Bento

Bento - A single-portion takeout or home cooked meal common in Japanese cuisine. A traditional Bento consists of rice, fish or meat, and vegetables in a boxed shaped container. 

I love ordering Bento-style meals at Japanese restaurants because it gives you such a great variety of food. At one of my favorite sushi restaurants I order the chicken teriyaki Bento which gives me jasmine rice, teriyaki chicken, wontons, and 1/2 sushi roll all separated in a square Bento box. 

On Pinterest (go figure) I found great ideas for kids Bento-style school lunches. I was a cold lunch girl and the envy of all my classmates. While they were eating their "beige meal" of chicken nuggets and cold crinkle cut fries (sorry if that was you), I was eating a fresh homemade sandwich, crackers, string cheese, fruit and veggies, and a cookie. Ella will be a cold lunch girl as well because I will at least know she is eating healthy.

Here are a couple Bento ideas I have found (what kid wouldn't want to eat these lunches?):

Turkey Wraps, Fruit, Baby Carrots, and a Cupcake 

Flower Shaped Sandwiches, Cheese Rolls, Grapes, Peas, and Oranges

Also, I found these on Pinterest which would be perfect in a Bento-style lunch. Sushi Sandwiches? Shut the front door! So cute.

Bread, Lunch Meat, Cheese, Shredded Carrots, Ranch Dressing, and a Pickle 

Peanut Butter and Jelly

Fun ideas, huh? I heart Pinterest. It is making me a little more creative everyday (well, I feel more creative anyway). If you want the how-to on any of the pictures above, just click on the description below the picture. 

Skinnylicious

One of my very favorite restaurants, The Cheesecake Factory, just rolled out its new Skinnylicious Menu. There are about 50 menu on the new menu that are all under 600 calories, including; appetizers, salads, burgers, grilled chicken or fish, flatbreads, and more (no desserts, if you were wondering). I LOVE that they have such a huge menu of healthy options.

Saturday night was girls night out and before we hit the stores for some serious shopping we met at The Cheesecake Factory for dinner. I was tempted to order one of 'regular' menu items because after all it was girls night out, but I had been looking forward to ordering one of the healthy options since I heard about the new menu. We ordered edamame for an appetizer and I ordered the Skinnylicious Chicken Tacos. They were seriously so good and I left feeling satisfied and not overly stuffed. I didn't even order cheesecake which I think is an actual crime. I mean it's The Cheesecake Factory, the name pretty much implies that you have to order cheesecake for dessert.

Anyway, I am very excited to go back and try more Skinnylicious Menu items.

I Love Pinterest

I just had to share my new favorite website with those of you that haven't discovered it yet. It is called Pinterest. It is a virtual pinboard where you can collect all of the beautiful, fun, creative, and delicious things you find on the web. You can browse through pins created by other people or you can create your own. If you browse through the millions of pins already on Pinterest you can discover new ideas and get inspiration to try something new. 

As of right now I have 16 pinboards (categories) and 90 pins. I have found most of my pins on Pinterest (there are SO many good ideas out there). Here are some of my pinboards: 

Home, Garden, and Organized Spaces

 One of my pins on this pinboard -  Great garden ideas

Wanderlust

One of my pins on this pinboard - Turks and Caicos 

Styles I Love

 One of my pins on this pinboard - Love the yellow and turquoise 

Recipes I Want To Make

 One of my pins on this pinboard - Heart shaped cinnamon rolls

Things I Want To Make

One of my pins on this pinboard - DIY scrap skirt

I also have categories for health and motivation, things that make me smile, ideas for my little one, things I love, and more. All pins are pictures (or quotes) and if there is a how-to or recipe you can just click on the picture to get the web address. 

It is such a fun site and has given me so many good ideas. I think I may be slightly addicted. You can connect with friends on Pinterest, so if you join then look me up so I can follow you. Happy pinning! 

My Favorite Time Of Year

You know it's fall the minute Starbucks announces that the Pumpkin Spice Latte is back. Today, while Ella and I were on our morning walk, I could feel it in the air. The crisp cool air that carries the fresh scent of fall. I loved leaving the hot summer weather behind when we went to Northern California on vacation. I welcomed the cool weather along the coast because it had been so hot at home. I was pleasantly surprised when we came back to cooler fall-like weather. It really makes me crave Butternut Squash Soup at The Blue Lemon - it is fabulous.

Our trip to Northern California was amazing. We spent a few days in San Francisco, which I absolutely loved.  Then we traveled up the coast to Eureka where we got to spend time at the beach and explore the Redwoods. Last, we headed to Napa Valley. Napa is a gorgeous place that is covered in breathtakingly beautiful vineyards. I will post more pictures, but here is a picture of Ella walking on the beach for the first time. It was freezing, but we had to take our shoes and socks off so we could feel the sand between our toes.

Beach at Somoa, CA