Falling.

Falling. Something a lot of us are afraid of, including myself...until now. Today I fell in Michelle's yoga class, not once but twice! The first time was coming out of an attempted headstand (without the safety of a wall to catch me) and I got it but then swung myself with so much force that I fell over, but thankfully and (surprisingly) gracefully I fell into a wheel! Woohooo, a fun accident. I wasn't so lucky the second time when I was attempting forearm stand, I landed flat on my face....I'm surprised I didn't get a nosebleed. It didn't hurt though, only for a second really, and it made me realize that for YEARS I've been afraid of falling - and why? It hurts for a second, but then you get back up and try again. My goal for the summer: be able to do a forearm stand and headstand, without the assistance of a wall - and without flinging my body to the ground. But if, or should I say WHEN, I do fall - I hope that I keep dusting myself off and getting back up....


I keep blaming my fat booty and thick thighs on my inability to lift the lower half of my body into the sky - but I need to overcome "excuses" as well. Add that to the "to do" list....

The Sun Keeps Rising...

India.
Mcleodganj, Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, India.
Yoga Alliance Registered: Kailash Tribal School of Yoga and Healing.
200hr Yoga Teacher Training @ Kailash Tribal School of Yoga and Healing.
November 2010.

I'm so excited, I could burst. Found some people on Facebook who attended the most recent YTTC at Kailash under Yogi Sivadas. One girl has been extremely helpful, answering any questions that I have and offering up stories of her own personal experiences. She keeps a blog which has been so much fun to read as well as being a wealth of information concerning my upcoming trip to India. You should definitely check it out:

www.briogusto.wordpress.com

bri·o (brē'ō) n. quality of being active or spirited or alive and vigorous ||| gus·to (gŭs'tō) n. vigorous and enthusiastic enjoyment |||

bri·o gus·to: living life with spirit, enthusiasm and vigor <3

Darryn's blog is chock full o' wisdom and I really enjoyed her one blog entry ending with this bit of wisdom:

"No matter what happens, the sun keeps rising. You can climb a mountain, bake a cake, get in a fight, eat a beatle, lose your passport - no matter what you do, the sun will continue to rise. There is something completely liberating in acknowledging that reality.

Enjoy the sun as it rises for you, every day, just as it does for me..."

namaste.

United States of Tara

I am obsessed with Showtime's "UNITED STATES OF TARA" . I never watch TV, but when my Uncle Sean was passing through town he brought a DVD of the first season of this hysterical show. Toni Collette is amazing, the whole cast is really on point - and I cannot get enough of this. I just checked my parents OnDemand and the whole second season is available, so I cannot wait to get home from work tonight and watch U.S.T. ALL NIGHT LONG.

United States of Tara is a television series created by Diablo Cody. Broadcast in the United States on the premium channel Showtime, the series follows the life of a suburban housewife with dissociative identity disorder. The series' first season aired in 2009; the second season premiered on March 22, 2010.

Toni Collette won the 2009 Primetime Emmy Award and 2010 Golden Globe Award for Best Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her role, while the opening title sequence also won an Emmy.

Plot

Tara Gregson is a wife and mother of two children. Tara has dissociative identity disorder (DID). Whenever she is stressed, she transforms into one of her alternate personalities: wild and flirty teenager T; old-fashioned housewife Alice; and male, loud, beer-drinking Vietnam vet Buck. A fourth personality, Gimme, is introduced later in the first season. During the second season of the series, two further personalities were introduced. The former, called Shoshana, is Tara's "therapist" of sorts, while the seventh personality's name is Chicken, an infantile representation of Tara when she was 5 years old. Tara is supported by her husband Max, teenage daughter Kate and gay son Marshall. Her sister, Charmaine, is somewhat promiscuous and not very supportive of Tara, as she often expresses doubts about the validity of her sister's disorder. The show is set in Overland Park, Kansas.

