Venice Beach our worlds meet

What started with the intensions for a beach walk to stretch the legs on Venice beach, CA. Swayed into the witness of a beach culture where all walks merge? Music hit our ears from one of many boardwalk bands, what looked like a group of friends all sharing the same passion for music. Alternative folks, that are carrying the 70’s and doing so with no hesitation. Claiming their gem; Venice beach, for their home, work, play, love, and community, all supporting each other with love, care, inspiration and protection from the one percent. The boardwalk is a play ground with: A skate park on the beach filled with passionate kids, killing it. Cement walls used as easels to share colorful graffiti. Drum circles in the middle of the beach which have a continual body moving beat that flows with no interruptions. Famous muscle beach, no shortage of skin or muscle strength here. A freak show which claims a two headed turtle and anything else freaky you can think of. Homes which have no structural walls only invisible walls; where private moments our shared with no worry or care of the on lookers and judgments. The air is filled with the smells of a continually gathering were no one person is in charge of clean up. A gathering which has possible lasted since the 70’s and will carry on through many more generations.

This experience has left me humbled for this is part of life, experiencing as many personal walks and being open to catch the beauty, passion, and grace of an unfamiliar place.

       

Cafe Gratitude and Esaleen building an Innovative future

Cafe Gratitude

From our farm, to our Café, to your Plate is the backbone of Café Gratitude; A business which is based on a path of awakening. Matthew and Terces Engelhart had a vision to create a business that connected people to their food and create a community around this. Their vision has become a great success and is inspirational. With menu items like I am nourished, I am bountiful, I am blissful, I am beautiful and a space based on gratitude you leave with a nourished tummy, and a charged soul filled with inspiration. I believe there are four Café Gratitude’s; checkout their website and feel good supporting the café.

We vote with our money    http://cafegratitude.com/

Cafe Gratitude books
Sacred Commerce, Business as a path of awakening
Authors: Matthew and Terces Engelhart

Iam Grateful Cook Book
Authors:Matthew and Terces Engelhart

This is a great way to support Cafe Gratitude if you cannot reach their Cafe's and get inspired by these powerful people.

Esaleen

Esalen a spiritual gem tucked into the bluffs of Big Sur, California. A community that focuses its energy on education based around the body, mind and spirit. For 40 years this forward thinking oasis has brought hundreds of thousands of people to its fertile grounds. The 120 acres grows bountiful food, which supplies the kitchen three times a day. There is a natural hot springs to completely relax in while feeling the continual pounding of the surf directly below. The monarch butterflies fill the sky with there mating rituals. Esalen is almost a trip; defiantly a place to experience for a day or dive into for a month. Check out the website below.

http://www.esalen.org/

hot springs AKA bath house

Esalen's gardens

"I've missed more than nine hundred shots in my career.
I've lost almost three hundred games.
Twenty-six times I've been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed.
I've failed over and over again in my life and
that's why I succeeded."
Michael Jordan 

Part 2: Our world is Filled with so much Beauty it Makes me Want'a Dance

This is the second part to the endless beauty of the Pacific Coastal Highway from the southern Oregan coast to the Northern California coast (Hwy 101 and 1). The first few shots are from road side pull outs along the Southern Oregan coast. Not to bad of a view.
 

West from Cresent City California is a beautiful archaeological area called Point St. George. It was a beautiful crisp morning when we lucked opion this spot.

The famous Redwoods nation park! Friends and family keep saying it is a spititual experience. Hmmm well ya, it is. The redwoods range from 500 to 2000 years old, they reach up to over 300 feet high and can have a circumference of over 70 feet. Manage buying jeans with a 70 foot waist, ha no thanks! During the two days spent exploring as much as we could wawaa! started to get old fast. We got good and creative which made for some good laughs. Enjoy!!

how would you explain this tree?

