NOSARA COSTA RICA

The Harmony Hotel is owned by John Johnson, and heir to the Johnson and Johnson family and it located in NOSARA an untouched area of Costa Rica's Pacific coast. The rooms are a great price right now....$120 a night! If you want to visit CR, WWD scoop just wrote about this area so check it out in the March 2007 issue. They said Nosara is a fantastic place to visit because its remains untouched and there are not alot of tourists in this area.
There are a few surf hotels which makes the area fun and exciting, but there is hiking, yoga and surfing community in addition to great ethnic food. Also noted, is Nosara is on one of the best beach break in Central America.

The Hotel harmony site says that it is a stone's throw from the best break on Playa Guiones...home to the best surf in Nosara and for that matter, some of the most consistent year-round waves in the world. The beach breaks with lefts and rights. Swells vary throughout the day from May to Sept from waist high to double-overhead. The website continues to say that this break works on all tides but shapes up best at high tide. Even though it's becoming a popular longboard spot, it is good for short boards and great for fun boards.

I am going to this spot in May and I am so excited! I was going to go to Sufari surf camp, but didn't really like the accomdations...call me a princess. Can't wait to surf in this area and actually surf in warm water!

Check it out by clicking on the pink title.

MARTHA'S FLOWERS

I just sent some flowers to some close friends for various reasons, and I have to say that this is the best flower delivery service nationwide. Martha picks these flowers internationally and they are shipped to the states...also good prices too...these are all $34.99. Check the website out by clicking the pink title.

USC ROCKS

So to support my alma mater, USC, here is the link to their website to show your support! That is...if you are keeping up with March Madness. Go SC!

SPRINKLES CUPCAKES

So my favorite cupcakes in LA has teamed up with William Sonoma to make their own cake mix that can be purchased online!
Its more than Betty Crocker, but worth it ($14 per mix)! THE CUPCAKES ARE AMAZING. My favorite is Red Velvet.
Check it out by clicking on the pink title.

JOHN DERIAN

I am a huge fan of John Derian. Check out some of his dinnerplates. Comes in all sizes. A bit pricy, but worth every penny!
Click on the pink title to get there.

STOP TALKING

I have been out and about lately and have realized that I am easily annoyed by hi pitched sounding voices that say LIKE and OH MY GOD...I found these cards today. These will come in handy in the future if I am out and someone comes up to me that I just deal with. I think they are funny...$8 for 25 cards.

SAMUEL MOYER

Samuel Moyer is a Los Angeles Based furniture designer. I love his work. I saw it on Apt therapy's blog. Check his website out by clicking the pink title.

MEXICAN ENCHILADA SUIZA LASAGNA

This is a recipe that a friend told me about that she got on food network. Its looks pretty good, check it out by clicking on pink title.


Mexican Enchilada Suiza Lasagna
Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse, 2004

6 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1/2 pound shredded pepper jack cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
9 teaspoons vegetable oil
18 corn tortillas
4 cups cooked cubed or bite size chicken meat (2 pounds boneless skinless breasts)
2 teaspoons Emeril's Southwest Essence
6 poblano peppers, roasted, peeled and seeded
1 cup chopped green onions
3/4 pound (3 cups) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 cup chopped fresh tomatoes
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves, plus more for garnishing, if desired
4 ounces Queso Anejo, shredded (substitute Parmesan if unavailable)
1 cup sour cream, for serving
Salsa or Pico de Gallo, for serving, optional
Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Whisk in the milk, little by little, until thoroughly combined. Add the chicken stock and bring sauce to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until thickened and flavorful, about 10 minutes. Add the pepper jack and stir until melted. Season with the salt and remove from the heat. Set aside, covered, while you assemble the remaining ingredients.
Heat a small skillet over high heat. When hot, add 1/2 teaspoon of the vegetable oil and 1 of the tortillas. Cook until soft, turning midway, about 1 minute per tortilla. Transfer to a plate and cover while you cook the remaining tortillas, adding additional 1/2 teaspoon of oil for each tortilla. Set aside on a plate and cover with plastic wrap or foil.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9-by 13-inch casserole.

Spoon 1 cup of the sauce onto the bottom of the casserole dish. Top with 6 of the tortillas, spreading them evenly to form a complete layer. Top with half of the chicken, 1 teaspoon of the Southwest Essence, half of the poblanos, half of the green onions, 1 1/2 cups of the sauce, and 1/3 of the shredded Monterey Jack. Make another layer in exactly the same way: 6 tortillas, the remaining chicken, 1 teaspoon of the Southwest Essence, remaining poblanos, remaining green onions, 1 1/2 cups of the sauce, and 1/3 of the shredded Monterey Jack. Top with the remaining 6 tortillas, remaining sauce, tomatoes, cilantro, and remaining Monterey Jack, then sprinkle the Queso Anejo evenly over the top.

