Hey o! It’s time for Friday Favorites!

Nicky Hilton’s Wedding Dress
How beautiful is this wedding dress that Nicky Hilton wore to her wedding last weekend?  It is custom-made Valentino gown costing $75,000!  Isn’t it just beautiful?  The bride is beautiful too, of course!

Normally I would not be a fan of the sleeved gown with the turtle neck, but this is such a beautiful creation I love it!

I am sure the pictures do not do the gown justice.

Isn’t the bride just stunning?

But even when you’re a billionaire, your wedding day cannot be perfect.  The driver of this Bentley (!!) drove over part of her veil!  Luckily it did not wind around in the wheel well, but I am just horrified for her!  And this was on her way TO the ceremony, to make matters worse.  

She married a Rothschild and got married at Kensington Palace.

THIS PIZZA
I know, the picture is blurry.  But this pizza was soooo good.  It is from Kaleidoscope pizza in Medford, Oregon.  It has fresh spinach, red pepper, mushrooms, garlic, mozzarella on garlic olive oil.  It is soooo good.  I’ve put my husband on a mission to try to figure out how to copycat one of these.

MOONSTRUCK CHOCOLATES
Ever heard of them?  They are a local chocolatier in Portland, Oregon and they make the cutest chocolate truffles!  Look at them below! A school of clown fish! From left to right: sea salt toffee, peanut butter, raspberry, and blackberry. So cute and delicious!

The other flavors we tried were: peach (left), vanilla caramel (middle) and lemon (right).  The lemon truffle was to-die-for.  Like how these look? You don’t have to go to Portland to get some, you can have some shipped from their online store here. (no I wasn’t paid by them to write this, but I’ll gladly accept payment in the form of chocolate hint hint)

MOVE COMPLETE!
I just wanted to give everyone an update about my moving: our stuff FINALLY arrived. Only 10 days late.  It arrived the day we headed up to Portland… went to Portland… came back and now we’ve been busy unpacking like mad!

We moved out into the country on a couple of acres.  It’s my parents house but they don’t live here.  They are letting us live here in the meantime…. I will tell you what we did with a big announcement in a separate post!  I started a new job this week too.  I was so super stressed out but it has gone well. One problem in the country though is the internet.  We had major major internet problems that just got fixed last night.

wahhhh I need the internet.

Written at http://peoniesandorangeblossoms.blogspot.com

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Moving
For those of you that regularly follow my blog, you heard that I am moving.  We moved from Southern California (the Inland Empire) to Northern California (Sacramento Area).  We were so incredibly happy when we drove down the Grapevine and saw the great Central Valley in front of us… it was full of orchards and fields of crops.  We totally love it.  A lot of people turn up their nose to the Central Valley but honestly, who can hate such a place where 1/4 of the Nation’s food is produced (seriously, I’m not making that number up!). One of my favorite road trip “games” to play while I’m bored is to “name that tree”… basically when you drive by a bunch a crop of trees you guess which type of trees are growing. Sounds lame but it kills hours of driving time.

But more importantly, our stuff has NOT arrived.  Why are moving companies so shady?  They picked up our stuff 1 week ago.  They said it would be delivered the next day.  And the next day rolled around. And then the next day. And the next day…. still no stuff!  AND ONE WEEK LATER (yes I’m yelling) STILL NO STUFF.  Good thing I personally took my computer and a week worth of clothes.  But seriously, I NEED MY STUFF!  It’s one thing to say “it will be delivered in a week” but it’s another thing to keep lying to us about which date it’s going to get here. How do they not know? It’s a 6 hour drive. It should’ve arrived same day.

heard it through the Grapevine

Inside Out – the Movie

Since we have no stuff, we went to the movies for the first time in 8 months.  It’s a cute movie by Disney-Pixar about the different voices and emotions inside of your head.  It’s about a family who moves from the Midwest to San Francisco.  Guess what, the movers lose their stuff (uh, great, sounds like real life).  So inside of the mind of the little girl, we meet Joy, Anger, Disgust, Fear, and Sadness.  During the new process, we learn that basically sometimes it’s okay to be Sad.  That’s the short story. I tried to sum it up… but just go see it. 

Peaches
In the new house that we moved into, there are a lot of peach trees.   I immediately got the song from the 90s stuck in my head: “moving to the country, gonna eat a lot of peaches”.  There are peaches coming out of our ears!

Flowers!
There are hundreds of rose bushes where we are at.  While we were waiting for some of our furniture to arrive, I put together this rose floral arrangement for fun.  These roses smell so good!

