

Berkeley is so charming!  Our friends Dina and Justine who live in Sacramento gave us a grand tour of Berkeley last Sunday as they were former residents of this cute little city and know the ins and outs.  We grabbed a delicious lunch at Cesar located in the Gourmet Ghetto.  The Gourmet Ghetto is a stretch of blocks filled with fine eateries and cafes, AKA foodie paradise.  Scott and I will be having some fun there.  After lunch we drove to cool areas of Berkeley where Scott and I will definitely be exploring in the near future.

Berkeley reminds me of two things, vegetation and vegetarian food, hence the name of this blog post.  When I walk Sophie I'm astounded by the amount of overgrown plants, trees, flowers, hedges...it's beautiful!  Pictures to comes!  Berkeley is also VERY vegetarian/vegan friendly.  I've counted a plethora of restaurants that are strictly vegan/vegetarian which is great for me and my new lifestyle. The best thing about Berkeley?  We can walk everywhere!  I think I've driven twice in the week that we've lived here...1) Ikea 2) RedBox.

Our TV will be installed over the weekend, just in time for the True Blood season premiere...I cannot believe we have lived without our beloved television for this long.  Oh the horror :)

Until next time..

View of Golden Gate Bridge from above UC Berkeley campus

Source

Did you hear?

We're moving!

Ahhhh.....SAN FRANCISCO!  We'll be living in Berkeley, but it's just a hop, skip and a BART to the city.  Scott landed a job in the wine industry which is what is bringing us up north.  I can't wait for Giants games, irish coffees at the Buena Vista, good Italian food in North Beach, dim sum in Chinatown, and the great things that Berkeley has to offer as well!

We left our hearts in San Francisco...but we're going back to be with them for good!

A Provencial Night

Tonight we took it easy.  I made a French inspired dinner of mache, warm brie & apples, and toasted baguette (Thanks to the Barefoot Contessa).  We ate, drank wine, and watched Midnight in Paris and dreamed of walking the winding Parisian streets and sipping champagne at the corner bistro.  I so want to visit that city.  One day...one day...

 

Happy Belated Valentine's Day!

Scott was sneaky and called me Monday night from work asking if we were doing anything for each other on Valentine's Day.  I said that we didn't have to, and he agreed.  HOWEVER, on Tuesday morning when I woke up, I found roses, a sweet Valentine's card, and a coffee mug adorned with hearts waiting for me on the credenza.  Swoon!  He always tries to trick me by saying he won't make a certain holiday a big deal, but then he does.  I should know his antics by now...

Scott had to work so we weren't able to celebrate Valentine's night together, so we celebrated the day after.  We drank wine and made homemade pizza, which gave me a chance to break in my new pizza stone Scott gave me for Christmas!

Chopping the burrata.

 Scott staged a photo to highlight the cork.  He said it's one of the best corks he has seen...and he knows his wine.

My attempt at throwing the dough up like you see in pizzerias.

Don't mess with me or you get the rolling pin ;)

 Voila! Burrata, prosciutto, and arugula pizza.  Our first attempt at pizza was a success!

Bon appetit!

Super Bowl 2012

It's not a secret that I am no sports fanatic, especially football.  That doesn't mean that I don't watch the Super Bowl...however, the only things I enjoy about the Super Bowl are the commercials, and the free range of crappy foods like 7 layer dips and pizza.  I ate like there was no tomorrow, but I worked out with 3 hours of beach volleyball beforehand, so it cancels the bad food out, right??? :)  Truth is, Scott and I love to entertain, so if we fine any excuse to have friends over (like the Super Bowl), then we jump on it.   Therefore, we had a couple of friends over and watched the Giants defeat the Patriots.

The spread.

 

Sophie gets nervous around strangers, so she stayed in mama's arms..with her Thundershirt.