Months and months ago as the days were growing shorter and colder, my husband and I were experimenting with new drink recipes as we often do and stumbled upon the most delicious gin based cocktail. I immediately wanted to share the recipe but knew it was too Springy to put up at the time, so I tucked the cocktail away in the back of my mind until sunnier, warmer days returned. Well, those days are here and I am excited to finally present to you with the Lolabee, a fruity gin cocktail.
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Weekend Getaway – Jalama State Beach
Our honeymoon in Europe left my husband and I full of a desire to continue exploring the world and having new adventures together. While we would love to skip off to Europe on a monthly basis, our current schedules do not allow for it so when we returned home we began searching for interesting weekend getaways from Los Angeles. We knew we wanted to push ourselves out of our comfort zone so we agreed that we should try camping rather than stay in a hotel. The only question left was where.
I came across Jalama State Beach while researching dog friendly campgrounds and was immediately struck by the amazing natural untouched beauty of the area. Located just sixty miles up the coast from Santa Barbara, Jalama Beach is situated on a jagged piece of coastline far from the main highways and busy beaches of the area. Beautiful beaches are a dime a dozen in Southern California, but ones this isolated are practically non-existent. A few Google image searches in and I was sold. I quickly reserved a camping spot thirty feet from the beach and we began preparing our overnight trip to the secluded paradise.
Now I should admit right here that neither my husband or I are big campers. I camped as a child and worked at summer camps during high school so had slept under my fair share of evergreen trees and starry night skies, but in case you couldn’t guess that was a long time ago. It had been even longer since my husband went camping. We knew we were going to be completely out of our element, especially since we would have Lola, who has definitely never been camping, in tow. But hey, bring on the adventure! We loaded up the car on a Saturday morning and set off up the coast.
DIY Terracotta Pots
One of the things I have most been looking forward to about our balcony makeover is having the opportunity to infuse the space with some much needed greenery. We have palm trees directly below us in our courtyard and while they’re lovely, we are always looking down on them. Not at them. I’ve been yearning to have some plant life right outside my door.
As I mentioned last Thursday, finding plants that would tolerate limited amounts of direct sunlight was quite the challenge, but I think I found some winners in mint, parsley and chives. I have been assured that, while all three plants prefer direct sun, they’re each quite hearty in their own right and should tolerate our setup.
I was so excited to bring my little plants home from the nursery last weekend (they’re from Anawalt Lumber Company in Hollywood in case you’re in the market) and knew I wanted them to live in pots that have a little something special to them. I had been seeing various terracotta pot DIYs cropping up all over the place, particularly ones involving gold foil, and decided to take the idea and make it my own.
Gluten Free Breakfast Bowl
Has the time change hit anyone else really hard? I’m not certain whether my failure to adjust is due to the fact I was already exhausted going into last weekend or whether my body’s clock really is as off as it feels. Whatever the case may be, I haven’t been springing out of bed the past few mornings as quickly as I would like. That is why it is especially important that I get a filling and nutritious breakfast in before heading off to work each day. Enter my new favorite chia seed-based gluten free breakfast bowls.
Music Mondays – March Playlist
This March playlist was my favorite to compile thus far. I can’t help but smile and be put in a good mood when I listen to it. It feels to me like it carries in it a bit of the hopeful and playful air of Spring that neither January or February’s playlists did.
Just as I did last month I had to include School of Seven Bells and Seinabo Sey…I love both of these songs too much not to share them! I think my ultimate favorite song of the playlist however is “Jealousy” from Robert DeLong. Though this was released in 2015, I did not hear much of it. In fact, I don’t believe I have ever even seen him perform it live during the couple of shows of his I have gone to! The song has a surprisingly poppy tone to and I’m kind of loving it.
This past week was incredibly busy and more than a little stressful for me and this playlist lifted my spirits on a daily basis and helped me through to the weekend. I hope it will do the same for you!