UnREAL
Remember two weeks ago I was super sad that Game of Thrones ended?  Well, I’m still sad but I have a new TV show to watch.  It’s called Unreal.  It is on Lifetime.  Do you like The Bachelor or the Bachelorette?  Well, basically this comedy show makes fun of the bachelor.  It is a behind-the-scenes look about what life is like on the set of Everlasting, which is a Bachelor show knock-off.  UnREAL is on Lifetime on Mondays at 10pm.  I don’t normally watch lifetime, but it showed up in my app on my apple tv and then… I found it… and started watching… and now I like it!  If you like the Bachelor, this show is for you!

the bachelor? Nope. This is UnREAL!

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As this is my last weekend in Southern California before the big move up North, I thought I would share some of my favorite things that I like to do in SoCal!

Disneyland
My favorite thing to do in Southern California is to go to Disneyland.  I had an annual pass for several years.  It was so much fun just being able to pop into the park for an afternoon or evening.  Sometimes on my way home from South Coast Plaza (aka the biggest mall on the West Coast), when traffic was too bad I would stop by Disneyland for 2-3 hours, grab a bite to eat and go on a few rides. Granted, the pass prices have gone up significantly, I still love to go.  I will miss going here the most. The 60th anniversary celebration is going on right now, check it out here.

Disneyland!

While living down here, I achieved a bucket list item of mine: go on every single ride at both parks.  I did it.  I even battled my fear of heights and went on the giant ferris wheel just to say I did it.  The other people that I shared the car with thought I was going to pass out when we were sitting at the top. It’s all good. No passing out or vomiting occurred.  Needless to say, my fear of heights remains present.tt

Radiator Springs in Carsland!

The first year I moved down here Carsland had *just* opened.  It was SO CRAZY packed.  The Radiator Springs Racers is a lot of fun though.

delicious treats at the cozy cone motel

But my favorite time to go to Disneyland was during Halloweentime.  What’s nice it’s still light out later in the evening and the weather is really quite nice as well.  It’s warm but not too hot.  I love how they decorate the whole park with a Halloween and Autumn theme.  I would go during Tuesdays or Wednesdays and there would seriously be no one in the park.  I would just walk straight on rides without a wait. It was so nice!  I will miss doing that!

Halloweentime is the best!

I wrote about my experience at Disneyland during Halloweentime here in case you missed it.  I also wrote about my experience at Disneyland during Christmas time here if you missed it. 

Bottega Louie

My source of French pastries when I’m not in France.  Granted, this store is all the way in downtown LA (so 1 to 2 hours depending on traffic from mere) but it is closer than France!  I wrote about my experience at Bottega Louie here.  Now I’m sure I can find a French pastry shop in San Francisco, but Bottega Louie copied Laduree down to the cute little boxes.  You can see their website here.  

Roger’s Gardens

I will really miss shopping here. Or more like browsing since it’s expensive.  This is the BEST home and garden shop.  They have lots of plants, and unusual plants, but during Halloween and Christmas they really out do every one with their seasonal selections.  They have unique products that are high quality and beautiful.   You can seriously spend hours looking around.  We might have to make a special trip during Christmas time to enjoy some SoCal Winter and get some shopping done!  I wrote about Roger’s Gardens during Halloween and Christmas.  You can check out their website here.

They always had the neatest displays…

They would completely redecorate their whole store during the seasons. 

They have a whole bunch of highly decorated Christmas trees each with a different theme… so there is something for everyone!

The Pacific Coast Highway and the Beach

There’s nothing quite like cruising down the PCH and going to the beach.  Even though the Pacific Ocean is cold here, lots of people still swim and surf in it!  I just liked sitting on the beach… the water is too cold for me!

Sprinkles Cupcakes

This cupcake store is the famous one that claims to have started the cupcake trend nationwide.  They even have cupcake ATMs so you can get your fix 24/7.  I personally like the peanut butter chocolate chip cupcake the best!  You know what else is nice? Grabbing a Sprinkles Cupcakes then enjoy it while doing my other favorite thing… sitting at the beach. Check out their website here.

Red O Restaurant

Our favorite restaurant is by Top Chef Master Rick Bayless.  His food is traditional Mexican cuisine with modern interpretations.  It is SO GOOD.  This is kind of a swanky restaurant and we would only go here for special occasions.  Check out the website here.

One of his appetizers is a sampler of guacamole… each cup holds a different flavor.  Our favorite was the walnut pomegranate.  I know it sounds weird, but is is delicious!!

The Pasadena Flea Market
I loved going to the Pasadena flea market held once a month at the Rose Bowl.   It is the second Sunday of every Month.  It was so much fun… granted, I only found some treasures in my price range a few times.  The website is here.

