for me, gratitude is mindful recognition of genuine concern and unwavering support gifted to me each and every day. celebrating friendship and love is something i can do tirelessly time and time again. it is those i hold near and dear that consistently lift my spirits with a simple word, caring touch, or knowing glance. for this i am grateful. this year, i wanted to go beyond a generalization and make a specific list of things that keep me satisfied.

my nieces & nephews

heart-to-hearts

honesty

LOVE

adventures in my kitchen

cold nights under warm blankets

solitude

my yoga practice

private memories

sincere understanding

quiet moments

dress-up parties

growing pains

my students

gentleness

self-reflection

sleep

hard-earned lessons

music that moves

breath

deliberate hugs

inspired wonder

and most of all, i am grateful for my health, which allows me to be a sister, a daughter, an aunt, a lover, a friend, a teacher, a student, a woman.

i kinda love dress up parties. becoming someone else, or at least the idea of someone else, long enough to see the world through another’s eyes. i entered a moulin-rouge-esque world on saturday night with attire way too fussy for real life. but for those few hours, the fantasy was a bona fide reality.

just when i thought i could not love this woman more, i find out she is far more exquisite than i realized, indisputably amplifying my admiration for her. with her one-of-a-kind essence, zoe james effortlessly and humbly shines light on everyone she meets. i ran into her a couple of days ago while she was out walking with her husband steve. their love for each other soundlessly speaks a thousand words, inspiring and tender. if i haven’t convinced you of her splendor, the answers below will.

Favorite book: Siddhartha by Herman Hesse (each time I read it is different)

Favorite movies: Out of Africa, All the Mornings of the World, The Piano, Across the Universe, Chocolat, Fugitive Pieces, Like water for Chocolate, The Color Purple, The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Favorite artists: Georgia O’Keefe – a women I wholly admire &  Henri Rousseau- are not all artists a bit crazy?

Favorite song: When the Levy Breaks-Led Zeppelin & Marais: Sonnerie De Ste. Genevieve Du Mont-De-Paris ( Viola)

Favorite quote: “I’m your Huckleberry”

Favorite place: Santa Fe NM, Windansea Beach

Favorite meal: When food is prepared with love, care and with the intention to nourish and delight.  My favorite meal to cook is Indian food ( lamb yoghurt curry, chicken coconut curry, cucumber riata, cilantro chutney, basmati rice w/ peas and cumin, green beans w/ chiles,and of course pappadams.)The kitchen smells amazing!! This is an all day affair with chile burning fingers but worth the wait.

Favorite sweet treat: Luna & Larry’s Coconut Bliss, anything Michele Coulon

Dream vacation: Am living in it… but since you ask…a year in the French countryside.

Favorite hobby: Art, creation of aesthetic beauty in cooking, painting & my environment. Food, health and ingredients are my obsession.

Favorite daydream: This is a dream.

Current Inspiration: Miss Amy Jo Hearron!

Favorite memory: The day I married Steve James.

Where do you live? La Jolla, CA

Can you describe your job? I teach Pilates in a sunny little studio just up the street from Windansea Beach. The studio is a my sanctuary and each day I am grateful to be there…bike to work, bare feet, ocean breeze…

If money was no issue and you could spend an entire year exactly the way you want, what would you do with it? I would teach myself and others how to relax and NOT make money an issue. Would probably open the Hippiest, Healthiest, Organic eatery in the coolest location. The food & ambiance would be so good that people would drive for miles and not mind.

Five things you want to do in this lifetime? Write a cookbook/food blog (zoës earth). Evolve as a human being. Find Peace in my own thoughts. Get to know my husband better. Be the artist. Find wisdom & less fear as I age.

saturday showed up in its finest form, doling out a three-hour hike along torrey pines path and black’s beach sands, followed by a wide-ranging feast with friends, which included everything from lime-laced salmon steaks to mouthwatering corn on the cob. in a perfect world, not dictated by life’s trivial concerns, each day would be spent like this one.

XOXO

above photos are a sneak peek at the two dollar stallions on stage and in action.

i can honestly say that a few hours of dance leaves me feeling more liberated and strong and peaceful than anything else on earth. to move with abandon, to release all fears and judgements and inhibitions, brings me into a state of utter presence. there is nothing else like it.

i finally watched so you think you can dance two weeks ago while in texas.

what. a. treat.

one of the contestants performed a highly emotional piece to total eclipse of the heart that moved me to tears. her grace, her strength, her willingness to let go and fall into the moment was stunning and absolutely inspiring. take a look below.

breathtaking.

saturday was spent seaside, in honor of the one & only minna, whose presence will be missed immensely. san diego’s loss, san francisco’s gain.

i love having the option of breakfast any time of day, especially when it includes beans, potatoes, & eggs. the coffee cup not only serves morning delights for lunch, but also has an amazing blue cheese walnut salad that i seem to be craving every tuesday after class. i spent the afternoon with my sweet friend talitha over some lunch, then took a walk down to the beach to see the seals.

this little hunk of pure sweetness, known as miss v, becomes cuter with each passing day. i kinda can’t get enough of her and the sassy blonde pigtails. does that last photo speak for itself or what?

i finally got to taste the much-talked-about ravioli from assenti’s pasta at a dinner party on saturday night thrown by the world’s best dinner party throwers, sara and will (a.k.a. miss v’s parents). tossed in a homemade sage butter sauce, it was everything i could have dreamed of and more.

my dear friends, sara and will, threw a texas-style shindig this weekend as a going-away gift, complete with southern dishes including fresh fruit salad, the best pulled pork i’ve ever tasted, amazing baked mac ‘n’ cheese and out-of-this-world blackberry cobbler that begs to be eaten right out of the pan.