rediscovery

moving has been great for peter and myself. we’ve gotten out of the house more, recommitted to our creative paths, taken on new challenges, reconnected with friends, and really found a space to breathe. our old apartment was so small and our furniture so big that it just weighed us down.  there was no room to do anything, especially for people with as many hobbies as hipsters have clever t-shirts. it just felt like our creative and social animals were dying!

this summer has been pretty lovely so far. we’ve been out and about!

there are some simple pleasures in los angeles! often, longtime residents like myself become jaded by the plasticity of the energy that seeps out of every crevice of this city. it’s hard to find substance in a city that asks you to wear a mask all the time and where everyone wants to put on a mask.  we forget that we have a beautiful coastline and mountains nestled into that coastline. we have amazing music venues like the hollywood bowl and little neighborhoods that offer you something outside of your hood. there are so many great restaurants and gastropubs popping up that are serving fun food for decent prices.  our farmers markets are awesome and the bbq weather has been perfect! every weekend there is some sort of festival promoting food, art, music, craft, or all the above.  when i transferred some photos to my computer this morning i was looking at all these great moments.

our culture has trained us to move on. i just did all these activities recently, and already the pace of the city has made me forget the moments. i guess the lesson always lies in gratitude and remembering that creative and positive moments are sleeping all around us, we just have awaken and feed those moments!

go out and rediscover your city or just try to appreciate it! not everything is plastic here. most things but everything!

 

summer days phase 1:

hollywood bowl

 

bbqing at our friend chaz’s house

    

renegade craft fair (los angeles historical park)

playa del rey (my old stomping grounds)

the tripel (awesome post beach beers in playa del rey)

free subway rides (personally i loved carmeggedon!)

chinatown

olvera street

union station

staring out my new window

so excited for phase 2 because it involves camping in big sur!

raw zucchini pasta

this is a lovely light summer meal that i stole from Whole Living magazine. it’s a recipe for raw zucchini pasta. this recipe serves two. it was really good and fresh! it’s great if you’re in need of a detox or need a break from cooking in the kitchen during this heat!  the best part is that it’s really simple and you can riff on it however you’d like.  it should please your vegetarian and vegan friends alike, just don’t serve with cheesy garlic bread like we did. yes, i realize the cheesy garlic bread counters all the healthiness of the raw pasta but i live for hypocrisy!

This is the recipe from Whole Living magazine:

serves 2

ingredients:

8 oz cherry tomatoes ( we used the heirloom cherry tomatoes from trader joe’s)

1 clove garlic, thinly sliced ( i went light on this because we get crazy garlic dreams if we eat too much!)

¼ cup chopped walnuts

2 tbsp torn fresh basil, plus leaves for garnish

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus some for drizzling ( we may of used walnut oil or a combo of both)

1 zucchini, thinly sliced lengthwise, slices cut into ¼-inch-long strips

sea salt (we used trader joe’s pink himalayan Sea Salt in the grinder)

directions:

in a bowl, combine tomatoes, garlic, walnuts, basil, and oil. season with salt. let stand 20 minutes. toss with zucchini and garnish with basil.

voila. so easy and fast!