Samurai on Stanley

With this cold weather outside lately I've been craving a bowl of warm oats.

1/4 banana

3 sliced strawberries

1/2 cup oats

1 cup water

pinch of salt

1 tbs crunchy peanut butter

Then I enjoyed a soy latte w/ honey at the Paddington Grind while I read my book.

For lunch I took the bus to meet James' sister at her school & we walked to the Westfield Mall at Bondi Junction to grab lunch. I had a mix of the Thai salad w/ tofu and spicy vinaigrette & a mixed green salad w/ onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, and avocado.

Can you believe this is what they serve at mall food courts? This is not your average sitting out all day under heat lamps normal mall food... everything is fresh and healthy (maybe not so much the fried tofu).

I spent all day getting ready & planning for James' big 21st bday party on the 26th. So far everything is looking great, I can't wait!

For dinner James and I were craving sushi so we tried out a new place on Stanley St. near the city. I love this area. There are tons of quaint restaurants & cafes w/ tables facing the hustle & bustle of the street. I'm a bit skeptical trying new sushi restaurants in Aus, I've had a couple of bad experiences, but Samurai was my best sushi experience in Australia yet.

We started off with some drinks & edamame. Like my new manicure? OPI Light my Sapphire.

I was expecting a little seaweed salad but they brought me this enormous bowl of greenage. Trust me I was not complaining.

I also ordered a vegetable roll.

Dinner was delicious! I always thought that fish would be the one thing I would miss becoming vegan since I used to eat sushi about once a week, but oddly enough I have not craved it once. It's weird how much being vegan has changed my taste buds.

I saw a couple things on my way home that made me happy including an adorable white Vespa...

& a possum in the tree outside. Possums are way different in Australia than they are in America (i.e. overszied rats w/ fangs). They are the cutest things ever. Last winter James & I would go on walks in Centennial Park at night & try to find them climbing around in the trees.... I know we're weirdos.

Venice Beach

I had to wake up super early this AM and drive to the Chatsworth courthouse to take care of a speeding ticket that I missed my previous court date for. So frustrating. It was my first ticket ever & I didn't realize that they don't send you any information in the mail about your court date. Luckily I was able to get traffic school & 45 hours of community service rather than having to pay the exorbitant fee.

I decided to have a hot coffee instead of iced to last me on the drive up.

Venti coffee w/ sf hazelnut & a splash of soy.

Afterwards after spending far too much time waiting in lines at the courthouse my mom and I were ready to get the heck out of there. I dragged my mom to check out my new favorite restaurant Mercedes Grille in Marina del Rey and Cami joined us too.

We ordered mimosas w/ our meal.

Sometimes I am really a creature of habit, and even though I ordered this salad the other day I had to have it again.It is insanely delicious!

Grilled Vegetable Tostada Salad w/ marinated tofu and no cheese.

When we were finished with lunch and said farewell to mi madre, Cami and I decided to work off our lunch by renting beach cruisers and taking a bike ride from Marina del Rey, to Venice, and then Santa Monica.

When we got to the Santa Monica Pier we stopped off at the Coffee Bean and I ordered a large ice coffee w/ soy milk. I love the Coffee Bean, it's a bummer though that all of the powders they use in their drinks are dairy based, otherwise I would frequent here more often.

At the pier we enjoyed the people watching and scenery.

We acted like little kids in the arcade after I kicked Cami's butt at air hockey (one of my favorite games).

Eventually we made it back to Laguna despite the Memorial Day traffic, and I arrived home just in time for dinner. The family was BBQing for my little sister Summer and her girlfriends (think lots of screaming little girls & blaring Keisha i.e madness), so I had to fend for dinner on my own.

I tried a new hummus from Costco; organic basil & sundried tomatoes- this tub is enormous!

I paired the hummus w/ a mixed green salad w/ shredded carrots & raw corn, some cous cous

from Costco too, and a hundred calorie whole wheat roll (w/ some BBQ sauce on the side).

This hummus was pretty good, the calories compared to other hummus was not too shabby either. The couscous was definitely the best part of the meal though. I loved how there were big pieces of couscous (compared to little ones), olives, and bell peppers. Yum!

Later Raveena came over and we enjoyed some Chardonnay & strawberries for dessert as we watched the crazies on the Real Housewives of NY and chatted it up.

Days like today make me realize just how lucky I am to live and go to school in the LA area (I know Malibu is on the outskirts but it still counts). There is nothing more fun than exploring your own neighborhood, and no matter how many times you have seen it before you will always notice some new quirk that you had overlooked. The bright graffiti, crazy characters, and chaos of Venice Beach as well as the charm of the Santa Monica Pier will never get old.