Artisit Profile - Laura Mvula

Just discovered the soothing sounds of Laura Mvula and am very much in love. Such a beautiful depth to her sound. I'm quite unlearned regarding the African music scene, but its great to see such diverse sound coming out. Will definitely be following this one. Sadly she only has a few videos online, but I can't wait to hear more. Check out her video below.

Happy Friday!

D

I made this!

Roasted Red and Sweet Potato Hash with Poached Eggs.

Poached eggs are pretty much my jam right now. A little known fact about me: I work part-time on the weekends as a hostess at a little comfort food restaurant in San Francisco. It's been pretty cool so far seeing the interesting Mission hipsters that come through for our weekend brunch. It's been even more interesting getting to try all of the tasty dishes on the menu. And at the end of the shift, when the chefs whip up something for the staff, 9 times out of 10 its the breakfast hash with poached eggs. And its goood. I can't believe I've been missing on this poached egg train for all my life. Now, I just cant get enough of this yolky creamy goodness. And their so silly to make. Honestly, it looks like a disaster in a pot. But, man. So worth it. So this was my attempt to recreate my beloved breakfast hash. And it was pretty on point, if I do say so myself.

Wanna try it? Here's the recipe

1. Set the oven to 400 degrees.

2. Cube up some red and sweet potatoes.

3. Toss 'em in a bowl along with 2 tbs of olive oil and all kinds of good seasoning. (I used some Cajun spices  of course, since I'm a southern girl.)

4. Pop them in the oven for about 30 minutes or until soft and golden. 

5. While the potatoes are roasting, cook some sliced onion, minced garlic, mushrooms, bell peppers, corn (clearly the list can be endless.) in a saucepan. Once cooked to yummy perfection, remove from the heat and set aside.

6. When the potatoes are done, add to saucepan along with the cooked veggies.

7. Lastly add some fresh spinach leaves and toss until their nice and wilted.

8. Add your poached eggs on top (I'm certainly no expert, so refer to this amazing cooking genius.) and you're golden.

Definitely one of my tastiest kitchen adventures thus far.

D.

Another Magic Thursday

Got to see the Macy's Christmas Tree Lighting last week in Union Square...and it was magical.

I had a teacher in 7th grade  (maybe 8th grade. My mind seems to stop remembering everything between  elementary school and high school, which is probably on purpose since middle school was an extremely awkward phase for just about everyone.) Anyway, back to this teacher. He would start every Thursday class by saying, "Another Magic Thursday." We all had no idea what this really meant or where it came from but we thought it was cool, so it caught on as things do in the 7th/8th grade. You know, just like slap on bracelets and punk rock. (No? This didn't happen to you?...Just me? Like I said, it was an awkward time which I have tried to block out of memory.) Anyway, now I realize that it was probably just a coping method, a bit of a self-help mantra, to get through another Thursday, especially one filled with awkwardly pubescent preteens, and on to the weekend. So now Mr. Beale, I finally understand. Another Magic Thursday it is. (minus the awkward preteen stuff. that I will never understand.)

On to the links. See whats happening around the interwebs.

1.Life is pretty much perfect right now, maybe not for Ryan Gosling or Channing Tatum though.

2. A great reminder. When you think you're having a bad day, there's probably someone who's having it worse.

3.Sometimes we need that real Real Talk.

4. I can't even take you right now. This is happening.

5. Speaking of donuts, I ate these donuts and they were bomb. I tried the maple bacon (I know.) and the passion fruit milk chocolate (my fav.) If you're ever in SF definitely check them out.

6. This book is amazing and has helped me think about the way I live this one wild life. Thanks for your spirit and whimsy, Bob Goff.

7. I just bought a new computer with Windows 8 and it makes close to no sense to me. But, I might understand how to use it a little more after this.

Alright. Onward to your magical Thursday.

D.

In Other News

shirt: h&m // pants: old navy // earrings: Treasure Island flea market find //

The ever wise words of Marc Johns. Indeed this is the motto of today. Throw on that striped shirt, some red lips and get on girl. Love his illustrations by the way.

Happy Thursday!

D

This one's for You

Well the time has come again, as it always does, unwelcome and without invitation. This ones for you fellas. Consider this little anecdote as a little piece of advice for whatever womanly relationships may be in your future. I'm talking about the little  "time of the month" as women's health magazines like to say, trying to make it sound all cute and innocent. Let's get this straight. Its not. It's not cute at all and it sure as heck isn't little. We're talking a week long biological pulverization on your own body, by your own body, without your consent. Oh and the way it comes is like having your boss show up to you place on the weekend, its awkward and unexpected.

