I thought it would be nice to post a picture of my very naughty little sausage dog every week.
This week, Eva’s looking a little grumpy, mainly because I have a very hard day at work. She knows, you know.
Eating out in the US of A
Time for some food porn.
Oysters at the Walrus & Carpenter, Seattle
If there was one thing we did consistently on our West Coast road trip, it was eat good food (in the evenings). We went to some amazing places and ate some of the best food we ever have. And some that we’d never eaten before. Apart from lunch at San Diego zoo, everything was bloody amazing. And cheap!
Starting in Seattle, we ate at:
Le Panier for Breakfast
Piroshky Piroshky for Breakfast
Three Girls Bakery for Lunch
Seatown for Lunch
Walrus & Carpenter for Dinner
Fish dishes at the Walrus & Carpenter
Brussel sprouts (!) and Bacon at Lake Crescent Lodge
When we stopped at Crescent Lake, we just stayed in the restaurant at the lodge and wow did we eat. There was SO MUCH PORK. Everything was locally sourced, super tasty and the view was outstanding.
Pork at Lake Crescent Lodge
Dessert at Lake Crescent Lodge
In Portland, we ate at:
Stumptown Coffee Roasters for Coffee
Via Tribunali for Pizza
Bunks Sandwiches
Trio of Desserts at Bistro 29, Santa Rosa
We had some great food in between Portland and San Francisco:
Local Ocean Seafoods, Newport for Lunch
Waterfront Depot, Florence for Dinner
Siuslaw River Coffee Roasters, Florence for Breakfast
Gabriels Italian, Eureka for Dinner
Bistro 29, Santa Rosa for Dinner
Fish at Bouche, San Francisco
In San Francisco, we ate at both a beautiful Italian (Acquerello) and French restaurant (Bouche) for dinner, spoiled.
Other places:
La Taqueria (apparently the best Mexican in the US) for Lunch
Risotto at Andree’s Bouchee
We went all out in Carmel one night at Andree’s bouchee for Dan’s birthday and even shared a bottle of wine from Sonoma Valley where we’d just driven through (which was AMAZING). We also went to the flying fish grill, which was worth the wait (we had a pint at Clint Eastwood’s old place, as you do) and was a great fusion fish place!
Burger at Sebastian’s Store, San Simeone
We stopped at Hearst castle and decided not to pay the entry price, instead stopping at the only restaurant around, Sebastian’s Store. This picture does not quite get the scale of this burger – Americans were even saying good luck to Dan – however, as far as I gather, it was one of the best burgers of our trip.
We also ate a lot of In n Out burger, heh.
So yes. Lots of food. Writing this made me realise I can’t remember half the places, which is sad and I will make sure next time I take photos of literally everything.
Have you ever been to the US? What food would you recommend?
Summer Beauty Essentials
It’s that time of year. You want to look good swanning about down by the beach in a foreign country (or if you’re unlucky, Brighton) but your face is melting like the witch from the Wizard of Oz.
In the summer, the hour long beauty routine with 3 steps to flawless skin is a bit of a waste of time, and normally ends up sliding down to your decolage. What do you do? God forbid you go out without at least trying to cover up your ugly mug and taming your sweaty barnet. Well, you could do. And you should, especially this season when nude is so in!
Here’s a selection of products I can’t do without and regularly carry with me when I’m on holiday. There’s a few essentials (hello, Dove) and a couple of others for those of us who do want to keep something going on in the make up department.
Summer Glow Gradual Tan // Dove, All Nighter Makeup Setting Spray // Urban Decay,
Tinted Moisturiser // Laura Mercier, Waterproof Eye Makeup Remover // Sephora
Ahh, Laura Mercier tinted moisturiser. Long lusted, not so long owned. This is perfection for my skin and leaves me feeling like a total beach babe.
The Dove gradual tan must be one of the UK beauty industry’s most popular products. Although I still manage to get streaky legs! It’s a great all over body moisturiser, and if you’re more careful than me, leaves you with a natural looking tan within a few uses.
