Santa Cruz, Capitola, and Redwood Canopy Tour

I wanted to share a bit about our quick weekend trip in Santa Cruz/Scott's Valley/Capitola. We decided to go to a city that neither of us had ever been to before. We mostly explored Santa Cruz, but stayed at the Hilton in Scott's Valley. It was a quick 10 minute drive to get to the hotel, but it was beautiful! The hotel looked like a stone caste, nestled in the woods. 

The photo above is our view from lunch, at The Crow's Nest. It was just "ok", not bad, just nothing special except for the view. We watched about 50 tiny sailboats going out for a race or something. 

We followed the crowd and checked out the Beach Boardwalk. I liked the sky ride, but it was a bit scary when it kept stopping and hanging there. Apparently some people have trouble getting on and off a ride that moves 2 miles an hour, and they have to stop the ride. Our bravery was rewarded, because at the other end of the ride (it's one way), there was a Dole Hut selling Pineapple soft serve and floats just like near the Tiki Room at Disneyland. It's my favorite! We made the mistake of riding the Big Dipper and HATED it. It's the 5th oldest roller coaster in the country and boy can you tell. It doesn't look bad, but every muscle in my neck and upper back have ached ever since, like whiplash. Seriously! It would be a fun place to take the kids, because you could literally walk down the steps and be on the beach, or playing games and riding rides. Plus there's NO entry fee, you just pay as you play or buy a wristband for all day. 

We decided after that first lunch, to attempt to find the local hole-in-the-walls with GOOD food. We weren't looking at the presentation, but wanted what you would eat all the time if you lived there. We used Yelp and searched "local favorites" and found Aloha Island Grill for dinner. It was REALLY good. It doesn't look like much, has a teeny tiny parking lot, but we ate cheap and GOOD! After that, we tracked down this old Ice Cream place we'd passed earlier in the day. It was an old red building and I loved the old sign. Ice Cream by Marianne. They have a line out the door, and every ice cream imaginable. 

 By FAR my favorite thing we did was the Redwood Canopy Tour at Mount Hermon. It was scary for the first time or two, but by the middle of the tour, you don't want it to end. See that faint rope bridge in the background of the photo above? That was actually harder for me mentally than the zip lines. You're on it with a few other people, and although you're harnessed in, the shaking of it as you walk high in the trees is kinda freaky as you're looking to the ground. If you look closely in the photo above, you'll see my husband on the zip line.

These photos show him as he was coming toward the platform I was on.

 Our guides were wonderful and really funny. We had Cameron and Brad, and they made us all feel completely safe and well taken care of.

You had to stand up on a mini picnic table for him to hook you up the the zip line each time. Your two safety straps are still secured when you move to another line. The different zip lines are different heights and lengths, so the speeds are different, and they also teach you how to cannonball and pick up speed.

My husband took this photo of me coming toward the platform he was on. You can even rent a helmet cam, but we used zipper pockets on our jackets for our iphones.

 This is the ending platform. Back on the ground. Insert frown face. It was a breathtakingly beautiful two hours, and WELL worth the money. I can't wait to do it again!

The last thing we did before leaving was hit up a store that I also found on Yelp. It's called Capitola Freight and Salvage.  This photo only shows a fraction of what they had. We spent a long time there, searching every nook, cranny, pile, and field. I could have bought a lot more, but I went easy, and just bought two old windows (minus the glass, which means they were cheap), and a really big old frame. All three for only $23. They had every window, shutter, door, cabinet, wire, metal, old wood you could think of! I REALLY wanted to buy one of those old rusty claw foot pieces to use in a new way, but they were $40 each! Actually I wanted two to turn upside down and make a shelf.

We had such a great time, I can't wait to go back and explore some more. There was so much that we didn't have a chance to see.

Ten Years Later

Today marks our 10 year wedding anniversary. I have been feeling nostalgic for weeks, as I can't help but reflect on our time together. We look like such babies when I look back at the photos. I'll share just a few, because this was before digital was popular, so all I have are the real photographs. 

In case you're wondering, we got married at Ragged Point Resort. They call it "the gateway to Big Sur". We found it by accident one day while on a drive to find a lighthouse. Right before we were going to turn around, the road began to climb the jagged mountain and all of a sudden, we found ourselves at a beautiful, little, self-contained Inn overlooking the Pacific. I can't even describe how this place still makes me feel. On one of our pre-wedding visits, Brandon and I hiked down the "at your own risk" trail, which I think might now be permanently closed. Directly down that cliff I'm overlooking, is a tiny private, rocky beach. We don't visit here often enough, because it's out of the way, but it is breathtaking. The hotel rooms face the other side of the cliff, and we slept with our back door cracked open so that we could hear the waves crash on the cliff below. 

