the hummingbird

Oh, how sweet it was to enjoy breakfast at this beautiful little cafe whose name holds a special place in my heart. From the moment we walked in I just knew I would like this place. That and all the great Yelp reviews.

 

 Front entrance to The Hummingbird

 My only regret: not talking to the owner more about her cafe. Sonny and I had sat in traffic for almost an hour (someone hit a utility pole causing a major traffic jam) and so by the time we got there we were both hungry and cranky. It was time to eat! Oh well, this just means I will have to go back to enjoy the food again and chat up the owner. So here we go, our breakfast in pictures. Enjoy.



 

 I had read reviews about the beignets and so they were a must try. Let me just say, they were perfect. Served warm with tons of powdered sugar on top it was like eating a sweet cloud of light, doughy perfection. I couldn't get my camera out fast enough before Sonny had already taken a bite! 

 

 As we sat waiting for our entrees, I noticed several signs in the 

restaurant that made me fall in love with this place even more!

  

And then came the entrees...but first, check out these hot sauces. The "Slap Ya Mama" one made me laugh and then later, made me cry with its spiciness.

Da da da dum, drum roll please because this is a picture of the best corned beef hash and eggs I have ever had! On the menu it is listed as being homemade and you can tell its definitely not out of a can.  The meat was tender, but had a crispy outside from frying it up with the potatoes...

oh man, I'm getting hungry just writing about it!

Sonny ordered the eggs benedict with oysters, yes that's right, oysters, and when he asked about it we were told it was the most decadent dish on the menu. Turns out it was. The oysters were lightly fried to perfection, the eggs were perfectly poached, and the hollandaise was nice and buttery.

Mmm mmm...wow!

If you're ever in the bay area and are looking for a good breakfast spot, I highly recommend making the drive out to The Hummingbird. Check out their website here: The Hummingbird. I know I will definitely be returning to try the other items on the menu that sounded just as delicious as what we ordered.

“the olympics are coming, THE OLYMPICS ARE COMING!”

For several weeks leading up to the Olympics I had been walking around my house shouting this out at random times in an attempt to get my husband Sonny and my dog Misha excited about the upcoming 2012 Summer Olympics. They would just look at me like I’m crazy. And now they’re almost over, sigh…

There are several reasons why I was so excited about this year’s Summer Olympics: (1) I love watching swimming, diving, and gymnastics (2) I was in London in June 2011 so I’m excited the games are going to be there and (3) it meant I got to throw a viewing party for the Opening Ceremonies and have it “London” themed!

I would love to show you pictures of all the food, decorations, and wonderful guests at my lovely viewing party...except we forgot to take any! Sonny and I love to entertain and we were so busy cooking and making sure everyone had a drink in their hand that we just forgot.

Therefore, I will show you some real London food/places from my last trip and some pictures of my favorite moments at the Summer 2012 Olympics. 

 

Fish and chips that I had at a pub called “The Chandos”, near Trafalgar Square, London, delish!!

I did the “Royal London” tour with Fat Tire Bike Tours and at the end I asked my tour guide the best pub to go to for dinner that night within walking distance of my hotel.
Here was the winner: The Churchill Arms. They had the best Thai food.  Yes, you did just read that: Thai food. The place was packed and the Thai food was awesome!

Did you know that most every major European city has an Arc
just like the most famous Arc de Triomphe in Paris? I didn’t.
London has one, pictured here, called the Wellington Arch.

A beautiful Champagne Bar whilst waiting for my train to Paris at St. Pancras station? Yes, please!

And finally, sunset on the streets of London. At around 9:30pm! Beautiful.

I love Team USA gymnastics, but Mckayla Maroney's face after not winning gold, ick…

Who doesn’t like a very dapper-looking Beckham now and then?

Usain Bolt. Bolted to the finish line. Thanks for the pun Bob Costas, ha ha!

Michael Phelps. The most decorated Olympian. Ever.

And then there’s my favorite, Missy Franklin! She seems so sweet and genuine. I want to adopt her.

I hope you enjoyed my pictures – do you have a favorite London or Olympics memory?

convertible hair

Yesterday was my birthday and my husband bought me the best gift I could ever think of: a convertible Mini Cooper!! It is so much fun to drive and I’m grateful to have a wonderful husband that would buy me such an amazing car.

