Have these handy,

- Essential oils (I love clover and cinnamon.), or any good massage oil will do.
- Bathtub (big enough for two)
- Fresh mint leaves
- Bubbles
- Candles (just some tealight candles from Target will do)
- Your boytoy / beef cake/ sexy other half. Naked, of course

Don’t let your guy’s tough appearance, handyman skills and deep voice fool you, they love the warm, silky, smelling good bath water. Especially when you are right in it with him.

The mint and the essential oils in the water will help both of you relax, soften not only your skin but also your tensed up emotions. There’s something very powerful and sensual when bare skins touch between your lover and you. Human beings crave touch though out their entire lives. It automatically gives you a better sense of well-being.

Instead of watching another episode of scripted ‘Bachelorette’, and secretly wishing you were the bachelorette seeking romance on a reality show, why not have a steamy sensual one on one time with the real man who ‘s dying to love you in real life.

I just got back from Glamis, my very first ‘sandy’ trip! I spent 4 days out there with Dave, the family and family friends. Gotta tell ya, at first, I did not know what to think of the desert, ‘very outdoorsy’ as my friend Laurie described when I told her my Holloween weekend plans. lol. I love the outdoors but I have always chosen to be outdoors by the water-streams, river, lake and ocean- but DESERT? mmmm..I don’t know.

But because of Dave’s enthusiasm and convition about how much fun I will have, I packed our bags and we loaded up our car.

I have always heard stories from my sand loving friends about Glamis, but not until I saw it  ‘in action’ I was amazed. The algodones dunes are HUGE! Everyone brought out their toys to the desert, dune buggys, quads, mortorcycles…

So I rode in dune buggys, learned how to ride a quad with Dave, and rode my first dune!

Thank goodness for the showers in the mobile homes.

We sat by the camp fire, made smores, played games, embraced the company of our friends and family, we made wishes to dozens of shooting stars…what a great experience, what an amazing trip.

*Videos are to come, of course! But the taste test and planning for the reception D’oeuvres waiting for me this month, i probably won’t be able to edit all the raw clips.

Whooray for how blessed I am to be close to all the amazing places to visit in So Cal! Snow season is coming up- Lake Tahoe, here we come in December!

Hospitality-something taken so lightly these days. Somewhere along the increasing demands, speed, and convenience we lost that true essence of it. When a baby is born, it receives its first four gifts of this world- eye contact, a smile, a hug, and some food (breast milk of course). So it only makes sense we, as humans spend the rest of our lives craving those four things.

Professionally, I’ve worked with people for years, but it is not until NOW I am starting to really truly understand hospitality. I mean, to live it, to really genuinely feel the energy of hospitality transferring from one individual to another. The energy flows. It’s warm. It sparks.

It’s like having your most favorite people over for dinner.

I absolutely love that feeling.

And I got called out on it. Lol. I have been questioned several times why I am glowing and so happy all the time at work, and my answer from the heart- it’s because I love food and I love to feed people. I dance around the restaurant as if it is my own dining room, and everyone there is one of my old friends.

Let’s try my favorite Chianti.

Two of my favorite guests asked me about my vision in my own restaurant.

“ It’s going to be called Turquoise!” My eyes lit up when I heard the question, wondering how much time they’ve got.

“Turquoise is going to be in La Jolla, or somewhere in Orange County, near a cliff over looking blue ocean.” I wanted to create the Mediterranean, white stucco, blue ocean kind of feel. “It will serve sustainable local seafood with local organic farm to table produces.”

I went on explaining why it is so important to serve sustainable seafood and produce.

I could feel the energy bursting out within me. My calling. I was pouring my heart out. They loved it. The wife loved the name and the décor, the husband loved the purpose of Turquoise. And I loved the feeling of even just talking about it. I envisioned it so vividly in my head, my own little hospitality heaven.

My training now, to be a successful restaurateur in the future, is to learn every single aspect of a restaurant, or restaurants. My next stop, will be the kitchen. Trial by fire, literally.

I can’t wait.

“The most wonderful of all things in life, I believe, is the discovery of another human being with whom one’s relationship has a growing depth, beauty, and joy as the years increase. This inner progressiveness of love between two human beings is a most marvelous thing; it cannot be found by looking for it or by passionately wishing for it. It is a sort of divine accident, and the most wonderful of all things in life.” Huge Walpole, Sr. 1884-1941

Ha ha got ya!

Well, I think it is more appropriate to call it an anniversary week, instead of a ‘weekend’-we started our celebration on Wednesday. It was fun, that both of us had a surprise planned for each other. Mine was on the actual date of our anniversary, and his was that coming weekend.

OCTOBER 1, 2008   Cardiff by the Sea, CA

I was amazed to have discovered this gem in Cardiff (Thank you, Laurie!!)- a beautiful bed and breakfast right off 101. Stunning ocean view, lush garden (you know I always appreciated great landscaping), and a killer roof top.

The second my friend Laurie showed me the roof top, I was sold on having the anniversary surprise here. It was beautifully landscaped, had a Jacuzzi, and a fire place. What more to ask for?

Oh, there’s more. Laurie brought me to one of their themed rooms- it was exactly like its name- Paradise. The tropical themed room with a ‘rain’ shower- I absolutely LOVE rain showers.

SOLD!

DONE!

WHERE DO I SIGN?

Sunset is usually at 6:20 PM around this time of the year-Not enough time to set up at all. I had the entire candle store worth of candles, dinner to be finalized, champagne to chill, and oh my God, there was no time! Laurie was an amazing help helping me set up candles, lay the white table cloth, set the table and ice the champagne while I was in Paradise getting ready. I have such great friends. J

Dave was given the address to come to the place only 20 minutes prior. He was brought up to the roof top first while I finished up getting ready. 

