Sunday Social

Good Morning All!!

It is a beautiful day, here in Los Angeles!

Really it couldn't be better!

It is about 80* in our apartment...it's hot...we are contemplating buying a fan...what do you all think???

I am linking up with Neely over at A Complete Waste of Makeup to talk about food - and as you all know, I love food!

Lets get started!

What's your guilty pleasure/comfort food? 

I love cookies and brownies - sweets in general! 

We never buy them and I hardly every make them - but this week i have made both...and we are on sweets overload!

I also love Sea Salt & Vinegar chips... my mouth is watering just thinking about them!

What's the weirdest/craziest thing you've ever eaten?

Escargot! 

I ate them at a French Restaurant in San Francisco and they were amazing!

And then we ate them again when we were in Paris!

They are quite tasty, if I do say so myself!

What foods do you avoid at all costs? 

Before a few weeks ago, I would have said mushrooms or tomatoes.

But since we are trying the vegetarian thing, I have had to force myself to get over my dislike and eat it all anyway!

What meal reminds you of your childhood?

Spaghetti!

Share one of your favorite recipes and the story behind it.

Right now I love this: Sweet Potato and Tofu Enchilada in a Mole Sauce And I can't wait to make it again!

A Day in the Life: Customer Service Volume 43

So it never hurts to ask, the worst that can happen is the answer is "no."

I had a customer call:

Customer: Hi, I am calling to see if you would meet a competitors price?

Me: Unfortunately, we don't price match. What are you looking for, sir?

Customer: I am looking to subscribe, and your competitor, the Wall Street Journal, has a monthly price of $45 but because I am a professional, they are offering it to me for a monthly price of $9.99.

Me: Unfortunately, we can't bring our price that low, sir. What kind of a professional are you? Are you a broker...?

Customer: Oh no, I am a chiropractor.

Me: Unfortunately we only offer professional discounts to brokers.

And we went through the formalities of the end of the call.

Um...how do you expect to get a "professional discount" to a financial newspaper with a job in chiropractics?

That is just silly!

I understand that doctors are professionals, but are you serious? ha!

And doesn't it seem a bit desperate for the WSJ to be offering such a huge discount? ha!

I think so ;-)

Scentsy Party

Good Morning Ladies!

I was contacted by the Lovely Nicole over at Nicole's Random Things to host my first ever on-line Scentsy Party!

I don't actually own anything Scentsy but after looking at all of these awesome products, I will definitely be purchasing some great items, with the holidays coming up...

Oh My Gosh... 

Can you believe it?! 

I just said that....

I am sure that Macy's is already planning their window displays in San Francisco!

Anyway...

When Rich and I were going through our marriage counselings with the Catholic Church before we got married, our Priest told us to ask couples in our lives to give us marital advice.

I remember, vividly, I asked my aunt to give us some advice and she told us to eat dinner by candle light, every night, even when eating take-out.

Since we have been living together we have eaten dinner by candle light most nights and it really makes even the most mundane meal special and romantic.

I love the candle light - When it gets dark, we turn off all of the lights and will sit in candle light and most of all, I love how our apartment smells when we are burning candles! 

This Party could not have come at a better time! 

We are in desperate need of some new smell goods in our place!

What is Scentsy??

Scentsy is a great and safe alternative to candles because there is no wick, no soot, and best of all, no flame! You simply plug the warmer in, turn it on, and a light bulb melts the wax and fills the room with fragrance. With over 80 scents to choose from, you are bound to find at least one that you will love! And...new for 2012 is Layers by Scentsy!! Now you can experience Scentsy like never before! With products for your skin to your laundry, Scentsy can be with you all day long! 

The Breakdown

What I am most excited about is that these are more environmentally friendly than candles. We are on this "Green" streak right now at our house, so these are definitely welcome!

Alright, so here is the deal:

Scentsy is offering 10% off of your purchase through the end of August and this is the last month that you can order from their Spring/Summer Catalog.

So, go Check it out!

I am going to do a giveaway as well!!

What will you get?

A Scentsy 3-Pak

Build your own fragrances! 

How to Enter?

1 Entry Per:

Follow Blog (1 Comment)

Tell me what 3 scents you would like (1 Comment)

Write a Blog Post (1 Comment with link to post)

Tweet: Got Scentsy? http://tinyurl.com/8qxlonb @latache enter to win Scentsy 3-pak http://tinyurl.com/9sgqak4

4 Chances to win 

Why wait?!
The Party ends August 26th!

Disclaimer: Nicole contacted me to host this Scentsy party and if we make $150 in sales, I get 15% of the proceeds in products.

Google Games

I am addicted to this game!!