The realization that this biological tornado is ready to whip through your body once again is a slow one, at least for me. It's starts after I've shoveled 5 chocolate bars into my face at work before 10am. (I blame this on all the office mommies who decided to steal their kids Halloween candy and force it upon us) Ahh you're here. Before I know it, I'm on a hormone induced roller coaster of emotions. Everything is emotional. And I mean EVERYTHING. The whole world is conspiring against me, and its not my fault, and oh my goodness  if you even look at me right now, I. will. cut. you. It can get pretty extreme.

What then is the remedy, you ask. If you're thinking buckets of ice-cream novelties and romantic chick flicks, try it. I dare you. That stuffs for the faint of heart and light of period. No, what I'm talking about is hour-long marathons of Ultimate Ninja Warrior and fried chocolate things. I don't even know what type of chocolate things. Just anything, bring it. There's a scene in the movie "No Strings Attached" where Ashton Kutcher, brings a pmsing Natalie Portman  a box of cupcakes and a CD of songs along the lines of Leona Lewis-Bleeding Love. Cute. Bring the cupcakes. Heck, bring the Leona Lewis CD.  I could use a good cry. But for your own welfare, drop the goods and leave. Trust me.

 As ridiculous as it is, one thing's for sure, despite the ups and downs of this biological thrill ride you realize how fabulous this female body really is. With the back-aches, the cramps, and the sheer inconvenience of it all, there comes a certain strength to deal with other things in life (like you- our periodless friends of the world.) In all seriousness, I do believe a woman's strength is unparalleled.  It's different from a mans strength in that's less about doing and more about being. About enduring. And it probably has something to do with this monthly event and maybe bringing forth life out of your insides. Anyway, at the end of it all you realize that indeed you are fabulous, you're strong. Its several days after the chocolate, spicy, Ultimate Ninja cravings and the world is all right again. Everything makes emotional sense and you've kicked this thing in the pants (till next month.) That, or you're 65 years old, kicking it on a skateboard, with no periods attached. Why? Because you're fabulous.

So that's it in a nutshell.

D.

pms. I hope that's me when I'm old. Straight chilling.

New Music

Solange - Losing You

Such a stylish video. Loving the creativity behind this. Check it out!

D.

Global Forum Recap

//one// Inside the Global Forum  //two//Hearing the story of a former trafficked victim turned NPO founder //three//One of my favorite moments, hearing Lelia Jana (Samasource) speak  //four// Ultimate icing on the cake, grabbing a picture with Bob Goff. Such an incredible spirit.// (sorry for the blurry pics.)

What a whirl-wind couple of weeks it has been. Lots of things happening in life, in the world that I'm very excited about. One of the things I love most in life is meeting passionate and "doing" people. Being at the 2012 Global Forum on Human Trafficking last week was like a 2 day buffet of crazy bold, passionate, and innovative human beings. One thing was for sure, you couldn't leave that conference unchanged by the stories heard over the two days; stories of survivors, of brothel-door-busters/sex-slave-rescuers, of socially minded business leaders and pastors to passion driven major league baseball players. It was great. But it wasn't about being moved by how awesome the speakers were-and they were all pretty awesome. It was about bringing together the collective energies of everyone there to motivate ourselves to be better doers. To not just go to conferences about things, but to put fire to our feet and feet to our beliefs. God talks about how "they will  know us by our actions." But a lot of times when I think of action, I think of things that are comfortable to me, the kind of actions that are tame, with all the t's crossed and i's dotted, the kind of actions that don't interrupt you when you're speaking. You know, the ones that involve minimal commitment and even less heart.  And most importantly the kind of actions that wouldn't dare ask you to do more than put the $5 bucks that you were saving for your pumpkin soy latte into an offering basket lest you feel too "uncomfortable" or deprived. That's not what He could have meant. The people at this conference were a great reminder of life in real action; of healing wounded people, of starting companies with nothing but ambition, of creating new ways of thinking, of giving up opportunity to pursue passion, of messing up, getting disappointing and doing it all again. I want my life to be that kind of life. The kind that really does things. This conference was a great reminder that sometimes all you have to do is just start.