GUESS WHAT???

We're moving again! 

I've blogged about how The Hubs is working on his 2nd post graduate degree an MPH from UC Berkeley however he's actually going on a sabbatical from Berkeley because he has just recently been offered (and now accepted!) a residency position in North Carolina!! Woot Woot!

#superproudwifey :)

My life in a nutshell!

I thought I'd be sad about losing my closet but surprisingly I'm not lol. - and actually when I was in DC for a few months last year The Hubs and I had a convo about my closet.

The Hubs: Ok be honest what do you miss more Me? or your closet?
(I really thought about it long and hard)
Me: You.
The Hubs: NO WAY!
Me: Yeah.. I'm surprised too HAHA. jk.. but seriously that stuff is just stuff.. and replaceable. But you not so much."

*GAG* I know... but seriously a man that is this intelligent, generous, hard working, loving, thoughtful, driven and awe-inspiring I know he's a once in a lifetime kind of guy and I'm just lucky to be along for the ride.

Even though I'm stressing I'm reminded that I've/we've been really blessed this year.  Here's looking to our new journey in North Carolina!!!

Btw's we're moving to the Raleigh-Durham area I believe it's known as the "Research Triangle" because of how saturated the area is with research facilities, high tech companies, and universities. I'm excited but nervous/scared/anxious if anyone has visited/lived/currently live in the area - tips, suggestions ect are more then welcomed!!

I think I'll be a little spotty on blogger for the next month or so while we're moving and getting settled.

And if you didn't know I'm finally on Instagram!

(I know I know FINALLY right? I'm so late lol) 

find me @ cocobella_ballerina

or just click the button below! :)

Instagram has been so awesome.. I'm tempted to give up blogging completely lol!

#kidding #notkidding

LONDON - Gordon Ramsay's Petrus

Petrus which is owned by Celebrity Chef Gordon Ramsay's serving Modern French cuisine.  And depending on the year hold's 1 or 2 Michelin stars.  I believe they currently only retain 1 Michelin star.

Cutie Hubby :)

The decor at this restaurant is what I like to refer to as "The Four Seasons".  

Don't get me wrong I love the Four Seasons hotel but the decor is generally muted, bland and slightly boring. In other words not offensive to anyone.  

Great if you're staying at a hotel however when I'm dining in a fine dining restaurant I generally prefer the decor to be speak to me because I feel that it definitely imparts to the ambiance and the dining experience.

Amuse Bouche

Rice Crackers w/ Wasabi Aioli & Furikake

Fried Oysters w/ Garlic Aioli

Gazpacho

Ballotine of Landes Foie Gras, Semi-Dried Grapes, Green Beans & Hazelnut Crumble w/ Brioche

Roasted Scallops, Peas, Lettuce, Lardo Di Colonata, Cream Fraiche and Lemon Thyme

Black Galloway Ox Cheek, with Alliums, Smoked Bone Marrow and Shallot Sauce

Goosnargh Duck with Honey, Lavender, Fennel, Blood Orange, Radish, and Scorched Cos Lettuce

Blackcurrent Sorbet, Lemon Meringue and Honeycomb

Selection of Cheese w/ accompaniments

Chocolate Sphere, Milk Ice Cream & Honeycomb

This part was pretty neat.  

They poured hot chocolate on top of the sphere...

And it started melting right in front of our eyes.

I was like 'WHOA' when it was happening. 

HAHAHA.

#easilyamused

I have to be honest.  I'm a little surprised that this restaurant even retains 1 Michelin star.  Both The Hubs and I were completely underwhelmed.  The decor was cold and sterile.. and the food was equally bland. The best part of the meal was the Foie Gras which was truly delicious however the rest was just average at best.

The Hubs actually remarked after the meal that he would have rather I spent the money we spent on dinner at Duty Free AHAHAH. I think that speaks volumes about the meal.

Our lovely hotel at night!  

Love the "mood" lightening hehe.

Tired, sleepy hubby after a couple glasses of wine & champagne lol.  

It was also 1am at this point and we'd been up since 6am!

But I had to snap a pic because he was so cute all dressed-up :p

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LONDON OOTD: Aztec Bodycon

Dress: F21, Shoes: VALENTINO, Handbag: CHANEL

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Cartier Reveal :)

While we were in London (London Part 1) the Hubs surprised me with a little something pretty from Cartier which he secretly orchestrated before we even got to London!

