So this is September. Feeling a lot of gratitude these days as we enter a new moon and an opportunity for a reset. I don’t know about you, but August was rather tumultuous for me with Mercury in retrograde and a swirl of emotion that had me contemplating a lot of personal decisions about career, family and…purpose. Like, am I mindlessly climbing the ladder…or am I truly following my passions, the things that light me up? It reminded me that what truly excites me is not random. It’s connected to my purpose. And I needed to follow those passions. Like reigniting my passion for travel, my passion for driving innovation and my passion for creating connections. Read on for what sparked my clarity and creativity while in Venice Beach.

What better way to express gratitude than through food? At Cafe Gratitude all of the plant-based dishes are named for inspiring feelings like “Nourished”, “Bountiful” and “Restored”. Flavorful dishes like the “Evolved” bowl (shown above) feature local, organic produce like the oyster mushroom bulgogi, daikon, cucumber, kim chee and chickpea frittatas that top the crispy brown rice with bibimpap sauce. So much texture and flavor going on! These dishes live up to their names. But also, isn’t it amazing how just a name like “Restored” can reset your entire mood?

My lust for travel…and ice cream was fulfilled and then some at Wanderlust Creamery. This artisinal ice cream shop on Lincoln features flavors inspired by global travels. Each scoop takes you to a new destination like the Ube Malted Crunch (above, purple) inspired by the Philippines and featuring sweet purple yams with malted milk pieces. The bottom layer (green) is a Japanese Neapolitan with layers of matcha, hojicha (a more mellow green tea than matcha, with a slight nutty flavor) and black sesame seed ice cream. I have no desire to site on a flight for 10+hours to visit Japan, but I will take a walk to this ice cream shop again!

If you’ve been watching my Instagram feed, you know my new obsession with Erewhon Market. This pizza is what raw food dreams are made of. Erewhon may be “nowhere” spelled backwards, but the name of this organic grocery store and cafe might as well be spelled h-e-a-v-e-n. The crust is a crispy blend of buckwheat, sunflower seeds and flax that is topped with a creamy cashew “ricotta”, walnut pesto, cherry tomatoes and olive tapenade. This is the kind of pizza you could eat every dang day.

This gourmet grocery store is a Mecca of healthy foods that’s named after the book with the same name in which the world is a utopia where everyone is responsible for their own health. The market continues to be a pioneer in functional foods with a tonic bar (where I ordered an activated coffee of ghee, collagen peptides and…), raw food bar and aisles filled with everything under the sun from local produce to every adaptogen you can name.

The Class by Taryn Toomey may have a generic name, but it’s anything but generic. This was my second time returning to The Class, this time at The Space, formerly know as Cardio Barre. I wanted to see if it could carry the same luster the second time around and whether it would be as insanely hard, or if that was a one-time event at Wanderlust Hollywood. The verdict? Just as mentally, emotionally and physically exhausting…in a good way. Check out my prior post for a low down on what to expect.

The Butcher’s Daughter featured vegetarian fare just as clever as the name. I’ll be dreaming about the Spaghetti Squash Carbonara for days. Carbonara is a classic turned plant forward with a bed of “angel hair” spaghetti squash layered with the most decadent and creamy cashew “ricotta”, adzuki “bacon” and a soft poached egg nestled amidst spinach and seared cherry tomatoes.

Adzuki might sound like something you would sneeze, but it’s actually a red bean that is indigenous to the Himalayas. It has a relatively neutral flavor that pairs well with buckwheat and liquid smoke to create a bacon-like flavor and texture. It’s not quite as crumbly as the real deal, but I can’t wait to try making it on my own!

The Venice Canals were my serenity on this vacation. It was a quiet and calm oasis of gorgeous homes lining these man-made canals off the coastline. The canals were developed back in the early 1900’s, but were left to erode. In the early 1990’s they were resurrected to their current state of beauty for the public to wander the sidewalks and dream of Italian Villas.

The theme of my trip was really wanderment (yes, I made up that word). I so often plan every minute detail of my life, and my trips, that it sometimes takes away the joy of discovery. I happened upon this exotic sausage shop and beer hall on my way back from yoga. Now that I’m working in innovation again, I take every opportunity to discover new foods, like this rattlesnake rabbit jalapeno sausage. Like I’ve heard before, the rattlesnake tasted surprisingly like…chicken. And the jalapeno was just the kicker to spice things up.

Usually when I run out of time during my weeks, the first thing to go to the wayside is yoga. On this trip, I cultivated the time for some much-needed introspection at Love Yoga. The practice at Love Yoga is a blend of Katonah Yoga, Iynegar and Vinyasa with inspiration-laden narrative winding through challenging poses. The hands-on practice made it personalized and was especially needed for some of the unique movements. Ultimately, I left feeling radiant, transformed and ready to take on September!

The post Venice Beach Favorites appeared first on The Shooks Life.

 Do more of what you love . A new month and a new opportunity to set an intention to do more of what you love and less of…the other stuff. One of my favorite aspects of my blog is a commitment to try new things and find new inspiration each month. And that comes to light in my monthly favorites. This month’s list has an LA flavor. Get the list below!

Here’s the roundup of my favorites July discoveries, inspired by my visit to LA a few weeks ago.

1.) Favorite Place: Hollywood Farmer’s Market

This market fulfilled all my produce dreams with rainbows of carrots, beets, and things I didn’t even know existed, like cherriums. Here are a few of the fancy pants newfangled fruits I found at the market:

-Cherriums: a cross between a cherry and a plum. Looks like a cherry, tastes like a plum. Woah.
-Pluots: a mix of plum and apricot. They don’t have the bitter taste of a plum and come in a plentitude of varieties like the juicy Emerald Green and the sweet Dapple Jack with a dusty rose flesh. Fancy.
-Plums: even this standard fruit gets a re-branding with funky names like the Elephant Heart. Who date?