Parked in the driveway with the top down and ready to go, oh yeah!

Okay, so here’s the problem: I have hair that is about 3 inches longer than my shoulders and I would love it if after I drove with the top down I didn’t look like Charles Manson.

Yikes!!

Okay, I don’t look exactly like that, but my hair does get crazy tangled in the wind.

Back in the day there used to be beautiful women driving in convertibles all the time. But…they always wore head scarves. So am I relegated to wearing a head scarf whenever I want to drive with the top down???

Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller looking badass in a convertible.

Although my whining was annoying a couple of friends and family members who shall remain anonymous, they ended up giving me a good suggestion. Mostly, I think it was to shut me up. They recommended I watch a part of the Adam Sandler movie “Spanglish” to understand how to get perfectly flowing hair while driving a convertible. If anybody finds this clip will you please send it to me? 

In the meantime, hope to see you out on the open road! I’ll be the one with the top down trying to see where I’m going because my hair is in my eyes, so watch out…

nutella. it's what's for dinner.

Mmmm, Nutella. No really, mmmmmmmm...Nutella! Nutella is a hazelnut spread that has a hint of cocoa in it and resides on the shelf next to other nut spreads that include peanut butter, almond butter, even cashew butter. When I was a kid, there was Skippy, Jif, and maybe a store brand here and there, but no Nutella that I can remember. We always got Jif creamy when what I really wanted was the Smucker's Goober Grape that my mom never let me have. When I had my first apartment in college I swear one of the first things I did was go to the grocery store to buy Smucker's Goober Grape and Wonder classic white bread, run home to make a PB&J sammy, and then I called to thank my mother for never letting me have it as a kid - it was super sweet and the peanut butter was sub-par in my opinion!

But I digress...this is really about my love of Nutella. If I had a choice I would eat Nutella for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. For breakfast I would spread it on a fresh baguette, for lunch it would be a Nutella and banana sandwich, and for dinner I would...I would...I would make something fabulous! Okay, I'll admit, I'm stumped on what to make for dinner with Nutella. I figured since I was having this problem you probably were too. So I've scoured the internet and found some amazing Nutella for dinner recipes. Here you go. Oh, and if you go to their website you can link to their Facebook page and register to be the winner of their Monthly Case (of Nutella!) Sweepstakes. Just click here: Nutella Sweepstakes. You're welcome.

Nutella Marinated Steak

Chicken Enchiladas with Nutella Mole Poblano

Nutella Bacon Sandwich

Oh and if you're feeling snack-y at around 3:30 in the afternoon, what could be better than my favorite: a little Nutella spread between two Wheat Thins crackers? The saltiness of the cracker with the sweet nuttiness of the Nutella. Nothing could be better, I tell you. Nothing. 

If you have a favorite Nutella recipe (savory or sweet) please let me know. Because sharing is caring. Especially when it comes to Nutella.

alex clare

If you haven't read the first post to find out what this blog is about, please read it here. I've recently started listening to UK recording artist Alex Clare and I'm in love. With his music. With his song "Humming Bird". Especially since it so closely relates to the meaning and the title of this blog.

Check out Alex Clare's webpage here and find a way to listen to the "Humming Bird" song and I promise that you will not be disappointed.

Dear Alex Clare,

I promise to come see your show if you are ever in LA.

A big fan of "Humming Bird",
Jen

all things purple and green

It's June. Which means its almost summer, or is already summer depending on where you live. It's also my birthday this month (and my hubby's too) which means in this post I will focus on all things purple and green. Why? Because its my favorite color combination and its my birthday month and I can do whatever I want during my birthday month! :-) If you don't like purple and green together, perhaps the pictures below will inspire you to try infusing this color combination in your daily life whether it be an outfit or for a new home design scheme. Enjoy!

These pansies show the various shades of purple, from a deep aubergine to an almost 

light amethyst, and how they look when combined with a truly only-found-in-nature green. 

More beautiful pictures of pansies on this blog: The Garden Corner

Purple and green in a living room would be gorgeous, so fresh and modern with 

white as the primary color. Photo taken from Colour Me Happy Blog

I'm not typically a fan of Carmen Electra, but she sure wears purple and 

green really well! As seen on a cool blog called What the Frock?