Cover the casserole with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and continue to bake for about 15 minutes longer, or until the casserole is bubbly and light golden brown on top.

Serve immediately, garnished with a dollop of sour cream, more chopped cilantro, and a spoonful of salsa or pico de gallo, if desired.

DROPKICK MURPHY'S

This is a Boston Based Punk Band that a friend told me about. It kicks ass. One of their songs is on the soundtrack of THE DEPARTED. Check them out by clicking on the pink title.

COOL PLATES FOR SUMMERTIME

I love these dessert plates from Anthropolgie. They are only $12 each made in Japan, and worth every penny.
Check them out by clicking on the pink title.

MY DAD

My dad is a pretty amazing guy. He doesn't have a website to show all thing accomplishments, but he is this amazing resilent and focused man that can get through anything. He had a very difficult childhood living through a war, poverty, and being separated from his family at 12 just to be on his own, made his way through the best schools in Korea while working to support the education, joined the army, immigrated to the US somehow through a education scholarship with only $200 in his pocket and this eternal optimism.

He has taught me alot growing up...he has excelled in the Martial arts and he is a 12th degree Master. I have had some personal trials the last few weeks so we have been talking alot about life. He said some things that really hit home. He said in life, we ALL have some sort of suffering. Whether its illness, a death, a loss of a husband or partner, a job loss or big financial loss, whatever it is...we all are suffering. Some show it more than others, but we all have our sad story.
He challenenged me to be different. Rather than be sad about what cannot be changed, he told me to readjust my attitude to outsmart the part of me that wants to dwell on the things that bring me pain. In order to be successful and to excel, he said people must do three things...
HAVE COURAGE
HAVE A BOLD MIND TO KILL THE FEAR
GO FORWARD
If you click on the pink title there is a website of one of my dad's students who offers martial arts to all, but there was a good photo of him if you want to see him. My dad is amazing. If he can survive the things that he has, I guess all of us can.

SURF BREAK

I am going to be in New York in early May so I am going to take a trip to Costa Rica and try and get my ass in gear for this summer. I do have a big desire to be able to surf confidently, and I had a little mishap a few months ago with an accident in Mexico that left me afraid of going out into the water. I realized that the only way I am going to beat this fear, is dealing with it head on. SO I am off to Costa Rica to get this thing past me and I have been taking surfing lesson again every weekend just to get out there with someone that can teach me how to use my new 7'10 board and go over all the safety tips with me.

I found this surf school, and thought it looked cool. I am still looking into a few more, but I am excited to visit the island and explore. Check it out by clicking on the pink title. Also, there is a surf school for just girls called SURF DIVAS and VOCE too. I think co-ed would make it more interesting, but for those of you that feel safer with the all girl thing, you have a choice.

RENE MAGRITTE

I went to LACMA yesterday to check out the René Magritte show where thirty-one contemporary artists are also exhibited to show the influent Magritte had on some of these amazing artist.
As I was walking through the gallery, I was more impressed with the cloud carpeted floor and the ceilings made of a photo montage of highways, than the actual art work of Magritte. I know that he has been celebrated as an artist that makes you think and his conceptual ideas revolutionized the era that he was in, but I don't really like his art. I think he is trying to hard. Bold statement I know... I do admire his lead in art history with words and out of the box images in certain scenarios, but I think he was just thinking to much and overanalyzed the art that he just couldn't produce. However, I do find it amazing the artists that understood his work and were inspired by it...Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons, Jasper Johns, John Baldessari...I really enjoyed seeing their pieces on display.
I did like a few pieces immediately...the photo that said WRONG. I liked the musical instruments on fire...I liked the passion in those pieces. I like the woman that had the man hands in her own body that was terrorizing her. Seriously disturbing.

You can see some of his work by clicking on the pink title.

BRIGHT LIGHTS

I have been wanting to get some lights for my bedroom, just to make it more special at night. I had some that I had gotten from CHinatown, but they made my bedroom look like a dorm room. These look pretty cool...they are made from Bohdi leaves, and might look cool on the ceiling corners or smashed together in a large vase and used as a lamp. Check them out by clicking on the pink title.

BLOC PARTY

A friend told me about this CD, and said it was the best. I just purchased it on the Urban Outfitter website. Check it out by clicking on the pink title.

PAGE 6

I have been talking to alot of my NY friends lately, and a friend reminded me to read Page 6 for some laughs during the long work day. I am so behind on all the NY local news that I logged on and remember what a guilty pleasure this was daily when I was working at Vanity Fair.
Great juice. You can check it out by clicking on the pink title.