The Last CA Post

Just these last few miscellaneous pics from our trip . . . .

A tiny-looking me next to Mission Santa Barbara

A view from the car as a storm was approaching. As we drove, the topography was constantly changing in the most amazing way!

A bakery around the corner from our hotel in Cambria. I felt very French with my chocolate-covered pastry for breakfast!

Some of California's beautiful green hills

My first-ever artichoke soup!

Dan and I took a break from sight-seeing to hit the arcade. Here he is getting hard-core!

A very cold, very windy beach (and yet still beautiful)

Dan and I waiting for our tour to start outside the Winchester Mystery House (and looking rather cute, if I do say so myself). :)

San Francisco

Believe it or not, I think I still have two more posts of trip pictures in me. Indulge me, if you will, with our pics of San Francisco.

Check out the swimmer in the bay!

The architecture in SF never disappoints

Hanging out on Haight Street

The sundaes at Ghirardelli are one of the many reasons I couldn't say no to dairy on this trip.

Spending a little time in Beat country

Vesuvio Cafe, a regular hangout of the Beat poets

Waiting for the trolley!

A view of Golden Gate Park from the observatory tower in the de Young Museum

We finished our SF stay with dinner at Millenium, one of the most fantastic vegan restaurants in the country. I could have cried it was so good--and so exciting to have my pick of anything on the menu!

Los Angeles

Here's a few photos from our trip to LA. The beach was lovely, though my favorite part of LA was definitely the food! There were so many vegetarian, vegan, and raw options. . . as far as I was concerned, I was in food heaven.

Stop #1 was Rahel's, where we had vegan Ethopian food. Deelish!

Smiling with our Ethiopian goodness

Dan's sister treated us to organic raw vegan food at Planet Raw. I was so excited!

More organic vegan food--this time at Real Food Daily. Check out my brunch spread of French toast, a tofu scramble, bacon and fruit! This was followed by a tasty vegan chocolate chip cookie.

Dan and his sister Anisa at RFD

Dan was feeling a bit under the weather during our trip. Anisa insisted that wheatgrass would help. Here we are with our daily shot. (Hey, if you're going LA, I say go all the way!)

My monstrous French toast at The Griddle Cafe. Anisa and I shared this and her Nutella French toast. It was so good, though I have to confess that I felt a bit sick afterward because it was so rich--that is a ginormous pat of butter on top!

Me and Sally after our trip out for vegan pizza and desserts!

Getting my toes in the sand at the beach in Santa Monica

Dan with the beach umbrella--it was way too windy for it to be useful, but it sure does make a nice accessory!

The Redwoods

If you're into trees, there are more photos here on Facebook.

Yosemite

I can't think of a more relaxing, awe-inspiring, jaw-dropping place to have spent my birthday. It literally took my breath away. Standing amongst all of this, you can't possibly worry about a thing in the world. You feel so small--and yet part of something so big--all at the same time.






If you're interested in seeing more photos, there are others posted here on Facebook.

California: Pacific Coast Highway

I'm back! My trip was amazing. . . Dan and I both agree the natural beauty of California is unsurpassed by anything else we've seen. It's so beautiful that it has inspired a new look for my blog--I took the header photo at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. Here are a few other pics from the Pacific Coast Highway; I also posted a dozen or so on Facebook.





Traveling around California--we covered over 1000 miles--is like traveling to four different countries all at once. There's a Mediterranean feel on the coast; a European feel in San Francisco; a bit of Scotland in California's rolling hills; and then the Redwoods and Yosemite, which are like an entire country all their own. They're so different--and so equally beautiful--that I'll be posting the photos in series so you can get a feel for each one (with the added bonus of giving me some additional time to cull through them all!). And, of course, there will be photos of the family and friends we saw. And food. Lots of food.

California, California, Here We Coooome

The title of this post is a little shout out to all my fellow fans of "The O.C." That song has been in my head for two weeks now!

I am off. To LA, to Santa Monica, to the Pacific Coast Highway. To San Francisco and Yosemite and San Jose. To good food and lots of sun and amazing cities and awe-inspiring nature. And a little bit of cheesy tourist in between.

No doubt I'll come back with a full report. . . and hopefully some good photos!

Take Care

It seems that, over the last few months, there has been a barrage of bad news. Almost every time I talk to my mother of late, I get word of some health issue one of our relatives is having. . . gallbladder removal of one relative, tumor-that-could-be-cancer of another, confirmed terminal cancer of a 40-year old son of one of my mom's cousins. I suspect that this is due, in great part, to two factors: 1) my mother and her cohorts are getting older and 2) my mother, recently retired, spends way more time than she ever did catching up on all the family news.

