ADVENTURING.

Brownstones in our neighborhood.

We had a fairly busy weekend, both in Manhattan and Brooklyn.  Really, really loving being here and experiencing east coast Fall again.  I'm pretty happy right now just exploring around our neighborhood, but have big plans this week of exploring lower Manhattan too (parts I've not yet roamed).

Boaters in Central Park.

Central Park.

We had a really great/quick visit with Raf's cousin and took a peaceful walk around Central Park.  After parting ways with her, we ended up having dinner at Angelica Kitchen,  a really yummy vegan/macrobiotic restaurant in the East Village.  Delicious!

Raf on a vintage city bus (1958) we toured at the Atlantic Antic street festival.

These buses were really cool.

Perfect autumn sunlight in Boerum Hill.

Such a lovely neighborhood.

Garden gate.

We ended the day yesterday at a house-warming party for some new friends who recently moved into their lovely place in Park Slope.  Such a great neighborhood!  And we hung out with some really fun folks and got invited to a (weekly) Downton Abbey viewing party.  Ummmm...YES!  I may or may not have watched the first 3 seasons in a ridiculously short amount of time.  I guess the obsession with this show will continue, at least at a healthier pace now.  :)

NEW JEWELS!

These babies will all be headed to the etsy shop soon!  

ALL OF THE THINGS...

I had written a post about a month ago, detailing the beginning of our time in New York, but never published it.  Now upon rereading it, so much has changed!  So, instead, I'll play a quick catch up and move forward.

We arrived in New York City on July 31st, after a really special send off from our Berkeley buddies.  It was strange and surreal to go from northern California/ mellow life to be dropped off right into the heart of New York!  We had temporary housing in Hell's Kitchen for one month while we were exploring neighborhoods and looking at potential apartments.  Living in such a crazy and full-of-life part of New York for a month was really cool.  I walked and walked most days in the scorching heat (while Raf started his new job) and we took full advantage of our proximity to Central Park (5 blocks away!) on quite a few evenings for strolls.  I am kind of amazed that I didn't take a single picture during that time (not of our swanky temp apartment, or our night walks, or anything!) but I suppose I was just living it instead.

After a chaotic, nearly month-long search (and many, many fiascos that I will spare you-- I will just say that house hunting in New York is competitive and heart breaking at times) we finally settled into the most darling neighborhood in Brooklyn: Carroll Gardens.  Seriously.  It is so. darn. cute.  And we have discovered that Brooklyn is much more our speed than Manhattan.  We live in an old brownstone and guess what?  We have a sweet little patio and backyard all to ourselves!  The previous tenant was from California and lived here for 9 years and he planted so many beautiful (and edible!) things back there.  I'm pretty excited to see what blooms next spring and early summer.  Right now, we are enjoying the last (and abundant) harvest of figs.  Yep, figs!  Our neighbors on either side of us have huge fig trees that hang way over into our yard.  Black Mission on one side and Brown Turkey on the other.  We have full permission from one neighbor to pick as many as we want.  We haven't met the other neighbor, but have been picking the ones that hang over our patio, otherwise they fall and rot and collect ants.  Needless to say, I have been in my happy place.  Figs are high on my list of favorite things.  :)

Brown Turkey figs (with a couple of Black Mission too).  Our neighbor made jam from these and gave us a jar!

Fig harvest plus rosemary from the neighbor.

Also, I have had a couple of job interviews and one wasn't a good fit, but another one was.  In the end, the good one (an art teacher position) would have been mine had my New York license been renewed in time, (the NY state department of education is SO SLOW and wouldn't have my license ready for another 3 weeks beyond when they wanted to hire me), and the other one (a vegan kitchen job) at the very least taught me a couple of crazy-good recipes (see photos below)!

Amazing raw lasagne.

So, onward and upward and exciting adventures to come!  Raf likes his job quite a bit and I am having fun exploring opportunities and the neighborhood and cooking up a storm again, now that I have my kitchen in order.

