Syrup Denver Restaurant Review

This past weekend Jon and I were in Denver for a friend's wedding. We're both big brunch people so we set out to find a good place to dine the morning before the wedding. We had heard many good things about Snooze so we headed that way.

Unfortunately, similar to many awesome brunch places in Seattle, they had over an hour wait to be seated. I pulled up my yelp app and searched for the our second place. One of the top rated restaurants closer to our hotel, Sheraton Downtown Denver, was Syrup. Who knew our second place would turn out to be a top favorite :).

The first thing I noticed when I walked in was how stylish the restaurant was- modern wallpaper, chic lighting fixtures, and crisp white chairs. Jon have rolled his eyes at the fact I was more excited about taking photos of the venue than I was about their menu.



Syrup boasts several different flavored syrups (created in house I think) which you can sample with your order of pancakes, waffles, or one of the other breakfast items. Confiding in the waitress' recommendation to try the buttermilk and blackberry syrups (apparently the most popular), we sampled them with a side order of beignets.

The verdict was "delicious"! I embarassed Jon a bit because I'm extremely picky about beignets and don't like them too doughy or too burnt like Toulousse Petit tends to do (ironically if you look at their site you'll notice the ones on the home page aren't burnt to a crip!). Syrup's beignets came out perfect and the syrups were a perfect balance of sweet.

 Jon decided to continue his syrup sampling with an order of pancakes, pecan butter, peanut butter, and a butterscotch syrup- a very sweet and sugary meal! I on the other hand settled for my favorite- egg white omelets and a side of crispy hashbrowns.

The staff was friendly, providing the appropriate amount of attentiveness without being overbearing. Syrup has two locations one in downtown Denver, and the other in Cherry Creek (great shopping there too!). If you're staying downtown and want to take a nice stroll to grab breakfast without waiting forever in line, be sure to add Syrup to your list!

Fiat 500 Lounge- Gucci Edition

I've been eyeing the Fiat ever since I saw the commercial with Jennifer Lopez.

Well after several months this weekend I went and purchased my own! My mom came with me and we went to the Fiat of Tacoma to look at their inventory. I test drove and fell in love with the Fiat 500 Lounge- Gucci Edition! Not to mention it was a very hassle-free experience which is unheard of for car dealers. Another thing I like about this car is that while double-branded it stays classy and subtle in a smart way. I hate things that are overly gaudy with branding.

This car is zippy, fun to drive, compact yet feels spacious at the same time. Not to mention the awesome collaboration with the Gucci brand- This car has some cool special detailing including Gucci logo on front and rear seats, green-red-green seat belts and car trim (trim is on the convertible top vs. side if you get that model), and signature Gucci logo on the caps and shift nob.

2012 Fiat 500 by Gucci

For those who love to accessorize get your 500 by Gucci apparel such as, footwear, driving gloves, and weekender bags too! I have already selected a few items to go on my birthday list!

500 by Gucci

If you have thoughts about purchasing this vehicle I highly recommend taking it for a test drive. I'm sure you'll fall in love as much as I did!

Chassé, Tendu, et Pas de Bourreé

Spectrum Dance Theater

 

If you haven't figured it out yet, yes I went to dance class last night! With all of my time commitments to work, Jr League, and spending some quality time with bf since he's in town for the next 12 days (woohoo!) I decided I needed a little me time.

This may or may not have also been prompted by the fact I have to come up with a talent a "talent show" at my company's off-site later this month. All new hires are required to "perform" at the annual meeting. I feel only slightly guilty that this influenced me to get back in the groove. Yet I can't think of any "actual" talents I have besides giggling.

I rushed home after a late meeting, scarfed down some protein and rice; then I rummaged through my shoe collection to find my dance shoes. The amount of excitement and embarrassment I experienced when I pulled them out was unexpected. I knew it had been a while, but it was then I realized it's been 5 years since I've put them on, and 6 since I've actually performed.