The Urban Decay ‘all nighter’ setting spray is another US purchase. You spray it on, and it just helps to set any makeup that you do wear. Now at the end of a long day at work, I actually do still have makeup on my face and not all over my desk, which is a bonus!
Mini Dry Shampoo // Batiste, Doll Eyes Waterproof Mascara // Lancome,
Chubby Stick in Woppin’ Watermelon // Clinique, Nail Varnish in Watermelon // Essie
Batiste dry shampoo was my saviour in the US. But it also gave me an itchy scalp (plus work stress I imagine) so I’ve been recommended by the nice lady in Aveda to try the Ojon one. Which I will, once I’m a millionnaire. I don’t know what it is about hair care but I really don’t like spending much money on it!
This Lancome mascara is my normal go-to favourite, so I picked up the waterproof version for the US (yeah, I totally thought I’d be doing more actual going in the water then I did!). It’s great, but note best: you really, really can’t get it off unless you have a specialist eye makeup remover.
Watermelon seems to be my colour of choice this summer in terms of make up. We all know about chubby sticks, they’re perfect for your hand bag and perfect for a quick every day bit of glamour, so I won’t dwell too long on my growing collection. The essie nail varnish is also a really nice, fresh colour.
What are your summer beauty essentials? Let me know in the comments.
Favourite Necklaces
Left to Right: Pink Beaded Necklace // Zara , Crystal Flowers Necklace // Zara, White Cube Necklace // Cos
Yellow Bead Necklace // Toast, Blue Collar Necklace // Zara
I’m a big fan of costume jewellery and have built up quite a collection of chunky necklaces from the high street, which I’m now displaying on this Moomin jewellery stand that my boyf very kindly bought me for my Birthday. Big fan of Moomins here. Check out Pussy and watch your wallet shrink at the same rate as mine.
For necklaces, Cos & Zara hit it out the park year after year – Cos for their geometric shapes and quirky use of material; Zara for their colourful and bold design and beautiful beading. They’re not the cheapest pieces of jewellery you’ll ever buy, but pair them with any old jersey top & jeans and you’ve got yourself a chic, casual outfit.
This yellow one from Toast is a new purchase, I picked it up in the sale for still far too much money. I’m really into Toast but find their clothes a bit shapeless for me (bit like Cos, then!) so I made do with grabbing a pair of saltwater sandals (LOVE) and some mega beads. Again, this looks great with a black or white jersey vest and I really like the suede ties.
This Zara crystal one is an oldy but a goody. It’s quite posh and makes me look a bit like a princess (which I totally am, btw) but sometimes thats just what you want to look like at work on a Monday.
OUT OF OFFICE
It’s the most wonderful time of the year..My out of office is on, snicky snacks have been purchased and it’s time to veg out for the weekend before Christmas-proper starts next week (after going to see Anchorman tonight).
After a mental last 2 weeks in the world of work, I’m hoping to spend some time doing all the things I have been putting off; blogging, cleaning my flat (lolyawn) and spending time with my loved ones and small dawg. Not overly exciting to most people, but sounds like heaven to me!
This look was another one of my ASOS styles with the dreaded leather dress – full on party look this time with my oh-so-warm French Connection coat. I’m still not overly sold on the shape of it, but I love the colour so am rolling with it anyway. The shoes were a pretty good rage buy from ASOS again, £20 ish and actually wearable unlike every other single pair of heels I’ve bought in the last 3 years!
Leather T Shirt Dress // ASOS
Faux Fur Coat // French Connection
Shoes // ASOS
Glass Necklace // Zara
ASOS very nicely gave me a ‘Bloggers We Love’ badge (but chose the other terrible look, argh!) which you can see here. Not sure what I’m supposed to do with it but cool anyway! All the other bloggers look very stylish so I feel somewhat of a fraud being featured there.
So, Christmas eh. I hope you all have a great one, whether you’re off to family or having a chilled one at home. Looking forward to sharing all my pressies with you soon!
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