SnapTini

The Ebbitt Room
Cape May, New Jersey

Last night was Ladies night at the Ebbitt Room for Jammie, KatieD, Martha and I. We got dolled up and cruised down to the lovely Cape May to treat ourselves to a delicious meal. On the way down we bumped to JamD's "Top Shelf" HipHop Mix. We pulled up to the Ebbitt Room's VALET in my bright blue dented Ford Fuckus and cruised in for cocktails. Jamie and I ordered wine....B.O.R.I.N.G. compared to the cocktail that came out for Martha. Lucky for us Martha's good friend Jahanna and Alisa both work at the fancy schmancy E.R. so we got some quality special treatment. Jahanna created the most amazing, outstanding, completely out-of-the-norm cocktail that rocked our world. In the cocktail: gin, simple syrup, lime, course ground pepper, and drum roll please...sugar snap peas!! I searched online and found a similar recipe and I cannot wait to try it out....




SNAPTINI
makes one drink

1/4 cup organic snap peas, ends trimmed
1 lime, cut into 8 wedges
1 ounce simple syrup
1 1/2 ounces gin
Coarsely ground organic black pepper

In a cocktail shaker or tall glass, combine the snap peas, lime wedges, and simple syrup and muddle thoroughly. Add the gin and a handful of crushed ice and stir, then pour the mixture, unstrained, into a rocks glass. Garnish lightly with pepper (one crank of the pepper mill is plenty).

**From personal experience, you WANT coarse ground pepper in it -- I acutally added some extra to my cocktail. It gives the drink some depth and an earthy flavor. Without the pepper it's a bit too sweet.


Not only was the cocktail oustanding, but the food was as well {of course}! We had a blue crab salad (this was DIVINE), gnocchi with sage brown butter, beet salad, and jasmine seared scallops. BAH. Ebbitt Room, I love you.

Lightning Bugs + Love.

Tonight was one of those magical nights in South Jersey. It's these magical moments that keep me coming back to my hometown. Susan and Iggy joined Mom, Dad and me for a delicious dinner. We finished with a Jersey staple, some cold watermelon. The evening was beautiful, warm and inviting. Dad rested on the couch and mom + I took the dogs for a stroll. A few minutes down the way we were passing Mrs.Novasack's house and I recommended that we pop into to say hello. Mrs.Novasack has lived on this street for years and years and years. She is 84 years young and just lovely. Her husband passed away almost three years ago, and there isn't a day that passes that she doesn't shed a tear for him. Whenever I see her she says how much she misses him. It's so refreshing to hear of the happy, loving life that they lived together. Mom, Mrs.Novasack and I sat on her porch and looked out over the turf farm that her husband started. That turf farm is so much a part of my life. For years growing up the Hoffman girls and I would run through the sprinklers or just lay in the grass. Because of old farming laws, the turf farm can never be developed - so I take comfort that the area around my parents will always be open and pure. So we sat on the porch, looking out over the turf farm as the sun was setting, listening to Mrs.Novasack tell great stories about her life with Leo. When we left and started our walk home the moon was shining bright in the dusk sky, the air smelled like summer and trees and there were a million lightning bugs dancing around. Damn, this is why I love South Jersey.





Fireflies are also called Lightning Bugs. Named as they are nocturnal luminous insects of the beetle family Lampyridae. Fireflies are soft bodied beetles which sizes range from 5 to 25 millimetres in length. On the underside of the abdomen it have special light organs that glows in luminous flashes. The flattened, dark brown or black body is often marked with yellow or orange. Most of the fireflies feed on pollen and nector but for adult fireflies they do not eat.

Light production in fireflies is due to a chemical reaction that occurs in specialized light-emitting organs, usually on the lower abdomen. The enzyme luciferase acts on luciferin in this organ to stimulate light emission. Genes coding for these substances have been inserted into many different organisms (see Luciferase - Applications). Luciferase is also used in forensics, and the enzyme has medical uses.

For adult beetles, it is primarily used to locate other individuals of the same species for reproduction. Many species, especially in the genus Photinus, are distinguished by the unique courtship flash patterns emitted by flying males in search of females. Photinus females generally do not fly, but give a flash response to males of their own species.