Play it!

Google is soo creative and interactive, it's no wonder why they are the best search engine!

Awesome Olympics Fun!

Veggie Menu (Week 3)

Monday: Leftovers

Monday is Yoga, so we eat late and there is no time for a big, elaborate meal..
And we aren't complaining - those enchiladas were awesome!

Tuesday: Kale-Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms

These were awesome!
However, they weren't enough. I only made 2.
Now I just need to come up with something to make with these and have on the side...Maybe potatoes?
Again, I used my own "panko"

Wednesday: Basil Pesto Risotto
This is one of Rich's favorites!
He asked what we were having for dinner and told him Baby Bella & Kale Casserole and he says "Oh, I wanted to have the basil pesto.." So that is what I made :-)
I added scallions because we had those in the fridge and needed to eat them!
They definitely added something yummy to the mix!

this is the leftovers I had for lunch the next day - we were to hungry not to dig in!

Thursday: Baby Bella and Kale Casserole

This was good, and as you can see from the picture, I really only got the idea from the recipe and I totally made it my own!
I didn't use shells, because we had penne.
And I added potatoes because we had them in the fridge and they needed to be eaten.
Also when I sauteed the onion, garlic and kale, I added some chicken stock and white wine (I loved that flavor from the stuffed mushrooms.
I thought I had ricotta cheese, and definitely didnt, so we didn't use ricotta, we used mozzarella and Parmesan.
It was really tasty!
I really like the texture of the kale, Ricc isn't the biggest fan :-(

So as you can see, I really just got the idea from the recipe and then ran with it and made my own dish!
It was tasty!

Friday: Fontal Polenta with Mushroom Sauté
(This one is for you: Grammy Spring! :-D)

OMG This was absolutely delicious!
(Found the recipe on pinterest and had to make it!)
Again, we used chicken broth, because that is what we have.
And I also added zucchini & squash to the mushroom saute because we had some in the fridge and they needed to be eaten. I also added white wine to the saute.

This was absolutely scrumptious!

Saturday was Rich's Vet event and we ordered way too much food, so we had leftovers Saturday night and Sunday...

Currently...

Current book(s):

I finished Water for Elephants in no time flat and now I am reading The Orphan Master's Son

The Orphan Master's Son was a book I heard about on NPR.

NPR is where I have been getting almost all of my books lately, and they have yet to disappoint!

Current playlist:

Does the sounds of ringing phones and talking to new people count?

Current color(s):

I gravitate to blue...always...I try not to, I can't help it!

Current food/drink:

Veggie meals!

Current favorite show(s):

The Olympics!

Mad Men

30Rock

Frasier - have to keep on the Cheers kick!

Current needs:

To get to bed early tonight!

I have been dragging during the day! :-(

Current banes of my existence: 

When drivers don't use their blinkers!

Argh!

Current #1 blessing:

My Sweet Hubster! He is so sweet!

He wakes up early with me and get my car ready for me to head to work!

I am so lucky!

Current outfit:

Business Casual 

Current excitement:

For my favorite Gal and her Fiance are headed to California in September (!!) and we are currently in the works for planning my 25th Birthday Celebration weekend!

I am so freaking excited!!

As a little preview: Disneyland is on the books...

Current favorite quote or verse:

At some point, you have to realize that some people can stay in your heart, but not in your life.

(Sorry for being so depressing! ha!)

Current wishlist item:

It's my birthday soon...so there are a few things on the list!

I want a BA camera! Like ones that take awesome pictures!!

A Canon maybe?

Ok..this is a wishlist, right?!

I want the this one!

Current favorite product(s):

These eye drops!

They make my contact wearing so much more enjoyable!

I hope you all are having a "Thumbs Up Thursday!"

A Day in the Life: Customer Service Volume 42

I swear that when people call customer service all of their common sense goes straight out the window!

I have a few examples:

I told a customer to close down his internet explorer and then asked him to go back to our website how he normally get to it. After these instructions, he asks, "Do I go to Internet Explorer?" I respond with: "I don't know, sir, do you?"
Seriously?!

A customer asked how to get to our website, so I told him to open up the internet and he says "Where is the internet?" Um...? Down the street, duh!
Ok...?

Someone calls me because he can't access a part of our website, so I ask if it says "Hi <and your first name>" on the right side of the screen. He says no, so I tell him he needs to sign in. And he was totally dumbfounded about how to sign in! So I tell him, "You click on the button that says 'sign in..'"
Um...?

These are just a few...sometimes people just misplace their 'marbles' before they call and then we are expected to 'find' them for the customer! ha!

Happy August

Happy Happy August!

May August send you outside and bring you anticipation!