Mindful May

May has been a little crazy already, I mean I am writing this from a 747 plane that is bound for Melbourne Australia, I have already been on a plane for 15 hours before this from LA to Sydney. I totally lost a day of my life crossing the international dateline and consumed some questionable airplane meals in the last 15 hours so please just go with the loopy tone of this post.

Also this is what I look like after 15 hours of travel it’s sort of 12 year old unibomber chic, right? The person sitting behind me watching me take a selfie on my laptop was not weirded out at all, I’m sure of it.

Back to May being crazy. I knew I had a pretty full schedule that included a trip to Chicago for a wedding, a trip to Melbourne for work, my baby sister’s graduation, and  other important things like remembering to buy toilet paper. So I wanted my 30 day resolution for May to require minimal investment but still have an impact on my life so I decided to try mini meditation sessions every day to help me keep my sanity somewhat in check.

The internet is such an amazing machine, that I have no idea how it works, and I am so glad that it can help me find everything from the best of the Ryan Gosling “Hey Girl” meme, to kitten video montages, and reviews for the best mediation apps. After reading a few reviews of apps for my phone I downloaded Simply Being Guided Meditation for Relaxation and Presence. This is the perfect low commitment for me for a few reasons:

1. The meditation is guided which means a very soothing NPR correspondent type of voice walks you through breathing exercises and then visualizations like walking through a green forest, garden, or tropical beach.  My mind can’t  sit still and just “be” I am really jealous of people who can shut their inner monologue off. The sad part is that most of the time I’m not even contemplating important ideals it is usually something like “I wonder if Bravo will ever combine the Real Housewives of Orange County and Beverly Hills into one mega episode called: The Beach meets the Beyotch

2. The longest meditation session on the app is 20 mins. This is totally something you can do commuting home from work, at home during that 4 hour window of time that the cable guy is supposed to show up (but you know he will show up at the 3 hour and 55 minute mark), waiting at the DMV, or any other frustrating situation.

3. It works. I’m a lot more patient in line at Trader Joes, I sleep better if I mediate right before bed, I think my skin is clearer and my hair is silkier too…but that might be the fish oil I started taking, until proven otherwise I am crediting it to the meditation.

The app is only 99 cents on iTunes and people will totally think that you are more centered and balanced just seeing that you have it on your phone. Now if you will excuse me I totally missed out on Monday because of the international dateline, so much celebrity gossip to catch up on. More from Australia soon, until then deep cleansing breaths friends.

Burger Month

I really love a celebration. It usually involves a group of great people getting together, a reason to wear something besides yoga pants, and my favorite part…eating. So when I found out that May is National Burger Month I almost exploded with joy, an entire month of eating, I mean celebrating, the classic American meal?! I am obviously in.

In respect to my white skinny jeans I just purchased for summer I am indulging in only one burger meal a week for the entire month of May. I am all for cheat days being a part of a healthy diet but I also want my irresponsible calories to be worth it. If I am going to fall of the health wagon I want to enjoy every bite on the way down. With this in mind I started doing some serious internet research on the best burger joints in LA. After reading through endless Top 10 lists, food reviews, and having a serious conversation with my burger aficionado boyfriend I had an official check list.

The first place on the list  is a classic LA burger establishment The Apple Pan. This West LA landmark started serving burgers to the masses in 1947 and has kept people coming back ever since. This restaurant definitely has an old school no frills feel, when you walk in the interior is clad with wood, red plaid wall paper, and a U-shaped counter with about 30 red leather seats that are the only available seating for dine in. If you come during peak lunch or dinner times be ready to wait, it is totally worth it and the servers are good about moving people in and out from the counter. The kitchen/grill is located in the middle of the restaurant and divides the counter in half, each side has a dedicated server dressed in a classic all white uniform with a paper hat ready to hand jot down your order on a paper ticket.  There are two types of burgers on the menu: The steakburger that comes with mayo, pickles, house made sauce, lettuce and for $0.50 more cheddar cheese and the hickoryburger that is basically the same as the steakburger but with house made BBQ sauce. We ordered one of each along with a side order of fries. The fries come out first and were golden brown crunchy heaven, next the burgers are served up sans plate in paper wrapping. The bun is grill toasted and the mix of ground beef, sweet relish, mayo and cheese is the perfect balance of sweet and savory. All talking ceased once we started eating, our hands got messy, and we didn’t care… this is burger nirvana friends.  If you visit, and you totally should, also be sure to make an ATM pit stop as The Apple Pan is cash only.

Have your own favorite local burger spot? Share it in the comments!

drool-worthy

Monday Mantra

Love ya Ma

You guys, don’t freak out, but Mother’s Day is this weekend! This woman brought you into the universe to share all of your gifts, especially that sweet rendition of Don’t Stop Believing you do at karaoke night, you  don’t want to show up to brunch empty-handed. Here are some of my favorite cards and gift ideas to celebrate the most important woman we are lucky to know and love. Please give your mom a serious high-five and hug for me, she deserves it for turning out such an awesome human being!

You Were Right Card, Super Mum Card, You do This Best Card, Unicorn Card

Three Easy DIY gifts for your Mom that I  know she will love. If all else fails, bring really great flowers.