P.S.  Pictures and details from our Italy trip (in MAY, geez.) are coming soon...

MY GUY, BIG CHANGES, AND TOFU CHEESECAKE.

Raf graduated!  He walked in graduation and did all of the things you need to do (paperwork, etc.) and will hand in his dissertation very soon.  His folks came for graduation, which was lovely, and then we all headed off to celebrate in Italy, along with his brother for almost two weeks!  Totally, super awesome (Italy posts coming soon...).  Also, we are MOVING!  In a month, we head off to our new location, New York City (where he got a job)!  It is bittersweet.  We definitely love living in California, and it is going to be very hard to leave, but we're both up for a new adventure.  Plus, it will be pretty amazing to be near the Garment District (where I prefer to shop for jewelry supplies) :).  I made this tofu cheesecake for his graduation.  I combined about 3 different recipes, but forgot to write it down.  Gah!  It turned out really delicious, so I think I will try to recreate it and write it down... at least I have pictures?

SWEET FRIEND VISIT.

Our dear friend, Beth, came to visit us from Santa Cruz a couple of weekends ago.  It is always so nice to spend time with her, both here in Berkeley and when we get to make the trip to her place.  We got to celebrate her acceptance into a PhD program (and a fellowship!) at UC Davis--yay Beth!

We had a busy day: a walk and a visit to the local bakery and cheese shop for provisions for a really yummy picnic in Live Oak Park, a trip to check out the shop I work at, a mini adventure to Berkeley Horticulture, and finally to Monterey Market (my favorite grocer) to grab some fresh fruit and veg for dinner.  And what a dinner...brown rice fettuccine, vegan cashew cream alfredo (!!) with roasted tomatoes, mushrooms and seitan (which may have "challenged" Beth's palete :) and broccoli raab on the side.  So yum!  There is nothing better than sharing pretty walks and delicious food with good friends.

BIRTHDAY!

For my birthday (April Fools Day :) we went to Pescadero, CA for an overnight at a place called Costanoa. It is an eco/camping/resort-y type place right on the ocean.  The location was beautiful and the 1.5 hour drive down Highway 1 was incredible.  We stayed in a "tent bungalow", which was basically a tent with windows and a locking door (on a platform) with a four poster bed with down comforters, bathrooms, towels, eco toiletries, etc.  I said we were camping, Raf said we were basically staying in an outside hotel.  No heat though, and it was cold at night!  The resort had outdoor fireplaces and saunas at every "comfort station" (bathroom) and a big hot tub that you can access 24 hours that is outdoors (apparently great for star gazing).  We took a long hike on one of their trails that winds along the beach, came back for dinner (at their fancy lodge restaurant).  It was pretty chilly and we were looking forward to getting into the hot tub but it was occupied by a rowdy group of European dudes that brought some techno music and had no plans to evacuate.   Instead we ended up spending some time in the sauna, which was so relaxing.   We headed out pretty early the next morning, stopping for coffee and a quick peak at the quaint town of Pescadero.  Later that day I had a free haircut (a student at a local, fancy salon scouted my hair to be in need of a cut (it DID) and offered me a complimentary one-- it turned out great!) and then Mexican dinner with pals and back to our place for dessert.  Just a lovely, lovely birthday.  :)

Sea plants.

Sleepy face <3.

So high up, I definitely felt dizzy.

View!

Boardwalk on trail.

:)

Trail to the beach.

Trail through the dunes.

Beach walk!

Dinner at Comal in Berkeley with buddies.  Waiter took 3 pictures, this was the best of them...ha!

Our sweet waiter gave me just a plate with a candle on it (since we said we were having dessert at home).  :)

Birthday desserts!  Chocolate sweet potato torte and spelt carrot cake cupcakes.  So yum!

SPRING FLOWERS.

I collected these lovelies on a walk 2 evenings ago.  The weather has been divine!  Goodness, I love it here...