Bioluminescence is a very efficient process. Some 90% of the energy a firefly uses to create light is actually converted into visible light. By comparison, an incandescent electric bulb can convert only 10 percent of total energy used into visible light, and the remainder is emitted as heat.

On The Way To Cape May...

The Rusty Nail
205 Beach Ave
Cape May, New Jersey 08204
(609) 884-0017

The BEST You-Peel-'EM-Shrimps around...

Pablito has been working down in Cape May, and this has seriously interrupted our {quite frequent} lunch dates. Paul and I have been self proclaimed food critics for several years now - and I can always count on him for being up to try a new place, fall back in love with a tried and true place, and to eat this, that and anything. Whenever I eat in Cape May, I hate to admit it but I'm a total creature of habit. Yes, there are many a fine restaurants down in this cute, quaint, historical beach town - but for some reason traveling to Cape May (mind you, only a 25minute drive away) I always feel like I'm traveling to another far-away country. Therefore, I always go to one of my two favorites: high end at the Ebbitt Room (25 Jackson Street, (609) 884-5700) for some truly outstanding, never-let-you-down high end cuisine, or to Lucky Bones {www.luckybonesgrille.com , 1200 Route 109, (609) 884-2663}. MmMm Lucky Bones. The BEST mussels in the state of New Jersey - and this is coming from a TRUE seafood connoisseur {my father was a commercial fisherman for mannny years, fresh seafood was always on our dinner table}. Anyways, back to the story. I ask Paul if he's available for lunch so I hop in the car to meet him in Cape May. I left the restaurant decision in his hands, and was ammmaazed when he recommended The Rusty Nail. First of all, it wasn't Lucky Bones {Pablito is also a LB addict}. Second of all, it was the Rusty Nail which always served up some okay food, but nothing that blew my skirt up. Paul insisted that we give their "Beach Shack" a try...he's a big advocate of atmosphere in a restaurant, and he wanted to sit outside. So, it was settled. The Rusty Nail's Beach Shack. I ordered You Peel 'Em Shrimp and Mussels. Paulie ordered the Pork + Shrimp Fajitas. First thing delivered was the Shrimp, and christ almighty - I will whole-heartedly make the claim that they were the best UPeel'EMs that I've ever had. First of all, they weren't cooked to the point of being tough - they were just right and nice + juicy. They were cooked in my favorite, some spicy Old Bay {and maybe some Creole seasoning?}. They were served with cocktail sauce, which I didn't even touch, because they also came with this amazing, somewhat spicy, delicious seafood broth. The shrimp were so good that they didn't need anything - broth or cocktail, but the broth was soooo good I couldn't resist. Consumption went like this: peel the shrimp, drop in into the broth, after it soaked up the goodness pull it out and enjoy :) The mussels were just okay...the sauce was a pretty heavy red sauce. Paulie's Fajitas were bomb-diggity delicious, he rarely clears his plate - but it was clean by the time he was time. The shrimp were big and plump and they had a great sweet but spicy tang. All in all, a great way to spend a random summer afternoon.

HOME.

home (hōm)

noun

1. the place where a person (or family) lives; one's dwelling place; specif.,
   1. the house, apartment, etc. where one lives or is living temporarily; living quarters
   2. the region, city, state, etc. where one lives
2. the place where one was born or reared; one's own city, state, or country
3. a place thought of as home; specif.,
   1. a place where one likes to be; restful or congenial place
   2. the grave
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Home. Wow. When most of my year is spent traveling, I feel so thankful to have a place that I call home. I was worried at first about the thought of moving home with my parents, but it has been such a blessing. I'm excited to wake up every morning and share coffee with them, hug them, love them - and not via Skype...but a real hug, a face to face conversation. Another thing that I feel so thankful for is my newfound love for meditation. Now, some of you may think "Meditation -- what the fuck? this isn't for me." But, I won't lie - sometimes my meditation is not you're average "Ohmmmm" meditation. The little altar that I have set up in my room has three photos: one of my father, gazing off into the the distance, with this look of wisdom and understanding - which I love so much about him. The other is of Julia, looking out over the ocean: beautiful and deep and full of passion. The third is of my beautiful mother...in the sea with my cousins and I - so full of love. This is what I meditate to...these three photos, that I hold very close to my heart. At night when I get home from work, all the lights out- everyone asleep - I light some candles, ignite the incense, and sit in my meditation seat in quiet observation of these three photos. I put on my headphones and listen to Ray LaMontagne, take a few puffs of a hand rolled cigg {forgive me mom and dad!} and just reflect upon the profound love that I have for these three individuals. BAH. I am so moved by this love...so moved. Something so big, so much bigger than myself, so much bigger than anything I've ever encountered. I sit at my small altar, blown away. Love, Love, LOVE. I'm so blessed. Sometimes I weep, sometimes I laugh, sometimes I just sit....Meditation, thank you for reminding me of how fortunate I am to have these people in my life. Family, thank you for creating this home for me. Julia, Dad and Mom...thank you for filling me with this profound love. Namaste.

