Highs of 2012

Stills of twenty twelve!:

January: Celebrated the beginning of 2012 in San Francisco; Completed The Green Yogi's annual Yoga Challenge. 

February: Visited my sister in Louisiana and survived my first Mardi Gras experience in New Orleans.

March: Hosted a fundraiser to help send me to Tanzania. Thanks to family and friends, I was able to raise enough money to cover my airfare and program fee. So thankful!

April: Coachella Music Festival with the best of friends.  

May-July: Spent two beautiful months living and teaching in a Maasai village in the mountains of Tanzania, Africa with some of the most hardworking and gracious people I've ever met (this experience opened my eyes and empowered me to live a more simple and less superficial life); Turned 25 Maasai-style; Safari at Tarangire National Park and Ngorongoro Crater; Danced and played in the Indian Ocean; Saw the sun rise over the Indian Ocean and set over the Indian Ocean in the same day (perks of tiny Zanzibar).

August: Got hired as a fourth grade teacher at Henry F. Kammann Elementary and moved to Santa Cruz! 

November: Survived Trimester 1; Cassidy visits for Thanksgiving :)

Goodbye 2012! Hello 2013:

kiss slowly, 

laugh insanely, 

love truly

and...

forgive quickly

-paulo coelho

go green this st. patty's day

images via pinterest

This Saint Patty's Day, do more than just drink a green beer and dance an Irish jig. GO GREEN! Make this Saint Patty's Day the day you start being more enviornmentally-friendly in everything you do! There are hundreds of littles things we can do in our homes, schools, and community to play a small part in reducing landfill waste, cleaning the air, and preserving the natural landscape. I'm not going to list a hundred - I don't want to overwhelm you - but I will list a small handful of ways you can begin to think GREEN!

Ways to GO GREEN:

1. Sign up with you Bank to start receiving electronic versions of your paper bill statements. This small change will help save some trees! If for some reason this is not an option, make sure you recycle paper bank statements.  

2. Start purchasing produce and other goods at local farmers markets in your area. Not only does locally grown food taste better (because its closer to the source!), local produce is better for you, preserves genetic diversity, and is GMO (genetically modified organism) free. Not to mention, buying locally grown food at a farmers market near you helps build community and keeps your taxes in check! Seriously guys, the produce and food at farmers markets is too good to pass up! And there's free samples!

Farmers Market Schedule (South Bay Area):

Tuesday: Manhattan Beach Farmers Market (13th Street, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266) 11-4

Wednesday: El Segundo Farmers Market (Plaza El Segundo 760 S Sepulveda Blvd, El Segundo, CA 90245) 8am-2pm

Thursday: El Segundo Farmers Market (Main St and Holly Ave, El Segundo, CA 90245) 3-7pm

Friday: Hermosa Beach Farmers Market (1007 Valley Dr, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254) 12-4

Saturday: Hawthorne Farmers Market (corner of Aviation and West 135th St) 8am-1pm   &

                                      Torrance Farmers Market (2200 Crenshaw Boulevard, Torrance, CA)  

3. Stop using disposable bags. Pick some up at your local grocery store - they usually run for like $.99 - or make your own! If this is not an option, opt for brown paper bags that you can recycle over plastic bags. If you have a pile of plastic bags lying around the house, recycle them by placing all the bags in one bag and tying off. Throw in recycling bin. Note: you CAN NOT just place one plastic bag in the recycling bin. It won't get recycled...You must place them all together in one bag to recycle. Don't ask me why...

4. Buy an inexpensive reusable water bottle (I use a Klean Kanteen or a reused glass Kombucha bottle), and stop buying plastic disposable water bottles. Why? Because plastic takes FOREVER (literally) to discompose in landfills and ingesting water from plastic water bottles that have been sitting in the sun in your car is extremely dangerous (I'm talking cancer-causing dangerous)! Icky!

5. Turn off lights when you leave the room. Duhhhh, easiest way to be eco-friendly by conserving energy. No need to explain this one.  I really hope everyone does this. There's really no excuse not too.  

6. Walk or ride your bike to do errands that are 2 miles or closer. This is a simple one, yet it can be inconvenient. I KNOW I can do a better job at not driving EVERYWHERE I go, especially if the errand is within 2 miles. I'm aware of it now and will consciously try to walk or bike more when appropriate. 

7. Reuse scrap paper. Print on two sides, or let your kids color on the back side of used paper. I've encouraged the kids I nanny to do this. They've gotten so used to drawing on both sides of the paper that when they come across a paper with only one side drawn on, they automatically know they must draw on the blank side before asking for another piece. They're so cute and GREEN!

8. Before buying anything new, first check your local Craigslist or Freecycle. Give vintage/antique/re-purposed or re-claimed furniture and home decor a new life and new home by spreading it around with your newer pieces. It adds character and a level of comfort to a home. Plus, a rad piece of art you found at a garage sale mounted over the mantle or a re-claimed rustic door used as a coffee table would be a great conversation piece when friends come over! 

9. Use cloth instead of paper to clean your kitchen. Be frugal, and make these rags out of old towels and t-shirts.

10. Repurpose glass jars as leftover containers and bulk storage, especially in the kitchen.

11. Put a stop to unsolicited mail — sign up to opt out of pre-screened credit card offers. While you’re at it, go ahead and make sure you’re on the “do not call” list, just to make your life more peaceful.

12. Open blinds or drapes to let in natural solar heat on cold days, then close them once the sun sets, and you can reduce your heating bills by 10 percent. Worship the sun. Or at least use it to your advantage. Plus, with all that natural light, you won't need to turn on the lights, saving energy!

