Just Hit The Play Button

One of the best and moving pieces I've read/heard. Once in a while, there are stories that instantly give you perspective in life and a reality check -- this is one of them.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Gong Hay Fat Choy.
Luck, health, happiness to everyone. Be good to yourself and to others.

Strength

Each morning I wake up giving myself goals to accomplish. They run the gamut -- from mini ones that may seem superficial to others, to big ones that could be steps toward life improvement -- eating breakfast, saying good morning to at least three strangers people before going into the office, finding that new job.

Lately, one goal I attain everyday is letting go. Sounds contradictory? Not so. Letting go of the things and the people that/who serve no purpose in your life can be one of the strongest things you can do. I'll have to admit, it's hard. I like to think we're all loyal creatures. We're loyal to sports teams, workout regimens, TV shows, friends, email accounts. But as I get older (and hopefully wiser), I've learned that "it's okay." Letting go of the people in my life who aren't honest, reliable, or a man of his word, is one of the easiest -- and liberating -- things to do.

I cherish the good people in my life -- my family, my friends, and three very special people (you know who you are) who I met through work in the most trying and challenging times, but who I've developed lifelong friendships. Thank you for being real, honest and there for me at the drop of a hat. You know I got your backs.

Clarification

To be frugal, you're fiscally prudent.
To be cheap, you're a d-bag.
And to lie shows weakness and disrespect -- oh, and total, utter, 100% douche factor.

Happy New Year!

Feel good. Do good. Be good.
Not exactly my New Year's resolutions, but rather my daily goals. 24/7, 365.

Happy 3rd Birthday Josie!

My adorable niece!

Happy Holidays!

Thought of The Day

"A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man." - Jebediah Springfield

Steinbeck Country

I'm in the salad bowl of the world!

Do Your Thing

Hello, Goodbye

Where did the summer go? July and August have been a blur, both came and went, and now September is approaching. Motorcycles, court trials, LA Food & Wine, cars and jets have been my past two months. Before I forget, or wait until next year to post...here are some pictures from the second year of LA Food & Wine.

LA Food & Wine 2012!

Style, profile...Second annual LA Food and Wine, brought to you by the folks who put on Pebble Beach Food and Wine. Check it.

Candid

Snapped mid-sip by photographnic.

Burn Baby, Burn

For those who watch(ed) Sex and The City, here's one for you.

Carrie's boyfriend broke up with her on a Post-it note.

My roommate/friend kicked me out of my place with a text message.

You don't really have to had watched the series to connect-the-dots.

As Carrie quipped: "you can make a point of ending a relationship in a manner that does not include an email, a doorman or a missing persons report." Lol!

Studio Shot

iJosie!

Under Pressure

Ever have one of those days, weeks, months?

 

Liquid Porn

Very visual, very appealing. And so worth the effort to mortar and pestle your own spice mix for Masala Chai. Call me a dork, but I can smell the chai in this video.

If Chai isn't your cup of tea, Highbeam also has an instructional video on how to make Vietnamese coffee.

Pretty!

My dress of the moment. Light, airy, pretty.

Class Act

One of the highlights of this year's Pebble Beach Food and Wine. Covering the Thomas Keller Tribute Dinner last Friday at the Beach & Tennis Club at Pebble.

Chef Keller was gracious and humble, and took the time to chat with me.

(Thanks to photographer Patrick Tregenza for snapping this moment)

Five Years of Wow!

Yep, we're talking about Pebble Beach Food & Wine. And this year's four-day culinary adventure was as over the top as you could imagine. It's great to see how the event has grown from 2008. It's been an honor covering the event from the beginning.

Here are some pics from last week. There will be more to come -- I haven't even gone through my food pics.

Yes, this Moet bottle was almost as big as me.

Friday's Thomas Keller Tribute Dinner at the Beach and Tennis Club. What a gorgeous evening.

The man of the hour, legendary French Laundry Chef Thomas Keller.

Guy Fieri stopped by to say hi during Thursday night's Opening Night Reception at Spanish Bay.

Me and Dave!

Team PBFW! Covering the event with Matt.

Three Cal Alums! Gary Obligacion, me and Slanted Door's Charles Phan at PBFW after-party.

Team PBFW! The amazing Sarah Potter with CLM and photographer/editor/filmmaker extraordinaire Craig Macneill.

Be The Change.

From The Weinstein Company:

"This year, over 5 million American kids will be bullied at school, online, on the bus, at home, through their cell phones and on the streets of their towns, making it the most common form of violence young people in this country experience. The Bully Project is the first feature documentary film to show how we've all been affected by bullying, whether we've been victims, perpetrators or stood silent witness..."

Pebble Beach Food and Wine 2012

Over 90 chefs. 200-plus wineries pouring. Pebble Beach. Check it! April 12-15.

A Mouthwatering Work of Art!

Amazingly beautiful and inspiring film by David Gelb about 3-Michelin star Tokyo sushi chef Jiro Ono who runs the small Sukiyabashi Jiro. And the title couldn't be simpler or more charming, "Jiro Dreams of Sushi." I'm in love with the story, the ingredients, the food and the music in the trailer. In case you're wondering, it's Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92 (I. Poco sostenuto – Vivace). Love, love, love.