While I will miss some things about SoCal, I am so excited to be moving up North.  San Francisco is my favorite city in the US, so I’m excited I will be much closer to it!

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Written at http://peoniesandorangeblossoms.blogspot.com

It’s Friday which means… Friday Favorites!  I found this Friday Meme… I know that’s how we all feel when we leave work on Friday.  

Fit Bit!

I got a Fit Bit last week! And guess what?! I LOVE IT! I wasn’t too sure about how much I’d like it… because, well, it’s not very pretty.  But then I started wearing it around… and I love it! It tracks my steps, my calories, my flights of stairs, my heart rate (resting and during exercise), exercise calories burned, and even my sleep pattern!  A full review is coming soon as I’ve only had this thing for 1 week but let me tell you… GET ONE!  I think the HR monitor is the most important thing…. so get the one I got here: Fitbit Charge HR

Les Marquis de Laduree

So, remember how I’m totally obsessed with Laduree?  Well, what I didn’t tell you is that Laduree also has a shop dedicated to chocolate… it’s just… I didn’t take pictures when we were in Paris. I know, I’m regretting it. We window shopped but simply weren’t in the chocolate mood that day (it was hot).  BUT, don’t fret, because they now have an instagram that shows off all of the pretty chocolate creations so we can drool from a far…

 OH WAIT. I just figured out how to imbed instagram pictures. CHECK IT OUT: I feel a little bit like a computer genius right now. 

Pains au chocolat tout chocolat #lesmarquisdeladuree

A photo posted by Les Marquis de Ladurée (@lesmarquisdeladuree) on Jun 11, 2015 at 12:15am PDT

Fancy Houses

Do you ever go to model homes just for fun?  With the temperatures here now hitting 100 every day I am totally dying to jump into a pool.  We went to some model homes for fun and I totally love the indoor-outdoor living.  Now during the day I would definitely keep the outdoors out… but come evening time it would be nice to have some dining outside like below… don’t you think?

Moving

I wouldn’t call moving a favorite, but it’s a reality.  We’re moving in less than 2 weeks and have been busy packing.  I hate packing.  It’s nice to throw some things away that I don’t use anymore, but seriously, where’d all this stuff come from?  We’re headed up North to the Sacramento area and I’m so excited to start a new life up there.  As much as I’ve loved SoCal, I’m totally over the traffic and the amount of people down here.  Sacramento isn’t exactly small, but we’re moving to the country where it will be quiet.

Who hates moving? ME!!

Game of Thrones
SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT And I have a lot to say about this…
I meant to write on this last week and even started my post on it but then apparently I got side tracked and hit post before I even wrote about it! Whoops.  Did I mention that this post contains spoilers?
First off, can I just say that I can’t believe we have to wait ANOTHER YEAR to find out what the end to all of those cliffhangers?  Nooooo!!!

How I felt at the end of this episode!

Ok, ready? Here come spoilers.  I cannot believe that Melissandre was FOS when Stannis rode down to Winterfell only to have half his army leave him and to be wildly outnumbered.  Then she peaced out when she realized that they were going to lose.  I kind of feel bad for Stannis, only kind of, because he literally lost everything trying to take over the Iron Throne.  But I guess there’s a word called Karma and that’s what happens when you burn the most lovely character on the show, the Princess Shireen.  Brienne of Tarth kills him with a capital J for Justice.  But then she misses out on Sansa lighting a candle int he window, forcing Sansa and Theon to grow a backbone and jump out of the castle for freedom.  But c’mon.  We know they’re going to get caught.  Nothing good ever comes for Sansa.
Next, we go to the lame story plot of picking up Myrcella from Dorne, only to find she gets the kiss of death from the lame-o Sand Snake lady.  I’m over this plot and I’m not talking about it anymore.  I’m glad she’s gone from this story.
Queen Cersei finally confessed to one of her many sins for which she is forgiven for, and she’s forced to walk a nude walk-o-shame back into her castle.  I felt bad for Cersei for the first time in this series, but honestly, she’s a terrible person and had it coming.  Letting her go back to her castle to the newly reborn Mountain was the Sparrow’s biggest mistake.  The Sparrow effed with the wrong person.
In the mean time, Drogon the Dragon has dragged Dany over to who-knows-where and is acting like a teenage boy by only laying around wanting to eat and do nothing.  So Dany wanders off only to be surrounded by her old people, the Dothraki.  I have no idea what they have to say to her, but likely it’s not good news.  This also leaves Tyrion to rule Mereen in the short run.  I think he will do a fine job, and some day when Dany gets back to Mereen she will see he’s worthy as a Hand.
But let’s talk about the most important thing: Jon Snow.  The little kid tricks Jon Snow into thinking his Uncle has come back… only to be greeted by a Traitor sign and then his death.  NOOO!!  Jon Snow can’t be dead!  He’s like… the most important character besides Dany.  Honestly, I don’t think he’s dead.  Why?  Because he can’t be!  I find it highly *convenient* that Melissandre has now showed up to the Castle right when Jon Snow dies.  This show has magic all around… I think she’ll resurrect him.  She’s obsessed with his blood, remember?  While the show writers say dead is dead, we all know that’s not true.  Look at the Mountain… he’s back.  I feel like I’ve been stabbed 12 times Jon-Snow-Style by George RR Martin after this episode…

