Great Breakfast place in Santa Monica

So one of my favorite breakfast places in Santa Monica, CA is 'Jack N Jills'.I like it for two reasons:

1. Tasty food with a pleasant staff
2. It's right around the corner and conveniently located (Between 5th and 6th street & Santa Monica)

While they have two locations, one in Santa Monica and the other one in Beverly hills, I find myself in the SM location almost on a daily basis. Some of my favorite dishes include the House Scramble - scrambled eggs (called house scramble) with Goat cheese, spinach, sun dried tomato, avocado & fresh basil...mmmm. The blueberry mini muffins which come as a side with most of the dishes are perfect bite size and just melt into your mouth. The Evangeline Crepe with Artichoke hearts, tomatoes, fresh pulled chicken and cheese in a basil cream sauce is scrumptious. For salad lover the chicken cilantro lime salad is very satisfying.

They have a full breakfast/lunch menu and open till 4pm everyday. A wide variety of Sandwiches, salads, pancakes, eggs, coffee etc makes this place perfect. The only thing really missing is Waffles!!!

I would not recommend their cupcakes, they kind of suck!! Yes i am comparing them to Sprinkles cupcakes :) so if possible stay away from their deserts in general. It is definitely not their forte. The tea and coffee menu is large but i have never really enjoyed their coffees that much. It's either tooooo hot to burn my tongue or not the most tasty i have had.

In terms of pricing, they are moderately priced. Not too cheap. A meal on average can cost around $15-20 per person, unless you are just eating side dishes (under $10). They are always packed on the weekends with a wait time of 15-20 mins. It's not that bad considering you can walk around in SM and the food is good. Parking can be a pain as they do not have a dedicated parking lot, its mostly street parking so you might have to look for one. But there are plenty of 2 hr free parking lots around the corner!!

All in all i would definitely give it a try ...imagine a Saturday morning scrumptious brunch followed by a walk on the sunny SM beach...could you start your day any better?

Oxy campus 2010

Occidental College is tucked away in east LA - Eagle Rock and is one of most beautiful campuses around. It is here that i truly experienced teaching in a small liberal arts college. I served as an adjunct in the economics department for the academic year 2009-2010 and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

The campus is comparatively small but beautiful. It is blooming with flowers everywhere. Students and staff are warm and friendly making this a perfect place for anyone looking to either study or teach in a liberal arts college environment.

Amongst other things what is different at Oxy is the personalized attention that each student is given through a small class environment. It not only makes a class more interactive but also enables different teaching styles. Their Diplomacy and World Affairs program (DWA) is what sets them apart from other institutions.

So if you are looking for a more intimate setting to either teach or learn...Oxy might just be the place for you.

Pretty Lilies

So one day my husband walks in home with a bunch of Lilies. At first sight there were nothing impressive and most of the bulbs had not even bloomed. So i arranged them in a vase and set them aside on the counter. Two days went by and not much changed and i thought to myself "well what a waste of money...this is not even pretty..."

And then the miracle began, they started to open and as they bloomed i must admit they looked gorgeous. They were big and bright almost smiling at you and making you feel fresh and pure. The more i glanced at them the more i admired their beauty.

They adorned my house for more than a week spreading radiance and freshness all around.

Roses