Would you ever live abroad?

I've lived in California my entire life, but I think living abroad for a year or two would be so much fun. I'd love to live somewhere in Europe where I could eat buttery croissants and crusty breads to my heart's content. I've known a few people who took off from work and backpacked through entire countries, but I think it'd be just as interesting to live, work, and cook dinner "at home" in another country, just like all the other people who live there.

Have you ever lived abroad or do you want to? Where have you lived or where would you love to go?

(Photos from my friend Jennifer's trip to Paris, Brussels, and Amsterdam)

My week at Cavallo Point

Spending a week working at Cavallo Point, a luxury resort in Sausalito, was so much fun. It used to be a U.S. army post, and the officers' residences have since been converted into guestrooms. I was excited to get to stay in one of the historic suites (vs. their contemporary lodging); they were so charming! It was crazy waking up and seeing the Golden Gate Bridge right in front of us every day, and the way everyone's buildings were spread out made it feel like we were at camp for grown ups. 

What I'll miss the most, though, is the food! My favorite snacks to munch on were the truffle popcorn and truffle fries. For dinner one night, my team took a limo* across the Golden Gate Bridge to Kokkari where I had the best fish of my entire life! (Highly, highly recommend it!) Then, on the last day of the trip, a group of us ordered room service for breakfast and ate it in a sunroom. I've never dined in a sunroom before but it was something I could definitely get used to.


*It was my first time ever riding in a limo and I was stoked! Then I quickly found out riding in limos makes me car sick — how do those celebrities do it?! 


(Kokkari fish image via)

The Secret Ingredient That Makes Everything Taste Delicious + Fancy

Okay, so it's not really a secret ingredient, but it does make everything taste amazing and fancy. It's truffle salt! On our first night at Cavallo Point this week, a bunch of us ate in the bar, and I had the black truffle salt and parmesan popcorn. It was out-of-this-world good, and I'm officially obsessed. I kinda wish I could eat in the bar for every meal during this trip just so I could order the popcorn, but I think my co-workers would start getting the wrong idea. Luckily, all you need is four ingredients (popcorn, oil, butter, and truffle salt) to make it at home or you could even get this Pop It Yourself (PIY) Kit to make it super easy.

Tip: You can buy truffle salt from Amazon or a specialty grocery store. I got mine from Beautiful Briny Sea Salt.

(Image by With Style & Grace)
 

Chalk installations

The other day I was ordering office supplies and was considering which white board to get when I started thinking "Whatever happened to chalk boards?" I remember using them all the time in grade school, but they seem to be a novelty these days. Dana Tanamachi's large-scale chalk installations take me back to those good ol' days when I lived for recess, 50 cent popsicles after school on Wednesdays, and the joy of getting called on in class to solve a problem on the board. (read: teacher's pet with a sweet tooth and a penchant for tetherball)

Her bio says she is a full-time custom chalk letterer — could you imagine how fun it would be to say that at cocktail parties?

(via The Left Handed Calligrapher)

What's your favorite flower?

Since I made my New Year's resolution of keeping a tidy coffee table, I have a whole new appreciation for how beautiful fresh-cut flowers look in the middle of it. At work, we're lucky to have this huge flower shipper right next door. On Fridays, they sell $5 bouquets and everyone walks over to see. If you don't like any of the pre-arranged bouquets, the people that run the place are incredibly sweet and will let you roam around in their back cooler where there are a gazillion different flowers to pick from. I've seen so many different kinds that I've never seen before, so it's kind of an exciting adventure every time I'm there.

One day, in a moment of overwhelming flower-picking indecision, I asked the owner what her favorite flower was. She had to think about it for a few minutes, but then decided if she could only pick one, it would definitely be peonies. I don't have a favorite, but I like the idea of having one. It would make it all the more special when people surprised you with them. My cousin Denise loves dahlias, my sister loves daffodils and lilies. Do you have a favorite?

(Top photo by Oh Happy Day, bottom photo by Amy Merrick)

p.s. Isn't that bottom photo mysterious and magical? Like she is sneaking away to visit her groom for a quiet moment on their big day right before the sunrise.