I bought these earrings myself.  $25.  Church silent auction.  They’re butterflies – something anyone who keeps up-to-date with on this blog realizes is a favorite symbol of mine.

But despite the lack of cost (and let’s face it, almost lack of diamond), there’s something about being able to tell myself that I bought my first diamond earrings all by myself.  There’s something in that message that I’ve always found empowering.

I find many jewels beautiful, but the diamond has this reputation that’s hard to shake as being a gemstone of worth in society.  My earrings are certainly not like the baubles on the fingers of celebrities that roam this town.  And that’s fine.  I grasp not at the diamond as this visual object since obviously most people would likely not see them in my earrings without squinting (maybe), but rather how much this fraction of something could hold more worth than even the largest diamond.

Don’t get me wrong.  If someone wanted to give me the Cullinan diamond I wouldn’t necessarily say no, but my desire for that would be monetary.  I don’t love these earrings because they’re $25.  I love them because they remind me that no matter where I am in life and the future, achievements don’t have to be grand; they don’t even have to glimmer like diamonds in the sun to be worth more than even the largest diamond in the world.

Ultimately you define for your own self what it means to be successful and happy.  If it’s about getting the largest diamond in the world (or heck – the universe!), by all means go ahead, but remember the steps that took you there and enjoy every minute of the journey as if they were tiny diamonds you bought all by yourself.

-cct

In the end, I think I realized that being a vegetarian for 30 days (give or take) was not bad at all, but actually pretty great.

• I felt better.
• I cooked more.
• I thought about what I ate.
• I explored LA from a different angle.

I think those statements are helped by being in Los Angeles, a place where a number of restaurants provide you with vegetarian alternatives and plenty of places where it’s also their specialty.

Most of all, I have also accumulated a ton of photographic evidence that a vegetarian diet can be a beautiful and delicious experience!  See slideshow below or click here for my Flickr set.

For any interested parties (who don’t follow me on Twitter), my first non-veggie meal after this adventure was a rib eye steak from Morton’s (I had to keep up with the superb level of my vegetarian diet).

But seriously, I kind of like this veggie diet, so I think I’ll keep it (for the most part).

-cct

Pictured: Beet Salad.  The Farm of Beverly Hills – Downtown LA.

If you look at this image closely, you would have seen that Chef John Rivera Sedlar created this menu for the Los Angeles Magazine’s 50th anniversary party to which my lovely friend Katie invited me.

While on one hand I have to admit I feel a little ashamed; on the other hand, I have to say – “How could I not?”

They were appetizer samples and I tried:

• Cobb Salad (a blended gazpacho style shot glass or 2)
• Duck Prosciutto (imagine a little duck kissing a piece of melon)
• Pastrami Tacos (flecks of pastrami and Mexican food flavors in a mini green taco shell)
• Chocolate Bacon Truffles (yes, it is as good as it sounds)

And at the end of the day, what does this cheating tell me?  It was good to have a taste of the above, but I actually am really liking my vegetarian diet and wasn’t tempted in the least to just quit this whole thing.

So…maybe on the bright side, it wasn’t so much a “Going Veggie” stumble as it was a “tasteful reflection”…

Oh heck – who am I kidding – I cheated, okay?

-cct

Perhaps it was fate that my GOOD LA local email today featured “Nine Los Angeles Restaurants Where It’s Easy to Go Meatless” and while I hope to dive into this list, I somehow started some restaurant adventures of my own for Day 2 and 3 of my #30DaysofGood Vegetarian Challenge.

Day 2 Lunch: Tierra Café – Vegetarian Cuisine Coffee and Tea House (818 Wilshire Blvd. #D, Los Angeles, CA 90017)

Hummus Spring Wrap – Hummus, lettuce, tomato, avocado, carrots, onions, and a dash of tahini dressing

Review: Spring fresh and delicious.  Hummus was amazing.  Service was awesome.  This is actually down the street from my offices, so the convenience was an even better plus.  It’s tucked in a small food court and kind of unassuming in its there-ness.

Day 2 Dinner: Veggie Grill – Farmers Market Location (110 S. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90036)

All Hail Kale – Marinated kale and red cabbage, roasted corn salsa, agave-roasted walnuts with a ginger-papaya vinaigrette.

Review: I didn’t think kale could taste this amazing.  I’ve made a kale salad before – ages ago – but it did not taste anything like this.  Whatever they marinate this stuff in, it must be related to heaven.  I also had a side of sweet potato fries that were also pretty great too.  The fries are pictured here with my friend Joni’s Chop Chop Chef Salad.

Day 3 Lunch: Mendocino Farms – Downtown South Flower (444 S. Flower St. Los Angeles, CA)

Market Roasted Vegetables Salad – roasted vegetables, local Gioia fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, Scarborough Farm’s greens, crushed honey roasted almonds with a basil pesto-balsamic vinaigrette

Review:  Mozzarella and the honey roasted almonds put this dish over the top.  The roasted vegetables gave the dish a nice filling heartiness.

Day 3 Dinner: California Pizza Kitchen (Various)

Roasted Artichoke and Spinach Pizza: Oven-roasted artichoke hearts, sautéed spinach and garlic, Fontina, Mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses with spinach artichoke sauce.

Review: Not pictured because it was CPK take-out (I had a late work night), but it was very tasty and it was also nice to know how easy it was to order online at CPK!  Vegetarian-to-go virtual style.

-cct

Cameras flash at Madame Tussauds – faux celebrities are almost the real thing, right?

Pass by Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, compare your footprints with them – celebrities who walked on the air of fame past and present.  How do your hands compare against theirs?  How do your feet?  If they match, is your joy because you are almost like them or that you see that they are more like us – who exist on the fringe of red carpets and lit ceremony?

Walk on the Walk of Fame pavement – remember the crowd that gathered in droves to see Michael Jackson’s star, laying to rest a fountain of flowers and gifts, mementos and memory.  See it today: one woman, feet perched on the star, one camera to capture a memory far from the moment you remember before.

How did time move forward so quickly?

A car is stopped at the light between Hollywood Boulevard and Orange, a large dark SUV.  Two blondes sit in the front, an unknown number of passengers in the back.  The blonde on the passenger side has a row of dark tattoo lettering bright across her arm; she talks to a group on the street as if she knows them.

Maybe she does?  Maybe they do.

She asks about something on one of their shirts, approving of the logo, the expression, the phrasing…  Whatever it is, does it matter? Sometimes approval is all you need in this town.

Earlier, on the same street,  a stretch limo drove by.  Think bigger.  Hummer H2 with an open back, as if it were taking its passengers on safari – into the wilds of Hollywood people-watching armed with bottle service and disco lights.

A young woman walks down Orange dressed in a purple ball gown complete with hooped skirt.  Remember Donna in 90210, the prom episode?  Except not that awkward.  Her entourage follows her tiara-crowned figure in jeans and t-shirts.  Her mother is among her people.  Is she wondering “where did my little girl go?”  or “can it be tomorrow yet?”

And I sit in the corner coffee shop, not studying.

-cct