First off, California was great. Not as much Sun as I could have hoped for, and not as much raw food as I needed, but great friends and a great break from routine.
I stayed with BFF Stacey who I have convinced to go on a 30 day raw challenge (so go give her some encouragement!). She and her sister have a nice apartment a mile (maybe less) from the beach in Santa Monica, centraly located near many shopping establishments and raw eateries ;)
The first day I was there I got in the car Stacey said she had a suprise at her house for me... it was my friend ANDY!
He had been around hanging out with a mutual friend (Ben) who was down visiting from Portland and heard I was coming so stayed up in SM to see me :) We all walked to the beach and stood on the pier for a bit dispite the fact that it was raining. Good thing Ben and I brought our RAIN COATS! (to california!!! how wrong!!!) After the pier we went to Juliano's raw because I had been DREAMING of the Raw Tortilla Soup and Mocha Smoothie (hold the Love Honey, ewww). They were out of the soup and that was pretty devistating. We had some other good stuff instead... Sushi bites, Pasta Premivera, Coconut spring roll things, and smoothies.
We did some window shopping and went back to the house for a bit to rest up before the show. The heavans aligned and I just happened to be there when my two favorite (SoCal Vegan Straightedge) bands were playing at a house in Pasadena so we were all excited to go and see Andy's band play. It was like a reunion party just for me... I felt so happy and loved because none of my Orange County friends expected to see me and it was like hug after hug. I even got to see a few people who I had no idea would be there. GREAT FEELING. The show was great, sang along til my voice was scratchy, and remembered again why I love (certain, haha) hardcore.
Ran with stacey along the beach the next morning and got my first actual view of the venice boardwalk. Went to breakfast and had a mostly non-raw vegan meal with some friends from the show. It was a great but not healthy feeling meal, how often can you get vegan eggs benedict, right? ...and so good to spend extra time with some amazing people. Later went to see an awful movie and had lunch at Real Food Daily. We saw the guy who played Bud from "married with children" (my only celeb sighting of the trip) and ate more cooked food. After the second heavy meal of the day Stacey and I were exhausted and ready to go home, rest, and not eat for the rest of the day. We dropped ben at the airport and went home to veg out.
The next day we went to ths SM Sunday Market and had a coconut from the Juliano's booth and some snacks. We were on a mission to find a new vegan eco friendly store of some sort we had heard of in Venice but after walking HOURS found out they weren't open on Sundays. We ate at RawVolution on the way and had the highly reccomended Nachos (from Aimee and Chris), a pudding parfait, and choc-chip cookie dough ball. The Nachos were really good, especialy the chip things, they were so fluffy and crispy. Wow. Loved the texture. I did not read the ingredients for the nachos before ordering and found out after starting that they had walnuts aplenty. I freaked myself out and nearly had a panic attack that I was going into anaphalaxis but luckily Stacey talked me down and I was fine. Haha, I am rediculous. 
After that it was time to go meet up with Alex's sister and nephew and go up to Ventura/Oxnard for the last day of my trip. Ate a bunch of not raw food the last day and kinda gave up trying at that point... figuring I could get back on track once I got home. It was really great to see my boyfriends family. I love them all and they are so welcoming to me. It is really comfortable :) Took the plane home and have been catching up on work and life since then.
Here are some more pictures from my trip:
Find more photos like this on Raw Fu
Since my trip:
-Got sick from eating too much cooked food, hopefully learned my lesson for a while
-Went to a pretty fun Raw Potluck on VDay with Alex, Aimee, and Chris, met and saw some rawfu friends
- Had a few good runs, feeling good about the fact that it is STARTING to get light earlier.
- Got a new BIG TV with alex for the living room. 32" it rules.
- Worked late last night with one of our Drivers and learned how to do the delivery route. I am supposed to be sleeping right now as I have only had 3 hours of sleep in the last 36 hours but I am taking the opportunity to post this.
- Hanging with Bdog today
6 comments:
that is one big upside-down smile on the pup-pup :)
Aww Blanche sure is a cutie. I hope you are feeling better from all your cooked indulgences.
My nachos looked a little different from yours, more saucy. Wait actually I can't remember because we polished them off so fast. :-)
That looks like a really fun time, glad you had some great experiences and congrats on the giant glowing box! *TV*
Take care,
Sam
Man did I miss out on all the vFunv.
Looks like a great and fun trip! I love vacations - just to get away from routine and a change of scenery.
Hope you're feeling better too. And as always Blanche is a cutie!
Cute pic of you guys with the two straws in the coconut!
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