My roommate seemed pleasantly surprised when I told her I was going to a jazz dance session. Guess I left out that minor detail when we were getting to know each other. Another passing of guilt briefly flickered in my mind as dance was once such a huge part of my life.

I decided to drive down to Spectrum Dance Center to take a beginner class. I used to frequent their jazz classes when I first moved to Seattle so I decided the familiarity with the company would also help ease me into things. The rustic brick building was still as I remembered it- nestled off of Lake Washington next to Madrona Park, big red doors, and creaky wooden stairs that head to the upper classroom which was always gets too hot especially in the summertime.



After paying for a week pass, I slipped out of my tennis shoes, into my dance shoes, and headed up the stairs. The class was small with only 8 attendees, and a mix of young teenagers and older women. I felt a little awkward, but decided to take a position front and center amongst the other dancers. As I looked in the mirror it was clear that if I did dance it was many years and pounds ago. Don't get me wrong I have plenty of good looks to last me through another quarter century and I'm still a size 2, but it was clear my twiggy dancer days were behind me. I always tell Jon I'm skinnyfat for a dancer :).

We began our class with ab workouts, stretches, running through some isolation movements, then practicing suspension as we practiced the choreographed routine for the evening. An hour and a half later I was sweaty and sore in places I hadn't been in years, but I was pleasantly thrilled. I was very very rusty in class but my venture was well worth the exercise.

My instructor, Donald Jones Jr., was awesome as well. A little over six feet tall (give or take) he not only has a dancer's body, it was clear he was extremely athletic. I thanked him for teaching the class and let him know that I would definitely come back (my crazy schedule permitting). As I was chatting I noticed he looked strikingly familiar, but I couldn't place him it until this morning.

Donald Jones Jr. was in a recent article I read in the Seattle Times about Spectrum Dance's new dancers. He was also in 5th Avenue Theatre's recent production of Oklahoma as "Dream" Jud. If you have time, read the Seattle Times' article, he has a pretty incredible story with how he ended up in Seattle! Not to mention he's also from New Orleans, where my mother is from, so I have a special place in my heart for transplants :).

I'm very excited that as I look to get back into my dancer routine I have an instructor whose not only experienced, he's done some pretty cool stuff already!

Kate Spade- Perfect Mother's Day gift

The past few weekends in Seattle we've hit the 70s and no rain! This is completely an unprecedented April. This past weekend Jon had a bachelor party trip down in Portland. It gave me some personal time to get things done around town.

I decided to take the day to run errands, and wear a few pieces I haven't sported at work yet. I've been scrubbing out every weekend in my lululemon sweats lately. I figured that since it was 73 on Saturday I should put equal effort into my apparel as I do when I go to the office :). Here's my casual chic approach to colorblocking.

Scarf: Peridot Boutique
Top:Independent designer Style Tree
Pink Skinny Jeans: Jag denim
Purse: Furla
Shoes: Jessica Simpson Calie pumps



My errands mainly consisted of gift shopping for my mother. Her birthday was this past Sunday, and I wanted to get a head start on Mother's Day. I picked up a collector's edition of Alfred Hitchcock movies for her birthday gift. For Mother's Day I swung by Kate Spade and picked up this ADORABLE mom always said bangle.

Isn't it just darling?! It comes in plated white or yellow 18kt gold. and they put it in a pretty little box! I've been telling all my friends that it's the subtle and versatile little gift to give mom this year. Now you guys have this tip too! I will most likely pair this with a spa package. Hopefully she's not following my blog ;).

A Vintage Affair- Hollywood Glamour pieces

I've been doing a lot of shopping (more than Jon would like) the past few weeks. We had a gala for Junior League on February 25th so I had to find a new dress.

The theme for the Junior League gala (also known as the Premier Event) was "A Vintage Affair". I decided to go a Tadashi Shoji one shoulder nude/camel gown.

