CLICKING

Above: some Instagrams of recent favorite corners of the house.

I use this blog as a journal, to remember, and I love randomly checking posts from a year or two ago, just to see where I was in contrast to where I am. Last late January I was expanding and contracting during a time of intense change and growth. It was one of those "everything is very bright and a little overwhelming and when will winter end" times, that thankfully has passed. 

A year later, things are just now clicking into place (except for that peskily-cyclical winter bit). I can finally look back with some clarity and appreciate, by contrast, the calm of my life right now. We chose to elope and it was absolutely the best decision for us. Micah found a job – and it ended up being better than anything we could have imagined. We were able to start saving up for things again, and bought a big new bed, and a cozy new couch (photos soon). Our house is feeling more like a home. We're both building creatively-fulfilling careers. 

I just wanted to acknowledge this period, to validate Past Liz, and to reassure Future Liz. Everything contracts and expands, this too shall pass, just keep swimming, all that. And when in doubt, read the archives of your own silly blog, to see how far you've come. It's always further than you remember.

JUICE

I've officially jumped on the juice bandwagon, and so far I'm loving it. As per Bon Appétit's recommendation (my favorite magazine subscription right now), I bought myself this juicer a few weeks ago, plus a book of recipes to get me started and keep me out of ruts. So far my favorite combos are (from top to bottom): carrot + grapefruit + ginger, beet + apple, and kale + spinach + celery + lime.

So far, I'm averaging about one big juice every other day. I've been careful to always use more vegetables than fruit (sssugarrr). These aren't meal replacements for me – more like hearty snacks, or a supplement of sorts, to make sure I'm getting enough plant power. I recently worked with a client who was trained as a raw food chef, and during one of our meetings she said, "Raw food is alive, and it will transform you from a cellular level. You're literally putting life and light into your body." It's really stuck with me, and I can totally feel that in those first few sips. So bold and fresh and potent – just the COLOR alone is transformational, no?

As healthy as all this jazz is, my mind can't help but wander off to the delicious cocktail possibilities that my new toy also opens up. We had fresh-squeezed orange juice for mimosas last weekend, and that green juice got me thinking about combining cucumber + lime + maybe a little jalapeño? + gin, or making a home-made Bloody Mary mix...