crazy for cacti (guest post by nate!)

over the years we've become obsessed with the desert.
trips to palm springs and joshua tree can change you forever.
i'm guilty of over thinking things (wait, should i delete that?) and going to the desert is like a mind cleanse.
after spending a year in the "concrete jungle" of new york i found myself craving open space.  i'll admit, on several occasions, i even took virtual trips on google maps to some of my favorite california spots.

well, we're back in california, albeit still in transition.
since your regular host has been occupied with work and house hunting (that girl is a real go-getter i tell ya) i've been looking for opportunities to contribute.  she encouraged me to shop for her etsy store, which we now call "our" etsy store.

i recently picked out some tissue for wrapping our orders.
so now, if you purchase something from us you get a little piece of california desert vibes....
reuse it too!

i'll leave you with a sweet cactus t-shirt i recently found on etsy from October18th.

"nobody likes a guest host" - ira glass

it's march, already?!

hello! happy national women's day. (ha ha)
well, actually, it's a pretty big holiday in russia... kinda like valentines here. which reminds me, i should call my mom... 

anyway
 
i've been making granola for the last few wks. experimenting with recipes...actually i don't have patience for real recipes sometimes, & i often find that recipes have way too much sugar/sweetener in them, so as a rule, i only add half the sweetener that a recipes asks for...sue me!
my own, latest,  "recipe" has been my best one i've made, so far. i bought some coconut butter....& it tastes so good! i add about two tablespoons of softened coconut butter & four tablespoons of agave & sprinkle some nutmeg & cinnamon to about two cups of rolled oats & some nuts. this time i also added chopped apple & toasted it all at 325degrees for about 30min or until lightly brown,  it turned out terrific!
(i know it turned out pretty good, b/c my mother in law, who doesn't normally try my "interesting food" had some, and liked it!)

i put some granola into a bowl, then pile on my favorite fruit!
add a little almond (or soy or rice or w/e) milk to it, a dalop or almond butter.....mmm
[also, if you have ever made granola and have any tips, let me know!!]

this is the nut butter & coconut butter i used. wow. rozzy is really selling that coconut butter!! sexy!

nate got this little navajo pattern vintage jacket, we both really love it, so we share it. but just to be clear, it was a present for me...so it's ...mine. :)

here's my little sweet niece, izzy. she is so chunky and soft and smells like a the best baby smell. she's just so loveable. (sorry, very self indulgent here, but hey-- we look cute together :) )

last weekend, we went to the Alemeda flea market, near san fransisco & it was insane! so huge, we walked around for about four hours & didn't even get thru the entire thing. & it's right on the water, with amazing views! nate & i went with our friend leeza, she's awesome.
we're planning on going next month too... what is it about a flea market that is just so fun?
maybe it's b/c you might find that something, but you don't know what it is, until you find it.
(got that cowboy-witchy hat there!) 

ok bye guys.
coop & rozzy are loving their new little beds their momo got them. they look like little berries to me. (the beds look like little berries...kitties look like tiny little cuddly aliens still :) )

road trips

that's coop up there, sipping his water from our fake glass. i guess cats don't like to drink water if you put it by their food. we discovered this with both of our cats, they would only drink water from our glass, the second we we're not watching our glass.
so now we have, what they think are, our glasses full of water all over the place, for them.

i spoke too soon before, when i posted a picture of our future house & bragged about all those fruit trees. now, i've learned my lesson. mums the word. we're not getting that house, & working on getting into a different one. only once we have the keys in our hands, will i share anything about it. you just get to follow our many road trips. this time we went to san francisco, on our way to LA.

as much as i love tradition & sticking to the things we're used to doing, i love equally (or more) finding new places to add to the list!
i found this awesome vintage shoe store on etsy, (james rowland shop) & have passed up several pairs of booties simply b/c i couldn't try them on.  since it's an actual shop, in berkley, we finally, got to visit it in person.
aside from buying my new favorite pair of booties, the guy who was working there (james rowland himself?idk..) happened to be vegatarian too & recommended a vegetarian japanese restaurant called cha-ya. & we loved it.

 

 then we walked to cafe gratitute & got a raw dessert. $9 for a slice of "cheese cake." i know that's nuts, b/c i can list off many things i could have bought instead of it. but ya know, sometimes you just  feel like a nut.

we spent all day in fresno today, with our neice & nephew. nate made cookies with them & then built obstacle courses with them, in the backyard.
we each bought a cactus today, tried a new restaurant, saw a blind dog (which i wanted to adopt) & saw a millipede for the first time.
tomorrow early early morning, we're heading to LA.
see you guys later.

chipotle has been one of my favorite places to eat for maybe 6 years? for the following reasons: 

-inexpensive!

-they keep getting more & more organic products

-they serve brown rice!

-mcdonalds owns them (sike! that's actually a reason why i didn't like them)(& they don't own them anymore, fyi) (omg, i just found out mcd's french fries have beef extract in them...?!!?)

-you can make your meal vegan or vegetarian.

-different salsas really change up the flavor

i'm waiting for them to start serving sprouted whole wheat tortillas ;)

here is my current burrito/bowl

brown rice
veggies
medium salsa,
corn salsa
guacamole

if you go there, what's your burrito/bowl like?
oh & i also ask them to make the tortilla extra toasty, & it makes for a burrito that is extra tasty!

my one year old niece had her birthday party last weekend. lots of kids with candy running around, and she wasn't feeling good :/

this is how i know nate will make a good dad (someday, maybe)... he'll do anything to make a kid laugh...well, i think the kids were more scared than laughing :)

sacramento

Who knew, there's a river [practically] in the backyard! we picked up lunch from the closest vegetarian friendly cafe, ate in the sun & had ourselves a mini hike. if getting a house in LA takes too much longer, we may just get really comfy here ;) 

 bye guys.
hope you had a great weekend, & you're getting ready for the biggest holiday of the year, valentines! cannot wait to see what nate has planned for us! jk jk. but, i was trying to get nate to make an entire meal of heart shaped food for us... but i think we're gonna do what we always do, get really dressed up & go to our favorite [nearest, in this case] indian restaurant.

have a good monday!