Category Archives: organic

Recuperation!

     It is wonderful to be back home! I’ve been recuperating from the long weekend in Arizona, and now I’m packing up my suitcase again to head BACK TO ARIZONA tomorrow! That’s right, I’ve got another art festival to attend, this time in Fountain Hills. If you’re in the area, come see me!

This has been my staple breakfast at home: A hot-boiled egg (all the rage in Germany, where my roommate recently returned from), and a Pumpkin Pie Monsta!
     I spent all day yesterday running errands and took a break a few towns over to get some lunch.
I got a personal pizza with whole wheat crust, spinach, tomatoes, bell peppers and soy cheese.
My friend went all healthy on me and got a salad with heart of palm, carrots, bell peppers, walnuts, mushrooms and sesame dressing on the side.
PizzaSalad – All the ingredients here are completely organic and farmed locally! Love it!
     I’ve got to finish up laundry so I can keep packing, and head to the library to pick up some books I’ve been waiting for. Then I’m off to get my mane weed-whacked and get to end the day at my lovely retail job. Daily life is so NORMAL! I don’t know how to handle it!

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Filed under Arizona, art festival, Fountain Hills, green business, green monster, hot-boiled egg, organic, pizza, PizzaSalad, Pumpkin Pie Monsta, salad, soy cheese

Vegan Donut Holes and Jewelry!

     Exercise of the day: 35 minutes on the elliptical in the teeny fitness room at level 12, followed by triceps and bicep weights, squats and crunches, all while watching the Colorado Avalanche game (they DESTROYED the Dallas Stars, 5-0. My night is complete now 🙂 ). I refueled with some of this:

Freshly-made fudge! Wholesome, eh? The guy running the fudge booth gave me an “artist discount” on a huge chunk of fudge that was so fresh, it was still warm.
     I started the day off right – a big, heart-healthy breakfast!
I got the avocado, egg, butter lettuce, and tomato on an english muffin with a side of fruit.
     I perused the show a bit more since it was a slow day….
     …then headed back to the booth to do some reading.
Which one do I read? They’re both so well written!!!
(Is anyone else obsessed with reading menus?)
I went back to Venues Cafe for lunch and got a salad of butter lettuce, figs, goat cheese and hazelnuts drizzled with balsamic syrup and a red wine vinaigrette. 
     When I got back to the booth, a friend of my artist had stopped by and dropped off some samples from a new restaurant she’s opening in December.
RAW ORGANIC VEGAN??? GIMME!!!
Vegan fudge with ginger and coconut.
Rich, chocolate-y and heavenly.
Next up were my favorites: DONUT HOLES!
I’m going to get more info on what’s in these tomorrow, but I know that there are dates, almonds, and something freaking MAGICAL in these soft, sweet and slightly salty balls of fluff. If you do order anything from her, these would be my first recommendation!!!
     Our booth neighbor, Julie Glassman, makes some amazing jewelry. I spent a lot of the day hanging out at her booth, staring longingly at the earrings.
We also rescued a cat today. We’re responsible like that.
She creates her jewelry with powdered glass and precious metals.
Each piece is like a tiny painting!
I think I’m going to go broke working at all these shows…
     For dinner, a group of artists went to a Mexican-fusion restaurant and had some interesting conversations about art, festivals, and neuroscience. Two of the artists who do photography used to work in neuroscience, then decided to leave their company and travel the world taking incredible pictures. It was a night full of variety, that’s for sure!
The courtyard we ate at is BEAUTIFUL!
Milk Stout? Longmont, CO? I had to try it!
HOLY GEEZ. This is the thickest beer I’ve ever had. Don’t get me wrong, it was delicious, but the first sip was like drinking sweetcream butter. Delicious, alcoholic sweetcream butter.
I ordered the spicy tacos with ahi tuna instead of mahi mahi.
It was served with jalapeno aiolo, spicy white beans and sliced avocado.
     I’m fairly certain I’ll be heading home with a few extra pounds on my frame, and I’m perfectly content with that. It’s a learning process :). Now I’m off to sleep so I can wake up and get to the show in five and a half hours… Oh, joy…

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Filed under ahi tuna, butter lettuce, Colorado Avalanche, donut holes, FUDGE, Julie Glassman, milk stout, organic, raw organic vegan, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest, vegan, Venues Cafe

The Big Reveal

     I know you’ve all been on the edge of your seats wondering (okay, maybe not, but let’s just pretend), so prepare yourselves for way too many pictures of the day!

     I started the day off with a gigantic GM.

