Swim Fan

I'm talking my favorite swim trends of the season over on Amazon's MyHabit today! Click on over to feast your eyes on all the skimpy awesomeness. Click HERE. xo

Salmon and Avocado Brown Rice Bowl

Since the new year began, I've been on a bit of an inadvertent health kick. It all started when I got the worst stomach flu of all time back in the beginning of January. This stomach flu was the mother of all flus and had me throwing up for eight hours straight, unable to keep a mere sip of spring water down. That was followed by a fever. And then chills and aches. I thought I was surely dying a long, horrible death via some unknown dread disease à la Contagion. But lo and behold, turns out a flu is just a flu, and I would live to tell the tale.

That particularly brutal week forced me into an extreme cleanse of sorts since the thought of solid food induced violent gag reflexes in me. I basically lived on Juice Press smoothies and green juices for ten days straight. And then slowly, in small portions, I introduced fish back in. And then chicken. All was going well. I was seeing the light at the end of the starvation tunnel. But then, on one hungover weekend morning, I decided to go the whole hog, and order a big, old, delicious meal from my favorite Williamsburg Chinese place. It involved a lot of red meat and white rice, and after the last bite was consumed, I immediately felt like I'd been hit by a truck and took to bed. I felt so sick, in fact, that I spent a considerable amount of time wondering if I was somehow coming down with a second flu in as many weeks. And then I put two and two together, and realized that my body was probably reacting badly to the red meat. After not having it for so long, my system was showing me exactly how it felt when it wasn't desensitized to the process of trying to digest it. It was an "aha" moment for me, and since then, I've given up on red meat, refined sugar, and processed foods. And holy hell, has it made a difference. My energy levels are up, my skin is clearer and more glowy, and I've trimmed a few excess pounds I didn't need. I have no hard and fast rules--I'm going to London in a couple of days and I'll be damned if I don't have a bite of The EDITION Hotel's bacon sandwich, and I know that the day will come when a melty gooey chocolate chip cookie from The Smile will call my name in a way I won't be able to resist. But for the most part, I've learned to stay away from that stuff and love it. Because it makes me feel great, it makes my workouts longer and more efficient, and it makes me a better person somehow. Eating clean food will do that to you.

So, on that very long-winded note, I give you a favorite little concoction I like to whip up when I don't know what to make. It's a brown rice bowl (short grain), with pretty much whatever you like tossed into it. My particular combo of the moment is a piece of wild salmon (sautéed in organic coconut oil), along with some cubes of avocado, and a sprinkle of salmon caviar for some salty, umami goodness. I'll throw in some homemade sriracha too, if I'm feeling a bit saucy. There's barely any actual cooking involved (minus the brown rice and the extremely easy salmon sauté), so it's more about simple assembly here. Happy, healthy eating, loves. xo

White Out

I've always been pretty exclusively in favor of all-white-all-the-time linens for both bedroom and bathroom. So much so, that I wrote a little something on the topic for Amazon's MyHabit. Click on over HERE to read and see some of my favorite white interiors. xo

Avocado Toast #2

One of my very favorite things in life is a perfect piece of avocado toast during an unhurried weekend morning with the newspaper scattered all around you, tea steaming aggressively from your freshly poured cup. But mostly the avocado toast part. I'm always peeking around for new iterations of this genius invention, and of course, Gwyneth Paltrow hit the nail on the head with this Vegenaise + avocado + Maldon sea salt combo.

It's not so much a recipe, as it is a method of assembly. All you do is toast a slice of your favorite bread (preferably something chewy with a good, crunchy crust), spread a layer of Vegenaise on it (the non-dairy, healthier, better-tasting version of mayo), slice up an avocado and place the slices on top, and sprinkle with a dusting of Maldon. If you'd like, you can sprinkle some red pepper flakes on top, but it's not necessary. Heaven on a plate. xo

Favorite Things: 01.08.13

Happy new year, everyone! I love starting out a new year with a fresh set of goals (i.e. for 2014: learn to play the guitar, finally get my favorite Bach piece memorized on the piano, eat healthier--blah, blah, blah, and most importantly, learn to relax more and let go of my eternally results-oriented mindset. I tend to lean a bit towards the type-A perfectionist paradigm, which is no bueno for the good, old stress levels sometimes.). I also love starting out a new year with a fresh set of favorite things, as it turns out, and here they are:

1. This stuff is like Fluff but healthy. Seashore churned honey w/ medicinal properties. What.

2. A sweet little blender for all the healthy soups and salad dressings I'll be making. See above for 2014 goals. This thing won "best overall blender" in Real Simple.

3. A happy emoji single earring. Because doesn't everyone need this?

4. A very beautiful handmade knife from Spanish artisans.

5. I'm in the middle of this crazy-long book and I cannot put it down.

6. Celine-plaid-print skate decks from Stop It Right Now to hang somewhere in my apartment and pretend I'm still a California girl.

Barneys New York Holiday Feature

One of my all-time favorite stores did a fun little feature on me (including my favorite holiday cookie recipe!). Click on over HERE to read. xo

Holiday Entertaining

Gave Amazon's MyHabit some of my favorite holiday entertaining tips! Click on over HERE to read. xo