Nature Girl

I'm doing amazingly well with my new diet.

I'd say I'm about 90% vegan. The ten percent is the egg whites I eat once a week, if that...

and the organic chicken or fish--also about once a week.

I think it may just be a matter of time that I cut this amount out altogether.

But if not..Hey, I'm feeling happier, healthier & stronger than ever.

My Memorial Day dinner:

Indonesian corn cakes with arugula & black bean salads.

Yum.

Tonight, we went out for burritos.

Instead of an ice, I opted for my very own

frozen Mexican hot chocolate: Rice milk, ice cubes, cocoa, & cinnamon all

blended up in the Magic Bullet.

So good with chocolate chip cookies!

My new medicine cabinet remedies that kicked a mean sinus infection's butt

last week: colloidal silver, grapefruit seed extract, quercetin, and phospherous homeopathy remedy. They seriously worked like a charm...and I was able to tear up

the script for antibiotics. Yes!

In skin care news: Simple toner made with 3 parts apple cider vinegar mixed with 1 part water in a spray bottle beats any product I've ever bought before!

Lovin' the natural life.

In Lovin' Color

Spring has been surrounding us with

COLOR

&

LOVELINESS

Everywhere.

Two new favorite pairs of shoes...Love the colors & the styles.

They are both cute and comfey, too!

One of my three favorite trees...a Japanese Maple in one of my favorite neighborhoods in Staten Island.

The other two are birch & weeping willow.

Just look at it shine in all its

springtime glory!

Such a great contrast against the sky, too...

Pretty swirly lollipops

always put a smile on my face.

(Along with the children who were celebrating

a good friend's birthday!)

Loving this BEAUTIFUL season!

When We Went to See Thor...

In my early days of photography I was obsessed with squares, rectangles, shapes...and generally the patterns they seemed to randomly form around us.

Guess I still see things that way...

After school Fridays...

I decided a long time ago that Fridays (after school/work) would be Mama/Daughter fun time!

We are pretty good at finding yummy, interesting, creative, or relaxing adventures together.

Today, it was directly to Starbuck's for our favorite iced tea.

Nice thing is, we only had to walk a few doors down to go for manicures. :)

After nails, we decided to give the new neighborhood sushi place a try.

It was goood. Really good. Veggie tempura rolls, spicy salmon skin, cucumber and asparagus & sweet potato rolls. Oh, my!

Amazingly "toasty" green tea. Mmmm tea.

Me and my girl love our tea.

The sushi guys turned us on to some really good music, too.

Too bad itunes does not have Xian Qi Ren (aka "Richie Ren")for some reason. What's up with that?

His music is diverse, beautiful & cooool sounding.

Apparently, he is pretty big in Hong Kong.

Turns out my little one is developing a hearty love of

international pop music, just like Mama.

xoxoxoxo

Ode to Spring

"Snow melts.

And the village is overflowing--

with children." -Issa

Wishes waiting to be made...

Spinning art at Communion parties...

"Mom, can I see your phone? I wanna take a picture."

"Okay, honey. Watcha takin' a picture of?"

"Which pair of shoes looks better?"

This was photo Number 1.

Love it.

Love her even more.

We are taking in all this season has to offer and welcoming

Spring with all we've got!

Hope you are enjoying it, too.

Homes

The start of our week and a half long vacation began with a first-time visit to a

neighborhood church, within walking distance from our house.

The church sits right on the beach and has tremendously high ceilings made of

wood, complete with its original wood beams.

It is has such modest beauty. We love it.

Best of all, there is a prayer basket placed at the entrance.

Anyone can write their prayer on a sticky note and place it in the basket.

Our house on Long Island--the home where three generations of us lived.

I know I will really miss this place someday.

I'm grateful my grandmother is alive and well and still calls it home.

I love these Long Island skies. I have never seen them anywhere else

and I've been to many, many, places.

This certain sky belongs to my home only.

I love this light. So familiar.

I love the air, the sky, the feel of

the place I grew-up.

No other place like this.

Sprinkles...

Just have a way of making ya happy!

Photo and recipe courtesy of Baking Bites, one of my favorite and most amazing baking blogs!

Been doing a lot of baking lately.

These are in our near future.

First, I gotta order one of those adorable

mini-donut pans.