acai bowls are my newest obsession. i’ve liked them for a while but since becoming a gluten-free vegan, they have become my go-to meal while out. so when i found out birdie, a cafe by the same people who opened milk+honey, was opening at the mix mart, i was overjoyed. now i had a great place to get lunch (or breakfast. or dinner. or snack) with my portola coffee. that’s the best part about acai bowls; they’re good for any meal! after my mom and i spoke on a panel for the women’s study at my church, we decided to have a girl date and get birdie bowls and lattes with another mother and daughter from our church. it was a fun time with great food and tons of laughs. my mom is so awesome and i’m really cherishing my time with her while i’m at home
as part of our weekly bible study meet up, ellie and i went to intelligentsia on abbot kinney. i’ve been here a few times before but never stayed long enough to appreciate what a gem this location is. it has such a different vibe from the intelligentsia in silver lake (which i posted about here) which is more slick and less chill. going to this location is a nice change of pace and after a lot of patience, we finally scored spots on the balcony bar overlooking the whole shop. we people watched (since we had the perfect spots) and wrote and drew and laughed and of course had amazing coffee. i always love intelligentsia’s coffee (especially their iced lattes on a hot day) but i do wish they had hemp milk instead of soy and honey instead of simple syrup but i guess i’m just too picky lol. overall, i think i like this location just as much, if not more, than the silver lake location. i think i found myself a new favorite spot.
i always love a good farmers market and its especially fun to find them while traveling. its fascinating to see how much the selection can vary from place to place and from time to time and i enjoy trying new things. this farmers market was particularly unusual because it was on the beach, had a beautiful wildflower selection (we bought a bundle for our hotel room) and had an adorable little family folk band. though it was small, the produce was good and the ambiance was one of a kind. this is definitely a farmers market i would like to visit again.
on our way home from our road trip up north, we stopped at sally loos in san luis obispo. my dad went to cal poly in slo so we spent the day exploring the town and the college and seeing where my dad spent his college years. after looking at taylor kitto’s instagram (she’s from slo), i decided i needed to try sally loos from her endearing pictures. i love the cozy feel of sally loos and it reminded me of some of my favorite hang outs back home like alta and gypsy den. once i saw they had intelligentsia coffee and acai bowls on the menu, i was sold! the acai bowl was fruit filled and as good as any acai bowl i’ve ever had and of course the coffee was amazing. sally loo’s makes me wish i followed in my dad’s footsteps and went to slo. if only they had my major…
while i was in morro bay, we decided to grab lunch at top dog coffee bar. the bright yellow cafe immediately stands out because it is so bright and cheery. i had a great mexican soy iced mocha which was out of this world! we had our own little “top dog” with us so we took a seat outside and enjoyed the beautiful summer day. if i’m ever back in morro bay, top dog is the first place i will go
yet another trip to the santa monica farmers market! after visiting some disappointing farmers markets in new zealand (no organic produce and very limited fruits and veggies), i was looking forward to this market visit for quite some time! though the winter market is nice, i love the colors and selection of the summer market. everything is so inspiring and so beautiful! i think my best buy of the day was a few bunches of lavender that i plan on hanging to dry so i can put them around my room. nothing beats a good market day.