Tadashi Shoji One Shoulder Gown

The piece was more stunning than I thought a simple chiffon dress would be! The bust is adorned with ruched chiffon material and alternated with sequins. It paired perfectly with the Badgley Mischka shoes I bought for last year's gala. I went to my favorite local boutique, Peridot, and chose some jewelry pieces by local designers: gold and opal earrings, an opal necklace, and a set of gold and pearl bangles.

Now when I think vintage affair I also think Hollywood glamour. Striking jeweled pieces, elegant and beautiful gowns, and of course sexy long gloves. Unfortunately this time around I did not find gloves that matched my outfit. But I did snag a steal on these amazing ones below.

Kate Spade Long Small Bow Gloves

I saw these right before Christmas at the new Kate Spade store that opened up at Pacific Place. Then they retailed for $195 and I begged everyone to get them for me for Christmas. As grateful as I was last holiday season I was pretty disappointed that I didn't get them. Jon then tried to surprise me fr Valentine's Day, but he was misinformed about product transfers from Kate Spade Outlet stores.

So I finally visited their website and voila! Not only are they still listed, but they're on sale for $97! I signed up for the email list so I could get an extra 15% off. I'll be sure to pose a stylish outfit with these. They also have a zebra print ones if you're wanting a more edgy pair. It makes me happy to see that Kate Spade puts a lot of her apparel and accessories on sale, because there's no way I'd pay $200 for them!

Cozy Valentine's Day

Jon and I celebrated earlier (last weekend in fact) since he's still on 100% travel for work. The only upside to all of this business travel is free upgrades, and using his points to pay for our summer getaways.

We went to Daniel's Broiler for some good eats. Jon had the filet mignon, and I opted for the lobster tail (one of the few shellfish I can eat!). Afterwards we did a staycation at W Seattle hotel, and enjoyed a nice breakfast the next day.

I surprised Jon with a second Valentine's Day dinner to our classic and favorite Italian restaurant, Volterra. Nestled in the heart of the Ballard neighborhood they offer our favorite dish- wild boar in a gorgonzola cream sauce. We were in luck that night because the sommelier was on site that evening. So I was finally able to ask an expert what a good pairing would be. I normally sample one of their delicious cocktails or drink scotch with Jon. He recommended the '08 Avignonesi Rosso Toscana which was delicious (label below).

Next time I'll have practice delayed gratification and take a photo of the dish before I devour it! Anyway if you're looking for an excellent red wine to pair with boar or a similar meal I recommend this red, by far one of my favorites.

Contrary to most women for Valentine's Day I did not wear pink, red, or purple. This year the weather was rather chilly and I really wanted to wear pants. Jon likes me in a dress so I opted for tights instead. I have a really bad habit of buying a dress and then wearing it once or twice. My new year's resolution was to try to wear one of my many pretty dresses at least twice a year! Below is what I came up with!

I'm reminded of Bethenny Frankel saying, "Use what you have" on Bethenny Ever After, every time I rewear something in my closet.

Dress: Thread Social  (Gilt)
Purse: Kate Spade (Gilt)
Tights: Betsy Johnson (Nordstrom Rack)
Shoes: Joan & David (Nordstrom)
Scarf: Cashmere (Nordstrom)
Blazer: Gibson Blazer (Nordstrom)

I bought the dress a year ago because I thought it was super cute. The last time I wore it was to a ballet last winter. It was the perfect splash of personality to a nice formal dinner. I'll have to make a mental note to post more rewear/reuse clothing items as the year goes on!

HatSome

I normally hate hats, but I saw an ad for HatSome on naturallycurly.com and decided to check it out. Hatsome is a online hat company which sells hats with a satin lining. These linings prevent frizz, hair snagging, help maintain hair moisture, and they're cute and stylish.The best part for me is no hat hair!

I ordered the faux animal print grey beret one seen on the model below. It came Saturday in the mail.

