Moments of the Week – #32

A bunch of awesome moments from this week!

Links to fun/cool stuff and recent photos…

 

I watched the documentary Food Matters and here are my Big Ideas.

Look, ma: I’m on a Japanese podcast! A fellow WDS’er (and recent host), Etsuko, posted the first episode of our interview. The website has a lot of Japanese on it, and there’s a summary at the end by Etsuko—no idea what’s being said, but it sounds nice. To play, you can click the “POD” icon at top or the “direct download” link at the bottom. Very fun—and two more episodes with me ahead! :)

This past week, I booked a crazy (for me) itinerary of Los Angeles to Puerta Vallarta to Montreal to Boston to San Francisco! Thanks to open jaws, stopovers, and an overnight layover in Canada, I did it all for just 35K points and $160 on United. Super easy (almost ridiculously so), and it would have been less if I booked more than 3 weeks in advance. Learn more here!

The charity: water birthday campaign continues—we’re at 45%!

My digital nomad friend Natalie is still raising funds to writer her book on how to travel regularly AND have a thriving biz (what she has been doing for the last few years)—just 12 days left to donate on Kickstarter!

More super inspiring videos and projects, too:

  • My buddy Greg’s interview with Betsy Chasse, the filmmaker behind the wildly successful What the Bleep Do We Know?!
  • To This Day Project and Video – unbelievably touching, and a great message. Definitely check the video out!
  • video
  • Halfsies: an amazing new program to help eliminate food waste, feed the hungry, and help us eat less, all with one action!

Even more:

My friend Karol (that’s “Carl”) created a free service to automatically notify you when items on your Amazon Wishlist drop in price. Neat! Check out Listy Listy.

I just wrapped up TA’ing the virtual course Optimal Living 101 Love! with Brian and Alexandra Johnson at en*theos. Good stuff!

Here’s the latest on the Travel Eat Thrive pilot (via Kickstarter)!

And finally, I thought at the Spirit Awards (for independent films, the night before the Oscars) was pretty damn funny. Foul langauge ahead.

 

On with the show…

(covering the last two weeks) From a birthday dinner to the Oscars to guilt-free chocolate chip cookie dough—here we go!

 

Second day in LA and I was treated to a birthday dinner at PizzaRev in Studio City! I went for a gluten-free crust, basil sauce, and lots of veggies. How has it taken this long for a “make-your-own” pizza chain (a la Chipotle) to happen!?

 

I was joined at dinner by my good friends Ash (went to her yoga class earlier ) and her husband Brian (we went to high school together)—they loved the food, too!

 

Thanks to my brother for the evening out and the balloons!
(OK, that balloon was for someone else. :)

 

My crazy, wonderful, generous (and very positive!) Glendale host: Jose! :)

 

Met up with my buddy Phil Drolet in (yup, you guessed it) Hollywood—we’ve worked together as TA’s at en*theos (I even trained him), and are big fans of each other, but had bever met in person. Went for dinner at Tender Greens near Sunset & Vine.

 

Ready for a morning of work with my three favorite drinks these days: water with lemon, a green smoothie, and ginger/lemon tea (yup, actual slices!). In addition to just good for me, I’ve been using the tea to keep me warm on cool morning, and as a way to treat my voice (been doing some recording that I’ll let you in on soon).

 

Uh-oh! That doesn’t look very normal for a pair of shorts. Well, I have had them for 13 years, and worn them just about every day for the last 2+ years. Still sad…

 

The night before the Oscars, I met up with my brother and watched Silver Linings Playbook (quick review: Cooper/Lawrence outstanding; the rest: meh). The Dolby Theatre (and all the hoopla) were part of my route to his place. It really is quite a scene (more than usual).

 

Another dinner at Mendocino Farms: this time, A Sandwich Study of Heat (Turkey Avocado) on Ciabatta. The jalapeno relish definitely gave it a kick! This was a pretty heavy sandwich that I didn’t think I’d finish (but I did). Very tasty!

 

Next meal out: at the Viet Noodle Bar in Atwater Village (just on the other side of the 5 from Los Feliz). I don’t normally eat noodles, so this was an exception meal for me, but the seasoning on the fish and the cilantro were an awesome combo. We also got spring rolls with jicama—excellent stuff, and everything tasted fresh!

 

It was on the recommendation of Todd, my Audio Supervisor for the pilot, that we went to this Pho place. Another guy who I had worked with and who I hadn’t met yet! Awesome chat about the direction of the show and a fantastic human being. :)

 

Also met up with a reader of the site—Kendal (an actress who had been living in France and was now back in LA for a bit). Fun to share Optimal Living in person! :)

 

From my upcoming cookbook, here’s a shot of my creation for a guilt-free chocolate chip cookie dough. Just three ingredients, all natural, all healthy, and all delicious!!

 

 Found myself in Hollywood and hungry, so I popped into Fresh & Easy, and picked up a Berry Salad. I wasn’t too keen on the included dressing (lots of “stuff” in there), so I bought a Guacamole Kit (no avocados), and used the limes, tomatoes, onions, and jalapenos to top my salad. Very good—but MAN, it was H.O.T. ;)

 

See ya next week from somewhere else in the world!

###

About

Former life: actor/office worker/virtual assistant; lived in Los Angeles for 11 years. Since then: sold nearly everything, took a $5 flight to Hawaii, lived there for 3 months, wrote an eGuide about all of it, and still traveling. Currently: digital nomad - looking to improve myself, have fun and serve others.