An Urban Girl

When life throws you limes, savor them for the sake of all that is juicy and delicious! Through this, what seems like a life long search for an easy way to a slimmer derriere, I have found a few truths that are worth sharing with select good friends. I love finding healthy routines that are easy to adopt, yet high yielding.  One such routine that I have recently become fond of, is making a week's worth of low fat salad dressing with fresh lime juice.  This routine saves you hundreds of calories in fat, and the fresh lime juice gives your immune system an extra boost that is so necessary in these months of flu season (Flu Season: October through May). "The health benefits of lime include weight loss, improved skin, improved digestion, relief from constipation and eye health.  It is used in treatment of scurvy, piles, peptic ulcer, respiratory disorders, gout, gums, urinary disorders, etc..." Once you have it ready in the fridge, all you have to do is sw

Behold your excitement people. It is once again that peculiar time of the year, when we photograph our children with pumpkins. We carve out the time, drive to a (preferably organic) pumpkin farm and click away. I must say pumpkins haven't taken this phenomenon for granted at all.  They could have very well acted all smug and lazy, as throngs of families come to admire them, pose with them, and proudly carry them out to their homes, where they sit them in a shrine for a few weeks.  On the contrary, over the years I have found these silly old vegetables reinvent themselves into grander and more improved versions of their old selves.   It  is really beautiful to see them in all their glorious shades of orange, white and green, scattered along a vast field, hoping to catch the eye of a fervent admirer.  Hoping to be the One, while still maintaining their composure under the pressure of being hugged and poked and sat on.... I savor these beautiful moments with t

  The promise of being able to meet Mr. Urban for mid-day meals and rendezvous, was on the top of my list of reasons to move from Vancouver to Silicon Valley some 12 years ago... Pear and Prosciutto Salad The only thing is that over the years, it has been hard to make mid-day rendezvous happen with any kind of regularity.  I won't go into details as to who's at fault, but let's just say that I am always up for making mid-day gourmet rendezvous a priority in our marriage. When he does manage to keep our lunch date in his calendar, Mr. Urban is especially charming.  Picks amazing places to meet at.  Has an abundance of funny, touching, interesting stories to recount.  And manages to steal my heart every time.  The Giggles; We are laughing way to hard for a quaint French restaurant! At some point during our meals, the conversation always steers to making a move to somewhere in the middle of nowhere so we can freely meetup at midday for a long meal togethe

Having patiently been awaiting the arrival of Fall weather, we finally decided not to hold our breaths much longer, seeing as we our blessed with year round summer weather around here, and just import Fall into our home instead.   The girls have made s'mores kits and painted cardboard pumpkins (since if you carve real pumpkins right now in this warm weather, they will be moldy before you know it).  A few girl friends joined me for a Fall lunch of Martha Stewart's herb crusted Salmon and Farro Salad inspired by a recipe from SOHO restaurant Charlie Bird which I happened across in the NY Times' cooking section one lucky morning. For desert we savored a refreshing Champagne Jello topped with custard, made by my gorgeous, artistic and darling friend, R.   Carla Bruni seems to be the sound track of Fall.  I hope that you have also invited bits and pieces of Fall's charm into your day to make it more sepcial for you and your loved ones. A