 I love the picture above, even though I think I felt silly at the time we took it. Now I see it as perfectly symbolic of us peering out at the long journey laid out before us. We had no idea what was in store for us, good and bad. Marriage is not all roses and fairy tales. At times it is hard work for sure. I look back and think of all that we have faced together in the last ten years. Life would be so much harder without him. Without the man he has become. He told me, after my dad died two years ago, that on the day of our wedding, my dad told him, "I'm not losing a daughter, I'm gaining a son." The memory of my husband meticulously sweeping up glass from where the police had to break down the door to my parents' house to get to my dad, still brings tears to my eyes.

I love this picture that someone snapped of my dad. He was watching our first dance. (Come Away With Me, by Nora Jones) His face and posture of his hands says it all. He was proud. Despite his crazy daughter that picked up and moved to California from Ohio two weeks after she graduated high school, he was proud. I am so thankful that I got him on our wedding day. Looking back, there are several people who were at my small wedding that day, that are no longer with us. A lot of loss can happen in ten years. 

 The joys and the challenges are many, but the reward is worth the work. I can't wait to see what another ten years will bring. I love you, Mr. Baeza.

Golden Gluten Free Fried Chicken

I feel like I've discovered GOLD! It's been months since I've been able to make fried chicken, because I've been gluten free since December. I know it's not healthy, because it's fried, but I eat plates-full of vegetables and have cut out so many foods, that a little oil isn't gonna kill me every once in a while. I didn't think this would ever be possible. Gluten free people know, crunchy breading is something you give up when you can't have gluten. At least, until now! I tried making chicken strips with almond meal a couple of months ago, and they were mushy and NOT good..

This is really simple. You simply follow the same exact steps for my Ultimate Fried Chicken, with the exception of using Trader Joe's Gluten Free All Purpose Flour instead of regular flour. Make sure your seasonings are gluten free as well. I used a seasoning salt, garlic granules, and pepper. It's really simple. The chicken goes straight into the seasoned flour, into egg, then back into the seasoned flour. You MUST do it this way, NOT the egg first. 

Drop into HOT vegetable or canola oil. You must make the oil a few inches deep in a big skillet or else it won't cook right. Make sure to cook thoroughly, depending on the size/cut of your chicken cooking times will change. If you are unsure of a large breast, take a piece out of the pan and slice into it to see if the juice is clear all the way to the bone. Drain on a baking rack, so that the bottom of the chicken doesn't get soggy. 

Eat. Crunch. Enjoy. Crunch. Repeat. You can thank me later!

Gluten Free Lunches and Secret Weapons

I was recently asked by a friend who was thinking about doing a month long trial of gluten free, WHAT do you eat for lunch?? I admit, eating gluten free leaves me with a lot of dirty dishes. I cook, and cook, and cook some more. I was THRILLED to get a text last week telling me that since she went gluten free a couple of weeks ago, she hasn't had ONE headache! SO exciting!! I thought I would share a few of the things I've been doing for lunch lately. In the beginning I made salads at home, but that got old and boring REAL quick.

 Lately, I've been on a sauteed veggie kick for lunch. It's super fast, and only dirties one pan (none if I grill them!). Experimenting with different combinations is fun and keeps me excited to try new veggies. Up top, I sauteed some broccolini (which was a first for me and I loved it!) in a pan with a bit of olive oil and salt and pepper for a few minutes by itself since it takes longer to cook, then added big chunks of fresh asparagus and sliced mushrooms. I could eat asparagus and mushrooms every day. At the end, I added a bit of butter, and fresh garlic, then melted some shredded Parmesan cheese.

 Here, I used some skinny local asparagus from the farmers' market, mushrooms, zucchini and yellow squash. I used the same method as I did above.

 This picture is the bottom of my bowl today (when it dawned on me to take a picture). I simply cut up tiny Persian cucumbers from Trader Joe's, a ripe tomato, fresh basil, and drizzled a bit of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I used fresh garlic, pepper, and a bit of Himalayan Pink Salt to season it. I know I need protein, so I ate it with a side of bacon! Ha! Not sure if bacon is in the meat or fat section of the food pyramid, but I've cut out so many bad things, that I don't care! No one is taking away bacon once a week!

This my friends, is a brainstorm gone terribly right. I have never really been an avocado person, weird, I know! For some reason I felt like I might like it if I opened it up, added salt and pepper, then topped it with either feta or cotija cheese, then gave it a simple drizzle of balsamic vinegar. Guess what? I LOVED it! I eat them like this all the time now. 

I have the benefit of being at home most days since we home school. It is nothing for me to flip on the gas grill and cook a fresh piece of salmon and some asparagus. These asparagus are seasoned with a bit of melted butter and Montreal seasoning. 