(HatSome Grey Faux Animal Fur Beret)

And here it is on me! Unfortunately this one is sold out. But they have several other hats including fedoras and beanies.

So far my only real complaint is that it's a little big. The website could do a better job of ensuring all hats have sizes labeled on there. But most of their hats are fairly cheap, appear well made, and are very very cute! Definitely should be a must have in your winter wardrobe!

Mirrored Cabinet With Trim

Well winter has officially hit Seattle. We got several inches of snow dumped on us this week and my start date for the new job has been delayed until Monday.

Like most people, I love snow days..but after a while I get bored or drive people crazy. I originally celebrated by having a bunch of college friends who live walking distance over for a snow party. I live on Queen Anne hill (up from the Seattle Center) and when it snows, everyone treks up and goes sledding and skiing! after 13 hours of fun and drinking it was a total blast, and by the end of the day we had finished off 5 bottles of wine, a fifth of vodka, and bottles of whiskey and Bailey's (mmm homemade Irish coffees!). Further damage- I dropped my phone in the toilet. Luckily I had just bought a phone case which protected it a lot and with a bowl of rice saved it!

Usually when I'm bored I clean, then I do TV episode marathons, and finally I go find craft project or read. Well the house has been meticulously clean minus the "snow" towels for shoes in the foyer. The TV series I picked to marathon this week was Monk, and all time favorite, but consequently it's made me more OCD and I'm driving my room mate nuts :).

So finally I picked up my copy of Grace Bonney's Design*Sponge book which I only skimmed through briefly this fall. After reading cover to cover I've decided I want to try my hand at reupholstering furniture. Yes I know, I'm crazy. I'm still helping Jon decorate his apartment so I'll see if he lets me pick something for a pet project for him :).

Anyway it made me realize I have never shared my first DIY project with everyone! I love to read books and blogs on design, decorating, cleaning (OCD remember),cooking, and etiquette (ok, there's really no excuse for this one). Last February I started the slow process of redecorating my room. In May 2011 found this awesome mirrored cabinet to double as a book case and knick-knack storage on Haute Look. The cabinet pictured below is by an LA design company, Statements by J.

Looks great but it actually arrived with a very shitty paint job. I was so upset. Haute Look sells luxe designer clothing & home accessories for a discount to members. I think the cabinet retails for $5-600 but I got it for $280. Anyway I was so upset I called to complained, and emailed them the YouTube video I made with my flip camcorder detailing the poor paint job. Apparently their sweatshop just did a crappy job. You can view the video here.

Needless to say Haute Look was completely horrified that the furnishing company sent me a cabinet with such a poor paint job the tried to get a new one sent. Statements by J claimed they had no more so I was refunded my entire purchase price. Jon convinced me instead of giving it to the dump that I should just repaint it. Three trips to Home Depot, and a weekend later I had the cabinet I loved!

I used Mardi Gras (purple shade) from Behr and Dove White from Glidden. On the inside I painted the back panel of the shelves purple for a nice contrast to the white interior I painted. And the best part is it goes with my bed set. There was such little paint on the original cabinet there was really no need to sand it down so it made the job much easier. It's the first time in my life I've every painted something that wasn't on canvas. Now we'll see if I can find an upholstery project to do ;).

Pains of Curly Lashes

WARNING: This may be by far one of the grossest blogs I have ever written.

Everyone knows that old proverb "Eyes are the windows into the soul". I think as a consequence most women strive to have amazing eyelashes. There's always a new plumping, thickening, volumizing mascara or faux lashes coming out on the market with "360 degrees" technology brush. For me, and I'm sure the rest of the naturally curly-lash population, it can be sometimes a pain.

The worst is when you have an eyelash in the process of falling out. A prompt 180 degrees ends with a lash either in your eye or worse scratching it. For me it was the prior. I have had more than one occasion as a child when I'm screaming Bloody Mary and begging my mom to blow in my eye or bust out the tweezers to put me out of my misery.


