My Weekend via My iPhone

this weekend my fiance & I took of to Las Vegas for a little mini getaway.  From the OC, Vegas is only a few hour drive, so we left after work & made it there in time to enjoy a late dinner & cocktails.  Needless to say, we were a little tired from the workweek  the drive, so I wore a casual maxi & sandals to a mellow dinner at Max Brenner's in Caesar's Palace.  Super yummy if you're looking for a casual bite or dessert & drinks.

  

Yummy lemon drop at Max Brenner's. 

  

The next day we went to Tao Beach (at the Venetian) for their pool party & hung out with some friends that live in town.

  

 

Tao Beach is definitely my favorite spot for day drinks & a fun pool party :)

   

  

That night we went to The Barrymore a little off the strip for dinner.  The food & decor absolutely blew us away.  I love going a little off The Strip to find hidden gems for dinner... It's just so hard for me to pay $60 for a dish that we could get at home for $30 & we find that if you venture off The Strip, the food is actually better & a lot more reasonably priced!  I would HIGHLY recommend The Barrymore.

 

The next night we went to Mon Ami Gabbi at Paris Hotel for a romantic dinner overlooking The Bellaggio fountains.  

  

I even got my fiance to try escargot!  Haha he WAS NOT a fan, but I just thought they tasted like garlic.  

 

After dinner, we went to "O", Cirque Du Soliel's show at the Bellagio.  It was amazing!

 

Amazing seats at "O".

 

After the show we went to The Chandelier Bar at the Cosmopolitan.   Absolutely stunning lounge!  It was the perfect place for a nightcap to an amazing night & weekend.

My pretty cosmo with a blood orange slice. 

 It's easy to see that we had a pretty great weekend!  

Hope you ladies all had a fabulous past few days!

xoxo Shauna

Viva Las Vegas!!

Wearing a leopard maxi form a local boutique, Pelle Moda espadrilles, Michael Kors watch.

Last weekend the boyfriend & I went on a little mini vaca to Vegas!! 
We had SO much fun lounging by the pool, hanging out with his family, seeing LOVE by cirque du soleil & staying up waaay too late gambling in the casinos :) 

I have to say that i'm not too impressed with the restaurnts in Vegas for some reason.  I think most of them are overpriced & because we're spoiled here in Orange County with awesome restaurants & fresh seafood, Vegas just doesn't do it for me.  

We did, however, go to a tapas restaurant off the strip called Firefly that was really yummy, inexpensive & fun!   For the four of us, each of us having a couple cocktails each (the sangria is really yummy), dinner was under $150 & we left STUFFED.  I reccomend the piella, stuffed dates & tuna tartar!!  Yumm.  

xoxo Shauna

Brunch in the OC

Looking for a good place to brunch in the OC?
I've got you covered...

Click below for a competitive analysis of around 40 brunches in the O.C. area!

(I was researching for work & thought it'd be helpful for brunchers in the OC)  

CLICK ME!

If I missed any awesome places feel free to comment & add your favorite spots!  

xoxo Shauna

Restaurant Dining

I work in the restaurant industry... 

Actually, my office is actually sits ON TOP of a restaurant.  Therefor, I eat restaurant food for almost every meal of the day.  

As you can imagine, it can be extremely difficult to stick to a low calorie diet when eating out for every meal.  Over the last couple of years, I've tried to find ways to pick healthier options & modify menu items so that I don't consume a ridiculous amount of calories on a daily basis.  I thought these tips might be helpful to others so I decided I'd share what I've learned along the way & what works for me... 

Tip #1: Watch out for hidden calories!

Things that are seemingly "healthy" in restaurants have TONS of hidden calories.  This is how their food tastes SO much better than the re-creation you try to make at home.  For example, a couple months ago I went to Mastro's Oceanclub & ordered the Swordfish with a side of steamed asparagus.  Healthy, right?  WRONG.  1 bite into my swordfish & could taste the butter seeping out of my dinner.  With further inspection, I noticed that the swordfish filet bad been butterflied (cut in 1/2), smothered with butter, & then re-assembled & grilled.  The taste?  Amazing.  Healthy?  Hell no.  Lesson learned...  When ordering fish, chicken, or steak in a restaurant order it DRY.  Otherwise, butter, oil & other tasty but fattening goodness will be saturating your food.   

Tip #2: Skip dessert

You can eat steamed veggies for dinner, but if you follow your healthy din with a scoop of gelato or even a 1/2 of a chocolatey dessert, you just set yourself back a few hundred calories.  & you're not an ounce more satisfied or full, either.  It's just not worth it.  I've learned that you never stop after that ONE bite either, so it's better just to restrain... that way you never even know what your missing or how goooood it tastes.

 

Tip #3: Order everything on the side

Restaurants always put yummy but fattening sauce & dressing on their dishes.  If you still want the flavor, but want to control how much dressing/sauce you're eating, order it on side.  

Tip #4: Stick to the game plan

If your able to look at a restaurant's menu online, map out a game plan before you get there & stick to it.  I tend to eat the same things every day because if I just go down to the restaurant and wonder to myself "Hmmmmm what do I want today?", I'll end up ordering fish & chips, truffle mac & cheese, a chicken sandwich with french fries... or something as equally delicious but also DEADLY.  

