So it's been a while, eh? Seems like most bloggers go through this. You start the blog with perhaps too much time on your hands and then, as life evolves, you drift away. Like a friend you've known since childhood, you figure "the blog will be there" "the blog is fine without me for now". Then, when the journey finds a moment's quiet, you think, "I should give that old blog a call before it stops liking my status updates on facebook". So heeeeeeyyyyyy, how are things?
Things with me? Things with me are um, AWESOME! The period of transition is over and I find myself on the other side of it happy, strong and renewed. We are entering the dry season which welcomes cooler temps and I can wear my hair loose without quickly developing a sweaty neck. Being uncomfortably hot is less frequent and Zorra gets more cuddly. Cuddly Zorra always makes life better.
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| best.dog.ever. |
I'm not going to lie, it was tough there for a while and I know that there are still challenges in my pathway. There was a major shift that occurred though. I'm not sure if that shift was due to being out of the rat race, out of day-to-day fluorescent light and swivel chairs or simply being caught up on sleep but something has changed and it is pretty freaking incredible. One of the main reasons I was so willing to leave LA for a land I had spent very little time in was because I knew that I needed to shake things up. My soul needed a defibrillator and taking a calculated risk was the jolt I decided to run with. I wasn't proud of my life in LA. I was proud of the people I knew. I was proud of the family I had close by. I was proud of those I saw living their dreams but I felt outside of these circles. Life was so full of "I'd really like to"s and "if I had more time I'd"s. That being said, I did a lot with my time, a TON really but I never felt remotely satisfied.
So we get here, it's crazy and unfamiliar. There was a lot of uncertainty, a few wrong turns and yet with time and good intention we've managed to find sight to our pathway. Rincon has embraced us into their community and we are running with it. Quality Thyme Private Chef Services, the business that Tommy had in LA and which I worked with him at, has been transferred here as and he and I are now co-owners. We decided to start with this as opposed to opening a full-on restaurant. Maybe down the road we'll go back to that plan, but for now it was just too much. With Quality Thyme we are catering to the foodie population that is also somewhat health conscious. As you probably know, I'm gluten free and we've been having a lot of success offering gluten free dishes and menu items. Although both Tommy and I are carnivorous, we are also having a lot of success offering Vegan options to our clients. You gotta find the market gaps! It makes me so happy to be able to offer tasty and HEALTHY options for folks. One of the hardest parts of moving from CA for me was leaving the abundant healthy food options. We have found a way to cater to the people here who are also looking for these options yet don't want to go through all the trouble to find them. It's a lot more hassle than in the states but for me, on a spiritual level to be able to bring my passion for health foods to folks who are craving these things is very satisfying. We've encountered many new ingredients as well which has been fun and interesting. We are making food out of things we didn't even know existed! Exotic fruits and vegetables such as Pana and fresh Turmeric have been on our recipe table. We are building relationships with the local, organic farms and have heard some very interesting stories about the wild monkeys that eat their crops. The busy season is just getting underway, and I know we still haven't seen it in full force but we've got gigs on the books and I just love the momentum building at our Farmer's Market table. Come visit us there every Sunday from 8am-1pm in the Rincon Plaza!
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| Tommy being a cutie at the Rincon Farmer's Market |
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| Lucy and Lola, "The California Grrls" painting I did |
Last but not least, I've FINALLY gotten the chance to start doing Crossfit. I love it! I've got a weird extreme side to me that just wants to be a jock so. damn. bad. I guess growing up as the chubby, artsy kid amongst two athletic brothers did some damage but hey, all good! Crossfit is really teaching me what true fitness is and how to look at my body in terms of it's ability to do things as opposed to it's ability to look good in a slinky dress. With Crossfit, the latter ability is simply a consequence and by taking my focus off of the vain elements of fitness, I find I'm a lot less neurotic about things. Less neurotic Juni is a very, very good thing.
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| kenny powers |
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| seriously, don't freak. I'm not going to get huge. |
Keep an eye out for my Time Traveling Marshmallow Space Ship...
xo,
Juni
