city life – lifeofacitygal

Frankland’s Crab & Co

Coming from the east coast, moreso NYC, it’s always good to find a place with a tasty lobster roll. I remember in the summer mostly always wanting to find the perfect roll. Well here in California, I stumbled upon Frankland’s Crab & Co. Particularly during DineLA week in which they offered a nice lunch combo that included a drink and an ice cream sandwich; double win 🙂

So here we have it. A nice, toasted brioche roll with succulent lobster meat tossed in a melted butter. This sandwich literally melted in my mouth. I mean pure perfection. I was worried about the sandwich not being dressed since I was used to a mayo base but they’ve nailed it over at Frankland’s. The homemade ice cream sandwich was also a hit. Way to top off a cute lunch. As I continue to let you in on my LA food adventures, please mark this one down as a place to try. I will be coming back for sure!

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Meet Tia: Whole New You

When one of your favorite girlbosses comes in town, you must be where they are right? Despite the rescheduling due to the snowstorm and the brittle cold, I made my way to see Mrs. Tia Mowry-Hardrict in support of her newest venture. She released a cooking/lifestyle book titled ‘Whole New You’ and the book signing was held at Barnes & Noble in the Tribeca area.

This wasn’t just your typical book signing. Like buy the book, hey guys I’m here, sign the book and then that’s pretty much it. Tia had an intimate conversation with us and did a brief Q&A as well. She discussed her new book of course, her battle with endometriosis which was a huge contributing factor for the book and gave helpful cooking tips. I definitely wouldn’t consider myself an executive chef over here but it was nice to hear that these recipes weren’t that intimidating or hard to make. I absolutely love Tia and everything she stands for. A successful actress, very family oriented, shows there can be true work life balance, host of her own cooking show and overall a real go getter. Tia is the epitome of a true girlboss and an inspiration to many many people, including myself. It was such a pleasure to finally meet her. I always thought I would see her randomly while in LA but New York you made it happen! Hopefully we will cross paths again soon as the journey of this citygal continues.

LA Edition: Part 2

To continue with my LA edition, I wanted to share yet another casual look fitting for Cali. It was so easy to pack for this trip! For starters, you eliminate packing a huge coat. Also you’d probably only wear a pair of sneakers and need a casual shoe or booties for the nightlife. On this particular day, the high expected was around 70 during the day and low 60s towards the night hours. This was perfect flannel weather to me. I decided to wear a blue and black plaid flannel along with a gray sweater cardigan on top of it, both from Old Navy. The cardigan was light enough to not get too warm throughout the day but heavy enough for the cool breeze expected at night. This paired nicely with a normal washed denim boyfriend jean with the small cuffs, also from Old Navy. If you cannot tell by now, Old Navy is one of my go to’s. Especially since it’s close by my job :-). There’s literally a sale everyday so how could you not indulge? To add to my casual look, I wore my favorites again; NMDs by Adidas. These have to be some of the most comfortable sneakers I’ve ever owned (I probably told you guys this before too). I think I mastered the chill, laid back look for my day in LA, not forgetting my sunnies and Prince pin. Check out more pics below and be sure to follow along my LA journey.

Only in NYC

Free Love- live performance by Marc E. Bassy (Ace Hotel, New York, NY) from Lifeofacitygal on Vimeo.

Only in New York can you go to brunch and randomly run into one of your favorite artists. That’s exactly what happened to me. While having brunch in the Soho, I ran into the one and only Marc E. Bassy. We had a quick convo about his music and recent performance with G-Eazy the week prior at the The Endless Summer Tour. He then mentioned he was having a new EP dropping the following Friday and was having an intimate show coming up if I wanted to attend. I was stoked!

The show took place at the Ace Hotel in Flatiron, New York and was nothing short of amazing. Open bar and great summer vibes are always a good combination for a great night. Marc performed songs from his album ‘East Hollywood’ including my favorites ‘Free Love’ and Some things never change’. Since the new EP, Groovy People, was coming out he made sure to perform songs from that as well. My favorite from this one is ‘Subway Car’. Who knew a typical day out brunching would turn into not only meeting one of my favorite artists right now but also a personal invite to the show. Could life be any better? Marc E. Bassy is truly talented and has a great voice. Be sure to cop his new EP, Groovy People, and check out his other music as well. You won’t be disappointed.

Some things never change- Marc E. Bassy (Ace Hotel, New York, NY) from Lifeofacitygal on Vimeo.

The Real Big Mac

On yesterday I ventured off to The Ainsworth and boy was it worth it. I’ve seen this mac and cheese burger combo on a ton of sites and blogs and figured it was time I gave this a try. The burger comes with panko crusted mac and cheese and a scoop of mac of cheese to top it all off. By scoop, I mean practically a side of mac and cheese piled on top of the burger which is perfectly fine by me. It normally comes with fries but since I was living on the edge enough with the double helping of mac and cheese, I opted to have the salad instead. This combination that they’ve created did not disappoint. To add, the DJ played a slew of great tunes and made the experience that much greater. Please check this place out if you are ever in Manhattan and want a delicious burger!