Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Gypsy.




I'm a gypsy at heart.

"less is more"

is great when it comes to make-up,

but for jewelry

I say, pile it on.





Tuesday, April 14, 2015

clean from the inside out and a few other tips.


For as long as I can remember, I've been interested in eating healthy.
At one time, that meant low-fat, and vegetarian. I thought even if you ate ice cream, 
as long as it was low-fat, it was healthy. Same for soy-based products, 
if I wasn't eating 'real' meat, just soy sausage, soy hotdogs, soy bologna, etc., 
I was eating healthy.

But all of that changed about a year ago, when I decided that I really wanted to learn
about the idea of not just eating low-fat, but healthy, like really, really healthy.
So began a quest to read all I could get my hands on about truly eating for good health 
{inside and out}.

I am still learning so much, I doubt I'll ever really know it all, but what I have learned has been amazing, and with just a few tweaks to my already 'healthy' diet, 
I have seen, and am feeling a huge difference in my skin and overall health.

First off, buy organic, if at all possible, it really isn't that much more
expensive, and it is hugely important. Secondly, especially, if you can't find organic,
wash your fruits and vegetables.
I use a plant-based, non-toxic, biodegradable wash that comes in a sprayer 
{available at health food stores}. I spray everything in a colander, then rinse till the water runs clear. 
If you have little ones, it's a great lesson to teach them. 
They'll love washing the fruit. I wash all my produce, everything but berries and lettuce{s}, and then put in the fridge, 
so they're clean when I'm ready to use them 
and so no one else eats them thinking they're already clean. 
My son still doesn't get why it's necessary to wash an apple before you eat it. 
But I do, so I'd prefer he eats it clean. He won't wash it, so I do.



Speaking of cleaning all those goodies, I
 also try to plan ahead for the week. 
I eat a ton of vegetables and fruits
so I make a list every Friday or Saturday, buy most of the produce 
on Sunday or Monday, 
clean it and store it so it's ready to make lots of juices and smoothies.
That way I always have what I need to throw together my daily green drink, 
as well as all the other plant-based meals and snacks I make.
It's a fun practice to get into, and once you do, I promise you'll be hooked.

When the sweet tooth hits me hard, like yesterday after a delicious, 
super spicy Indian lunch with my daughter, I make a pitaya bowl or an 
acai bowl, like the one above. 
I buy the Pitaya Plus Smoothie Packs or the Sambazon Acai packs, 
keep them in the freezer, 
and just add a banana, some frozen fruit, 
a bit of coconut water or filtered water
and top with organic granola to make these beautiful and nutritious bowls. 


I also love to make fresh pesto every week. 
It's so easy, and my daughter eats it
with everything. You can use pine nuts or walnuts, even almonds. 

Buy your nuts raw, not roasted, and never salted. Roasting removes the nutrients and nuts are so awesome for you, I just love to taste the real raw thing.

Don't worry about good fats, like nuts, coconut, olive, nut and coconut oils, or avocados. I eat them every day and I've actually lost weight. As long as you're eating 'healthy', and you have the good fats in moderation, good fats are not bad. Fake fats are, though.

All of these ingredients I can find at our local health food grocery store, some times
the regular grocery store has a great health food aisle and organic produce, sometimes not,
I guess it just depends on the store. Having said that, I always look for non-GMO and purchase those items much as possible, especially tofu or soy-based products. Soy and corn are the most genetically modified foods, so it's super important to try to find the clean products.

I truly believe that 
you are what you eat
so I educate myself and eat the best I can, as often as I can.

Here are some of my current favorite online resources: 







{Editor's Note: beware, all of these blogs have so much excellent information, beautiful recipes, and intriquing links galore, so only check them out if you are hungry, like I always am, to learn about healthy eating, and to eat, of course}.

Saturday, April 4, 2015

Casual Date Night.

Friday Night. Date Night. Casual.


Linen tee from Gap, I love it so much, 
I bought it in grey, white, and black. Belt is from Banana Republic
The jeans, were from Gap, they didn't fit well, so they're going back. 