Yes, it was even the colors for my wedding, check out a picture of the invitation 

taken on the beach at our wedding by wonderful friend and photographer Shane Sato

What are your favorite color combinations? I'd love to hear from you!

bookcases

For those of you that don't know me well, I love to read. I mean, I really love to read. Anything and everything. I even get car sick because I love to read every single sign that we pass whenever I'm the passenger on a drive. Reading has always allowed me to dream and travel and be in places that would never be possible in this world, like when I read about the past. Unless the flux capacitor someday comes to fruition, then you can always find me with a book.

When I was younger my parents would complain that they just couldn't afford to keep up with my reading habits because I always wanted the newest book the library didn't have. Aaaannnnd...nothing has changed. My husband still makes the same complaint. So I've come to love the library and be patient when what I really want to do is run out and buy the newest bestsellers. I still like to buy books, but now I try to get them at Goodwill, Salvation Army, or when the local library has monthly twenty-five cent book sales.

My biggest desire in this world is to someday have a house where I can dedicate a room to hold just my books, a home library of sorts. Here are images of some of the things I would want in that room. Enjoy.

Funny Faces bookshelf via Alexi McCarthy

Such a cool bookshelf and a way to remember what has/hasn't been read via Mebrure Oral

Umm, I need this tree bookcase, stat! via Shawn Soh

And finally, a wall of books I wished I had as a child as seen on Elizabeth Sullivan Design

misha

This is Misha. We spend lots of time together at home. I blog, read, cook, clean, watch tv, etc, and she sleeps and we both are happy when her daddy, my husband Sonny, comes home from work at the end of the day.

I loved Misha when I first met her. She may not agree because whenever I showed up at my husband's house she would bark, jump, lick, and basically run me over. When I married Sonny it seemed as though she knew and from that day forward I was then her "mama". I think she likes me more now. Although, it's probably just because I'm the one that fills her water bowl the most often.

Misha is a mix of a pit bull and a labrador retriever and she was a rescue dog. When Sonny first bought the house we still live in now, he thought the best feature was that it had a doggy door. A friend of a friend knew of Misha needing a home and Sonny says when he first met Misha it was love at first sight. Aww.

I have to say that Misha is one of the most well-behaved dogs I have ever met. She goes to the bathroom in the same spot in the backyard every time, generously leaving the rest of the yard for us to enjoy. If there ever is a time when we have forgotten to fill her water bowl outside, she nudges us, barks and whines a little, and smartly leads us to the back door so hopefully we get that she is trying to say she's thirsty. Most of the time we get it. She barks at strangers when she's supposed to and when we tell her to stop, she does. She also barks at the cats that like to crawl underneath our house to tease her and I am always grateful that we never have a rat/mouse problem because I like to think she scares those away too. She follows me everywhere, lying on the rug outside the bathroom door while I handle my business, even laying under the desk with her chin on my feet while I write this post.

One of Misha's only faults is that she loves to sleep on our bed. When one of us is home she doesn't dare go in our bedroom, but if she sees us go out its like she's programmed to run straight into our room and wiggle her way under the covers. I might have forgotten to mention that Misha sheds. A lot. And when she wiggles under the covers there is dog hair everywhere. Despite all attempts (well, we've only tried yelling at her and she genuinely gives us her "I'm sorry" face) we can just not keep her off the bed. I suppose we are resigned to closing the bedroom door whenever we leave the house for the rest of her life.

Its okay, we still love you Misha, and we always will.

welcome!

There are beautiful things, ideas, food, places, fashion, people, books, design and just about anything you can think of all over the world.

The inspiration for this blog title comes from the notion that hummingbirds hover over flowers and only take nectar from the sweetest ones. I like to think that I'm a little like a hummingbird: my hope for this blog is to find beautiful things in this world and share only the sweetest ones with you.

My first share is one of my favorite places in the world as seen in this picture - it is of sunset at Lanikuhonua on the island of O'ahu in Hawai'i, and it was taken on the day I was married there: May 13th, 2011 (for those that are wondering, yes, it was Friday the 13th!).

So join me on this journey as I catalog all things beautiful in this world. Feel free to get in touch with me via comment or email, as I will always look forward to what my readers think!

Oh, and happy anniversary to me and my favorite +1 in this world, my husband Sonny!