This past weekend, I was lucky enough to attend the first ever Masters of Taste in LA. It was hosted at the Rose Bowl, and I was able to hang out during set up, and stay until close. Let me tell you, I had a good time. 

I had a lot of regards. I thought it was going to be like Tacolandia, the last "all you can eat" type event I went to in LA, and I did not have the best of experiences there. I was expecting lines, more lines, small portions, and not a lot of different foods. 

False.

Masters of Taste was like all food events I have ever gone to, with a huge splash of luxury. There were 40 chefs and restaurants and almost 25 cocktails and alcohol companies. Talk about YUM.

Since we got there a little early, we approached a few unprepared booths. We decided to have a seat, claim our bench, and wait around until the event really began. VIP opened at 3, but most booths weren't fully set up until 4, so I would say that the general admission ticket is good enough, and not to worry about spending the extra money on VIP.

Parking was free, but we decided to Uber because, alcohol. There was lots of tacos, appetizers, and lots and lots of drinks. 

Not to play favorites, but The Raymond definitely won Masters of Taste in my book. Every hour they had a different Mezcal cocktail and taco pairing. I had two of them and they were both perfect. Just makes me want to visit them for their happy hour (which I have heard is out of this world).

Of course, the event would not have been the same without the people I went with, my amazing coworkers. I am so beyond lucky to have a job that allowed me to attend this event, enjoy some incredible company, and have the most fun filled, and perfect Sunday.

Before leaving, we hit up some of our favorite booths to thank them, and much to our surprise, or at least mine, we left with treats. From pastry goodie bags, to coconut waters, I ended up having so many things in my hands that I took a garbage bag and filled it with everything else. Judge me, I don't mind, I walked out of there with so many free samples I was so happy. Monday was like Masters of Taste part 2 with all of the goodies I had. 

Thank you, Masters of Taste for an incredible event! I can't see what this year's event has taught to make next year's even bigger, better, and more luxurious. 

Planning Is Key

As the supposedly wise DJ Khaled says on his SnapChat, many things in life are the key to success.

Personally, I had to Google the whole DJ Khaled and key emoji thing, so we are going to stick to something I know. And I know Friends. I have always been one to plan, whether it is my week, my day, my work schedule, etc. In school, it was definitely easier to use my planner, and it was also very helpful when applying to jobs and when I worked part-time, to see when I was working weird hours, etc.

Now that I work 10 to 6 every day, I rarely use my planner. I have always decorated my planner, as motivation to use it, but recently (meaning the last like week or two) I would only write in my extracurriculars. Though this is informative, it leaves me feeling weird looking back on my week and ultimately takes away form the whole "journal" aspect of my planner, which is why I have the planner I do.

So, why are DJ Khaled and Friends in the same blog post with planners? This weekend fell short of my Sunday plans. Ironic, because Sunday is normally my planning day for the upcoming week.

My plans for Thursday through Saturday were pretty solid for the most part, but Sunday is where the problems occurred. Timing kept getting pushed back, we didn't have reservations for the museum we wanted to go to, there was miscommunications, the list just continued. So, we postponed until another weekend. This just made me realize how important planning is, and how necessary it is for that to be a key aspect on all sides, no matter how large the party.

Planning is a major key to success, and if you're gonna start at anytime, now is it. Don't wait for your plans to fall through to pick up your planner again, or be ready waiting in your car for an hour just for plans to be cancelled. Take it from my experience!

My challenge for myself this week is to bring my planner with me to work, and begin using it for both my work life and social life, so that I can visually see the balance. I am also hoping that this will get me to use my time more wisely, and be able to figure out a proper gym schedule. (Which is actually really hard when working a 10 to 6 job downtown...)

Planning can also be a very calming thing! It is for me at least.. well when I do it!

What are some of your favorite ways to keep track of plans and work?
Have a great week!