Still, even given these factors, the bad news seems to be on the rise. The most recent news is that one of my cousins and his wife just gave birth to a baby with serious problems--so serious that they are not even sure if he has any significant brain activity, if he will be able to walk or talk, or if he will be able to breathe on his own. My dad just told me about a long-time neighbor, about the same age as my parents, whose radiation treatment for prostate cancer has left him with such serious problems that he can barely walk. And the bad news is not limited to the people in our lives; I've had one dear friend who lost a cat, and another whose cat has been seriously ill for weeks (but who, thankfully, appears to be on the mend).

On top of all of this, two weeks ago, Dan and I found out that our former minister at our church in St. Louis, Reverend Suzanne Meyer--who was not only our first minister but also the one who married us--died from colon cancer. She was 56. By the time word reached us that she was ill, she was already gone. We were completely shocked.

When these things happen, and when they happen so often, you reflect on so many things. . . on your own losses, on the fragility of life, on the people that you love. It sounds so trite, but it's so true, and it's been on my mind a lot lately.

And so, this is just a little reminder--to myself and to you--to take good care. Get enough sleep. Eat your vegetables. Pay attention. Breathe. If you are the praying kind, say your prayers. Look for beauty. Share your love. Savor the little, seemingly insignificant moments of your days that add up to make your life. Because it matters. It all matters. And you matter to me.

The Vegan Update

After the big switch in January to a mostly (if not entirely) vegan diet, I was curious to see how I would do long-term. Though I set out to eat vegan as much as I could, I knew there would possibly be some exceptions to the rule (e.g., our upcoming vacation to California), and I promised not to beat myself up if I decided to bend the rules. This is a good thing, since the rules have, in fact, bent a little.

For about six weeks, my diet was 100% egg and dairy free. I became an expert label reader (never a bad habit to have), I filled our meal plans with delicious vegan dishes, and I avoided numerous temptations, such as cookies at the office and dessert at a friend's house.

Then, the first week in March, my employer asked me to go to a conference in D.C. Despite the wonderful array of culinary options in such a city, the conference schedule was packed and my hotel was (surprisingly) in the middle of Nowhereville. I came prepared with at least $20 worth of vegan foods/snacks from Trader Joe's, which turned out to be a very good idea, and managed to stick with vegan foods at all of the conference meals. Then came dinner. I could not seem to find any vegan-friendly places in the vicinity unless I was willing to do more than walk, which felt like a huge hassle after a long day. I even called Dan and asked him to do some Internet sleuthing for me, but it turned up nothing. I was exhausted from talking to people for hours on end. My head hurt. The hotel felt lonely. And the next thing I knew, I had a Mediterranean pizza in hand.

Interestingly, after several weeks without cheese, I found the mozzarella unappetizing and picked most of it off, though I still had a taste for the feta. I decided to just enjoy it--instead of feeling bad about it--and that was the beginning of my slippery slope, I suppose. Since then, I've indulged a few times. . . in Indian food that I knew probably contained ghee, in pizza at a friend's house the other night, in a bite of Dan's cheesecake. And I've decided that this is all okay. Trying to eat vegan 100% of the time started to feel like it was robbing me of too many things I love, like the Indian lunch buffet at the place around the corner from us, nibbling a bit of dessert, and sitting around to enjoy a worry-free meal with new friends. Eating vegan as much as possible is something worth doing for me. Creating absolutes that make me unhappy or stressed is not.

And so, I'm still eating dairy-free and egg-free most of the time (at least 85% of the time, if not more), but I'm allowing myself a little leeway for the occasional treat (once a week or so). Despite this bending of the rules, I still have noticed some major changes. I don't really crave dairy like I used to. . . I do like a little sometimes, but the thought of gobs of cheese does not sound good to me anymore. I've been able to either do without things I used to eat or enjoy delicious substitutions, like Luna & Larry's Coconut Bliss, which is so good I don't even think about ice cream. When considering a meal out, my mind immediately thinks through which places might have vegan options. I'm able to do dairy-free, egg-free meal planning and grocery shopping while barely thinking twice about it. All of these things are no small feat.

So, while I may not be 100% where I'd like to be, I'm pretty close. Three months in, I'll give myself a pat on the back for an 85%+ success rate, and I'll keep trying to do a little better all the time. In the meantime, I'll give myself a little leeway when I need it. I plan to eat my way through California, and while I'll have many vegan options to keep me happy, I imagine that there will be some Mexican food calling my name.

Court Yard Hounds

After a long period of silence from The Dixie Chicks, I was excited to recently discover that Emily and Martie have struck out on their own as Court Yard Hounds. (On a side note, I can, for once, actually thank Facebook for posting an ad that actually did me some good.) I'm definitely looking forward to picking up this album come May.

If any of you Georgia girls are headed to Lilith this summer (so glad that it's back!), they'll be there. I'm still waiting to see when Lilith is coming to Philly. And who will be playing. And if I will have made a friend by then who will go with me. But that is neither here nor there.

Here's to new music!