Well for the past 3 days (in addition to random food poisoning/24 hour stomach flu I battled on Thursday) I have had a horrible pain in my eye. Normally this happens when I've worn lose powder eyeliner or did a sloppy job washing mascara off from the night before. I finally decided after washing my face tonight to stretch open my eyelids and see if I could "see" anything as it's been driving me nuts. And voila! (picture below).

eyelash stuck in my eye

I noticed first the small white dot (small blue circle in photo) in my left eye in the canthus. It looked originally like a pimple. I freaked out and had Jon come take a look to make sure it wasn't pinkeye. He wears contacts and glasses= sees an eye doctor more frequently than I. Turns out it was just an eye bugger or whatever they're called. But when I finally managed to pull it out, I had this eyelash (larger blue circle) sticking straight out! turns out this was slighly behind my eye...I think! Anyway the minute I pulled it out the pain went away!! I didn't know it was possible to have this happen and I've normally been good about pulling or plucking my lashes out as they fall out. Anyway now I can sleep in peace. And ladies, be thankful you don't have curly lashes.

Canvas Frame Shopping

In my last blog I showed you all the awesome X-Men limited edition print I got for Christmas from Jon. The other part of my Christmas present was any frame of my choice :).

This has been a bit of an adventure. I enlisted the advise of my artist friend, Jody, and set out tracking out across the city to various framing stores, and home decor stores. It turns out my print is a custom size (15"x22") which means a custom frame. I decided to go with Museum Quality Framing in Queen Anne. Lara, the store manager was super helpful helping me decide what type of frame to get, matting, and they do the canvas stretching in store :).

Picking out frames for my canvas

Their store has a great selection of frames with an array of finishes and lots and lots of color. Below is a photo I sneaked of some of their cool frames! So I thought I had my top 2 frames I was in love with. Then the next day I had Jon swing by with me. Next thing I know I'm looking at a whole new line-up, from blue frames to new arrival acrylics!

Well I have to say I eventually found one I love and went with it. It should be ready in 2 weeks, I'm excited to post the premiere! Stay tuned!

New Year, New Projects

Last fall has passed by more quickly than I could have imagined. With the change of the season, a lot has also changed in my personal life. Both of my bosses at work each moved on to new roles inside the company. I also left and got hired on at a management firm to do marketing, and I somehow lucked out with the ENTIRE month of December off!

I went on vacation to Barcelona this past summer, but I have definitely forgot what relaxing feels like. I can go to the gym at 6AM instead of prepping for a conference call, and my stress level is at an all time low. I have also had time to finish house projects- most recently a massive collage picture frame project that was on the burner for the past two years.

I have also had time to do more cooking and experiment with baking. Below I have a new favorite tart recipe from Epicurious. I did tweak the recipe a bit:

• Added an extra pear
• Included dried sweet cherries, and cranberries
• Did a 50/50 mix of Whiskey and Bourbon with a splash of Armaretto
• Added almond layer to the base of the pie crust

The result is more of a smokey oak taste and more sweet and tangy than on the tart side. Truly amazing nonetheless, I presented these during the holidays and my family and Jon's family absolutely loved them. I see more baking in my future :).

I have 2 more big projects I will begin working on today that I "hope" to finish before I start work again in 2 weeks.  The first is finding frames for a massive world map (for Jon's condo) and for my favorite Christmas present below! I have a limited edition & autographed X-Men glicee print on canvas.

My photo doesn't really do the print justice. I forgot I asked Jon for this as a present and I squealed like a baby when I opened the canvas tube. I plan to put this in my woman cave when I move. Until then I need to figure out an appropriate place in apartment to put this...and hoping the roomie doesn't freak out.

The last big project is helping Jon decorate his new condo. Finally (!!!) he is ready to start making it a home. Look for updated blogs as I finish each room. I by no means consider myself an interior designer, but I think wit my personal clothiing style and endless coffee table design books I've read that I've developed a knack for how things go together :).