Walking up the spiral wooden staircase up to the roof top, in the beauiful dress Dave bought me, heels- why the heck did I start getting nervous?! I completely reminded myself of The Bachelor- “Will he give me a rose?!!!!” lol.  Especially when I walked up, he was facing ocean, watching the sunset and turned around with the gorgeous smile I love so much. 

It was all worth it then.

To be Continued….

I was filling out the questions on the profile page, one asked about how I was going to use the law of attraction to help accomplish my life goals, I wrote down the kind of people and professionals I am attracting to my path, the encouragement, and the help.

Two wake up calls showed right up- one from Dave and one from my friend, catering partner Nafisa. I needed those. Dave, more on the coaching side, and Nafisa was the encouragement I also needed.
How fucking fortunate I must be, to have my own dreams and to take this crazy first step towards them. How many people out there are still wondering through life without dreams, or not even considering going after their dreams.

Believe me, I even thought about getting non-food related jobs again, just so I can be ‘comfortable’ again, like those around me.

But at the end of day, it’s what’s going to make me happy, what is going to feed my soul, and just the fact that I can say that I found my life purpose and I am doing it.

Because all of that, I am okay with myself. Are you okay with yourself?

Ingredients-

·         One pear (Bartlett pears are in season right now)

·         One orange (you can also use mango and lemon)

·         One banana

·         A hand full of blueberries

·         A hand full of raw spinach leaves ( I use the organic baby spinach leaves from the market) My spinach in the garden is simply not ready yet.

·         Ice cubes (I use about four) and some water (measured one measuring cup- you know how much I dislike measuring )

 Cut the pears in quarters (you can remove the seeds in the middle by cutting off the edge of each quartered pear piece), remove the skin of the orange and cut in pieces, peel the banana and break into sections.

Load up the blender/smoothie maker with the ingredients- pear, orange, banana, blueberries, spinach leaves and finally the spinach leaves and ice cubes on top of other ingredients, and water (to help blending the ingredients). Start the blender on low and move to the highest power (i.e. the frappuccino mode) for at least 1 minute to make sure it is nice and smooth.

I actually have been throwing just about any kind of fruit and some veggies (I have not been too daring with veggies in my smoothies- tried different lettuces, kale and little bit of collards- but that’s about it) in my smoothie maker for a while now. I thought about getting a juicer, but I like the idea of a hearty drink instead of just juice- but maybe later, once I decide to put more crazy veggies in the smoothies. This recipe is very similar to the green smoothie recipe by the Raw Body Twins www.rawbodytwins.com (aren’t they just so beautiful?!- thanks for the videos!) but different. I have some home grown pears and blood oranges (so good!) and blue berries are on sale everywhere, so I decided to add those. Since I add the blueberries (super food), the color turns out darker, actually not too pretty- but hey, the smoothie is Yummy and nutritious. This recipe makes about alittle more than 32 oz, you can double it if you are making it for more than one person.  

This green smoothie is a great way to get your raw leafy greens and fruits in first thing in the morning. If you have kids, or a husband who aren’t the biggest fan of the leafy greens- this is a good way to sneak the greens in. J

 Wait, is summer officially over in September?

Maybe its because I am not in school anymore, and that I live in southern California and the weather is still fairly warm- the end of summer isn’t much of a depressing event. Oh I am already thinking about cooking for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

I must say though- this summer has been awesome- lots of bodyboarding, beach going, vacationing, cooking, BBQing, seadoo riding, fishing and spending time discovering myself and people. SUMMER WELL SPENT! It’s a bummer that I couldn’t squeeze another summer trip to Taiwan (I used to every summer)- but considering I was just there this past March, I think I got my island fix for the year.

As some of you know, I am jumping ships, or at least making drastic changes to enable myself to work with what I always loved- food. Hum, as an Aquarius, you would think I would be the frontier to making changes and do what I love. Honestly, all the reasons that held me back from doing what I was born to do, NOW I realized-were simply excuses.

Not gonna lie though, the transition is tough. You will see bigger smiles on my face because I certainly feel so much happier and higher than ever, not because the transition is a piece of cake. I am often asked- why did you give up the good salary position and a respected profession? The funny thing is, I still ask myself that question once in a while, when I slightly lose sight of light at the end of tunnel. But, I tell myself, Sandy, life is way too short for you to spend the rest of your life, or even a couple of years more, to not follow your passion, your intuitions, and not be free.

Freedom is a big deal to me. I feed off freedom and the least appealing idea to me is to be trapped in my office from 9 to whenever reading last minute e-mails about how a homeowner refuses to pay their HOA dues because they didn’t like the way their lawn was mowed.

I escaped. J

I am in a new kingdom making my way around, discovering new things, and practicing trial and error. I have some tough advisers around and maybe even tougher critics out there- thank you. I won’t let myself down.

Food is what sustains us, art, expression, emotion, bond- and I am learning everyday about it. I am gaining versatility with world cuisines and exploring flavors and possibilities.

My goal is to have some kick ass restaurants opened up before 35 (10 years-time is ticking!). I am also entertaining the idea of a catering, event planning company-who knows what will unfold?

But, one at a time- I have a tendency to just come up with 10000 ideas and try to do them all at once!

Some of the favorite projects I am working on right now-social networking, food and recipes, organic gardening (oh yeah, on my patio, whoo!), Emerge Events (Making every proposal perfect and easy!), and studying different restaurant menus, structures, and etc.

So I am here to get back in touch with people, network with kinder souls, and share my experience and journey with ya. 
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