I hope these tips help you to become more GREEN! 

The Earth thanks you. 

nye 2012 in the city by the bay

I was lucky enough to spend the start of 2012 in San Francisco, one of my favorite cities, with some of my best girlfriends. The weather couldn't have been any better for winter in San Fran so days were spent mostly lounging around Fort Mason, walking around Polk or Chesnut, or over the bridge at Elizas families beach house in Stinson. The photographs I took captured my time up there, but they definitely don't do us justice with how much fun we all had together. I feel really blessed to have such a supportive and solid core group of girls in my life and I can't wait to spend yet another year traveling back and forth from San Francisco to see them. Hope you enjoy some of the highlights from my New Years in a very special city :)

My new years weekend celebration in San Francisco didn't start out quite as planned. My flight was delayed three hours thanks to the very prevalent and thick SF fog. After three hours of being held hostage in LAX next to icky smells of Micky D's and aggressive coughing baby sounds, we finally boarded the plane. Seeing as how I'm a glass half full kind of gal, there was a bright side to the rather bleak and boring start of my trip - the flight attendants bought everyone drinks! 

Soy latte from The Grove on Chestnut in the Marina. The weather couldn't have been more perfect- crisp yet sunny :)

Bloody Mary's for breakfast? I think yes. Emily and I enjoying some on the outdoor patio at The Grove.

After "breakfast," (we really only had bloody mary's and coffee :/ ) we wanted to soak up more beautiful sun so we walked over to Fort Mason Green and sat in the park. There might have been a little Jameson and Ginger soda involved ;) Hey!...I'm on vacation!

After lounging in the park it was time to get ready for the countdown to 2012! Alec, pretty blonde in the middle below, threw a little get together slash hors d'oeuvres and cocktail party at her house before hitting up the bars in North Beach. I'd like to mention how on point our group looked Saturday night with our varying colors and textures! Love my girls!

[l to r: Caitlin, Nicole, Eliza, Alec, Emily, Me]

[gold, silver, and white balloon covered ceiling inside Fiddler's]

After Alec's, we ended up at Fiddler's Irish Pub in North Beach. The scene was great! Downstairs was more mellow with the acoustic sounds of Mumford and Sons and Journey while upstairs was a little more rowdy with the DJ and a massive dance floor. We spent most of our time upstairs dancing away the last hours of 2011. What better way to spend the last hours of my year than dancing my face off??! 

The original "714 Third Street, Santa Cruz, CA" girls flashing up our 7-1-4 addy!

New Years Day, despite a surprisingly small headache and tired eyes, Eliza, Emily, and I ventured across the Golden Gate Bridge to Eliza's Stinson beach house. I've been to Stinson with Eliza many times since knowing her and I am absolutely in love with the little beach community just northwest of San Francisco. Stinson is cozy, with only one four-way stop and their beach is long and wide and SANDY! - a characteristic uncommon in Northern California. Reminds me a bit of Southern California beaches, but the charm, the fog hugging the coastline, somehow makes this one that much better. 

[decorated tree outside Eliza's home. I spy Mr. Goodman!]

This year I want to try as many new things as possible. So what did I do New Years day? I went paddle boarding for the first time! It was a piece of cake too! I was tempted to do a yoga inversion on the board, but was too nervous I'd fall off and I didn't have a change of clothes with me haha. 

[l to r: Eiza, her sister Audrey, Emily on the deck; view off the deck; Eliza and Audrey; playing Bananagrams]

Before dinner we walked over to the beach to take sunset pictures. Audrey captured this rad photo of me in Trikonasana. 

["2012," I shall write you in the sand]

The twenty sum year olds were in charge of making dinner for the cousins, aunts and uncles, and grandparents. We made pasta with garlicky spinach, broccoli, and shitake mushrooms and a butter lettuce and fruit salad. Eliza made the dressing from scratch which was the jam!

om henna :)

Spotted these little guys while walking down Polk street Monday. I love the yellow and blue ducks in the front.

New Years day marked the end of me being a true vegan. I am now a "Seagan," as they like to call it, which is a modified vegan who also eats seafood. I still abstain from eating dairy, eggs, and any meet that lives on land and smiles. Seagan is the new 2012 me - see my previous post about it here!

[l to r: Clay, Eliza, Nicole, Alec, and Paul]

Lounging in Fort Mason yet again!

[top to bottom: absurdly and disfigured drawings of Nicole, Eliza, and I... so horrendous haha; Nicole, Fletch, and Alec]

I wish everyone a happy, healthy, and creative new year! 

adios 2011- it's been real

[or three...]

Cause I'm leavin' on a jet plane.

Don't know when I'll be back again.

Actually I do. I'll be back Tuesday. Boo.

Until then, I'll be playing in San Francisco with my college besties! Pics to be posted soon. Happy New Years! I forsee doing great things, meeting great people, and going in great adventures in 2012! I wish the same for you!

an old idea brought to life

Hello beautiful blog world!

Starting a blog has been on my ever-expanding to-do list since over a year ago. When I added this to the list it was because I wanted to hop on the bandwagon blogwagon and be trendy like everybody else. Since then, my reasons for starting a blog have changed. 

For those of you who know me, I am a woman of many layers, some thicker than others. For those of you who do not yet know me, you will soon find out and hopefully come to love and appreciate my layers and what I have to offer. I have a deep passion for adventuring and exploring the various subcultures of Los Angeles as well as new hot spots outside of my hometown. I live for these experiences and can't wait to share every story, recipe, restaurant, event, etc.. not only with my family and friends, but with you too! 

So cheers to new beginnings and crossing off an ancient item on my to-do list!