Surfing + Writing + Yoga = Life.

Beach Yoga Class 41st Street Beach, Ocean City.
Tuesdays Thursdays Sundays @ 7am

This Sunday is International Surfing Day. Surfrider Foundation is having a "Surf Day" throughout the day @ 58th Street in Ocean City. I thought that it would be fun to dedicate our Sunday Surfer's Vinyasa Flow Yoga class to the art of surfing and to the ocean that we all spend so much time enjoying. I've spent a few hours searching my collection of yoga books + past issues of YogaJournal for some surf-inspired moves, and scouring the internet for some Sea-Inspiring quotes. Well, I've yet to find any sea-worthy excerpts but I did find a quote by Anne Morrow Lindbergh about writing - and it hit the spot.

I must write it all out, at any cost. Writing is thinking. It is more than living, for it is being conscious of living.
Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Off The Wagon...

Damnit, I fell off the wagon!

I was inspired by my friends Gray and Michelle who were doing a cleanse...something I kept putting off and putting off and putting off. It NEVER seems like the right time to start the cleanse...coming up with excuses like "Well, I only have one night off this week, and I'm going to want to go out to dinner, so I'll start the following week", or "Well, it's Father's Day and we will be doing a brunch, so this week's no good to start"...the point I'm getting at is that it's always something. So I said "Fuck it...let the cleanse begin!". Started out with 2 days of just RAW food, followed by what was supposed to be 3 days of juice and then the final day being RAW. The first two days of RAW weren't so bad, and the first day of juice didn't start off god-awful. See, with me, I could go all day without eating, but come 4pm or 5pm -- something comes over me and I'm ravenous! So I'm juicing, I'm cleansing, all is going according to plan and then 4pm hits and my stomach starts to alert me that it is ready to eat. Not helping this matter is the fact that I'm going to work, at a restaurant, a restaurant filled with yummy smells and delicious food. Making it even worse was that once I got to work, we were DEAD - so all the girls were just sitting around munching on bread and olive oil, french fries and salad with bleu cheese. I sipped my juice and some decaf tea...and I was totally miserable. I kept repeating my Cleanse Mantra "This is a GIFT to your body, be thankful!" BUT, it was not easing the pain or hunger I was experiencing. Came home, went to bed, dreamt about food and then woke up the next morning ready to continue on and kickass on my cleanse. Again, morning and noon is doable. THEN - work. More food, more smells, a little busier than the night before, but not enough to distract me from food. I ate one of Nicole's french fries. DAMNIT CAILIN. Later I dipped an inch sized piece of bread into our amazing White Clam Sauce...Double Damnit! I was so frustrated with myself and so hungry. Why was I so weak!? I repeated my Cleanse Mantra over and over, and repeated Gray's mantra "I'm powerful and amazing" over and over but none of it really seemed to help. On the car ride home I called my mom to see if she'd be awake when I got home...I figured that I could hang with her, chat, be distracted, sip some herbal tea and then go to bed - ready for the final day of juicing. Unfortunately she was retiring to bed, and I didn't trust myself alone in our kitchen filled of amazing food, so I visited all the boys over at Mike's Seafood for a chat. When I pulled into the parking lot MUSSELS MARINARA popped into my head, so I said to hell with it! I sat down at the bar, savored the most delicious Mussels Marinara that I have EVER had and washed them down with an ICE COLD CORONA. So much for cleansing. Woke up this morning, had a cup of tea and then ate Nicole Gorton's deliiicccious Roasted Root Wrap. Maybe I will have Cleanse Round 2 this summer when I'm so busy with working that I won't have time to think about food. But in the meantime, I'm BACK!

