CAFE GRATITUDE, LOS ANGELES
When I travel I always find Whole Foods and Raw Food restaurants in the area. My plan was to hop off the plane, get the rental and go to Cafe Gratitude and stuff my face. After only green drink, fruit and water on the plane for over 4 hours I was ready to eat.
One of my favorite raw food restaurants in the land! This was a Key Lime Pie with Ice cream and caramel sauce. I always enjoy being served raw food, especially raw desserts. I also ordered a Kale Salad and their Mediterranean Plate.
After leaving the restaurant, I headed straight for the Hollywood sign, no GPS needed. Low and behold, after driving through a beautiful neighborhood I ended up at Sunset Ranch in Griffith Park. There were mountains and hiking trails and of course the Hollywood sign. I could not believe it, I had made it! Sunset Ranch offered horseback riding and that was added to our schedule for the following day. We hiked up one mountain and that is where this picture was taken with the Hollywood sign. My travel buddy had never been horseback riding before but she never second guessed her involvement.
This breakfast burrito or crepe was just okay, it photographed well. I have eaten all raw for over 4 years, I know good raw food. The crepe was too thin, like a thin flax chip. The coconut yogurt was sour and bad tasting. The huge chunks of apples inside took away from the delicate nature that a crepe should have. I could totally make this 100% better. Crepes should be soft and gooey. I also had their "oatmeal" (pecans and apples chopped very small in coconut or almond milk, basically a bowl of nuts, not good either. Needless to say, my breakfast on day 2 at Cafe Gratitude was not very satisfying. Food must be beautiful and taste amazing!
In case you did not know, I love horses and riding! The horse is Tracer, with a white diamond just like I like them. I rode up and down the mountain cliffs of Griffith Park. The scenery was amazing! The valley's, mountains, birds, dog, our tour guides and the other tourist made this part of my vacation marvelous! While horseback riding, I actually met a lady and her daughter from my home town of Detroit, Michigan, that was amazing! I could do without the helmet but I followed orders.
Santa Monica Beach is absolutely beautiful, the water however was freezing! So, just toe time for me. I always collect at least one shell from the beaches I have the opportunity to visit. I found some amazing pieces.
Topanga & Will Rogers Beach Area in Malibu, CA
What a lovely beach. I even video taped the bugs, ugh! I drove along the coast about 9 miles into Malibu!
I thought I'd share a little about my vacation and opportunity to speak in front of 5000! I was honored to have been apart of the World's largest nutrition schools Mega Conference in Long Beach, CA over the weekend.
Here is what I learned about myself: I pack to much, it makes my trip more work than it has to be, I definitely had plenty of choices wardrobe wise but in the end it didn't matter because I could not see them all at once, my suitcase was so packed. My travel buddy brought 2 carry ons for a 5 day trip.
I bought a ton of raw vegan food, for my research of course! I did not eat it all at once, but as a raw vegan chef it's important for me to taste and see what others are doing in their raw food kitchens. I visited 5 different raw vegan restaurants in LA.
I really want to move to a warmer climate. I'm not the 4 seasons type anymore. I'm craving year round farmers markets and warm weather something awful.
Hubby update: He successfully juiced for 30 days. He is now back to eating a regular diet and about 75% raw or vegan.
One of my greatest missions in life is to help as many people as possible achieve their mental, physical and emotional health goals. I would love to work with you and for you to share my message with anyone you know.
Let's take the steps together so that you can experience life at it's fullest.
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To your health & wellness!
