San Diego! Here we come...

I'm almost all packed, except for the last minute things like my toothbrush and phone charger. We're off to San Diego tomorrow for a wonderful 6 days of beach time, Sea World, more beach time, the Zoo and then just relaxing at a nice hotel and chillin' in the pool. I think I'm most excited to eat out, we've been very frugal the last few months and haven't eaten out in a while. I've also been eating very clean and healthy so I really think I'm ready for some fried food, fish tacos and exquisite desserts!

To kick off our California vacation, here's a great recipe!


easy grilled fish tacos                             
1 pound white  fish like mahi mahi 
1/4 cup canola oil
1 lime, juiced
1 tablespoons ancho chili powder
1 jalapeno, coarsely chopped
flour or corn tortilla

Marinate fish in oil, lime juice, chili powder, jalapeno, and cilantro for 20 minutes.

Remove fish from marinade and place onto preheated grill (med-high heat), flesh side down. Grill the fish for 4 minutes on the first side and then flip for 30 seconds and remove. Let rest for 5 minutes then flake the fish with a fork.

Place the tortillas on the grill and grill for 20 seconds. Divide the fish among the tortillas and garnish with any or all of the garnishes.

wonderful add ons:

chopped fresh cilantro leaves
shredded cabbage
hot sauce
avocados or guacamole (my favorite)
sour cream
red onions
green onions
chopped tomatoes

My garlic guacamole Only make this if you like eating raw onion and garlic...which I actually love!

2 avocados diced
1 clove of garlic minced
2-3 T red onion finely chopped
1/2 tomato chopped
2 T Mayonnaise (I know this sounds gross but it makes it so much creamier!) If not,
or Sourcream 
squeeze 1/4 lime (save remaining lime to add to your beer or iced tea)
dash of salt

I dice the avocado's right in the skin 
scoop into serving bowl
add all ingredients 
stir together 

Drink with Corona and lime or glass of iced tea (I'll personally be drinking the tea)

See you when I return!

The Vintage Secretary Dress

The weather is so beautiful here right now and it's so fun seeing all the cute new dresses this season. Something I'm so in love with right now are the mini Secretary dresses.


This olive one is so sweet with it's puff sleeve, rounded collar and pleated skirt.



This one from our store with blue and purple pansies, puff shoulders and ruffled tiered skirt. It also comes with a matching belt.


And this one from The Vintage SideShow. Don't you just love the stripes?

I want this dress for this fall worn with charcoal tights and 40's t-strap heels!

How fun!

Saturdays Farmers Market

Oh how I love farmers markets! I lived in Santa Barbara for 4 months, 15 years ago and I've never forgotten it. It was a beautiful time in my life, I was in my early 20's and had never lived away from home before. There I was, in a new town, no car and I only knew one person. I quickly got a job at a beautiful natural food store that, if they would've paid me enough to live on, I would still be working for them today. I truly loved this store and I visit there every time I go back.

                                                   Bundles of Lavender

Every Saturday I would get on my bike and ride up to State St. where, for the day, they would block off traffic and set up the most beautiful farmers market I had ever seen. It was a dreamland for the senses. Bright, colorful produce like eggplant, figs, and peppers and the scents of rosemary, lavender and baked bread. I would ride home with my fresh loaf of sourdough bread, a huge bouquet of fresh flowers and usually zucchini, red and yellow peppers, onions and a new lotion or lip balm.   The whole experience was intoxicating for me. It was such a simple and beautiful time in my life. However, that time was very short lived. Santa Barbara is not a cheap place to live and I just couldn't support myself any longer. I came away with a new sense of self and a desire for a simple yet beautiful life.

                        Fresh Baked Bread

We have a very sweet farmers market in our town. Some how my life has gone by without me ever going to the farmers market here. Maybe I was stuck up and knew it wouldn't be as good and SB's. Who knows why I haven't gone but this last Saturday my friend and I walked there (yes, it's walking distance from my house) and I had a fabulous time. It brought back wonderful memories and I got to meet local farmers and bakers.

Basil!

I so cherished my time walking around meeting new people, taking pictures of beautiful bounties and truly appreciating the sweetness of the small town I live in. After years of wanting to move from here, I'm seeing now that I live in a very special town with very little crime, a wonderful art scene, old time downtown centered around our courthouse complete with gazebo. I've even been lucky enough to have owned 2 businesses downtown, being a part of local business history. One day I want to go through the archives of downtown business owners and write a book on the ever changing storefronts of our town...yes...I'll do this in my spare time. 

Outfit of the day

I chose this simple yet fantastic dress because, with how hot it is here right now, this is all I want to live in.

Happy happy weekend!!

Fri: What I learned this week

I haven't blogged in almost a month! It's harder than I thought to write something every day so instead, I just put it off....but I'm working on consistency so here I am.

It's actually been a crazy month of learning, healing and growing. If you ask me, it's been a bit too much.

I stopped smoking almost 2 weeks ago and then went straight into the most stressful week I've had in years! I learned that somewhere deep inside me I have a strength that I didn't know I had. When I would normally walk outside to take a few drags if my ciggy I  took slow deep breaths instead. I know it doesn't sound like much but this really works!

What I learned this week is that we have stress receptors in our lungs. That's why smokers think that taking a smoke break will calm them down when actually if they just took some deep breaths, they would become more calm. When we're stressed we don't breathe deeply, we take very shallow breaths. It's important to stop and take a look at yourself. Relax your shoulders, close your eyes and calm your breath. Pay attention to how your breath is flowing in and out of your nose. Slow your breath and inhale deeply. You will feel so much calmer and within a few seconds, you'll forget that you "needed" to smoke. Of course you'll need to repeat this about 50 times a day for.......well I'm still doing it so I'll have to let you know how long it takes me to not want to smoke.

I'm happy to say that I've been smoke free for 2 weeks tomorrow. I'm not going to say it's been easy. It hasn't been easy at all, there have been times when I almost did smoke. I worked through these times one by one and before you know it, I made it 24 hours then 48 hours. I still feel quite a void where smoking used to be, I really hope that goes away. Honestly, this is the hardest thing I've ever done!

So if you're trying to quit smoking, good luck and I hope this might help you.

Next week I'll tell you about going to Kundalini Yoga for the first time and what I'm learning from the 21 day Deepak Chopra meditations I'm doing! They're a little too short but they have great tips for healing!

Outfit of the Day

Today's outfit is this cutey from Girl and Closet. I love this dress with the sweet pink belt and the white cropped jacket. So simple yet so perfect.


Have a beautiful weekend!