Blogher 11: Fine Dining in San Diego with Delightful Ladies

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Blogher was SO much fun!  I learned a little, was introduced to some great new products and connected with so many wonderful ladies.  Thursday night was was a nice mellow night, the perfect way to kick off my inaugural visit to the largest blogging conference in the galaxy (may be an exaggeration).  I was super excited to be able to dress up, wear shoes with heels and actually brush my hair for a night out with the ladies.  And don't forget that almost all of my jewelry for the weekend was provided by Stella and Dot.  How great is this first necklace, The Leona?!  And I could wear their wrap bracelets every day.  And please let me just point out that although my pose is a bit awkward, like you've caught me mid jazzercise, my right thigh looks skinny and awesome!  This is my new "go to" pose and will require an extra 12 inches on my right side for anyone interested in taking a photo with me.  Please let me know if your "good side" happens to be on your left side as then we will be photo compatible.  And this is my favorite purse for going out!  Its a Lockheart (can't remember the name of the style) and is radical.  It comes with a chain to add to wear over your shoulder but I prefer to use the single handle at the top.  While the handle is short, you can either carry it in your hand or on your fore arm.  And it's big and small.  Yeah, I said that together.  And some of you probably even know what I mean.  The shape is sort of narrow and long so you can hold a lot without feeling like you are carrying an adult diaper bag.  

Amy, of Amy's Kitchen Table was the perfect partner in crime and roommate.  But I did think I was going to have to hold her earrings while she beat up the crooked bike taxi driver who tried to extort money from us.  As we are two girls who follow the rules, we certainly didn't feel like we could walk away from the guy but we were quite literally and figuratively taken for a ride.  But it did get us to our dinner destination, Searsucker, in no time at all.  This is a Top Chef contestant's restaurant, and while I do love myself some reality tv, I had also heard great things about the food.  And I was super excited to see the design.  I've pulled several images of the dining room for inspirational purposes so to finally get to see it in person was cool.  The food didn't disappoint and neither did the company.  

Amy, Janel and I at Searsucker {San Diego}

Dinner was shared with Chris of Celebrations at Home and Lindsey, Bev and Janel of Glue Dots.  Janel and I have been working on projects for a while now and it was so great to finally meet in person!  

I have been waiting foreva, eva to meet this adorable, little lady.  Chris at Celebrations at Home is just as lovely in person as I thought she would be.  I was beyond excited that she flew in for the Hostess with the Mostess shindig but it didn't feel fair that I would only get her for two days.  And she's two feet shorter than me so hugging her probably made it look like I was trying to mug her.  She likes the rap music like I do.  Just saying.  After dinner the fine ladies from Glue Dots went off to sponsor a shindig that we weren't invited to so we decided to try out our first Blogher party.  It was all about the newest toys that were coming out and I knew that if my kids were mad at me for being gone, I was sure to bring home some cools swag to win them over.  I was not wrong.  I'll share some of my fave toys picks tomorrow!  

There will be several days of Blogher wrap up posts to come.  Sorry if you guys are sick of hearing about it but it was a good time.  

Sharon

All photos mine except for the photo of Amy, Janel and I taken by Lindsey from Glue Dots.

Bertolli's Into the Heart of LA {part 1} A true Italian adventure through food

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This past weekend, I was invited by Bertolli on a food tour of authentic Italian cuisine found right in Los Angeles.  And I can honestly say my stomach and heart are still full.  Not only did I get to meet a wonderful group of local bloggers, but a variety of Italian food purveyors as well.  And every single person/restaurant/staff we came across shared their passion with us as well as copious amounts of food.  Bertolli started in 1865 selling regional foods and has grown in to a huge company with products in many categories.  But what I love, especially, is that their mission has stayed the same - Quality Italian food to savor in your home.  Over and over we heard from the Italian chefs about the importance of family and sharing with them exquisite ingredients.  It totally struck me to the core.  Y'all, we need to stop.  That is right, just stop.  Stop texting, stop conference calling, stop multi-tasking and really sit down and enjoy dinner together.  All these proprietors had this ridiculous sense of pride about their businesses and well they should.  But it always came right back around to the family that they are sharing it all with.   

{stop 1}

Our group met at Cafe Bella Roma to enjoy delicious coffee drinks (a delectable cappuccino for me, thank you very much) and cornetti.  I had never heard of those before which shocked me a little.  For those of you who know me well, I like my sweets.  I take them pretty seriously.  And these did not disappoint.  They are an Italian croissant, some filled with cream (holler!) and dusted with powdered sugar.  Owned by Roberto Amico, this cute little neighborhood cafe serves more than just breakfast treats and you should absolutely check it out if you are in the area.  

Our next stop just happened to be in a mall.  I don't hate to shop so I felt right at home there.  Wouldn't have even flinched if they marched us to a food court.  There is a time and a place for foods on sticks and I am not opposed to them.  How cute are Chrystal and Amir of The Duo Dishes?!  I heart them! 

{stop 2}

Obika is most definitely not in a food court.  In fact, it is this totally great little restaurant.  They sat us at the counter area and we got to hear Chef Mossimo talk all about Mozzarella (they import it 3 times a week from Italy!) as well as how important it is to use fresh, local ingredients.  It was great to hear about the area where he is from and what he thinks of where he is now.  He and the restaurant are serious about providing you with an authentic experience and it was awesome to taste several types of mozzarella and see how they compared to each other.  The salty, slightly oozy burrata was my fave.  And they ended our visit with a taster portion of tiramisu.  I will love them forever.  How cute are these ladies?  That is Andrea of Savvy Sassy Moms (one of the ladies putting on my Blogher makeover!) Romy of Romy Raves and Melanie of Travels with Two.   