The Cartier store really hooked it up lol so much red!!

Love all the gorgeous decadent packaging!

Cartier Love Bangle in Yellow Gold!

*sigh*

The Hubs has actually tried to get it for me a couple times throughout the past few years but I always said no (which I suspect was why he just went ahead and purchased it this time without telling me lol.)   Mainly because I'm the type that needs to immediately take off ALL of my jewelry as soon as I walk through the front door. I don't even wear my engagement ring or wedding band around the house.  (I know some girls wear their wedding jewelry all the time.. cooking, cleaning, showering, sleeping, ect. but you really shouldn't do that because of the constant wear & tear to the prongs on your rings which can cause you to lose your diamonds).  Anyways I felt like something that I wouldn't be able to take off EVER would drive me nuts.  

Well let's just say I've gotten use to it very quickly lol!

I find myself randomly staring down at my wrist throughout the day lol.

#die #obsessed #love

Along with the purchase they threw in some small Cartier coffee table books, the velvet traveling bag pictured on the left.  And the Cartier Jewelry cleaning kit on the right.  The Cleaning kit comes with their cleaning solution (to be totally honest though I just use a little hot water and some dish washing soap to clean all my diamonds and my Cartier bangle!), a tiny toothbrush and a little cleaning cloth that has the "Cartier" emblem printed on it. lol. 

Thank you so much booboo! 

You really make all my dreams come true!

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In The Kitchen: SAUSAGE EGG "MUFFINS"

A few years ago I was on a Low Carb kick and ate EVERYTHING low carb.  From time to time I'll revisit low carb whenever I feel like I've been consuming too much starches/sugars ect.

This recipe is great if you're watching your Carbs, Sugars, Diabetic ect and can easily be made into Paleo friendly (just omit the cheese if you're making these Paleo.)

I've already diced up all my items above before I thought to take pictures so it's not very pretty lol. But as we all know my blog is not a "type specific" blog so if you want pretty pictures.. this is probably not the place to be looking for them. bahahaha.  I'm just trying to share with you EASY recipes (because I'm no chef that's for sure lol!) that I'm making from my kitchen :)

Ingredients:

1/4 cup Milk
Cooking Spray
Hot Sauce
1 cup Cheese (I use a low fat mixed blend but whatever you have is fine!)
1 lb. Breakfast Sausage diced
1/4 Cup Green Onions
1 Cup Mushrooms
1 Cup Broccoli (You can use ANY veggies you want I just used whatever I had in the fridge! :)
8-10 eggs
Salt & Pepper

Pre-Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Crack all of your eggs into a cup.. I use a cup with a spout because it makes pouring it into the muffin tins a lot easier.

Add a splash of milk for creaminess.

Salt & Pepper and add your hot sauce depending on how spicy you like it!

Stir together until smooth.

Spray your muffin tins with cooking spray.

Cheese

Evenly distribute all of your different "mix-in" ingredients. 

Sausage

Mushrooms, Broccoli & Green Onions

(The front two on the right look smaller because I made them for our fur babies!  I omitted mushrooms & green onions from their special ones because dogs should not eat mushrooms or onions! :)

And fill up with your egg mix (I used 12 eggs however it was too much so I noted above in the "Ingredients" you should use between 8-10 eggs.

I might have overloaded a bit on the veggies lolololol - my adjustments were a bit off on these because when I use to make them on Atkins I didn't use any veggies.. it was straight sausage, egg and cheese!)

I like to sprinkle on some more cheese on top.. because cheese is soooooo soooo good hehehehe!

Bake for 20-30 min.  

I would stick a fork in around the 20 min mark to see if it comes up clean!

Lol at the super not cute food photos.. see what I mean about egg overload. LOL!

Anyways they should pop up super easy if you sprayed cooking oil at the beginning :)

Hubs breakfast!  

A Sausage Egg "Muffin" with a cutie, some sliced avocado and a whole wheat english muffin with butter & honey! (He snuck a 2nd one before he left for work tho lol!)

PS. They'll keep in the fridge for a few days just pop one in the microwave and heat for 1 minute and you're out the door!

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