I don't do it often, but when I make it to Fresno and pick up some Udi's gluten free pizza crusts, it's easy to make a pesto pizza with tomatoes and fresh basil. I've tried the dry pizza crust mixes and I just did NOT like feeling like I was eating a brick. This crust gets crisp and light.

Now we get to the secret weapons I've learned in the past few months. Chipotle salads are what I eat at least once a week (not always at lunchtime though). If you look at their website, you'll see that you're GF ok as long as you don't eat the flour tortillas. That means you can have a salad, burrito bowl, or crunchy tacos and fill them to your heart's content with all their tasty goodness. I am a sucker for their salads though because of their vinaigrette. It is like crack.

For snacking I love to keep baggies of raw almonds and Guittard semisweet chocolate chips. Their chocolate is GF and it is my all-time favorite anyway. Score! 

My last secret weapon is these GF Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies! My entire family goes crazy for them. Heat them up for a few seconds in the microwave if you like to make them soft again after they cool. I add about 3/4 bag of Guittard chocolate chips to her recipe, and instead of grinding my own almonds I just use a cup of Almond Meal from Trader Joe's. It might sound like it's a complicated recipe, but it's not. The second time you make them, you'll have it down pat and have your cookies ready for the oven in five minutes. Trust me, I've made these dozens of times. I bake mine on parchment paper and they just slide right off. I am tempted to mix in a bit of Chia seeds next time and see if the kids notice. These cookies are better than any boxed GF mix you will ever find. Trust me! Just make sure you use gluten free oats.

This last picture is just so you can see what the almond meal looks like. It's super cheap at Trader Joe's. I also picked up that GF flour to use if I need to thicken anything. That opens up a whole new world. My husband saw it and immediately yelled "Gluten free fried chicken!!" Ha ha. I haven't tried it yet, but I may splurge and try it soon to see how it turns out with this flour. Hopefully these ideas help! As always, please check your products and seasonings to ensure your brand is gluten free, don't take my word for it! ;)

Custom Monogram

I just HAD to share this custom order that ships out tomorrow! A customer asked for a 20x30 of my charcoal gray metal monogram. What a fabulous idea!! Keep the custom orders for Distressed Beautiful coming, I love the creativity I discover in the process!

InstaCollage with Persnickety Prints

I have been wanting to print some of my Instagram photos for awhile now. I discovered Persnickety Prints (via Instagram, actually!) and ordered a bunch of the photos of my kids. The cool thing is that if you posted it on Instagram, it's probably something you want to remember, so it's easy to choose which photos to print. I ordered the 3x3 prints, but they also have other sizes. I was a bit tempted to order 2x2's and buy a big white poster frame to make a InstaCollage. 

 The things is, I have this really old frame that I bought for $2 that I totally LOVE. It's even better in person, because it has the faintest hint of having turquoise on it at some point in its life, and is smeared with gold. It didn't have glass, or a back, so I had to get creative.

First, I laid them out on a piece of cardboard to see if they fit. Then I went and bought a piece of black foam board and cut it to fit.

I spread out my options for attaching them to the board. I wanted to use white photo corners, but I had JUST enough room for the photos and the corners added too much space. If your frame is a different size, or if you're using less photos, I think the white photo corners would be super cute.

 I went with the double sided tape in all the corners so that I could put them right next to each other.

Now I can see all of the things my kids have done over the past year or two in one glance. It's pretty cool, huh? I love that with one look I can see: my daughter's reaction the day her first American Girl doll arrived, a bubble bath beard, a lost tooth, a day of kayaking in the bay with our girls, a photo snapped of the girls piled on daddy's back when he was on the floor, a birthday wish, tire swing fun at the park, their first trip to the bowling alley, etc. All sweet moments I want to remember.

Universe Juice

If you read my last post, you know WHY I finally decided to eat gluten free.  My goal is not to lose weight (although that it is happening), but my goal is health. I wanted to cool the fire of inflammation in my body. One of my favorite habits I've begun is starting our day with what my hubby calls Universe Juice. My husband calls me his Pepper Potts, he's my Tony Stark, and we start each day with universe juice. ;) Yes, we're Ironman fans. 

There are a million different ways to make a smoothie, but right now we've been making this same one. I cut up a few bananas, put them in a ziploc, and freeze them overnight. I do that every few days. In the morning I simply break a handful off (I actually take the bag out of the freezer, drink my coffee, THEN break off a handful because it's easier after they spend a few minutes out of the freezer), pour in a cup (I don't measure) of Vanilla Almond Milk, a tablespoon of peanut butter, and then fill it with baby spinach to the top. You can add ice, or not. Tony Stark likes his with ice, I guzzle mine up as is because the frozen bananas make it cold.

 If you google "green smoothie" or look it up on Pinterest, you'll find a million different combinations. In my opinion it tastes like a banana-peanut butter smoothie.