California Dreaming and Having a Blast in L.A.

Hi Friends. I hope you enjoyed the lovely guest posts over the past few days. While away I’ve been soaking up the sun and enjoying California to the fullest. Since I was young, I’ve always said I wanted to live in California and this trip, which was packed with scenic views, shopping, healthy food options, Farmer’s Markets, and amazing weather only heightened that desire. Who knows- maybe at some point my California dream will come true and we’ll get to move out West!!

With all that said, here’s all the fun stuff I’ve been up over the past few days:

1.) Making green smoothies to share with Laurel. This one had unsweetened vanilla almond milk, frozen banana, fresh kale from the garden, and Jay Robb’s vanilla protein powder.

They had glass straws at the house we were staying at and I was so excited to try them out. It was fun to sip out of, plus it’s eco-friendly and easy to clean. I think I might need to get myself a few asap. The blender didn’t fully chop the kale as the Vitamix would but we actually liked the added texture, plus the vanilla Jay Robb’s was super sweet. This was actually my first time with Mr. Robb and I must say, he’s a winner. I hope HEAB doesn’t mind sharing her man.

2.) Trying out a new yoga class and having a delicious raw meal with friends. Laurel was invited to a Taoist yoga class in downtown Ventura by a friend she met at Expo West. <– BTW, I’m still jealous that she got to attend the Expo!!

So we took a day trip to Yoga Jones for the class and it was much different than any other yoga class I’ve ever attended.

Most people in the US practice styles like Vinyasa or Hatha, which originated in India. Taoist yoga, also called Yin and Yang Yoga, is from China and includes postures of stillness and movement for promoting growth, clearing energetic blockages, enhancing circulation, developing core strength, muscle tone, balance, and stamina.

Taoist yoga consists of three primary objectives:

1. Increase your life force, which consequently expands life all around you. This is accomplished through the breath.
2. Build awareness of self through the unity of the relationship between mind, body, and breath, and transform that into a sense of peace.
3. Use movement to improve health and the mind-body connection.

Other principles of the practice include:

• Practice non-violence, or ahimsa. This also means treating your body with respect, and not pushing yourself in any way to the point of tension.
• Motion is medicine. This is a common theme in Eastern body movements in that, by taking the body through a series of regenerative postures, blockages are released and the body is set upon a course of healing.
• Respect the breath as the life force. Taoist yoga practitioners use breath as the absolute foundation for every motion, every thought.
• Everything small is big. In Tao, the belief is that all big things are made from small things, thus everything small is big. This is a simple of an explanation as it gets, but it’s a way of demonstrating that how we treat ourselves individually radiates into the world. (Source)

The class draws from 5 different elements – fire, earth, water, metal, and wood. The poses are somewhat similar to that of Indian styles, only they have different names and the movements are less rigid and more fluid. And, here are a few differences I noticed from the class itself- no yoga mats, everyone wore looser fitting clothing and kept their socks on, It took a while to loosen up and get used to the fluid movements, but overall it was a fun and super relaxing class. If you’re interested in learning more about it be sure to check out Paulie Zink’s website. As you’ll see from his website, he’s one flexible man!

Yoga convened and we headed to our yoga teacher’s place for a raw meal. She was a sweetheart and had raw treats ready to share with us when we arrived.

Lydia’s Organics Italian crackers that tasted like wholesome bread after being dipped in water for a bit.

Cornerstone Living Foods Crunchy Raw Flax Crisps

These treats were tasty but not as good as the raw crackers the Pure2Raw twins make.

Delicious guacamole seasoned with dulse in place of sea salt.

Zucchini noodles.

A massive, massive, salad!

Here’s the whole picnic style setup for four with the salad, noodles, raw marinara sauce, tomatoes, turmeric, broccoli, sprouts, and an amazing homemade dressing.

Amazing, right?

Here’s my bowl before filling it with deliciousness.

And here it is after.

Everything was so delicious and Laurel and I had such a lovely time sharing a great meal with two amazingly generous people, Shanti and Shan. We ended up chatting all evening and found some a unique synergy between us all. For example, through our conversations we found out that Shanti works for Nutivas, the company I get my coconut oil and hemp protein from. It’s such a small world!!

3.) City Touring. Laurel has a freelance job demoing Sea Snax (more on them later as I have a bit of info to share). Each day she was at a different organic food market in L.A. demoing the product. Isaac and I tagged along with her and explored whatever part of the city she was stationed in. Of course, I also took it upon myself to explore all the organic markets including Erewhon, the Santa Monica Co-Op, and multiple Whole Foods locations- a health foodies dream!

While she setup shop at the Pasadena Whole Foods we went to check out the Rose Bowl and then strolled around the shopping district.

The best part: I visited a Lululemon store for the first time ever!! I didn’t buy anything this time around, but I now have a strong desire for a pair of Wunder Under Crops. Now I just need to save for a couple weeks.
We also stopped by another little shop that caught my eye, Bird Pick.

The sign is fitting, no?

I couldn’t resist one of their teas and ordered a unsweetened Tropical Sunrise.

So tasty. I sipped on this while Isaac was continued his L.A. burger tour and went to Jake’s Burgers. I saved my appetite for lunch with Laurel back at Whole Foods- the $5.99 salad/hot bar was calling my name.

I got my usual – spring mix topped with tons of the signature salads and veggies. Twas delicious!

4.) Hiking. Over the course of the week we also did a lot of hiking and sight seeing. Beautiful views and a great workout – what could be better?

This one was taken right around the corner from where the house we were staying at in the Hollywood Hills.

The skyline.

Laurel aka best L.A. tour guide ever.

Hiking to the Griffith Observatory – per Lynn’s recommendation!

Hiking to the infamous Hollywood sign. The crazy part is that when you get to the top of the trail you’re actually behind and above the sign (up near the satellites) rather than in front of it.

I find it amazing that just a few miles outside of L.A. you can find some challenging hiking spots with fabulous views of the city.

And, here’s a little reel of photobooth style photos of the mister and I from the top of the observatory.

There’s more to share, but I don’t want this post to go on forever and get boring so I’ll save the best (lots of yummy food) for later.

I hope you’re having an excellent weekend.

- Brittany

Tagged as: Bird Pick, glass straws, green monster, Griffth Obervatory, Hollywood, Jay Robb Protein Powder, L.A., Lululemon, Pasadena, raw foods, Whole Foods