2.) Favorite Fitness Class: “The Class” by Taryn Toomey

“The Class” at Wanderlust West Hollywood was definitely the first and only time I will ever do 7 1/2 minutes of burpees. That is not a typo, my friends. 7 and 1/2 frickin’ minutes. I had read that this workout brings people to tears, but I thought that was only for the disciples who got overly worked up by the heavy emo tracks and self reflection that makes this workout famous with celeb types. Descriptions of the class online are relatively vague – it’s described as “a practice of self study through physical conditioning” that includes “simple, repetitive calisthenics and plyometrics”. If you read between the lines, those “simple, repetitive calisthenics” = burpees until you’re a tangled mess of noodles. Each exercise on its own is simple enough – mountain climbers, split lunges, etc. But when those movements are on repeat for 5-6 minutes, you feel all the feels emotionally and physically. Yes, I wanted to scream and walk out when mountain climbers were the last move of the morning (there is nothing more I hate than mountain climbers), but I stuck it out and felt like an accomplished warrior goddess afterwards (well, after I gathered my bearings and sought nourishment).

3.) Favorite Start to the Day: Backyard Bowls

The acai and oatmeal bowls at Backyard Bowls were exactly the nourishment I needed for days after workouts like “The Class”. What makes Backyard Bowls a standout, is that they have a soundproof room with viewing windows for you to watch all the smooth magic. It’s a haven of quietude despite all the blending happening behind closed doors. Featured above is the Anchor Oatmeal filled to the brim with steel-cut oats, soaked in cashew milk and pea protein, then loaded up with almonds, bananas, blueberries, goji berries, hemp seeds, cinnamon and honey. I created a simpler version on my Insta in case you want to concoct your own.

4.) Favorite Outdoor Space: Los Liones Trail, Pacific Palisades

The Los Liones Trail had me jumping for joy with all the coastal views of the Pacific. This hikes weaves up a lush canyon at the south end of Topanga State Park, just a mile from the Pacific Ocean. The ivy and chaparral-lined hike offers glimpses of Santa Monica Bay. After 1.3 miles and 550 feet of elevation gain, Los Liones Trail arrives at a clearing on a ridge at a bench that looks down on the Pacific Palisades, Santa Monica, and the ocean beyond.

5.) Favorite Frills: Glossier Cloud Paint

This cream-based blush is my favorite beauty find of the moment. The pillowy texture of Cloud Paint glides on like a dream and is light as a feather, especially good in the summer months. It’s super easy to apply (if you can finger paint, you can apply this like a champ) and intended for layering so that it’s near impossible to add too much. The shades come in every hue of the sunset and work on just about every complexion. I discovered Glossier on my trip to LA where the one and only live store exists (they started their following online). It was a COMPLETE SCENE with a line out the door. Now I know why. This cult favorite is worth the hype. When I returned to Chicago, I was lucky enough to get glammed up by Glossier at the Nike Chicago Air Max pop-up shop before rocking out to Pitchfork. Not just a blush, this cream color can add a glow to the eyes and a warmth to lids that is ooo la la gorgeous.

6.) Favorite Sweet Treat: Salt & Straw

The avocado ice cream at Salt & Straw was a creamy dream that tasted nothing like avocados and everything like the honey lavender lacing of your dreams. Salt & Straw is known for their unique flavor pairings and this one definitely delivered! You can find all kinds of seasonal fun flavors across their stores in Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle, San Diego and San Franscisco. Right now, their seasonal binge is all about vegetables – yup, vegetable-inspired ice cream flavors like carrot cake batter, freckled chocolate zucchini bread and beet red velvet cake.

7.) Favorite Coffee Joint / New Tech: Carrera Cafe custom latte art by Coffee Ripples

I went absolutely bananas when I heard about the custom latte art from Coffee Ripples, which is available at coffee shops across the country via the Ripples app. Just download the app, upload your custom art and locate the nearest cafe with the printing capabilities. The “ink” is made of very fine layers of coffee extract that sit on top of the foam. I’m not much into tech, but this is tech I can get behind.

8.) Favorite Snack: Dang Stick Rice Chips

Dang those Dang Sticky Rice Chips are good. Crispy little discs of organic Thai sticky rice soaked in watermelon juice and crisped up to take just like the “bottom-of-the-pan” rice. The original is slightly sweet due to the watermelon juice and the sriracha brings just the right amount of heat to these chips. Bonus: 30% less fat than the old standard potato chips. Win!

9.) Favorite Hidden Gem: Frog Hollow Farms

This is a bit pre-conceived, but I have excellent sources that tell me Frog Hollow Farm has THE BEST peaches and I can’t WAIT for my order of Cal Red peaches to arrive. People, these peaches are only available 2 weeks out of the year and need to be pre-ordered because they’re so juicy good. I’ve been utterly depressed by the peach offerings in Chicago so I’m counting down the days until I get to bite into these juicy jems! Even the New York Times says these are, “Good Enough to Make Farm Stand Peaches Blush”.

10.) Favorite Recipe: Paleo Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler

And it wouldn’t be a favorites list without a highlight of my favorite recipe of the month: this Paleo Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler that I made for the hubster on his birthday. It’s a grain-free and healthier spin on the usual with a crumble made of coconut flour and almond flour, then sweetened with pure maple syrup. It’s a must-try, must-make for the summer months. Get the dEATs here!

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And…that’s a wrap. Set an intention to do more of what you love this month and make it your best August ever because…why wouldn’t you?

The post July Favorites appeared first on The Shooks Life.