I also made some for the roommates 🙂
     My friends and I hopped in the car and headed up north to Carpinteria for the day! Our first stop was Chamomile Cafe for some organic breakfast.
We got the best seat in the house – seriously, the waitress told us that people wait in line for this booth.
We got there around 11am. The regulars had already left. No waiting here!
I got the pumpkin-pecan pancakes. Holy Heavens, these were amazing! Crunchy granola, sweetened pecans and a light-as-air pancake filled with lush pumpkin flavor: all organic ingredients and those strawberries on the side melted in my mouth!
My friend got the quiche – organic eggs, broccoli, tomatoes and cheese floating on a flaky crust, with an applesauce-covered potato pancake on the side. I may have stolen half of her quiche…
We spent over an hour lounging around enjoying the ambiance, and LOTS of coffee with soy creamer!
     The day was spent perusing through different shops. First was Porch, a whimsical little store with lots of driftwood.
 
An artist was dropping of her driftwood mirrors when we stopped by.
 My favorite: A BP-Free-Tree – I named it myself! I’m such a nerd…

     We wandered down the main road to check out the campground (I told you there’d be tents! I’m wishing we’d gotten a site there now, but it was really packed for the 4th of July weekend).
They ended up having an outdoor movie screen there for all the vacationers. What an awesome way to spend a weekend! Not that I’m jealous: I’m glad to be working Saturday and Sunday :P.
     Have you stopped to visit your local museum lately? We did! Well, it’s not quite local, but we found the Carpinteria History Museum, and stopped in to check it out. 
This is a record player from one of the first houses EVER in Carpinteria. The gentleman who worked there turned the crank and showed us that it actually works! It was absolutely amazing to listen to the music while looking at the school room:
Everything in here was donated from an actual schoolhouse in the 1940’s!
The kitchen was stocked full with old cans and furniture that were taken from that first house which was sadly torn down to make way for new construction.
This is a dollhouse that was made by a high school class as a group project in 1936 (forgive me if the dates are a little off). It was so intricate and beautiful! Of course it was updated with a little electricity so museum-goers could enjoy all the minute details.
This place has no government funding, so we all chipped in a little cash to help keep it alive. I’ve always been a sucker for museums. I find it fascinating to look at things from the past and envision the people that used, cared for, and enjoyed them – like this carriage that probably carried entire families through the town, up on the cliffs that overlook the beautiful Pacific.
     We let the history soak into us a bit, wandered around, and found a really cool little art gallery on a side street: Anderson Art Collective. My favorite pieces there were the Sexy Skulls <– You’ll want to click there :). One of the artists was there in the studio working, and happens to be incredibly gorgeous. Ladies, beware, his smile can melt you, AND the wax. Here’s some of his work
     Before we headed to the main attraction, we hit up Siam Thai for some fuel.
Pad Kee Mao with beef (I’m really failing on this Flexitarian thing…).
Pad Thai with chicken.
     Next comes the main event of the day: Something I’ve been wanting to do for a looooong time!
Island Brewing Company in Carpinteria!!!
We all started off with a sampler. Paradise Pale Ale – not a fan: too bland and bitter. Island Pale Ale: much smoother and a little more depth. Jubilee: Love in a glass – sweet and silky and smooth, with a nice caramel aftertaste. Blackbird Porter: smelled a little nail-polishy, but tasted good! And finally, the Holiday Cask Ale: Smelled strongly of molasses and was very rich, and the roommates thought it smelled and tasted a bit like brandy (I wouldn’t know, never having tried brandy), but definitely was an unexpected punch to the face (9% ABV).
We went with the Jubilee and the Weiss (the brewery’s Hefeweisen, in case you didn’t get that 🙂 ).
     After spilling half of the Jubilee (I was a total idiot and spilled the glass all over my friends while telling a story with excessive hand motions – did that after only having the sampler, thank you very much), we finished the dregs of the glass and I apologized to the staff excessively while hiding my face behind my hands. My friend kindly and generously bought me an Islands Brewery sweatshirt to make me feel better :). Okay, all better!
     Dinner was next! We stopped at Giovanni’s and split a mini pizza between the three of us.
This pizza was delicious, and REAL! The sauce had tons of oregano and rosemary sprinkled throughout. I had two slices with ham, pepperoni, mushrooms (which I picked off), olives (which I picked off), green peppers and sausage. I was serious when I said I was failing the Flexitarianism!
     After wandering around the town, we stopped at the beach to watch the waves and the sunset.
 
A beautiful ending to an amazing day!
     Now it’s only 10pm, and I have to go crash because I’ve got a full day of work starting at 8:30am. Woohoo. Can’t wait. Oh! And I get to watch the LBM (Little Blurry Monster for all you new readers) again, so my post tomorrey will be a little late, or it might have to wait until Sunday – my bike has been calling me from its stand in the garage. I can’t ignore it for too much longer!
All you normal people, enjoy your weekends and be blessed!!!
  

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Filed under beach, beer, Carpinteria, Chamomile Cafe, Islands Brewing Company, organic, pad kee mow, pad thai, vegan