Recipe for Nicoles ROASTED ROOT WRAP:

1 large sweet potato
1 large beet
1 medium sized red potato
1 small yellow onion
6 cloves of garlic
olive oil
tahini
whole wheat wraps
arugula {or spinach}
bragg's liquid aminos (or soy sauce)
salt + pepper
rosemary
thyme

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Peel and dice sweet potato and beet. Dice red potato + onion. Throw all diced veggies and 6 cloves of garlic into a pan, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and a good shaking of rosemary + thyme. Cover pan with tin foil. Bake for about 40minutes. Take a whole wheat wrapper and spread about a tablespoon of tahini onto it. Throw on a tiny handful of peppery Arugula. Pick a clove or two of roasted garlic out of the pan and spread it onto the wrap. Scoop a decent amount of your roasted roots into the wrapper and then drizzle with Bragg's Liquid Aminos. Wrap up and enjoyyyyy. This will make enough for 4 people.

Raw: Sprouting Quinoa

MmMmMm Quinoa! I love it! I've always cooked it, but lately I'm inspired to add more "RAW" into my diet. SO - sprouting! An alternative to cooking the Quinoa...and it's actually quite easy to do. Why Raw you ask? Because raw food retains more nutrients {among many other things}. I just figured, eh - why not? Give it a shot. So, for the past 3 days I've been sprouting my quinoa - and now they're finally ready to enjoy! Hooray! Big thanks to Bri and Zach in California for being the inspiration.

If you are new to Quinoa, or want to further your education....
Quinoa is an amino acid-rich (protein) seed that has a fluffy, creamy, slightly crunchy texture and a somewhat nutty flavor when cooked. Quinoa is available in your local health food stores throughout the year. Most commonly considered a grain, quinoa is actually a relative of leafy green vegetables like spinach and Swiss chard. It is a recently rediscovered ancient "grain" once considered "the gold of the Incas." Not only is quinoa high in protein, but the protein it supplies is complete protein, meaning that it includes all nine essential amino acids. Low in calories, high in maganese, magnesium + iron.

How To Sprout Quinoa
eHow.com says...

Growing your own sprouts is a great way to boost your protein intake, particularly if you are a raw foodist or a vegetarian. Quinoa is one of the easiest grains to sprout, and tastes great on salads, mixed with vegetables or added to sandwiches. Sprouting is easy, and only takes a few days and no special equipment.

1. Step 1

   Choose clean, organic quinoa and store it in a cool, dry place until you are ready for sprouting. Begin the sprouting process by soaking the quinoa in water for 12 hours in a cool, dark location. Remember that sprouting will triple the size of the grain, so only sprout as much as you can use in about 2 weeks.

2. Step 2

   Drain the water from soaked quinoa and rinse the grain thoroughly. Quinoa naturally contains saponin, which causes a soapy residue to rinse off of the grain. If you do not thoroughly rinse your, your sprouts will end with a bitter flavor.

3. Step 3

   Place drained and rinsed quinoa into a wide mouth glass jar and cover loosely with a piece of cloth. Place the grains in a cool semi-lit location and repeat the rinsing and draining procedure 2 or 3 times a day. Make sure that you keep sprouting quinoa out of direct sunlight and that you drain as much water as possible off of the grains before leaving to sprout. This will increase the speed of sprouting while decreasing the chances of mold growth.

4. Step 4

   Stop the sprouting process after two or three days, when then tails of the quinoa have grown to 1/2 or 1 inch in length. Rinse the quinoa a final time and then cover loosely and place in the refrigerator, as cold temperatures prevent further sprouting. Sprouts should be eaten within 2 weeks.