Current favorites in jeans are 
J Brand {skinny}, 
Madewell {high-riser, skinny skinny}, 
Lucky Brand {I have many different styles, they always fit great}, and 
American Eagle {really low rise, super skinny}. 
It's the rock chic in me, I guess, I love the fit, 
even though low-rise is so last year, they don't even carry a low-rise any more. 
I like them for tooling around town, weekdays on errands. 
I'm just careful bending down to read labels at the grocery store 
{plumber's crack, hahaha}.


Dolce Vita 4" Wedges. Essie Peach Daiquiri toes.




First stop, dinner; 
roasted brussels sprouts, harissa cauliflower and zucchini, 
quinoa with pea shoot salad, and kale superfood salad.
So good and good for you.


Next stop, gourmet grocery for a slice of Pineapple Passionfruit Cake,
which we shared later, in bed, watching Bloodlines. 


Love this guy so much. XO



See the stone in his hand? He picks one up every time we're at the beach.
All our gardens have beach stones that he found. 
Nature lover. 
Be still my heart.


Tulips! It's Spring!







Friday, April 3, 2015


A funny thing happened today...
I checked my blog...
this poor, neglected space...that I used to nourish
but now, just think about, rarely, guiltily, from time-to-time. 

Guess what, to my surprise...even though I have all but abandoned this space...some {many} of you are still stopping by...I am totally shocked at the number of page views...it's crazy, and I feel bad, so I thought I'd try, not promise, but, try, to give it a little love...really, just because 1). it's great therapy, 2). once I get back into it, I really love sharing, and 3). I'm a pleaser, and I feel like I've been letting you all down.

So, today's post is about clean eating, smoothies, juices, 
organic, raw, fiber-focused, vegetarian, sometimes vegan, eating. 

I am a huge believer in "you are what you eat" and, also "you are what you drink".

Having said that, I'm not perfect, but I am hungry...hungry to learn as much as I can about eating the cleanest, healthiest food and drink I can {within reason, that's where the not perfect comes in}.

Realistically, I know I'll never give up sugar...talking serious cookie addict right here, but, I can try to save it for special occasions {which to me is date night, which for me is almost every night, oh well, I'm trying}. I also know that vegan is not going to work for me...I love cheese..there I said it, yogurt, too...namely Pink Berry, oh and gelato. I do eat vegan a lot. I am not vegan, though. I also can't seem to stay away from fruit, although 'they' say vegetables are much better..fruit is so sweet, 
and I love sweet. 

The list goes on, but all in all, I consider myself a super healthy person, not a fanatic, although I admire those people so much, but a really dedicated healthy girl. I don't drink alcohol, well, a glass of wine once a month when the stress gets too intense, or when my mother-in-law is in town {she likes to have a drinking buddy}, and I've switched to organic coffee, but now, I'm thinking about giving it up all together, so I'm weaning myself, slowly off it...hopefully by next week, I'll be on the warm water with lemon and cayenne morning routine sans coffee.

I hope I can share some healthy recipes and some of the knowledge I've been learning here with you...I like to think of myself as a future nutritionist, in the mean time, I have acquired a library full of books I can't get enough of...so, here are just a few that are currently on my nightstand:

Deliciously Ella by Ella Woodward 
{totally, totally love this book}
The Everyday Supermodel by Molly Sims 
{really great information, and really easy to read, I adopted a lot from this book}
Gwyneth Paltrow It's All Good by G.Paltrow 
{I really love this one, too, such great information}
Best Green Drinks Ever by Katrine van Wky 
{awesome recipes, tons of really cool information, crazy good book}
The New Health Rules by Dr. Frank Lipman 
{a quick read, good reference, but a bit extreme for me}
Crazy Sexy Diet by Kris Carr
{really great, tons to read, again, a bit restrictive for me, 
but I like it just the same, it's inspired me to make some really great changes, 
and I refer to it often}

After writing these notes today, I realize I have so much I'd like to share with you all, 
so I'll try to drop in again soon.

Thanks for looking, I appreciate it more than you'll ever know.



Oh, and here's to good health! Cheers!