I Love College

pass out at three, wake up at ten, go out to eat, then do it again

Free school! Here in San Diego I have been taking a plethora of courses at Continuing Education in Point Loma. The building is brand spanking new, the classrooms are stocked with top of the line equipment, it’s clean, and it’s green. I am so impressed with the place that a one-day jewelry-making affair has turned into four-day-a-week, four-hour courses with enthusiastic teachers and hilarious students (mostly senior citizens). Drawing and painting on Monday and Tuesday mornings involve loose instruction and strict critique, textile surface design (sewing made fun) on Thursdays is a ladies-only social complete with fresh baked goods, giveaways, and –I kid you not- show and tell, and jewelry making is a fast-paced, serious endeavor with lots of techniques to learn.

You might have free school near you!? Google “continuing ed” and see what you find.

I can't believe it's not Danette!

Danette is a French chocolate pudding I grew up adoring. Almost as much as nutella.

This recipe is bonkers!

It blows my mind

I rummaged my favorite culinary site Allrecipes when J requested I make the “chocolate mousse we had in Sayulita”. While loving every OM-ing minute of our one-week yoga retreat last Spring in Mexico with our favorite yogini pro Dana, www.danajulius.com, one evening the vegan chef made a creamy, buttery to die for chocolate mousse. Using avocados, agave and raw cocao! Below is an even less sinful rendition (bananas cut the fat). I love it, and this is coming from a girl who went to the Escoffier Pastry School at the Ritz in Paris, thank you very much.

Blend:

¼ C. (raw) cocoa powder

1 avocado

1 banana

2 tbsp agave

enough almond/coconut milk to blend

a little vanilla extract is optional

Repeat as necessary! And it will be necessary…

please share your healthy sweet tooth fixes!

Drink Me

I love Alice in Wonderland drama and hope to one day have a home that inspires awe and bewilderment while at the same time feeling comfy, cozy and manageable. While putting together my apartment in San Diego (mostly pre-furnished) I have come to realize the unexpected which is that I actually like my escape streamlined, neutral, and simple. I think this is because, more than anything, I like my space clean. Rather than the bohemian world bazaar of fantastical color that I always pictured myself living in, just as my little abode here in California has, my final product will also be a changeable blank slate for my mood rather than fixed art within itself. I am an artist and hostess so a modern uncluttered space is the perfect template for my chameleon lifestyle where surprise is just around every corner.

let the view do the talking

crazy furniture? not yet! but i do have one of these (click on "these")

Keeping up with the Kardigans

Today I was bad and went shopping. As I moseyed around Nordstrom the Rack I kept gravitating toward cheap little basics- c&c tank tops, jeans, and cardigans, oh blah! I barely rummaged through the designer lanes with disinterest and came to realize while standing in the cashiers line in front of three enthusiastic teens that I have gotten fashionably safe.

These girls are searching for perfect outfits that have come to full fruition only in their imaginations. They are dreaming of what to wear tomorrow and the next day and they all look adorable discussing it. Right then and there I grabbed the cowboy boots I threw aside as ‘unnecessary’ and vowed to start looking cute.

The way you dress presents yourself to the world in a certain light and speaks to far more people daily than any other form of communication. Dress for the job/life/body you want.

expect more fashion posts!

You are the world. If you change the world changes.

*the above blonde is my rendition of a Jordi Labanda image

Plastic soup for thought: “The swirling debris of plastic trash in the Pacific Ocean has now grown to a size that is twice as large as the continental U.S” (enn.com)

Today I went to the aquarium in La Jolla, CA, and it wasn’t quite the outing I was expecting. Seeing the trapped fish swimming in small caged circles was rather depressing. I am proud to be an aspiring vegan (I have my animal fashion flaws and sushi slip-ups,) but this made me reflect upon the waste I still create. I am determined to become more conscious of my eco-footprint and to lower it by becoming a conscientious consumer. Although I am fairly diligent about bringing my own bags to the grocery store, I never purchase bottled water, and I scoff at over-packaging, I think a tightening of the reigns is in order. I plan on “voting with my dollars” by purchasing only products I feel good about and only from companies I can stand behind. And to remind myself that less is more. After all, I am too young to be jaded or lazy, right?

What are some green tips or products you love?

What I am reading now:

Tao Te Ching by Lao Tsu

Supposedly, it's going to change my life.

I don't doubt it.

To Tan or Not to Tan?

I am an unabashed lover of sunshine and thus happy to call the west coast home. Copious amounts of sun is also what kept me alive during my two-year stint in Aspen, Colorado.

Here are some SUN STATS from recent residences and family's locations:

The differences between these areas are much less drastic than I expected. What do you think?

Annual % AVG possible sunshine
Cleveland, OH 49%
Washington, DC 56%
Aspen, CO ~69%
San Diego, CA 68%
Palm Beach, FL 70%
New York City, NY 58%
Charlotte, NC 62%
Sunniest is Yuma, AZ at 90% and least sunny Juneau, AK at 30%

Check out your own:
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/online/ccd/pctposrank.txt

For me, the question of safely tanning still remains:

Is it only dangerous when you burn?

Are chemical-filled lotions the greater or lesser evil?

Today, the administration of drugs and medicines is often through transdermal skin patches. This has been shown to be up to 95% more effective than oral medication. However, cosmetic manufacturers are not supposed to claim that the skin absorbs their products. If they did the products would be labeled a drug and governed by much stricter regulations. (ecovoice.com)

I have drastically simplified and natural-ified my own beauty routine and in only a few short weeks am happy to report less thirsty skin and longer pauses between hair washing. As for sun- my new favorite product is the above "locals secret" MauiBabe (www.mauibabe.com)! A brown coffee-colored and flavored lotion “because brown is what you want to be".

Is there anything a bowl of PHO can't fix?

Today was one of those days. It was one of those inexplicably blah days where the weather isn’t quite right, energy is a little off, and productivity is at an all time low. So when J, my boyfriend, arrived home from law school with the same out-of-sorts-attitude the answer was clear: a warm bowl of noodles for the soul.

We moved to San Diego one month ago and have frequented the Asian area of Clairemont for Pho weekly and I’m happy to report it does the trick every time. I’m in a much better place now than I was a mere three pre-pho hours ago. The avenue of Eastern strip malls also specializes in dumplings, dim-sum, Korean BBQ, and, if you’re sucker for any reason to be festive, a big red Chinese firecracker decoration for the Chinese New Year…

Are you celebrating the Chinese New Year of the Tiger? It’s not too late- still one week to go! And there is a party in downtown San Diego this weekend.

This post is also an homage to my brother M, who turned me (and the equally, if not more so, obsessed J) on to Pho and still makes the best Pho I know.

Unlike ‘Number One Pho’ in Cleveland, OH (my hometown) who first seated us, then announced they were “out of Pho”, and proceeded to serve us stir-fry on a Friday night in Fall some years ago.