Goddess Dressing.

I love Annie's Naturals! She makes the best stuff...great quality and lip-smackingly-delicious. I prefer to make my own dressings from scratch, but I sometimes look to her products for inspiration for good combinations. I was thinking about making a tahini dressing yesterday for my salad, but realized we were all out - but we DID have ANNIE'S NATURALS GODDESS DRESSING. Perfect. Vegan- No Added Sweetener -Ingredients: *Canola Oil, Water, *Tahini, *Apple Cider Vinegar, *Soy Sauce (water, *soybeans, sea salt *wheat), *Lemon Juice, Sea Salt, *Garlic, *Sesame Seeds, *Parsley,*Chives, Xanthan Gum. {I've made this on my own before using Tahini, a bit of Olive Oil, Apple Cider Vinegar, Bragg's Liquid Aminos, Salt, Garlic, and Chives}. I think that the Goddess Dressing goes really well with quinoa and avocados - so I went on that inspiration and whipped up a soul-satisfying salad for lunch.

mixed greens
alfafa sprouts
avocado
red quinoa
grape tomatoes (cut in half)
ground flaxseed
(raw unhulled) sunflower seeds
(raw) pumpkin seeds

throw it all in a bowl, toss with some Goddess Dressing, and you're good to go! I like to squeeze a little lemon on top to cut the creaminess of the tahini. Enjoy.

Gorilla? Pig? Maude.

Life is good for Maude.

New Songs

Chef Cailin

I was going through old photos today and came across this one of me in a Chef hat. Turns out this whole "Chef Cailin" thing isn't new...I've been cheffin' it up for years! Now all I need is to find another sweet hat like this one....

Me + Mary Poppins

I had a "house concert" unplugged, acoustic, intimate show the other night and after the show my friend Martha said "You are just like Mary Poppins". Random, I thought, my songs are definitely indie, but I wouldn't compare them to the likes of "Spoonful of Sugar" or "Chim Chim Cherreee". But no, she was comparing our effects on people, who we are. Mary Poppins is a magical nanny, who arrives in peoples lives to bring families closer. Martha said that I float from place to place, making people happy and bringing them together. Some people I'm helping to reconnect with whats good and wholesome inside of themselves, and some people she said just need my positive vibrations in their lives. I connect people through food and music and yoga. Damn Marth, you're going to make me cry.

Creativity by the Bay...

Emilia Corkill + LP.

Been having a ton of fun hanging out at Maryanne's house on the bay in Somers Point. She's an amazing artist, and her house and energy just encourage creativity. She's got coloring books and crayons around the house, always some music playing from the stereo, and tons of art supplies at your disposal.

Emily, Loving the creative + eccentric vibe.

The best coloring book ever.

Spraying my artwork.

"I Aint Talkin Bout Rich, I'm Talkin Bout Wealth" Cailin Callahan Talula LoveBottoms Original for Andy Welker in Dallas.

JamDizzle, cleaning paint brushes and sipping cocktails at 11am.

Maryanne: "Cailin, let's put on these oldschool speedo bathingsuits, jump in the bay, and then when JamieD gets here we will walk up from the bay and be like 'o, we were just swimming some laps' "

Me: "Umm, I dunno Mair. I don't want to put that suit on. I'll look ridiculous"

Maryanne: "CAILIN, It'll be hysterical. Just put it on. Put it on put it on put it on."

Me: " I dunno Maryanne"

Maryanne: "CAILIN, DO it."

Me: " Okay. Well, atleast lets do a photoshoot or something..."

Oh Honey's.