Even More from LA Food & Wine

Eh, better late than never. :) These are from the Daniel Boulud Tribute Dinner at Montage Beverly Hills.

Me and the amazing Gary O!

Where the magic happens...

...and I got to taste some of that magic.

Love these guys! Barnaby Draper crew.

Still One of My Favorites

Piano Concerto #5 in D Major by Mozart.

The Dog Strikes Back!

Omg, I love Volkswagon's Super Bowl ad this year -- a  follow-up to my favorite last year.

Valleywagged

If you have anything to do with tech or social media...you want to be written up or mentioned by Ryan Tate. I'm lucky enough to know Ryan on a level where pigging out on beef rillettes sandwiches and Beard Papa's cream puffs is the status quo. Always great catching up with a fellow Cal Bear and Daily Cal alum.

(On a sidenote: Checkout Ryan's book published by HarperCollins due out in April. He explores how goofing off and breaking the rules often equate to business success.)

Happy Chinese New Year!

Gong Hay Fat Choy...Gong Xi Fa Cai! It's the first day of the Lunar New Year, and this year, we celebrate the Year of the Dragon.

Life Is A Sport

This just makes me want to dance, run, work out. Basically break a sweat. (Love the Amadeus references.) Effective advertising from Nike's newest high-tech fitness device: the Nike+ FuelBand, developed with help from R/GA. From AdWeek:

According to Nike, you wear your FuelBand during the day to track your steps, calories burned, time spent exercising, etc. But more important, it also calculates something called "NikeFuel" using "oxygen kinetics," which tells you just how active you've been, regardless of your chosen pursuit—everything from dancing to walking to playing basketball can be quantified and compared.

Boom-sha-clack-clack

This song makes me smile. (Kermit and the Muppets don't sing this song obviously, but I found this cute video on YT.)

Song: "Concrete Wall" by Zee Avi.   

Me 'n Maddie

Hanging out in Pebble Beach. Kinda think she looks like Albert Einstein. No? ;)

Forever Lazy

Saw this on the Travel Channel last night during Bourdain. Favorite line: "Uh-oh, gotta go? No worries Forever Lazy has zippered hatches in the front and back, for great escapes when duty calls."

Looking For A New Crib?

Had a great news week. My favorite piece of the week was picked up by CNN, Yahoo, MSN, NBC, "Good Morning America", LA Times, Boing Boing, io9. It was a story on real estate...looking for a new crib that comes with a 10-story satellite? Have a few million lying around? The Jamesburg Earth Station, constructed to distribute live images of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing, is for sale. Pretty awesome. Oh, and did I mention this Cold War-era facility can also withstand a 5 megaton nuclear blast.

You can check out my story here:

Apparently, Yahoo! News and users also thought my story was cool. It was the top news story two days in a row!

We Found Love...

One of my favorite tunes -- and songs to dance to! -- of 2011 made it to NPR's Top 100 Favorite songs of 2011.

Happy 2nd Birthday Josie!

Auntie Mei Loves you!!

Happy Merry Christmas!

This gives a whole new meaning to all those classic Christmas TV movies and the characters: Rudolph, Charlie Brown, Grinch, the elf who wants to be a dentist. Enjoy!

Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker" a la Colbert

This is the funniest thing I've seen all week. I love this man. Stephen Colbert performs a selection from Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker" with American Ballet Theater's David Hallberg and Hee Seo. Before the performance, Hallberg -- who's the only American to dance for the Bolshoi -- spoke to Colbert about his experience. You can catch the interview here.

Every Second Counts

From Montblanc: "The Beauty of a Second is a contest curated by Wim Wenders which asks users to demonstrate beauty in a second of film. The winner will meet Wenders and win a Montblanc Nicolas Rieussec chronograph."

Want to submit?

My People

A Chinese cover of Lady Gaga's "Bad Romamce." You really need to watch this.

Some more from LaLa Land

I am really bad at posting pictures. (Just look at my Facebook.) But here are a few more pictures from LA Food & Wine.

At Saturday's Lexus Grand Tasting at LA Live.

Nice to see Chef Hubert Keller of San Francisco's Fleur de Lys in LA.

Yes, the 'Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' were at LAFW. Adrienne and Kyle were very sweet.

At a rooftop pool party at the Ritz-Carlton. I took this photo after I tripped in front of the reggae drummers. Lol.

With some of the amazing volunteers/runners for LA Food & Wine.

The legendary Chef Nobu Matsuhisa! He had my favorite dish of the night at the 'Train Live on The Plaza' event on Saturday night.

Chef Mark Peel of 'Campanile' in Los Angeles.

Some of the Coastal Luxury Management/LA Food & Wine team members take a break at the Delta suite.

LA Food & Wine

Has it really been a week since the LA Food and Wine? Was amazing following the folks at Coastal Luxury Management -- the team behind Pebble Beach Food and Wine -- show Tinseltown how to throw a culinary fete. Love, love.

Me and Leslie enjoying the red carpet premiere of inaugural LA Food & Wine at LA Live. What a fun night.



Me and co-founder Dave Bernahl!

Co-founder Robert Weakley.

Love these guys! Barnaby Draper crew.