I'm just going to say it, carbs are my best friend. They make me sluggish, tired and do nothing for my waistline but they taste so good that it's hard to not eat. But because I love to torture myself in order to break bad habits I have officially cut carbs off for the month of February.

When I first moved to LA I did the South Beach Diet and it helped me lose my sweet tooth (I rarely eat sweets or desserts) and got me into veggies because I was never really a fan. I also learned how to cook fish which I was never able to master before.

I mentioned this to a few coworkers and they said it was a great thing to do but eating healthy is so expensive. NOT TRUE! Especially here in Los Angeles where we have access to the best produce for almost half the cost of what it is in NYC. I managed to do groceries for the next two weeks and only spent $42. I may have to grab more sparkling water--if I can' have champagne, I still need bubbles--and a few avocados but I'm trying to stick to Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet while not going broke.

Tonight I made a really tasty dinner which I also plan on having for lunch tomorrow. It's my first time making Mahi-Mahi so I was excited to taste it. Needless to say it was amazing and I can't wait to have it again tomorrow. As per usual, I'm not a measurer (I will work on this, I promise) so you can eyeball the ingredients like I did.

Ingredients
Mahi-Mahi Fillet
baby Spinach
3 Garlic Cloves
Cherry Tomatoes
Fresh Parmesan Cheese
Salt
Pepper
Red Pepper Flakes
EVOO
Balsamic Vinaigrette



I bought the fish last night and was so eager to cook it and then I read that it has to thaw in the fridge for at least 8 hours. FAIL! So after letting it sit in the fridge while I was at work it was ready to get cooked.

I put some EVOO in a frying pan and while I waited for it to get hot I seasoned the fillet with salt and pepper.

Up next was throwing it in the pan. I cooked it on one side for about 3 minuted and then turned it over. I put the chopped up garlic in at this point to saute it a bit as well as added the red pepper flakes to the fish.

I can never make a frying pan look glamorous

In the meantime I cut the cherry tomatoes (omg one of them exploded as I cut it and the tiles in my kitchen looked like a murder scene) and added some salt and pepper to give it a bit of flavor.

I'm a tomato addict

Once the fish was cooked I put my spinach and tomatoes in a bowl, added the parmesan cheese, sauteed garlic from the pan and then the star of the show, the Mahi-Mahi.

Spinach is so tasty and pretty

In my past life, I was a mouse. I heart cheese

It was delicious, quick and I can't wait to have it for lunch tomorrow. I'm glad I was able to make something aside from grilled chicken and veggies that is really tasty and carb free.

So. Much. Yum.

It's not lost on me that there's an avocado in the shot. Originally I was going to put some in it and save the other half for lunch tomorrow but I didn't want oxidation to ruin the color of my amazing lunch so I'll reserve serving with with avocados when I make this for more than one person.

pin me :-)

I love tomatoes. Love love love! They go with everything and make every meal super refreshing. When it comes to maintaining, and trying to shed some weight, I tend to eat low/no-carbs meals a few times a week and eating a caprese sandwich is one of my favorites. It's super easy, has cheese, which I love, and it's actually quite filling.

There really is no recipe needed and it's only 5 ingredients. If you make caprese salads the only difference is that you can use the top and bottom of the tomato to have 'buns'.

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #OnePanPasta  #CollectiveBias

Barilla Pronto Pasta can be easily found in the pasta aisle at Walmart

I recently moved into a new apartment that has huge built in shelves in the bathroom. I thought about using them just for my linens but decided to make them a bit more girly by making use of some of the items I've purchased for shoots. The first theme I decided to do was roses because I secretly adore the color pink. I also received an amazing Chloe perfume set for Christmas and their bottles designs are meant to be displayed.

After a trying year I've been focused on finding ways to calm my mind, create a sense of peace and have feel good vibes so while I always liked the scent of roses, I started to like it even more when I read about how great it was for the senses. It aids in depression by boosting self esteem and help relieve anxiety and i's a great aphrodisiac--trust me, I know. Wearing my Chloe perfume drove my last boyfriend nuts!

With all of that it's only natural that I want at least one room in my apartment to be dedicated to subconsciously making me feel good even though I'm never there for more than 30 minutes at a time. And not only does the essence of roses make my mind feel great but I absolutely adore walking into my bathroom and looking at my perfect little shelf. Here's what I was able to get in order to put this shelf together. I received a lucite tray a few months ago and thought it was just what I needed to take great photos and I was right. I was finally able to get the perfect white, or any color background that I wanted for my shoots. But once I got my light box I didn't need it anymore and thought it would be a great way to display my favorite products.




1. Chloe Perfume Box Set- This is one of my favorite Christmas presents from this past year. This has been my signature scent since 2014 and I had finally ran out of my original bottle. I love this set because it came with the lotion, a small travel size and it a cute tin box. I was going to use the box to hold arts and craft items but having it on display is so much better


2. Artificial Rose Petals- Over the summer I had a great idea for a post on scents and bought rose petals for a video that has yet to be properly edited-whoops! Anyway, I'm not sure if I will ever use these again so I didn't know what to do with them but I know that I can't have these tucked away because I'll forget about them.



3. Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap- I've touted this brand before and I will do it again. I'm in love with this companies products, especially the ones that are rose scented. These bar soaps are great for the shower or on a bathroom sink in a cute tray.


4. Bracelets- I love bracelets but I can't wear them because I work on a computer all day and end up putting them off to the side. They're cute when I want to hang out with my friends but wearing one of them everyday is a no-no. When I saw these at ban.do I kinda lost it though and needed to have them. I was also in my breakup shopping binge so I had to have them even more. I'm glad I snagged these when I did because they're no longer being sold on the site. While the colors aren't all pink or rosy I think they add a nice touch.





5. Peter Thomas Roth Rose Stem Cell Face Mask- I had this for almost six months before I actually used it because it was an impulse buy. Once I got into the scent of roses I decided to give this a try. Not only do I love how hydrated my skin is the scent is heavenly. I like wearing it overnight sometimes in lieu of my retinol cream just to change things up a bit.

Okay so I've been having to get back into making smoothies for a long time. The main reason why I haven't been doing them is because of my timing. If I make a smoothie that is delicious and filled with lots of ingredients I'm stuck with a major clean up. Not only that but I have bottles that just aren't made for smoothies. They're made for either water or infused water since they have an insert.

This awesome air tight smoothie bottle by Asobu has come to the rescue. This double wall, vacuum insulated smoothie shaker is awesome.

Let's start with the basics:

It's a great size. It holds 17 ounces of any smoothie that's made.
It's air tight which means that you don't have to worry about it spilling in your purse or car.
Aside from it being airtight, there a little mechanism in the pump that you press over and over until it doesn't pop up anymore, letting you know that all of the air is out and your beverages won't oxidize before you finish it.



The Asobu Smoothie Keeper comes in 12 colors and can keep your drink cold for up to 12 hours so you don't have to worry about chugging it right away. The one that I got was in Smoke but they have other colors available like purple, orange, silver, blue and lime so there's something for everyone.

Did I mention it comes with a straw?

I'm doing a hardcore weight loss challenge at work and need all the help I can get. Making smoothies and protein drinks that I can put in my purse without worrying about spillage is totally work it and I high recommend it!

I had a super fun end of the summer in The Hamptons with family and friends. I, of course, over packed because I ended up wearing my tunic bathing suit for about 8 days straight but one thing that I did remember to pack was this cool snorkel by Usnork that was sent to me. While I have a pool at home and would have been able to use it there it was super fun to be able to not only use it myself but for my little cousin to enjoy as well.