Talula and I headed up to Philadelphia for some brunch + a Trader Joe's fix. We decided on Honey's for brunch, because...well, it's fabulous! Well, as much as I love food - I get super stressed out when it comes to ordering. I am always overwhelmed, to the point where I sometimes flail and order the worst thing on the menu. Maryanne {aka Talula} ordered the Sloppy Joe and I was teetering on the edge, eventually choosing the Spicy Avocado Tuna Salad Sandwich. We both sipped Arnold Palmers, but with homemade LimeAde, and shared an order of fried green tomatoes with a homemade ranch dressings. HONEY'S makes homecooked scrumptious deliciousness, that isn't always some mindful of the waistline, but is comforting and delicious and they always use super fresh ingredients. Everything is handmade with love, which I love <3>

I've been off meat {I'm labeling myself a "pescatarian" currently}, I tried one little bite of Maryanne's Sloppy Joe for the blogs sake - so I could knowledgeably inform you, my devoted readers, of the quality. The 'Joe was certainly sloppy - but smokey, sweet and a tad spicy. Perfection. Served on an amazing roll with cheese melted on top. My Spicy Avocado Tuna Salad Sandwich was shit. Pretty awful. Probably one of the worst tuna salad sandwiches that I've ever had in my whole life. I rarely give awful reviews, but this was bad.

1. not spicy. dicing up some jalapeno, leaving out the seeds, and mixing it into the tuna only made it crunchy, not spicy. not at all.

2. crap tuna. since its honeys, and they use the best, I would expect a better tunafish. im not totally against canned tuna, but it was like this can wasn't drained all the way. it was soggy. eh.

3. mediocre wheat bread. again, honeys - you use the best of everything - why such crappy bread?

4. though avocado was pureed into the tuna, it was just bland.

all in all, a totally boring sandwich, no flavor. worst part - I was second guessing this as my "final selection" and the waitress encouraged me to order it! damnit, HONEYS, I love you. I will never make the mistake of straying from the tried and true menu items I know and love. Crappy sandwich aside, I still love you - and I'll be back soon :)

Yoga: Summer Schedule 2010

I can't really think of a better way to start your day than to start with YOGA! Lucky for all of you I am teaching 5 mornings a week. I'm teaching in Somers Point on the bay Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Monday is at 8am, Wednesday at 6:15am, and Friday @ 7am. These classes will begin this coming Monday, June 7th. The Tuesday + Sunday classes on the beach in Ocean City (41st street) won't begin until the following week. Classes are $10per person, which is quite a deal! Right now the OC Community Center bumped up their price to $12 per class for nonmembers, and local studios charge $15+. Class is just over an hour long and I promise that you will leave feeling better mentally, physically and spiritually. Any questions? Call my cell.

Piece of Peace.

Meditation is still so very new to me, but it is so very powerful. I had several "safe havens" in Encinitas...particularly Nicoles house and Grays house. I wanted to carve out a peaceful place for myself here in New Jersey - so in my room I built a little "meditation altar". On the altar are...

-3 crystals, all gifted to me:

one as a child from a family friend

one from Del Moro

one from Kristen Watson

-prayer beads I purchased years ago

-a photo of my family

-scarf from emily corkills travels abroad

-and some candles, incense + little buddha relics

It sounds silly...but I try to find time every day to sit down and just be. I may not exactly "meditate" any exact meditation, but I take up to a half hour to just honor myself...and breathe.

Orzo + Pesto

I was putzing around the kitchen this morning and was trying to come up with some new recipes. Still going strong with the whole "no meat" thing, so anything delicious and vegetarian has been my goal. Without really knowing where I was going I cooked up some orzo in vegetable stock. It has to cook for about 8 minutes, so in those 8 minutes I opened up the fridge and stared inside...looking for something to JUMP out at me. Well, I had some fresh basil leftover from the night before. And we had a big jar of sundried tomatoes. For the past 8 months I have been living without my favorite appliance, the FOOD PROCESSOR, so I vowed to put this to use as well. Into the F.P. went a huge handful of fresh basil, several sliced up sundried tomatoes, garlic, olive oil and some grated romano cheese. I just gave it a few pulses in the processor and then mixed it in with the cooked orzo. I'm completely obsessed with grape tomatoes, so I sliced a dozen of them in half and threw them into the mix. Vavavoooom...a delicious, light lunch. Headed to Michelle's yoga class and brought her some of this orzo pesto salad as well as a serving of my cous cous salad that I also made earlier in the day. Her class was AMAZING as always. Usually her classes make you build up a sweat - but this was a mellow slow flow, which I was SO thankful for since I've been feeling under the weather. Thank you Michelle for ANOTHER epic class.

