Thank you Apartment Therapy!

Thank you Apartment Therapy for featuring me! Check out my interview here:

I'm back!!

Santa Barbara was so much fun! It is such a great place. The beaches are still very rural and wild. The town is small and intimate yet very cultured. It was just a wonderful trip. It was also nice to spend some quality time with my family for my mom's birthday. My parents have been very health conscious their whole lives but they have changed considerably as I've passed on what I've learned to them. They've added more vegetables, salads, and whole foods to their diet and my mom says she feels likes she's growing younger! The photo above is of me taken by my bro.

We ate at some great restaurants and had some wonderful food. My favorite was called Julienne! It was so good. I had white beans with brussel sprouts and I don't even like brussel sprouts. These were sliced really thin and sauteed and they were so good.

I'm eating fish as I just didn't feel well when I stopped for a few months. I'm also not chelating right now as I'm waiting to get my remaining silver fillings out. My other favorite spot, if you do eat shellfish and fish, was The Hungry Cat. They have a Raw Bar! It was fantastic. We got this huge platter with fresh crab, oysters, lobster, and the best calamari. I also ordered a huge green farmers market salad for the table. I felt like a hungry cat indeed. It was so much fun.

(photo from I'm Never Full)

The hotel my parents were staying at was great. It was called The Canary. I loved the designs. It had a huge breakfast room that was so nice to just sit and read the paper. You felt like you were in your own house but with really good service. Breakfast is the hardest for me when I travel and am at a restaurant. It should be easy but everything has eggs or dairy. I ordered oatmeal and it was good but I'm not that big a fan of oatmeal. They had a great herbal tea selection which was very good. They also had fruit smoothies that were made with real fruit and orange juice. I thought that was super cool!







(hotel photos courtesy of hotel site)

We went to a great cafe called The Natural Cafe and they had wonderful big healthy salads, smoothies, wraps, etc. Another favorite was The Sojourner Cafe. I had a wonderful pumpkin curry soup and a huge salad. It was so delicious.

We had a great time walking along the beaches in Hope Ranch where my brother is. It's a community accessed beach and you can only get there by using a key.


You can also ride horses on it! How great is that. I wouldn't be surprised if I end up there one day. It has everything I could dream of. They also have a great market called Lazy Acres where you can get fresh green juice and lots of fresh producer, nuts, fruit, etc. I got a great big fresh juice: Cucumber, lemon, spinach, apple. So good!

Countdown until summer!

Here's a look at my new calenders that I handmade and are now in my shop. I'm off to Santa Barbara for the weekend. I can't wait to photograph the beaches up there! See you next week. I'll have tons of inspirational images for you!

Ooh La La dreaming of a house with a pet!

I'm dreaming of owning a home with a little furry face to welcome me home. Here is some inspiration from our beloved :
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I heart me!

Happy belated valentines day everyone. I've been busy in my workshop working on glass pendants. What do you think? Now in my shop:

Ooh la la so fresh and clean!

It's raining and I have a cold so I needed some inspiration and nothings better than My Home Ideas:

Ooh la la Pretty In Blue!

I'm a little under the weather today. I seem to have caught this nasty cold that is going around. It's really not fair. Laura's smallest coolest house on apartment therapy cheered me up though!

Where do you find beauty?

Here's a story my dad sent me that really sums it all up:

(from The Effective Club)

A Violinist in the Metro

"A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousands of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.

A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk.

A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats averaged $100.

Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of an social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?"

Here he is in concert:






Read the entire Washington Post article called Pearls Before Breakfast, it's really well written and worth the read.

Bye my love!

I still can't believe it! What are we all going to do without Domino? Sadly, the recession has hit everyone hard, including our Domino and they will be ending their publication in March. I'm so thankful I saved all of mine! Here's some inspiration from our favorite mag in the whole world. The Ruffalo's:





I refuse to believe Domino is gone for good! Perhaps we will see it again one day!