Love. Laugh, and play

Our Worls is Filled with so much Beauty it Makes me Wanta Dance

Oregon sand dunes, mountains of sand reaching heights of 600 feet and stretching for miles. The dunes date back as far as 26 million years ago. Each grain of sand has been transported by wind and water to rest on the coast.  The sand is continually moving, swallowing pine forests trapping rivers creating little lakes, endless change.

And endless beauty ....

There are a few photos, would be more however the internet is painfully slow

Enjoy!

Endless

Vintage Inspiration/overload

Wowa!!! Portland Oregon is full of secondhand and vintage treasures. Everthing from Goodwill bargain shops to a warehouse full of vitage madness, so much stuff you find yourself squinting to see one perticular gem.

There are mainy vintage shops in the downtown core. Theses shops are stocked with individually selected items, some which are mind blowing and pricy:Avalon, Ray's Ragtime, Magpie are a few of the vintage shops.

Buffalo Exchange is a great place for secondhand clothing. Here they do both buying and selling right in the store, good prices, quality clothes and a mens section equal in size with the ladies. http://www.buffaloexchange.com/

The Goodwills have high end botiques (which seem to be full of leather Coach purses) to warehouses full of row after row of  overflowing plastic bins, hardcore.

The Hawthorne area is were you want to go  if you are looking for the most bang for your buck, and a shopping experience. There are a few vintage shops Red light clothing exchange which has an excellent selection of clothing at good prices, http://www.redlightclothingexchange.com/.  Vintage pink has a great selection of house hold collectables, furniture and clothing, it was a little high on the price rang,  http://www.ilovevintagepink.com/.

House of vintage http://www.houseofvintage.net/ is the shopping experience, room after room of antique and vintage. I would say have a good snack drink lots and enter with 2 hours minumum.

   

Inspirational city, Portland Oregon

 Portland Oregon, know as an innovated green city. There is free inner city transit; wind mills perched on top LEED certified buildings, green roofs, endless brick buildings, churches and little castles.

The people in this modern green city are a little extra special. There seems to be extra time engraved into each individual, or maybe we just looked lost, curious and excited. Whatever it was Portland has a small town feel throughout its people; countless generosity, advice, inspiration, and help, Not to sure why? Maybe no sales tax, living in a green city, not pumping your own gas? I do not know but its defiantly not the weather.
  

The first couple photos are from Cannon beach, and small town on the coast of Oregon North of Portland. Beautiful endless beaches, countless craft shops art galleries and quant hotels and cabins.
Enjoy!

Cannon beach treasure



Haystacks




A coulpe colors



endless bricks

Fall captured at night

come into my lawfirm

                                                                  stir-up inspiration

A Road to California Dream'n

My cousine and I have started the road trip of our dreams! Comox Valley to southern california. We have decided to take the coast highway (101) all the way. We are going to fill our boots with experiences from Yoga to In and Out Burgers. 

So Far..
Coho Ferry from Victoria to Port Angulas, Beautiful trip kinda ruff. If you are ever in Port Angulas make time to eat at Soho's Asian Bistro, Yum!
Five hour drive to Cannon Beach Oregon, on the 101, broken up by beautiful scenic Olympic National Park, a beach walk on Ruby Beach, way to much Mexican food and a few small town drive-bys to soak up the America small town life and characters.
Bellow our a few photos, check'em out

 

Cousine (aka partner in crime) and I, read to take it all in

Port Angulas night lights,

Ruby Beach, Washington

Foam fun

Keep being spontaneous

Cozy Cowls

Here are a few cowls that I have knitted in the last month. The cold-wet weather makes for a great time of year to be inside watch a movie, have a glass of wine and Knit. I have woven scarfs that I collected from secondhand stores which make it so you can tighten the scarf around your neck, protecting your neck from the wind. All you need: 1 or 2 spools of yard, large round knitting needles; cast on 35knits, knit in a circle. Thrift stores are a great place to find a colorful scarf to add.
Have fun!!