All and all, I thought episode 8 and 9 of this season were much better than the season finale… with the White Walker King raising his army of dead and Drogon being the true hero of the day and rescuing Dany.  I can’t wait to see what the next season brings… but we’ll have to wait another year.  I guess for now I’ll have to watch reruns of Downton Abbey and Outlander… Actually, I found a new show on Netflix. I’ll write about it next week.

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Friday Favorites with A Little Bit of Everything, Momfessionals, and Grace and Love 
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Oh Hey, Friday! at September FARM

It’s Friday which means another edition of Friday Favorites!!
 Cute Strawberry Tweets (err, Treats)

I went to a Tea Party this week and someone made the *cutest* strawberry birdie treats!  Look at them!  They were almost too cute to eat. But then my stomach said ‘eat it!’ so I did. It was really good!  The nests were made out of chocolate rice kripsies and coconut.  The strawberries were filled with a cream of some sort. I forgot to ask for the recipe, so I did a pinterest search and I think they are from this recipe.

Macarons
I’ve been busying baking macarons these past two weeks.  As I’m moving up to Sacramento, I’ve been busy baking these for my coworkers as a big thank you for all of the good times these past few years.
This time I’ve made pistachio and salted caramel.  They are good.  If you’re interested, you can get the recipes here: pistachio macaron recipe and salted caramel macaron recipe.  These pics were posted on my instagram last week.

Pistachio Macarons

If you’re wondering what the dark spots are on the shells of these salted caramel macarons, they are from the outside of the almond.  For this batch I had used almond flour from Trader Joe’s… and let me tell you, never again! The dark spots drove me nuts.

salted caramel macarons

Sailing in Newport Beach

This past week we went to my friend’s wedding.  They got married on a yacht in Newport Beach.  It was so much fun!  I really enjoyed sailing around in the Harbor where the sea was calm.  We were all dreaming about which pretty house we would buy if we were billionaires.

S’mores Frappuccino Review

This past week we finally got around to trying to new S’more Frappuccino at Starbucks.  I, for one, am not a *huge* frappuccino drinker.  I normally drink coffee in the morning and the frappuccinos are really too sweet for a morning coffee.  With that said, we tried the S’mores frappuccino in the afternoon.  To my surprise, it was actually pretty good.  Per Starbuck’s website, it is a Marshmallow-infused whipped cream, milk chocolate sauce, a creamy blend of graham, coffee, milk an dice, finished with more marshmallowy whipped cream and a graham cracker crumble. Whoa.  Let’s for one not pretend for one second that this isn’t a milkshake with coffee in it.  Because that’s what it is.  It wasn’t sickeningly sweet like I find most of the other frappuccino’s.  Granted, I only had a few sips of this drink.  I’m not sure I could drink a whole tall one of these… maybe one of the new mini sizes.  But, at 320 calories a drink, this is no daily ritual.  Anyway, I think it’s worth trying for a sip or two.  But for the rest of the time, I’ll stick to my Skinny Caramel Macchiato.

Charles Faudree’s “Country French Legacy” – The New Book!!!!

French Country Legacy

french country kitchen

I just got Charles Faudree “Country French Legacy” in the mail this past week.  OMG, I loooooove it.  I spent several hours pouring over the pages studying everything.  There is just so much to look at in every picture.  I love how inviting his homes feel.  I noticed I really love blue in the bedrooms and red in the study.  I love how he mixes all different fabrics together.  I also love how he decorates with a lot of animals in the paintings and figurines he chooses.  I could go on and on about how much we all love Charles Faudree, but if you haven’t bought his book yet then you need to!  You can get it at the link above!

Thank you for stopping by!!
You can also follow me by clicking on these: bloglovin, instagram, twitter, pinterest, and google plus.

Friday Favorites with A Little Bit of Everything, Momfessionals, and Grace and Love 
Five on friday at A Liz Adventures .
Friday Favorites at the Diary of a Real Housewive
Oh Hey, Friday! at September FARM