Tip #5: Watch portion size

There is no reason to eat 16oz of ANYTHING.  Typically, a good portion size is about 1/2 of the amount a restaurant gives you.

Tip #6: Oil is your worst enemy

Even grilled veggies can by high in calories if the restaurant coats them in oil.  Try to say NO OIL when ordering your meal.  

Tip #7: Don't go to a restaurant STARVED

I have so many friends that "save up" their calories all day so that they can splurge at dinner.  I use the opposite technique & try to not be famished in a restaurant EVER.  Why?  Because that plan backfires.  You'll end up straying form your meal "plan", eat all the bread in the breadbasket, scarf your food down before your body can tell you it's full & then go for dessert because you "deserve it" since you saved up your calories all day.  GOOD JOB!  Your dinner was around 6,000 calories.  Better not eat for a couple more days!

Tip #8: Stay away from the bread baskets

Bread & butter = Empty carbs & calories.  

Try to stay away from the chips & salsa, too.

Tip #9:  Avoid the "fillers"

Whether I'm eating in my restaurant or another, I always stay away from what I call the "filler" side dishes that come on a main course.  These would be the rice & mashed potato sides that come with your protien.  I'd rather ask for extra veggies instead & fill up on those! 

Tip #10: Watch the booze

A glass of wine runs you about 150 calories.  2 of those & your turning your light 400 calorie dinner into a 700 calorie meal.  I'm not saying I never have a 2nd glass of wine, but just be aware that alcohol calories are empty calories just like that bread basket.

Hope my brutal honestly about restaurant dining helps someone out there!  Just remember, that servers in restaurants are used to people being calorie conscious about their meals & there's no need to feel awkward or embarrassed about modifying your meal.  If it makes you feel better, you can always tell your server you have a gluten allergy so that the chef will know to make your meal as healthy as possible.   

xoxo Shauna

Vegas!

Happy Tuesday!  I just returned from my weekend in Vegas & had an amazing weekend!  I wanted to share the restarants that I tried while I was there with you…

The first night my girlfriend went to RM Seafood that comes highly acclaimed & has a very well known chef.  My girlfriend ordered the lobster mac & cheese, while I ordered the Scallops with pork tamales.  My girlfriend's dish was sinfully cheesy, but I wasn't that impressed (yes, it's hard to blow me away) & my scallops were good, but my dish was tiny with only 3 scallops & 1 dinky tamale.  We weren't that impressed with the food, so we didn't get dessert here & opted for a nutella & banana crepe from next door… which by far was the best part of our meal!!  When the bill came, we discovered that my girlfriend's mac & cheese was over $50!  Wow.

The Second night we went to Jeleo in the Cosmopolitan.  This spanish tapas restaurant is also really well known with a big time chef…

We ordered the Sangria which was AMAZING & had a good amount of spice to it.  We also ordered some cod wontons (I hated them, but my girlfriend loved them), endive salad (amazing), garlic shrimp (could make this at home & it was supposed to be a specialty?) & flan which was also amazing.  Overall, I would definitely try this restaurant again, especially the paella & if you're a big meat eater, they specialize in charcuterie plates.    

Last, not least, we also tried Lemongrass inside the Aria hotel.  This was a spur of the moment idea, since both my girlfriend & I were craving Thai food.  

We decided to be adventurious & try the jellyfish.  My girlfriend actually kind of liked it, but I choked down a bitefull of the noodley dish & didn't go back for seconds.  At least I can say I tried it, right? We also got the Lobster coconut lemongrass soup & garlic shrimp.  The soup was amazing.  

As for our hotel, we stayed at the Cosmopolitan.  I can't complain too much, since the room was comped for us, but I definitely was not impressed with the service here.  I feel like they have a lot of kinks to work out since it's such a new hotel.  It was, however, very beautiful :)

The Chandelier Bar was really pretty & although I was tempted to order a cosmo, I stuck to my usual Ketle dirty martini.  The bathtub & shower was also pretty amazing (and huge)!  

Here are some random shots from he trip… 

Bebe top with H&M tank underneath, BB Dakota leggings, Pele Moda espadrilles.

Aqua Dress, Nine West clutch, Pele Moda espadrilles.  

Ondade Mar bikini & Gucci aviators.

Splendid top & J Brand Martini Flare Denim.

xoxo Shauna

SF & Napa Trip (Cont…)

More eating & drinking!  On to San Francisco!  

We were only in the city for 1/2 a day & did as much as we could in the short amount of time we were there.  My two favorite restaurants we tried out of the trip were definitly Nopa & Aziza.

First stop was Aziza, a fusion restaurant with great mixology.  I had a basil martini & a hazelnut rum marini with rosemary & sage.  Yum.  

  

Next up, Nopa.  They have a wood fire oven & the food is Heavenly.  I would highly recommend reservations & this is a great late night find!  They serve dinner until 1am & the bar was PACKED.  

  

The best thing that we tried where the fire roasted carrots & the ridicio salad with a quail egg.  Amazing.

We also stopped off at Embardacaro for a little shopping & walking before our flight out.  I love the farmer's market down there & I picked up some more lavender honey.  Surpirse surprise!  It's amazing in tea & on cheese.  

xoxo Shauna