Beyond the Kitchen (April Edition)
Last month I started this new series called Beyond the Kitchen, where I plan on sharing everything that happens behind the scenes here at Olivia’s Cuisine and in my life. (Because what’s the point of having a blog if I cannot celebrate/vent/bitch to my internet friends?) I got a lot of support from some awesome blogger friends and their love inspired me to keep writing this little corner of silly and not so silly things. So here I am with a recap of April 2015!
If you’re here for recipes, please feel free to head over to my recipe archive and go over the many delicious things I’ve made for you during this month. But, if you wanna know a little bit more about me, about the world and about blogging, just tag along for this little journey! :)
As you know, this is still a work in progress. I would love if you could help me out by commenting and letting me know what you love and/or hate, as I most certainly don’t wanna bore you!
The Reading Corner
Ugh, this is a little embarrassing. Remember I told you I’m trying to follow a goal of reading 4 books a month? Well, April was a huge F-A-I-L!
The two books below are the ones I attempted to read. I almost finished them, but still have a few pages to go… Oh well, what can I say? Life got in the way! :)
1) Will Write For Food, by Dianne Jacob – I started this book in March and just now I’m finishing it. It is a must have if you’re a food blogger or an aspiring food writer, as she gives lots of frank advice and interviews several authors that are successful in this industry! The book is so rich and so full of valuable information that I might have to read 10 more times just to absorb some of it. It has exercises that I sadly didn’t have the time to do, but I absolutely will go back to them!
2) Shopaholic to the Stars, by Sophie Kinsella – I admit, I needed the entertainment. The type of reading that is humorous and lighthearted and doesn’t require a lot of thinking! :P I think they call it “chick lit” and I love it, always did and am not ashamed of that! This is the 7th book of the Shopaholic Series. I have been following the series since the start and while I loved it at first, I think it is losing that witty tone that I loved so much. Maybe it’s time to say goodbye to Becky Bloom.
The Restaurant Corner
Going out also wasn’t something we did a whole lot – or at all – in April! We mostly stayed home, eating good homemade food, so I’m not sorry for that. But now that Spring is here, I definitely want to go out more and explore what NYC has to offer!
- City Kitchen – We payed a visit to the new NYC Food Hall, in Midtown. However, I was invited by them to go back and explore some more of the food, so the full review will come next month! :)
- Naya Express – If you know me, you know my obsession with Lebanese food. Naya Express is like a Chipotle style restaurant where you go to the counter and create your bowl, your roll or your salad. While this is not the best Lebanese food I’ve ever eaten, it is a good place to go if you want something healthy without committing to a full service restaurant. (Their kibbeh was delicious though, but small!)
The Inspiration Corner
- Tim and I did a photo shoot with an amazing photographer called Vanessa Barros Terra. She is incredibly talented and you can check some of her work (including some of the photos she did of us!) here.
- 7 Million-Dollar Habits of the Super Successful. It’s all about the good habits and I need to get on that ASAP!
- Things to do in NYC in the Spring. I wish I had time to do it all!
- How to tell if you’re doing OK, in one chart! Because sometimes all we need is a little perspective!
- This song. “Each time I find myself flat on my face, I pick myself up and get back in the race!” It helps me during the bad times! :) (And yes, I belt this out in the shower, with harmonies and all!)
- I saw the quote above, by Jim Rohn at the Food Blogger Pro Facebook Page. So thank you, Bjork, for the inspiration! :)
The Interesting and/or Funny Corner
- Sometimes I just don’t feel like being an adult.
- Brazilians tasting some famous American sweets.
- 6 Secrets to Better Sleep.
- America’s Most Romantic Train Trips. Love love love this! I wanna go to all of these places!
The World Corner
- The Nepal Earthquake. My heart aches for all the victims and their families.
- Remember the tourists taking selfies at the explosion site in the East Village? Well, apparently NYC is not the only place with disrespectful idiots! From Washington Post.
- I refuse to accept that things like this are still happening. It’s 2015, for God’s sake! Time to accept that our religion, color of our skins or sexual orientation doesn’t make us better or worse than anybody else.
The Blogging Corner
- I finally bit the bullet and decided to buy a nice wood board for my food photography. After a little research, I found out that most of my favorite bloggers use boards from Erickson Wood Works, so I ordered a custom board from them. I am in absolute awe of their work and customer service! I highly recommend them if you’re looking for nice wood boards.
- April was my lucky month because not only I got my beautiful wood board, but I was also able to get the May Edition of the Day Designer. I am so in love with my new planner that I went to Staples to buy new colored pens to use with it! I feel like a schoolgirl again! :) I already filled the whole month of May, categorized by colors. Funny how the simplest things can make us feel productive! :P (If you’re interested in one, hurry up, cause they still have some options available!)
- If you’re looking for some free images to use on your blog, this article helped me tons! Most of the images I used on this post were free stock images that I found through the links in that article.
- And as for editing my pictures, I use Lightroom to edit the photos and Canva for adding text. Canva has a huge variety of cute fonts and cool features and it’s FREE! I find it to be a little slow, but I use it a lot!
(This post contains a few affiliate links, meaning I get a small commission if you end up purchasing a product.)