1. Mini instagram book from Prinstagram: For $12.00 you can make two 50 page mini books of all of your favorite pics from instagram. Secure your place as favorite grandchild by sending that extra one to grandma!

2. Gold Painted Glass Vases: This is a super easy tutorial and only takes one trip to the craft store and flower shop.

3. Mothers Day Tea Blend: This is more complicated, but not impossible to make happen beforeFriday. Create custom tea bags for your mom complete with sweetheart tags. Make it even sweeter gift pack by throwing in a vintage teacup. She will spend every morning thinking about you. Tutorial here.

April 27: Week in Pictures

Because sometimes less is more I am going to share how my week was in pictures. The weather in LA is approaching perfect so I’m spending as much time outside as I can soaking it all in (as is my pup Chopper). I also ate a ridiculously huge sandwich from LA landmark Canters Deli, yes I ate the whole thing and that is why it made the week in review. I know you are equal parts impressed and disgusted, I’m OK with that.

Happy Weekend Adventure-ing

M

Regrammertime take 1

I turned 30 last year. I feel like after I turned 30 I stopped understanding a lot of pop culture. All the music I like is not considered top 40 pop anymore, instead my “generation” now has it’s own station (Sirius 90s on 9 for those wondering. If the person next to you at the red light is belting out Color me Badd there is a good chance it is me). Statements like “her dress is too short” or “did anyone check their IDs? there is no way they are 21” and “this music is way too loud to have a conversation” regularly fall out of my mouth on the rare occasion that I am out somewhere hip in LA after 8:00pm.

I also don’t get any of the popular internet fads (maybe they are called memes now? someone help me please). Seriously friends,  if any of you get the Harlem Shake phenomenon could you please send an email explaining it to me, thanks. I am not an internet hater though I love social media, I am a tweetpinstergrambook person. All of your updates and pictures are constantly changing so my favorite time killer at airports, waiting for appointments, talking to my mom on speakerphone, or riding public transit is scrolling through and catching up on all the news.

At least once a week on Instagram I click on the “explore” button, formerly known as the “popular page” before the last upgrade, and realize I really am doing soical meida wrong. According to my in depth scrolling and page refreshing research to make the popular page you have to be a puppy, a celebrity, an attractive woman wearing minimal amounts of clothing, a cute trendy outfit, or someone from the band One Direction (let’s run with the idea that I know who they are). So once a week as an homage to Instagram ridiculousness I will be recreating a photo  from the popular page. If you find one you think is funny (and appropriate and fully clothed) drop it to me in an email at: sayheygirlhey{at}gmail.com

I present to you  the new Hey Girl weekly installment: REGRAMMERTIME

The photo on the left is from Instagram and the photo on the right is me at Playa Del Rey Beach

April 30 Day Resolution

I was going to write a blog post about my 30 day resolution for April. I was going to tell you how it was mind and body month and I was doing physical workouts and 10 minute mediation sessions. I was writing that post before I left to go Boston last week.

I went to Boston for a work event and was on board a plane on the tarmac at Boston Logan airport on Monday bound for Newark, NJ and then Los Angeles. We had gone through the safety video, everyone was buckled in and in the upright position when a man in my row said out loud “bombs have gone off at the finish line of the Boston Marathon.” Also happening at the same time was flight attendants walking through the aisles making people power down their electronic devices. My heart started to beat faster, my mind started to spin, and I felt a knot in my stomach forming. I had friends that were going down to watch the marathon and for the next 45 minutes would have no information on their well-being or the overall situation.

As soon as I landed in Newark our plane was shuttled into a holding zone on the tarmac with about 4 other planes. I powered up my phone and anxiously started texting friends and scrolling through social media to find more answers. I don’t need to tell you what I read or saw as the media coverage has been nonstop since the incident, but the knot in my stomach got a little tighter with each new piece of information.

Thankfully everyone I knew was safely accounted for and I boarded my plane in Newark with a heavy heart. I am sad to admit that I have lived through more than one of these national tragedies and it feels like a stomach punch you are not expecting. You lose you breath, you get light headed, and your tear ducts fill from surprise and pain. All of these emotions have been spinning inside of me since I landed back at LAX Monday night. I revisited my original blog post for April and it just felt insignificant and self centered. I feel so helpless for the communities and families in Boston that are suffering. The only thing that has really comforted me in regards to this incident is how people have banded together to help others blindly and unconditionally. For the rest of April and May I am challenging myself to inject as much positive energy and love into the universe as possible. I want people to feel important, happy, loved, and inspired.

I will be doing this through random notes left all over Los Angeles. I have put my crafty skills to work once again and have created note cards with some of my favorite inspirational phrases (that I obviously found on Pinterest). I will be leaving them at park benches, movie theatre seats, condiment holders in restaurants, parking meters…wherever I think people will see it and have a positive moment. I am also granting myself a break from all the news coverage, I need to take some time to remember how lucky I am to be here and  everyone I love is safe and sound. I’m glad you are here reading this and I hope you leave some notes of your own around your neighborhood. I believe that good energy wins over bad energy so let’s cultivate as much of it as possible.

Big Hugs

M