{stop 3}

Another mall!  This time, Santa Monica Place at the end of 3rd Street Promenade.  I have to say that having a private driver shuttling us all over the city did not suck as there was major traffic (nobody walks in LA) and luckily we didn't have to deal with parking.  And people kind of gawked trying to figure out who this group of people was piling out of a big black van.  I had no idea what to expect at this stop but I was blown away.  In a totally great way.  Orange County, take note:  WE NEED TO BE MORE AWESOME.  I would kill to have The Market local.  Up on the dining level of the mall there is a big sign for The Market.  Once you go through their doors, you are in a whole new artisanal food utopia.  There was an organic ice cream stand, a rad florist, a specialty chocolatier and a whole slew of other places each individually owned and operated.  They got the whole thing right - the atmosphere was really cool and all the graphic design throughout was spot on.  And like, me, they think dessert should be eaten first.  I wonder if The Market has cellulite too... 

Our first stop was to Primi al Mercato, owned by Piero Selvaggio.  We were treated to a demonstration on how they make their fresh pasta by chef Fernando and his wife.  It was so cool to see and I will totally be stealing some of their tips.  I'm not going to lie, I will never attempt to make fresh pasta.  But I will certainly infuse butter with sage like they did. What will I put it on?  Who knows, but it smelled SO good when they did it.  I think I could have eaten it on a shoe and it would have been delicious.  This was for sure the most lively group we encountered so far.  Chef Nico (pictured above) was a character and totally humored us as each one of us made him pose for pictures.  They demonstrated ricotta cheese gnocchi, spinach cavatelli, and 4 cheese tortellini.  And I adore how they serve pasta samples at their take out counter.  What a great way to turn pasta in to a hand held appetizer for your next party.  Similar cones are available from Think Garnish.    

Next they brought us around to the sit down side of their restaurant and had us taste some of the most delicious pasta dishes I have ever had.  Oh and wine.  There was wine.  Good wine.  How cute is Piero above in his red and white shirt?!  He was so gracious and eager to share his staff and amazing food with us.  What struck me most is while one of the servers was er, well, uh serving us, he said he really looks forward to family meal.  Like, whoa.  The staff is treated like family.  Revolutionary.  I am not a daring foodie by any means.  In fact, I'm a pretty picky eater.  But I know when I am in good hands and when to go with the flow.  I would never order lamb or most things from the sea but these dishes have changed my mind.  We were treated to gnocchi with lamb ragu (so good it was dumb), squid ink garganelli with seafood and mint pesto (I ate tentacles and stuff) and Tuscan pici with fava beans, pancetta, peperoncino and pecorino cheese (I wanted to make out with the cheese).  

How could I have not told you about Stacie yet?  Stacie worked alongside Bertolli to find all these amazing spots in and around Los Angeles.  She is a sommelier and wine reporter/blogger.  She specializes in Italian wines and she was integral in giving us a complete picture of a true Italian dining experience.  She was crazy intelligent and knew all the best spots in town.  She talked about each wine we were served, where it was from and why it was a good pairing with what we were eating.  As a curious wino who would like to know more, this was a huge bonus of the event for me.  Bertolli rocked my world on the first part of the tour and {spoiler alert} the second part only gets better!  

Come back tomorrow for part 2!  There are 3 more stops to go! 

Sharon

All photos are mine

I was wined and dined all over Los Angeles by Bertolli but all of these opinions are mine. {full disclosure}  

Palm Springs - Phase 2: Complete {Family Vacation}

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Last week we took our very first family vacation to Palm Springs.  We had SO much fun!  As it was like 1 million degrees, we spent the majority of our time in the pool.  Here is the rest of our journey through photos.

{day 1}

{day 2}

{day 3}

I grew up visiting my grandparents near Palm Springs and it is a very special place to me because of that.  I can't think of a better place for a family (or any quick get away) for that matter.  We stayed at the Ace Hotel and as we were there mid-week, the family to hipster ratio was very much in our favor.  We swam in the main pool and enjoyed the music, some drinks (note:  do NOT tell your kids that they have slushies by the pool as they are of the adult variety and can not be made otherwise - fearing a meltdown approaching one rad bartender offered to "muddle" the ice and pour apple juice over it.  GENIUS!  I have added him to our will).  The Living Desert Zoo was fun just FREAKING HOT, even very early in the morning.  And if you are rather squeamish of all living animal creatures (like me) be warned, you are in a pretty wild place and may come across snakes - as in non-caged, I could jump at your throat and you wouldn't even know what happened snakes - just cold kickin' it in front of some vending machines.  And FOR SURE, especially if you have little boys, you MUST stop at the robotic dinosaurs and museum off the side of I-10 near Cabazon.  Sure they bamboozle you for an extra $20 to climb up into the mouth of one of the dinosaurs, but that was the best $20 we spent that whole trip. The boys loved it!  

Can't wait to share a VIP tour I was part of last Saturday put on by Bertolli.  I'm hoping to get that up before I leave for Blogher...I took a ridiculous amount of photos...It was a radical experience.  My heart and stomach are still full.  

Sharon

All photos are mine.