JamDizzle + Vietnamese Fo Shizzle.

BAH. FINALLY caught up with my numba one lady, JamieFuckingD. It's been more than a month since we've seen eachother, and before our separation we were together 24-7...doing yoga, eating good food, drinking coffee and surfing da waves bra. She has been working around the clock, so as soon as she had a free second I snatched her up. I knew that I could nail her down and with the promise of one of my home cooked meals. Wanted to mix it up and cook something different - challenge myself into a not-so-comfortable cuisine. Hmmm....VIETNAMESE + THAI! The menu was vegetarian vietnamese spring rolls with a spicy soy dipping sauce, inside out sushi salad, and a vegetarian Pho with tofu. Boom. Beverages you ask? White wine before dinner, Genmai Cha tea with the meal, and then a Sweet Orange Flower tea for dessert. Soup to nuts my friend, soup to nuts! No detail left unattended. So we ate, and we laughed, and bumped to some hip hop {jammie always has the best + baddest dirty hiphop around}.

vietnamese spring rolls:

these ones are not fried, and they are sooo freaking easy to make.

spring roll wrappers (can be bought at any asian supermarket)

vermicelli noodles (" ")

cucumber, julienned

carrot, julienned

scallions

sprouts (they usually use bean sprouts, but i used Alfafa Sprouts...and it was perfect!)

fresh basil

fresh mint

fresh cilantro

sriracha

soy sauce

cook the vermicelli noodles first. throw them into boiling water and they are done in about 45 seconds. drain them and then season with a bit of sriracha and soy sauce. to cook the spring roll wrappers you have to be patient, and willing to learn through trial and error. i fill up a skillet with water and put it on medium high heat. i submerge the wrapper in the hot water, holding on to one little bit with my fingers. pull it out, place onto WAX PAPER. fill it with cooked vermicelli, julienned carrot + cucumber, a piece of scallion, and then a bit of the fresh herbs. CAREFULLY and PATIENTLY wrap them up. it gets easier as you go, and as long as you have the right attitude - it's a ton of fun!

spring roll dipping sauce:

soy sauce {or bragg's liquid amino}

chili oil {or sriracha}

sesame oil

rice wine vinegar

hoisin sauce

just throw a bit of each into a bowl and mix it up. mmmmm dipping perfection.

inside-out-sushi-salad:

this was inspired by a salad that Gray for me, further inspired by a similar salad made for me by Nicole, and then taken to this place by me. a collaboration or sorts you could say.

mixed greens

grape tomatoes

avocado

cucumber

garlic

cayenne pepper

brown rice

nori seaweed {dry sheets of seaweed...like they use for sushi}

cook brown rice, let it cool. top mixed greens with grape tomatoes that have been halved. diced cucumber and cucumber on top as well. sprinkle with cayenne pepper, for a kick, and some garlic. top with brown rice. take a sheet of nori and slice it up into tiny little strips and mix into the salad. dress with olive oil and soy sauce, or my new favorite - braggs liquid aminos. mmm. a freaking circus in your mouth. its delightful.

PHO:

vegetable stock

limes

sriracha

soy sauce

fresh basil

fresh cilantro

tofu

garlic

ginger

vermicelli noodles

now this one...hmmm. i hate to admit it, but all the vietnamese places use a beef broth (most of the time even in your "vegetarian" pho)...and it's delicious. but heres my take on a completely vegetarian version, and as jamie d said "CHRIST...this is friggin AMAZING". 2 quarts vegetable stock. into this pot goes a few squirts of sriracha hot sauce, and several shakes of soy sauce. squeeze the juice of two limes in. then i drizzled some olive oil into the mix - why? i dont know...it just felt right. a handful of fresh cilantro and a handful of fresh basil went into the pot too. in a skillet i sauteed tofu in olive oil, with garlic and grated fresh ginger. once cooked it threw that into the pot as well. to finish it off i put in cooked vermicelli noodles. boom.